29 days in Paradise
Euro 2004 Picture Book by Chrysohoidis - Close Out Sale

This is a photo album that takes you through the 29 days to the European Championship in 2004. Focusing in our National team, each page is a historic moment to victory. Written by Thomas Chrisohoidis.

Hardcover in Greek.

This is a closeout sale at the amazing price of $89.95 (regular $120). Limited number of books available.
Get your copy today!

Note: The book's shipping weight is over 4 lbs (2 kgs).
 

Special Feature: With Music and Dance

The word "music" comes from Greek, and originally applied not only to music in the narrow sense but also meant all the musical arts, and therefore included dance, which is one of the oldest forms of human expression.  Young men dance in Homer's Odyssey; Sirens sing, or at any rate emit sounds; Pan plays his pipes and Athena, briefly, the double flute; Apollo plucks the lyre - no wonder songs and dances with traditional connections still have a firm foothold in Greek daily life.  Even in the cities it is not unusual to see young people dancing step sequences, parts of which may be hundreds of years old, and Greek children still learn some of their country's best-known folk dances at school. 

When people talk about Greek music today, they usually mean songs written in the 19th century, which have a historical or political significance.  Many of them were protest or resistance songs, with which people could identify. 

The most important Greek musical genre of the last century is the rembetiko, which originated in the poor quarters of Athens at the time when the first Greek refugees from Asia Minor, who had lost everything they owned, settled there around 1923.  With no money, no jobs, and pushed to the margins of society, they met in the evenings in the simplest restaurants to give musical expression to their melancholy.  Today people compare the rembetiko to the American blues, which arose in similar circumstances.  This kind of music, which has become socially acceptable since the 1950s, has hardly changed, although the conditions in which it is performed have.  What was once the lament of the homeless has now become entertainment for relaxing evenings, when there is not only singing and dancing but also a great deal of eating. 

 

The bouzouki is considered the most Greek of all musical instruments.  No music bar can be without it.	Gaida, the Greek bagpipe, is one of the instruments used for folk music.	Modeled on the ancient lyra, this three-stringed instrument is played like a violin.	Tambouri, the classical drum, is beaten hard and makes a muffled sound.

Among round dances of rural origin, two basic groups can be distinguished according to their tempo  and types of steps.  Sirtos are slow round dances with sliding, shuffling steps.  Pidiktos are faster; the dancers hop, skip, stamp, and jump.  Round dances are always danced in a counter-clockwise direction. 

Among the five best-known of the 150 Greek dances are two centuries-old peasant dances, kalamatianos and tsamikos, and three dances, seibekikos, khasapikos and tsifteteli, belonging to 20th-century urban popular culture.

Kalamatianos: this dance, which comes from Kalamata in the Peloponnese, is danced by a number of people holding hands in a line.  The leader dances variations on the basic long-short-short step. 

Tsamikos: this dance from Epirus is also known as the "handkerchief" dance, because the leader and the second dancer hold opposite corners of a handkerchief.  This round dance in three-four time is danced mainly  by men.  At the time of the war of independence, it was thought of as the dance of the mountain fighters.  At the climax of the tsamikos, the leader executes complicated, truly acrobatic leaps. 

Seibekikos:  this was originally a dance for men, but is now also danced by women.  This improvisatory dance is led by one person, or by people who circle round one another.  In the world-famous film Zobra the Greek, Anthony Quinn danced something resembling a seibekikos.  This dance is considered difficult, because it has no set sequences of movements.  It relies entirely on the dancer's individual interpretation.

Khasapikos:  in this "butcher's dance," men and women hold each other by the shoulders with outstretched arms.  The basic pattern of the step sequence is three side-steps to the right, three to the left and two cross-steps forward.  The movements of khasapikos are slow and dignified.  The origin of this dance is uncertain, but people have tried to find a connection with the Byzantine makellariokos (makellaris as in butcher).  The sirtaki is actually a simplified version of the khasapikos and was specially created to the music of Mikis Theodorakis for Anthony Quinn in the role of Zorba.  Nobody  could have foreseen at the time that this compromise solution would become the most famous of Greek dances.  Where the khasapikos is tense and concentrated, the sirtaki is relaxed, but lively, and speeds up toward the end. 

Tsifteteli:  this dance of Turkish origin, with its circling, markedly sensual movements, used to be the all-female equivalent of the khasapikos.  It is another dance that is no longer danced separately by the two sexes.  

 

Bouzouki of my dreams	Greek Folk Music	Zorba the Greek	An Invitation to Greek Dance CD	Athan Karras Collection of Traditional Greek Dances	Greek Dances The best folk & popular dances
Greek Blue Instrumental Waves (2 CDs)	Dinner in Greece	Rebetiko-The Best Collection	A Night in a Greek Taverna	20 Original Greek Dances DVD (PAL)	Greek Dancing with Athan Karras DVD (NTSC)

and more...

  Featured Destination: Kythnos

GEOGRAPHY. This island, the second of the Western Cyclades, lies between Kea, Syros and Seriphos. It is 99 sq. km. in area, has 98 km. of coast, 1,502 inhabitants and is 52 nautical miles from Piraeus. Its capital is Kythnos (Chora) or Mesaria. A ferry boat operates between Kythnos and Lavrion, via Kea, as well as Piraeus (more frequent during the summer).

The terrain is mountainous (highest peak Profitis Ilias, 368 m. a.s.l.) with small areas of flat land and many coves. The population is engaged exclusively in agriculture and animal husbandry. The island is particularly well-known for its therapeutic springs (Loutra), on account of which it was known as Thermia. With very few tourists and lovely beaches, Kythnos is an ideal spot for those seeking solitude and island life with minimal comforts.

HISTORY. In antiquity the island was known by several names and has been inhabited since Neolithic times, as evident from recent finds from Loutra, dated 7000 - 6500 BC, the earliest proof of human presence in the Cyclades. In Mycenaean times Dryopes lived here and it was they who gave the island its present name. Kythnos played an active role during the Persian Wars, joined the Athenian League, was subject to the Macedonians, Ptolemies and Romans and in Byzantine times belonged to the Thema of the Aegean. During the Latin occupation it was part of the Duchy of Naxos. In 1337 it was ruled by the Italian Gozzadini family who maintained their preeminence even after the island was pillaged by Barbarossa (1537), up until 1617 when they were ousted by the Turks. During the reign of king Otto it was a place of exile for revolutionaries and political opponents.

 SIGHTS-MONUMENTS. The island's capital, Chora, stands on a hill in the hinterland and is not visible from the sea. The typically asymmetrical Cycladic houses spread out to right and left of the two parallel main streets. On a nearby spur stands the monastery of the Virgin of Nikos. There are several Postbyzantine churches in Chora (the oldest is the Holy Trinity), built according to Western prototypes since the Catholic faith held sway here for quite some time. The majority have wood carved iconostases (Saviour, Taxiarchs, Christ, St. Savvas, Transfiguration) with important icons in the Veneto-Cretan style, painted by the hagiographer Skordilis.

North of Chora (approx. 1.5 km.) are the remains of a Hellenistic tower. 4 km. south of Chora is Dryopida, a characteristic Cycladic village with its snow-white houses built on either side of a dry river bed. In the church of St. Minas there is an intricately carved wooden iconostasis and despotic throne. At the southern edge of the village is the Katafyki cave with a wealth of stalagmitic and stalactitic decoration, as yet unexploited.

Southeast of Chora (16 km.) stands the monastery of the Virgin Kanala, patroness of the island, whose icon is reputed to have been found in a canal, hence the epithet. On her feast days (15th August and 8th September) pilgrims congregate here in great numbers.

Northeast of Chora (4.5 km.) is Loutra, renowned for its medicinal springs. North of Loutra, at Palaiokastro, are the remains of the medieval capital of the island with the ruins of its Venetian castle on the hilltop. Parts of the enceinte are preserved but almost nothing has survived of the houses, which numbered more than 1000. Only two of the 100 or so churches are preserved, dating from the 13th and 14th century, that of the Virgin (Our Lady) of Mercy being in better condition.

On the west side of the island (approx. 8 km. from Chora) is the harbor of Mericha and north of this, at Vriokastro, are traces of the ancient city. Northwest of Mericha is the islet Aghios Loukas, joined to the main island by a narrow spit of sand. South of Mericha, in the locality of Flambouria, is the church of the Virgin Flambouriani.

The island's azure waters and numerous sandy beaches are excellent for both swimming and fishing: Episkopi, Kolona (only by caique), Kanala, Flambouria (by boat), Aghios Stefanos, Aghia Irini, Kalo Livadi. These beaches are accessible by bus or on foot, whereas those with a boat may explore all the island's coves, as well as visit neighboring Tzia. Refueling station at Mericha. There are a few hotels, rooms and apartments for rent.
 

 Travel Guides and Information for your trip in the area

 Saints' Namedays in January

Icons depicting the celebrated Saint, make great gifts for namedays.
Shop among our great collection of icons at our store. Also available, namedays, birthday, holiday, and special occasion greeting cards.

Gold and Silver Icons	Hand painted Icons	Icons by Zafiris
Want to know more about Orthodox Saints? Complete biographies of Orthodox Saints are now available.

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