Istanbul

Istanbul historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, it is the largest city in Turkey and 3rd largest city proper in the world with a population of 13 million !

It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents.

Istanbul had previously served as the capital of the Roman Empire (330–c.395), Byzantine Empire (c.395–1204 & 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Thereafter, the new Republic of Turkey, moved their capital to Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence.

Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον, Byzántion) is the first known name of the city. Around 660 BC,Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded a Doric colony on the present-day Istanbul, and named the new colony after their king, Byzas. After Constantine I (Constantine the Great) made the city the new eastern capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD, the city became widely known as Constantinopolis or Constantinople, which, as the Latinised form of "Κωνσταντινούπολις" (Kōnstantinoúpolis), means the "City of Constantine".

Etymologically, the name "İstanbul" (Turkish pronunciation: [isˈtanbuɫ], colloquially [ɯsˈtambuɫ]) derives from the Medieval Greek phrase "εἰς τὴν Πόλιν" [is tin ˈpolin] or, in the Aegean dialect, "εἰς τὰν Πόλιν" [is tan ˈpolin] (Modern Greek "στην Πόλη" [stin ˈpoli]), which means "in the city" or "to the city".

Wiki

Acropolis through time...

Many of you have maybe visited Athens and Acropolis, today the ancient world is co-existing with the modern world of Athens, but how was it 100 years ago? It's amazing how much the city has changed in such sort time, below are some paintings of Acropolis from just a few foreign travellers that came to Greece in the 19th century.

Jacques Carrey  1674

Painting by Johann Michael Wittmer 1833

by Christopher Wordsworth 1837

Dodwell 1821

1869

Jean Nicolas Henri de Chacaton 1813-1857, Thiseio area near Acropolis.

Noel Paymal Lerebours 1842

Stebbing 1847

Theodore du Moncel 1845

Wittmer, temple of Zeus 1833

Το Δημοτικό Θέατρο της Αθήνας?

Όλοι οι δήμοι βόρεια, νότια, παντού έχουν, κι η Αθήνα τίποτα, δεν έχει Δημοτικό Θέατρο. Κάπως ντροπή, ακόμα μεγαλύτερη γιατί κάποτε είχε, του Τσίλερ μάλιστα, στην σημερινή Πλατεία Κοτζιά, Δημαρχείου. 'Η Λουδοβίκου όπως λεγόταν η Πλατεία το 1856 όταν αποφασίστηκε ότι η Αθήνα μια ευρωπαϊκή πρωτεύουσα πια, είναι ντροπή να μην έχει Δημοτικό Θέατρο.
Και πως αλλιώς να ξεκινά το στόρυ; Με νεοελληνικές μηχανορραφίες φυσικά: ο Γρ. Καμπούρογλου αναλαμβάνει τα έξοδα της ανέγερσης, δώστε μου θα το χτίσω εγώ, πράγμα όμως που δεν ερχόταν σε ευθεία αντίθεση με τα συμφέροντα με το θεατρώνη της εποχής του Μπούκουρα, του μοναδικού που υπήρχε τότε στην Αθήνα. Λύσσαξε, πως αλλιώς με τέτοιο όνομα, ο Μπούκουρας και επί 5 χρόνια κυνήγησε με δικαστήρια και αστυνομίες τον Καμπούρογλου ώσπου ο τελευταίος μπάφιασε, έμεινε ταπί και τα παράτησε.

Έπειτα από 15 χρόνια, κι έχουμε νέα απόπειρα να ξεκινήσουν έργα, σε σχέδια Τσίλλερ αυτή τη φορά, προχωράνε φουριόζικα, μα κάτι γίνεται μετά από 2 χρόνια και τα έργα ξαναπαγώνουν, ελλείψει πόρων.
Ξανά μανά: περνούν 14 χρόνια με το έργο να στέκεται ημιτελές, φανταστείτε αρνητικό vibe που θα εισέπραξε αυτό το το κτίριο, όχι τυχαία η μοίρα του. Το 1887 λοιπόν, ο Ανδρέας Συγγρός προσφέρεται να ανεγείρει πλήρως το θέατρο. Ευεργέτης μεν την τσέπη του την κοιτούσε, έβαλε στον Τσίλλερ τους όρους του: το ισόγειο να στεγάζει καταστήματα και στον πρώτο όροφο να βάλει την τράπεζά του. Ο Ερνέστος που καημό το χε να δει ολοκληρωμένο το έργο του, δέχεται τους όρους, που αποβαίνουν σε βάρος των τεχνικών προδιαγραφών του θεάτρου: η σκηνή έχει μόλις 12.5 μέτρα βάθος, ενώ οι βοηθητικοί χώροι σχεδόν ανύπαρκτοι. Κάτι καλό που χε πάντως το θέατρο ήταν η καλή ακουστική και οι καλές συνθήκες θέας, και χωρητικότητα 1500 θέσεις. Σαν χωροθεσία το κτίριο είχε την κεντρική είσοδο στην Αιόλου μ' ένα κηπάκι μπροστά, κοίταζε προς την Εθνική Τράπεζα, και έπεφτε βαριά η πίσω όψη του στην Αθηνάς.

Ένα χρόνο μετά εγκαινιάζεται επιτέλους το Δημοτικό Θέατρο και φιλοξενεί θιάσους κατά βάσει απ' την Ευρώπη, σε πρόζα και όπερα και λοιπά φράγκικα που τόσο λαχταρούσε η ανερχόμενη αστική τάξη. Κουτσά-στραβά η Αθήνα είχε αποκτήσει Δημοτικό Θέατρο. Κουτσά όμως γιατί απ' τη μια δεν βοηθούσε η ακατάλληλη σκηνή, δεν υπήρχε κεντρική θέρμανση, ούτε εξαερισμός. Έτσι το θέατρο, έχοντας και σαν ανταγωνιστή το λαμπρό νέο Εθνικό Θέατρο της Αγίου Κωνσταντίνου (1901) πέφτει σε μαρασμό, ο εξοπλισμός του δε αφαιρείται συστηματικά από αετονύχηδες.

Τόσο απαξιωμένο δε σαν θέατρο, συν τις έκτακτες ανάγκες του Ελληνικού κράτους, κι έτσι αποφασίζεται το 1922 να λειτουργήσει σαν χώρος φιλοξενίας 1.500 Μικρασιατών προσφύγων, οι οποίοι τον χειμώνα για να αντιμετωπίσουν το κρύο έκαιγαν σε φουφούδες τα σκηνικά και έπιπλα.

Το 1929 απογυμνωμένο πια, κι αποτελώντας κάτι σαν ερείπιο στην καρδιά της πόλης, αποφασίζεται να ανακαινιστεί εκ βάθρων (κατάργηση των μαγαζιών, περισσότεροι χώροι για την λειτουργία του Θεάτρου) απ' τον φιλόδοξο Σπ. Μερκούρη μόνο που το ταμείο του Δήμου ήταν άδειο.
Σαν ρημαδιό έστεκε εκεί, τόσο που χαλούσε την αισθητική του Διοικητή της Εθνικής Τράπεζας που έπινε τον καφέ του απέναντι και πρώτος ρίχνει την ιδέα να κατεδαφιστεί. Κάποιοι αντιδρούνε, ακόμα και αρχιτέκτονες που δεν το θεωρούσαν σπουδαίο κτίριο, αλλά βρισκόμαστε στα 30s, ο μοντερνισμός, άρτι αφιχθείς απ' την Ευρώπη, καλπάζει και μαγεύει τους άρχοντες, που το κτίριο στα μάτια τους μοιάζει σαν μια γιγαντιαία παράγκα.
Τον Απρίλη του 1939, επί δικτατορίας του Μεταξά, ο τότε Δήμαρχος της Αθήνας Κώστας Κοτζιάς με συνοπτικές διαδικασίες το κατεδαφίζει.

Ξεκίνησε λοιπόν στραβά κι ίσως δεν μπορούσε να τελειώσει αλλιώς. Ίσως να ήταν καταραμένο το σημείο, ίσως και να' ναι, έκτοτε η Πλατεία Κοτζιά δεν γνώρισε ποτέ δόξες, πάντα βρισκόταν στην σκιά της Ομόνοιας, και των άλλων πλατειών στο κέντρο. Ακόμα και σήμερα που μάλλον, ιδίως το βράδυ, είναι η πιο όμορφη της Αθήνας δεν έχει την ενέργεια, την ζωντάνια που θα μπορούσε. Κάτι σαν no mans land, σαν σημείο προσπέρασης.
Και σε μας τους σύγχρονους Αθηναίους έμεινε το μέγα ερώτημα; τελικά τι έκανε ο Κοτζιάς; Στέρησε απ' την πόλη ένα όμορφο κτίριο, ή εν αγνοία του χάρισε στο σήμερα ένα σημείο ανοικτό στην τσιμεντένια πόλη./ athensville

Ernesto Ziller and Athens

Many beautiful buildings in Athens from the 19th century are a result of Ernesto Zillers work who lived many years in Greece as an architect. Though unfortunatly most of them have not survived.

At the National Gallery of Athens (Pinakothiki) there are many drawings of buildings and villas that Ziller made and projects that he never completed or even started. It is an exhibition that show another Athens, the Athens of the past, everybody should see it.

Take a very small taste from the pictures that follow.

Likavitos,Athens

A proposal of the architect Ernesto Chiller for the mountain of Likavitos.

The detail in the first picture show the monument that

was supposed to be built on the top of the mountain.

(Today a church and a restaurant are on the top.)

The academy in Athens, behind is the mountain of Lykavitos.

View over Athens in the early 1800.

Another view of Athens and the mountain of Lykavitos.

Chiller with his wife in the photograph, next to the right of that is his passport and a little drawing of him.

Easter Island

One of the first photographs taken on the island when they still hadn't discovered all it's glorious statues...

Working women in Greece

Working Women paid for their work in 1850-1940

Not until recent years it was not always given that women got paid for work, necessary for themselves or the community. What the world believed and still believes in some places is that her place where she belongs or what belongs to her is family. Her “nature” sort of speak, her reproduction ability was associated with family and that transformed into the goal of her life, her complete-completion of her existence.

That idea dominated into the centuries and formed the belief to everyone that this is not only her role but the purpose of her existence. For the women it was forbidden to get paid for work, while they never stopped working, especially within the family. They started working outside of the family now and then but most of the times without any reward.

The massive participation of women into paid labor started with the industrial revolution in all the countries. In Greece they started some decades after the independence and creation of the Greek state, in the middle 19th century, with the appearance of some fundamental industrial and craftwork-factories. These years the Greek women where nowhere to be seen in the public places of industry and work, it was forbidden.

In all the constitutions which had been voted until 1927 there are articles which guarantees the equality of all Greek people or the free access in the public jobs. But they only apply to men who work, although they do not exclude explicitly women. Slowly and in miserable conditions, Greek women joined in the working business, without the public acceptance and only in certain jobs. That because of their need or the employers demands for cheap, submissive and temporary workers.

The first time that the working place is separated from the work in the family in Greece is in the 19th century. Their responsibilities and duties to the family are kept without any minimum reduction. They stay dominant in womens lifes while even themselves don’t question them. In the biggest cities in Greece a problematic urban class starts to emerge which needs this particular working labor force in various areas. The jobs for the women that emerge those years are jobs that don’t demand even the most basic grammar or professional knowledge.
They usually worked as maids, field workers, laundry, porters, dressmakers, weavers, midwifes or nurses.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Women start to work in a younger age than the men, 10-12years old, 12-14hours a day for everyone, in the same conditions but being paid differently. Women got paid 1/3 of what men did.


In 1887 the first strike occurred by women workers at the Retsina factory because their salary was reduced.

A bit later a small group of educated women rise the question of girls education and work.

The educated women of the middle class started to realize that they were living within the strict boundaries of their gender. Slowly more and more women started to take initiatives. In most cases where women worked it was unmarried women and women who were trying to gather something for their dowry. Men didn’t like women’s involvement in work, at that time not only men but also women believed that work did make a woman get out of her main goal in life, which was off course to have children.


TEACHER
When girls started to go to school and get educated women started to become teachers. They began their teaching profession at the age of 16-17 and where often faced with difficult situations as a female teacher, often she worked in a small village far away from her family and women teachers were not yet completely accepted from many.

Work inspectors in 1920-30s stated that 50% of the women who worked were very young (10-19y.old) without any education and they provided for at least one member of their family. After 1922 1/3 were immigrants, orphans and most of them worked at a factory until they got married. Their salary was much lower than men’s even if they were specialized and the men were students.

Unfortunately the laws were not always followed. They often worked more hours than allowed and health circumstances were often miserable.

Changes for the better and a more equal situation followed very slowly and after many resistances in the 19th century.

Card games

The word “Card” in Greek is “Trapoula”, it origins from the Italian word “trappola”. It is a term word which puts us right in the trap. Man always dared his luck, for good or bad, he tried through different games to capsize destiny or fate. Lucky games came to us from the ancient world. The laws of Byzantium forbid any game playing for money and all sort of gambling. But that didn’t stop the lucky games. Later on through the years came the famous card game.

The Cards originally came from Asia, we start seeing them in Europe around 14th century and thereafter they slowly emerged into Europeans lives. Off course in the beginning it was a privilege only for the wealthy, as the cards were handmade and very expensive but later they became very common.
We know for sure that the game came from Asia, but where exactly we don’t know, many assume it can be somewhere between China and India around the 10th century.
In Spain it became known in 1371, in Italy 1376, in France 1377and Germany 1384.

As they spread the church reacted, so the Sienna bishops 1377 and Paris 1389 forbid the Christians to play cards.
Although the many prohibitions, cards managed to survive and thrive through the centuries. Especially since the invention of typography which made the making of the cards very cheap.

Cards became not only a vessel of good and bad luck, but also a mean of education with much different information. In the end of the decade of 1820 in Greece, a phillelenic card deck was published, with figures of Kolokotronis, Mioulis, Kapodistrias. These cards had sure played their part of “communication” in the years of war for independence.

Through the French Revolution there were cards with anti-religious images on them. The same did the Bolsheviks in 1917.
Cards were also used for educational purposes by Thomas Murner(1475-1537) when he presented a system of logic in a deck of cards. Baptist Pendelton in 1651 used the cards to teach grammar and German philosophers’ teached Latin with card in the 17th century.

Many geographers, like DeVal (1599-1677) and Poilly and Mitoire(1763) used cards to expand their knowledge of geography.

In recent years the cards have been used even in science, as the probability theory owe much to them.
Today the back side of the cards are many times a place for advertisements.

In Greece
We don’t really know when they first came to Greece, but in the Ionian islands they played cards from the time of Venetians there.
In 1937 the card images almost wore.. traditional greek rustic shoes, kilts and kerchief! Haha, there were local newspapers that wrote in January 1937: although governments attempts to stop card-playing it decided that Greeks can at least play with card decks which would have Greek images on. But Greek images never showed up.

In a private collection in Germany there is a card deck with Greek images which is
estimated to be from 1822!
Kings are said to be in the form of Alexander Ipsilantis, Odisseas Androutsos,
Georgio Kantakouzinou.
Queens are in the images of princess Mourouzi, Elena Topali, Bouboulina and Ipsilantis sisters.
Jokers appear as agonists from different areas, Idreos, Moraitis, Arnaoutis. From this card deck there have only survived 11 cards which are at the Historical and Ethnological Museum.