Archaeologists have discovered a 2,500-year-old ancient structure in the western Peloponnese, which may be the temple Greece dedicated to the ancient god of the sea, Poseidon.
According to Ekathimerini, the find was announced by the University of Mainz in Germany, which is one of the partners in the excavation, along with the Austrian Archaeological Institute, the University of Kiel and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Elis. The excavation work started this year at the site of Kleidi Samikou.
General view of excavation. Photo: Ministry of Defence
“The ancient Greek historian Strabo referred to the presence of an important shrine located on the west coast of the Peloponnese some 2,000 years ago. Remains of such an Archaic temple have now been uncovered at the Kleidi site near Samikon, which presumably once formed part of the sanctuary of Poseidon,” the university explained according to Ekathimerini.
The early temple-like structure was located within the Poseidon sanctuary site and “was quite possibly dedicated to the deity himself,” it said, pointing to the location of the structure as being particularly significant.
Enclosure department. Ministry of Defence
“Along the extended curve of the Gulf of Kyparissa is a group of three hills of solid rock surrounded by coastal alluvial sediments in an area otherwise dominated by lagoons and coastal swamps. Because this location was easily accessed and secure, a settlement was established here during the Mycenaean era that continued to flourish for several centuries and was able to maintain contacts to the north and south along the coast,” the university said.
An extensive archaeological, geoarchaeological and geophysical analysis of the structure is to be conducted over the next few years, it added.
Nicolas Skourides, the first Greek Cypriot to build a house and settle in the northern part of Cyprus has passed away, according to the Turkish Cypriot publication, Yeni Dusen.
The funeral for Mr Skouridis was held on Tuesday January 17, at St George Church in Agios Dometios.
Shortly before his death, Skouridis told Yeni Dusen that he was determined to settle in Larnaca, Lapithos, where he wished to spend the rest of his life.
John Deligiannis, also known as JJ Spartan, is a dynamic personality in the field of wrestling who has made his presence felt in the ring by winning titles that make his fellow Greeks proud.
In an interview with The Greek Herald, John Deligiannis shares about Australian Wrestling Entertainment (AWE) after a recent Halloween spectacular event at Canterbury RSL Club in 2022, where he defeated Trucker Taylor.
AWE is the biggest Wrestling company in Australia and South East Asia, Deligiannis told The Greek Herald. “The owner of the company is Sammy Russo who shares with me the passion and idea of bringing the traditional school of wrestling back to this generation.”
“Sammy has been wrestling for almost 28 years and for the last 12 years he has created this company AWE and has been doing shows in western Sydney and inland,” Deligiannis said.
John Deligiannis defeats Trucker TaylorJohn Deligiannis John Deligiannis
The AWE Wrestling Academy is located in Belmore and the wrestlers train with the NSW gymnastics team to improve their strength and mobility. Mr Russo, the owner of AWE, also brings coaches from America and England to assist with training.
AWE is a multicultural company with a mission to give back to the community, Deligiannis told The Greek Herald. “At our company, our position is open to any questions about wrestling, especially how to integrate young guys into this sport away from the temptations of our society and become the future stars of wrestling.”
Deligiannis is also involved in creating films and documentaries to motivate young Greek girls who want to be involved with the seventh art, and to show them the “opportunities to promote the Greek element through films, series and documentaries.”
Petros Mavromichalis, also known as Petrobey or Petrombeis, was a Greek general, politician and leading figure of Mani and the Peloponnese during the final twenty years of the Ottoman rule, passing away on January 17, 1848.
Mavromichalis was one of the protagonists in the Greek War of Independence, 1821 Struggle, and whose family had a long history of revolts against the Ottoman Empire, which ruled most of what is now Greece.
Mavromichalis was born on August 6, 1773 to parents, Ilias or Pierros Mavromichalis and Aikaterini Koutsogrigorakis, the daughter of a prominent family of Mani.
The protagonist married the daughter of the provost of Kalamata Panagiotis Benaki, Anna Benaki, at a young age. They had six children who are; Ilias Mavromichalis (1795 to 1822), fighter of the ’21, fell fighting in Styra, Evia; Panagiotitsa Mavromichalis, wife of Dimitrios Sahinis; Georgios Mavromichalis (1798 to 1831), fighter of ’21 and murderer of Ioannis Kapodistrias; Anastasios Mavromichalis (1799 to 1870), fighter of the 21st century and politician after the liberation; Ioannis Mavromichalis (1804 to 1825), fighter of the ’21; and Dimitrios Mavromichalis (1809 to 1882), soldier and politician.
Petros Mavromichalis
In 1800 after the death of his father, Mavromichalis reconciled the members of his family who were divided by oppositions. He would become one of the strongest personalities of Mani because of his intelligence and bravery during the period of the persecution of thieves in the Peloponnese in the 19th Century, where he helped them escape to the Iptane Islands, according to San Simera.
When the French occupied the Ionian Islands in 1807, Mavromichalis and Theodoros Kolokotronis sought out Napoleon’s interest in the organisation of a rebellion for the liberation of the Peloponnese.
Mavromichalis rose to office of the bey of Mani in 1815, due to his involvement in the public affairs of Mani and his involvement in the Revolution to mitigate the oppositions of the powerful families of the region. According to San Simera, he officially assumed the title of Bas-Bogu (Sovereign) on June 22, 1816 with the goal of cessation of civil strife, and to restore peace and the suppression of piracy.
In January 1821, Mavromichalis organised and consulted with prefects of Kalamata which would later lead to the liberation of the city. Mavromichalis along with two thousand armed men captured Kalamata and expelled the Turkish garrison on March 23, liberating the city and forming the “Messinian Senate”
Mavromichalis assembled the Messenian Assembly of Elders and was elected first president and field marshal of the Greek forces.
Petrobey Mavromichalis with the rebellious Greeks of Messinia, work of Peter von Es.
Mavromichalis became more involved in political affairs and military operations, of which he was elected president of the Assembly of the Calthes in 1821. He would also resume the roles of vice-president of the Parliament after the First National Assembly of Epidaurus (December to January 1822), president of the Second National Assembly of Astros (April 1823), and president of the Parliament and president of the Executive (May to December 1823).
In 1822, Mavromichalis along with an army of 500 Maniates fought against Dramalis to prevent the reinforcement of the Turkish forces that were besieging Messolonghi. Mavromichalis also organised the defence of Mani from the invasion of Ibrahim’s Egyptians in the Peloponnese in 1825. He was appointed a member of the “Administrative Committee of Greece” in April 1826, which led the revolutionary Greece until April 1827.
Mavromichalis played a decisive role in numerous battles such as in the siege of Tripolitsa, the battle of the Lerna Mills together with his brother Constantine Mavromichalis, Demetrios Hypsilantis, John Makriyannis and the philhellenes, and the fall of Argos.
In 1830, Mavromichalis brother, Tzanis or Katsis, rebelled in Tsimova against the prefect of Messinia, Ioannis Genovelis, who sought to destroy Mavromichalians influence in Mani.
Mavromichalis would go under surveillance in Nafplio, where he attempted to escape in February 1831 to return to Mani and impose an order. During the escape, his ship was capsized by a storm in Katakolo and he was arrested and imprisoned in Nafplio as a defendant with the charge of high treason, according to San Simera.
After mediation of the German Philhellenic Irinaios Thiersch (Friedrich Thiersch), Augustinos Kapodistrias ordered the release of Mavromichalis in 1832. Following his release, he set out to mediate between the Kapodistrians and the “Constitutionalists” to prevent a new civil war. Mavromichalis was appointed vice-president of the Council of the Territory during first period of Othon’s reign and after the third Revolution, he would later represent Zygos (Oitlou) in the First National Assembly.
Statue of Petros Mavromichalis in Areopoli
Petros “Petrombeis” Mavromichalis died on January 17 1848 at age 82 in Athens and was buried with the highest honours of a lieutenant. He was lamented as one of the purest and most virtuous heroes of the Greek War of Independence, especially by King Otto, whom he wholeheartedly admired.
Bank of Sydney has announced that its long-serving CEO, Miltos Michaelas, will be departing the Bank at the end of June 2023 to return to Cyprus after over 6 years in the position following earlier tenure as CEO between October 2001 and July 2006.
Mr Michaelas has successfully guided the development of the Bank’s long-term strategic plan with a focus on driving internal efficiencies and the implementation of automation and digitisation projects. These initiatives will continue to drive better outcomes for the Bank’s people, its customers and its communities in the years to come.
The Bank’s Chairman, Nicholas Pappas said, “Miltos Michaelas has held the position of CEO, for over 6 years and has shown unwavering dedication and service. Most notably, Miltos successfully led the Bank through one of its largest transformational periods, the products of which will be continued and sustainable organisational growth. The Board conveys to him and his wife Despo its deep appreciation for all that has been achieved and wishes them well on their return to Cyprus.”
Mr Michaelas commented, “There is a strength in Bank of Sydney’s Board, Executive, people and operational capabilities. Bank of Sydney is in a strong position to achieve growth, and the timing is right for me to now focus on my family overseas.”
The Board, together with the Executive team, will focus on delivering a seamless transition.
Bank of Sydney extends its gratitude and very best wishes to Miltos and his family for the future.
Maria Sakkari entered the Australian Open with the right hand. In the first grand slam of the year, the Greek, No. 6 in the world ranking, prevailed 2-0 (6-1, 6-4) against Yue Wan from China (No. 119).
The Greek was superior and showed on the court that her Chinese opponent would not be able to stop her.
In the next round, Sakkari will face 18-year-old Diana Snyder (No.106) from Russia, who prevailed 7-6, 7-5 over Kristina Kutsova (No.272) from Slovakia.
Sakkari directly showed the difference in quality between her and her opponent. She may have lost the first game, with the Chinese defending her serve, but the rest was… a monologue. Maria managed to take a 2-1 lead by breaking in the third game, but found her back against the wall in the next as Wan went to triple break point. The Greek erased it and reached 3-1. In fact, he did not lose a game until the end and with three breaks he won the set (6-1).
In the second set, Wan surprised Sakkari and broke to take a 2-0 lead, as she then held her serve. After the 3-1 in favor of the Chinese, Sakkari reacted and with her own break equalized at 3-3. After 4-4, Sakkari came one breath away from qualification (5-4) and finally won with a break in the last game.
The Greek Women’s rugby league team will play their first international tournament at Lidcombe Ovalin in Sydney, Australia this month.
The Greek rugby team will have Australian based players among their squad as they compete against the Philippines in the Sydney International tournament on January 28 for 2023.
This comes after their recent success in the European Championships tournament in 2022, where Greece won the southern section winning both their games in the teams first tournament.
Head coach of the Greek Rugby League Federation, Stuart McLennan, said in a statement about the upcoming tournament, “In 2019 we formed a very inexperienced Greek national team with domestic players and traveled to Turkey where we were beaten 40-4.”
🇬🇷🆚🇵🇭 Our 🇦🇺 Australia-based ladies will do battle against the Philippines next month! 🔥 5pm Sydney, 8am Greece time. 📺 Live stream links will be posted a few days before the match. pic.twitter.com/WlEpg6F2ef
McLennan said in the statement Greece has a tough mission against the Philippines team as they have already played an international match in Australia against Malta, but the head coach believes the Greek rugby team has a special factor that will drive them in the Sydney tournament.
“Having coached and watched a number of Greek sides, I know there is a special spirit that embraces the players when they pull on the blue and white jersey. I am confident we will put in a good showing,” McLennan said.
“Our aim with playing this match against the Philippines is to take a core group of heritage players to Europe and combine them with our best Greece based players to form a team that will be competitive in the 2025 World Cup qualifying matches to be held later this year,” McLennan explained in the statement.
Greek Rugby League Manager Terry Liberopoulos has been recruiting female rugby league players with a Greece born parent or grandparent who wish to play for their heritage nation.
Greek Rugby League Australia is on the hunt for female players. Photo: John Bonanno.
“We have around 20 players who have responded but there may be some unavailable or unable to play due to injuries. We have five players returning from two years ago when we played in the Sydney 9s tournament. We have a mixture of experience in the squad,” Liberopoulos said in a statement.
Liberopoulos also announced there is still an opportunity for Greek heritage rugby players to qualify who are interested in competing in the Sydney International tournament.
Greece will compete against the Philippines in the Women’s Rugby League International tournament at Lidcombe Oval, Sydney on Saturday 28 January at 5pm.
If you or anyone you know have Greek heritage and want the opportunity to represent Greece, email Greek Rugby League Manager Terry Liberopoulos at terry@rugbyleaguereview.com.
Greek Australian, Chris Dimopoulos, owner of the Blue Sea Fish Shop in Castlemaine, Victoria, shared his frustrations about McDonald’s new potato scallop in a TikTok video posted on Friday.
The TikTok video where Mr Dimopoulos shares his concerns over the potato shortage in Australia and McDonald’s new potato item, has since gone viral with over one million views.
McDonald’s Australia introduced the potato product as part of their Summer special menu for a limited time.
According to the peak industry body for Australian vegetable and potato industries, the potatoes used to make hot chips, scallops and other potato products are in low supply at the moment due to weather conditions and a surge in demand for chips, Kitchen Nine reported.
Mr Dimopoulos said in the TikTok video, “I think it’s a marketing ploy. For me, it’s about where are these potatoes coming from?”
“If you’ve got 990 odd Macca’s stores in Australia and you serve about 1.7 million, according to your own website, 1.7 million customers a day, if you sell one potato cake to every 10 customers, that’s 170,000 potato cakes you’re selling every single day,” Mr Dimopoulos said.
AUSVEG’s National Manager of Communications Shaun Lindhe said in a statement to Kitchen Nine regarding the potato shortage, “While it is unclear how long this tightened supply may last, these issues occur from time to time and are usually only experienced in the short-term once supply levels resume to more normal levels.”
The fish and chip store owner took to the Today show on the weekend to further share his frustrations of being a small business owner in Australia during a potato shortage. Mr Dimopoulos told the hosts that he and other small business owners have been given a specific allocation of potatoes.
“My suppliers have told me that I’m on an allocation. I can’t get more than what I get, so they’ve average my my use out over the last 12 months and said, ‘Well, that’s what you usually use. You can’t get any more than that’. I’m good to that point, but if I start selling more, if I get busier, I had a really good day, I won’t be able to top off the next week,” Mr Dimopoulos said.
A spokesperson for McDonald’s Australia said in a statement the potatoes for the scallops were sourced before the current shortage, according to Kitchen Nine. “McDonald’s Australia has been proudly supporting Aussie farmers for more than 50 years. Wherever possible we prefer to source local, including Aussie potatoes for our famous fries and hash browns,” the spokesperson said.
Mr Dimopoulos pointed out in his TikTok video, “It’s the same potato we use for our chips. If McDonald’s are going to sell 170,000 potato cakes a day across all their shops, that’s no potatoes left for every mum and dad shop left in Australia.”
“It’s a really tough time at the moment. It’s been a really hard time for us to get the supply we need to run our businesses,” Mr Dimopoulos added.
Mr Dimopoulos encouraged his consumers to support local businesses. “Every fish shop I know around here is struggling to get chips, potatoes, potato cakes, we’ve just gone through dim sims, cabbage, every other shortage, lettuce shortage. Now we’ve run into a chip shortage and Macca’s is bringing out a potato cake, and their stealing all the bloody potato cakes, stealing all the potatoes.”
“We need to make sure we’re supporting our locals. You know, even down to your local pub and stuff. If they don’t have chips, we need to be a little bit understanding.”
After exactly 2 hours of play at the Margaret Court Arena, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Quentin Halys 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (6) and qualified for the 2nd round of the Australian Open, for the 5th consecutive year.
Out of the 4 previous ones, 3 of them reached the semi-finals and one of them he completed his appearance in the 3rd round. Tsitsipas hit 17 aces and 46 winners today, 10 more than Halys, while also having only 17 unforced errors compared to the French player’s 30.
Stefanos was generally much better, with the exception of only the 3rd set, in which Halys managed to surprise him and balance things out. In more detail, in the first 2 sets the Greek champion dominated the court.
On his serve he lost only 8 points, from 4 in each set, while he “broke” Halys’ serve once, in the 4th game of the 1st set (3-1) and in the 7th (4-3) of the 2nd. Stef also opened the 3rd set with a break, who in the 2nd game of the 3rd set was faced with break points for the 1st time, but overturned 15-40 and made it 2-0, showing that he would reach a very comfortable straight sets victory. Halys, with nothing left to lose, risked too much on his returns and it paid off, turning the 3rd set into a derby.
Making successive breaks on Stefanos’ serve, to take a 4-2 lead. Tsitsipas fought back and equalized with another break at 4-4, but the Frenchman remained upright for the rest of the set and led 5-4 and 6-5.
He even had a triple set point at 5-6, 0-40 and 4 set points in total in the 12th game, with Stefanos coming out of this very difficult position and sending the set to the tie-break.
There our champion found himself with his back against the wall, after being behind 0-3 and 1-4, but he managed to balance initially and then create his first match points, at 6-5 and 7-6, to tap into the 2nd and complete his mission before things get dangerous.
Crete has been named one of the top 10 destinations in the world for adventure and wellness tourism in 2023, according to the Spanish magazine Hosteltur.
Hosteltur listed Crete as one of the best adventure vacations to tick off your travel bucket list, reported amna.gr. While all countries offer an adventure of some kind, the magazine cited the findings of a recent survey conducted by Mabrian Technologies, a Spanish travel intelligence services provider.
The Greek island occupies the second place, behind Bali, Indonesia, and above Algarve, Portugal.
Crete among top 10 destinations in the world for adventure and wellness. Photo: amna.gr
“Crete broke all tourism records in 2022, despite the absence of Russian tourists, who are one of its main markets, and despite the fact that it is mainly a summer destination. In addition, it showed an increase in air seats by 17% compared to last year, both for domestic and international routes,” Hosteltur writes in the magazine.
“In terms of accommodation, it is the destination with the second most competitive average hotel price offered for the coming months. Finally, Crete collects 57% of the comments for active tourism, for activities in nature and for wellness tourism.”
