UNITED EUROPE IS IN

OUR EYES COMENIUS

PROJECT 2012-14

OUR CIVILIZATION THROUGH

THE CHILDREN’S EYES!!!!

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OUR TOWN IN TWENTY LINES!!!Pyrgos, meaning "tower", is the capital of the region Ileias in Greece. The city is located in the western Peloponnese, in the middle of a plain, close to the Ionian sea.It is 19km away from Ancient Olympia and 315 km far from Athens, the capital of Greece. It is the administrative and commercial center of the wider region and its seaport is Katakolo. Its population is around 34,902 inhabitants. Pyrgos is built on seven small hills on the north west department of the prefecture of Ileias. Its climate is Mediterranean. It is rainy and humid during the winter and hot and sunny during the summer. Winters are usually mild but the summers are dry and hot. The average temperature is 18.2C.

OUR LONG HISTORY!!!Historically Pyrgos first appeared in the 17th century and George

Tsernotas is considered to be its founder. The history of our town began in a strange way: With a ... well! During the Ottoman rule, a villager from Kalavryta, whose name was George Tsorotas or Tsernotas came down to Pyrgos. One day, while searching for a place to settle down, he opened one well to water his flocks there and suddenly he found a whole treasure of ancient gold coins!

Tsernotas took some of these golden coins to Constantinople to Sultan Selim A. The Sultan, who of course accepted his offer, gave him the title of Bey (master) of the region as well as big parts of land.

Then Tsernotas built warehouses and shacks for farmers who worked on the land. Legend has it that he built a strong tower on the hill of Eparhio, one of the tallest places of our town with a nice view, to watch his fields and flocks from up there. The name of our town comes from this tower. As time passed the well of Tsernotas became a legend and the water was considered magic .When a foreigner drank from it he loved the place and stayed there forever.

During the revolution of 1821 Pyrgos played an important role thanks to the contribution of the inhabitants to the national struggle. Pyrgos grew during the season of raisins (19th century - 1930) because of its geographical position.

SOME PHOTOS OF OLD PYRGOS’ TOWN!!

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THE CENTRAL SQUARE, SAKIS KARAGIORGAS SQUARE

Let’s start a walk through the city centre and let’s meet in the square Sakis Karagiorgas, the central square of Pyrgos where locals and visitors meet and spend their time in the numerous cafes and restaurants there. This is where the Latsio Town Hall, St Nikolas Cathedral and one of the best balconies of the town, Eparhio, with an amazing view to the Ionian Sea and the sunset are found.

SOME PHOTOS OF EPARHIO!!!

THE LATSIO TOWN HALL!!!!

The LATSIO TOWN HALL was constructed at the expense of Ioannis Latsis, a shipping tycoon born in Katakolo and important benefactor of the area. It is the building that houses many city services.

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF OUR NEOCLASSICAL BUILDINGS!!!

OLD MUNICIPAL MARKET!!!!!!!

Leaving the square and walking down Ermou Str, the major shopping street of our town, you will meet an old part of our town with amazing neoclassical buildings and the Old Municipal Market. As the name reveals it was a market where all kinds of products, groceries, fruit, vegetables and fish were sold. In the beginning it was a wooden building. However, in 1890 the new municipal market was built and the well-known German architect Ernst Ziller was the one who designed it. Today the Municipal Market, after its renovation is the archaeological museum of the city of Pyrgos.

APOLLON THEATRE! OUR ONLY THEATRE!!!

Another building of our town which is worth visiting during your walk is the Apollon Theatre. It is a magnificent neoclassic white marble building which was built in 1878 and most probably this is another project of the German architect Ernst Ziller. During all these years it has hosted theatrical performances, films and lots of other cultural events of the city. In 1995 it was renovated with Ioannis Latsis’ expenses.

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INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PART I

Despite its small size and geographical position, away from the capital city Athens, Pyrgos is a lively, active city which hosts numerous cultural and other activities as well as some of the most important international cultural events. Our town has just one cinema but it proudly hosts the International Olympia Film Festival for Children and Young People. It started 15 years ago as a pioneering idea from people and for the people who love culture and cinema and it is the only one of its kind in Greece. How did it evolve?

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PART II

It became an institution with a reputation that exceeds the limits of the country! The Olympia International film festival for children and youth is held every year since 1997 in the Apollon Theatre and has given Pyrgos a great place in the world cinema map. The best films are awarded with olive wreaths, an award that may not be accompanied by a corresponding cash prize but it is a perfect symbol of the spirit of sportsmanship and the Olympic tradition.

AND SOME OTHER POSTERS OF THIS FILM!!!

CAMERA ZIZANIO IN PYRGOS

Camera Zizanio is held at the same time with the International Film Festival but it is the European Meeting of young audiovisual creation or a "festival within the festival". The participants, under the guidance of professionals, are introduced in the secrets of cinematography and its various kinds (fiction, documentary, animation) and are guided into film creation. The workshops offer the opportunity to participate to dozens of students of all school levels from the Prefecture of Ileia as well as to the young visitors from Greece and abroad. Here the films are made entirely by children really "through the eyes of children". For one week, the whole town of Pyrgos is transformed into a huge filming stage, the likes of which, cannot be found in any other part of Greece.

AND SOME PICTURES OF CAMERA ZIZANIO !!!

THEATRE,MUSIC AND OTHER EVENTS…

As for the theatrical activity of our town, Pyrgos has got four amateur theatrical groups which stage performances every year in the Apollon Theatre. Apart from theatrical performances and the Film Festival the Apollon Theatre, being the cultural hive of our town, hosts numerous other activities of the town such as concerts and dance performances of local dance schools.

UNION OF AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

Pyrgos and the whole prefecture of Ileia is mainly an agricultural area focusing on the production of a lot of agricultural products, such as the Corinthian raisin, olive oil and olives, wine, oranges, tomatoes and lots of other products. The Union of Agricultural cooperatives, which was established in 1924 to support the agricultural production in the region, has written (and still writes) its own story promoting the major products of the area.

PATRIS, ONE OF THE OLDEST NEWSPAPERS IN GREECE

Our town publishes the second oldest daily newspaper in Greece. It is called "Patris" and starting it in 1902 in an area undergoing a deep economic crisis and with illiteracy rates of the population reaching 80%, was certainly a risky venture for Leonidas Varouxis (the first editor in chief). Apart from “Patris”, there are 3 more daily newspapers in Pyrgos.

OUR LOCAL FOOTBALL TEAM!!

"Paniliakos" the football club of Pyrgos Paniliakos team was created in 1957 after the merging of three other football teams. Since then it has been very successful and has even played in the 1ST Division for 6 consecutive years till 2001.

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OUR SEAPORT KATAKOLO !!!

A visit to our town would never be complete if you don’t visit some of the nearby areas and villages which add to the historical and tourist importance of our town. Let’s start our visit from the seaport of our town KATAKOLO.

Katakolo is a seaside village around 20 km away from Pyrgos. It is an important seaside resort , the seaport of our town and a major stopover of the biggest cruise liners from around the world. Back in the 1830s until recently Katakolo played a very significant role in the trading of the Corinthian raisin, the “gold” of the Ileia land, which was transported from there all over the world. Nowadays, all the old warehouses standing on the seafront of Katakolo have been converted into traditional fish taverns and cafes. It is the ideal place for relaxing, eating, enjoying the sun, the sea and the green of the mountain surrounding Katakolo, where you can take a walk and admire the amazing views from above and the ruins of the ancient castle called “ Pontikokastro” . The museum of Ancient Greek Musical Instruments, which is located in Katakolo, is also worth visiting.

OUR ANCIENT TOWN OLYMPIA !!!

Now let’s head east and visit ANCIENT OLYMPIA

The village of Ancient Olympia, known worldwide as the birthplace of the Olympic Games, the most famous games in history, is located at the foot of the mountain and in the plain where the Alfios river flows. Nowadays it hosts the lightening of the Olympic Flame which marks the beginning of the Olympic Games. Two important museums, the Archaeological Museum of Olympia and the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games, are found there. Of course you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to walk around the archaeological site and see the Olympia Stadium, the temple of Hera and other important ruins. The feelings inspired by the beauty and the history of the place cannot be described. If you find yourselves in Olympia during the summer, don’t miss the chance to visit the modern stone theatre “Floka” and enjoy a performance of Ancient Greek tragedy or a concert.

ANOTHER NEARBY AREA THE ANCIENT ILIDA!!Another archaeological site worth visiting is

ANCIENT ILIDA

Ancient Ilida was an important city of the Ancient Ileia. It is considered that this is the city that founded the Ancient Olympic Games since the athletes as well as the judges of the games, called “Hellanodikes” had to spend a month of preparation before the opening of the Games there. Nowadays, visitors can admire the ruins of this archaeological place as well as the new Archaeological museum. In the summer the area hosts one of the most important festivals of the area with concerts and performances of Ancient Greek tragedy and comedy.

These are just a few of the places worth visiting in the land of Ileia and in the town of Pyrgos. We can’t wait to take you around all these places when you visit us.

HERE ARE THE CHILDREN WHO WORDED ON THE TEXTS OF THIS PRESENTATION!!!!CHILDREN:

ASIMAKOPOULOU MARIA

AVGERINOPOULOU FRYNI

BRIKOU DIMITRA

KARAMICHAILIDIS BILL

MIKELLI MARIANNA

PLAGOS SEBASTIAN

SPYROPOULOS IOANNIS

THANKS TO THESE CHILDREN WE FOUND THE INFORMATION FOR THI S POWER POINT!!!

RESOURSES USED FOR THE TEXTS:

http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/

http://www.patrisnews.com/

http://ethnos.gr/

MOST OF THE PHOTOS USED IN PRESENTATION WERE TAKEN BY THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TEAM.

THANKS TO THE CHILDREN OF PHOTOGRAPHIC TEAM WE HAVE THESE WONDERFUL PHOTOS .

THE CHILDREN ARE:

ARVANITI GEORGIA

DRAKOPOULOU THEODORA

KONDYLIS DROSOS

LYGA LINA

FERLES CHARIS

CHILDREN WHO WORKED FOR THE POWERPOINT:

ASIMAKOPOULOU MARIA

MIKELLI MARIANNA

AVGERINOPOULOU FRYNI