Melina Mercouri 1920-2020

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art., ATHENS, Mercouri, parthenon, Piraeus

Melina Mercouri would be 100 years old in 2020, she died of cancer in New York in March 1994. She was a figure in my childhood, the movie Never on Sunday made her world famous. She was a women of great talent and became a vocal politician and defender of culture. She spoke well and with passion, her life long dream was the return of the Elgin Marbles taken from Greece during the Turkish Occupation by the British Ambassador Thomas Bruce Lord Elgin in a bid to make a quick profit, he was unlucky and despite bringing the marbles of the Parthenon to London, the British Museum refused to pay much for them. He lost his shirt in the process. The British Government to this day refuses to return the marbles, despite the fact that the New Acropolis Museum has a special room built on purpose for them. When I was accredited to Greece, I remember a plan where the British proposed to loan back the marbles at cost to the Greek Government, how cheeky!! They stole them from the Greeks in 1801.

Melina Mercouri came from a politically prominent family. She graduated from the Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece. Her first major role, at the age of 20, was Lavinia in Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra, but perhaps her most memorable parts were Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire and the good-hearted prostitute in the film Never on Sunday (1960). This film gained her an international reputation that would serve her well in politics. Her involvement in politics was triggered by her indignation over the military coup that brought a handful of army colonels to power in Greece in 1967 forcing King Constantin to go into exile.Married to the French-born film director Jules Dassin (1911-2008) (who directed most of her films), she was abroad when the coup d’Etat occurred. She dedicated herself to stimulating opposition against the military junta in Europe, to the extent that she was deprived of her Greek citizenship by the colonels’ regime.After the collapse of the dictatorship in 1974, she returned to Greece and promptly joined Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou’s Panhellenic Socialist Union (PASOK). She ran unsuccessfully that year for Parliamentary deputy from the same Piraeus district that had made her famous in Never on Sunday, but she was elected when she ran a second time, in 1977. Reelected in 1981 when Pasok won a general election, she was appointed by Papandreou to be his minister of culture.As Greek minister of Culture, one of her major efforts was an attempt to persuade the British government to return the Elgin Marbles stolen from the Parthenon to Greece; she also increased government subsidies for the arts. She served in the post until 1989, when PASOK lost power; she was reappointed after their electoral victory in 1993.

In 1971 Mercouri published an autobiography, I Was Born Greek. In 1997 UNESCO created the Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes; the prize is awarded every two years.

White marble monument to the memory of Melina Mercouri on Andrea Siggrou street across from the Olympian Zeus Temple in Athens. In Athens I would pass her monument every morning on my way to work, hello Melina!

Manos Hadjidakis (1925-1994) won the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Never On Sunday” at the 33rd Annual Academy Awards® in 1961. He was one of the greatest Greek Composer of the 20th century. The song is actually entitled in Greek Ta Paidia tou Peiraia, les enfants du Pirée, the children of the Piraeus, the film was titled in English,  Never on Sunday. A great classic, a movie I love to watch, though the Greece presented in this movie no longer exist.

 

 

A smile with food

Tags

ATHENS, chicken, cuisine, Food, Greece, lemons, Potatoes

I just saw this and I like Chef John and his recipes. I thought this is a great recipe and it reminded me a lot of my years in Greece.  This is a real Greek recipe and tasted it, I am sure you will enjoy it. We need good news, we need that sunshine now. So why not think happy thoughts and for those of you who have been to Greece this will for sure bring memories.

Greek Lemon Chicken and potatoes:

Ingredients for 4 Portions Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes:

1 whole chicken, about 4 pound, cut in sections,

OR 4 pounds chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on

3 russet potatoes, cut in quarters

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 rounded tablespoon dried oregano

pinch of cayenne

6 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

2/3 cup chicken broth for the pan, plus a splash to deglaze after roasting

fresh chopped oregano to garnish

Roast at 425 for about 45 minutes, or until the chicken is well browned and cooked through.

The video will show you how to do it all:

Restoration

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Acropolis, ATHENS, Berlin, Canaletto, Dresden, Neue Palais, Potsdam, Prussia, Restoration

I have always been interested in historical restoration of buildings, despite the fact that many archeologists oppose such restoration as not genuine, especially in buildings of great antiquity or in buildings which have been totally destroyed.

If any restoration should take place often it is in the consolidation of the buildings foundations or some partial and limited reconstruction of any structure, clearly marking where the work took place so it should not be mistaken by any future restorer or student as original.

In Athens in the last 30 years important restorations have taken place on the Acropolis, a monumental complex 2500 years old. The work was necessary due to the advance state of decay of the remaining buildings and their importance to Western Civilization. The Parthenon has been extensively restored to prevent any further decay and hundreds of fragments have been found so they could be re-incorporated into the building. The original Parthenon was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC and re-built under Pericles between 479 and 439 BC. The greatest destruction was inflicted during the long war between the Ottoman Turks and the Venetians who attacked Athens  in 1687 and fired upon the temple which the Turks had used as a gun powder depot, the resulting explosion gave us what we see today. The restoration which I visited many times in the last 17 years are very impressive and will conserve this important monument for the future. The Greeks in recent years have also restored the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike and the gate or Propylaea.

Under Mussolini from 1923-1939 much of what tourists see today in the Roman Forum was the results of excavations and restorations as political gestures to support the Fascist program of Il Duce. Prior to Mussolini’s rule little could be seen and most of the Roman Forum was covered with modern neighbourhoods, all had to be destroyed and removed to uncover Imperial Rome.

In Germany with the end of the Second World War much of the country was in ruins, the great monuments of the 17th and 18th centuries had been bombed and burnt. Dresden was destroyed in two nights of fire bombing in February 1945. After the war, Dresden found itself in the Eastern part of Germany and the Communists had no interest in re-building the city. What Canaletto had painted in 1747 while under commission to Frederick-Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland was the only memory of that glorious city. 

We visited Dresden 3 years ago and saw how the city has been re-built to a point where all the ancient monuments have been brought back to life. The most stunning is the Lutheran FrauenKirche (church of our Lady) built in 1726 by George Bähr with a height of 91 meters.

When we first saw it it was nothing more than rubble, an amazing feat of restoration.

The City of Berlin has undergone the same transformation since 1989 with its re-unification as the Capital of Germany, the Berlin City Palace is nearing completion and is the single most expensive public-private project in Germany at 790 million Euros.

In Potsdam which is a suburb of Berlin, much restoration and re-building of the 18th century buildings has been going on. The City Palace was completely re-built and the Park complex where the famous palace Sans Souci of Frederick II the Great is located has seen much restoration of the pavilions, gardens, Royal tombs and other palaces including the Neue Palais built in 1763 to commemorate the victory of Prussia and England in the Seven Years War against France and Austria.

The Neue Palais (new palace) is intact and avoided being bombed during WWII. Frederick II used it to show off the power of the Prussian State. Frederick II would live there in the Winter and move to Sans Souci down the park alley in the Summer. This palace is also interesting has it was the last residence of the German Emperor Frederick III who only reigned for 99 days dying of cancer and his son Emperor Wilhelm II until his forced abdication in 1918 and exile to Holland.

In front of the Palace and in keeping with the baroque style so loved by Frederick II a folie or fantaisie was built in the form of a semi-circle colonnade with two pavilions. It was damaged after 1918 and during WWII. The first time I saw it in 1997 it was in very poor state and needed much repair, it was cordoned off because it could collapse.

As of 2004 a great effort was made to re-built it and the work is now complete, it can be admired as it was at the time of Frederick II. Here are some photos of it.

This photo taken from the steps of the Neue Palais looking at the colonnade during an open air concert.

Side view, prior to 1997 many of the allegorical statues on the top where missing and had to be re-carved and re-installed. The columns and architectural elements replaced and the copper roof completely redone.

This aerial photo shows the complex, the buildings on either side of the colonnade where servants quarters. Today the buildings are part of the University of Potsdam. While the Neue Palais is a museum, it has 200 rooms and 4 state reception rooms and much of its original furnishings. All of these places are interesting to visit because it is living history.

There are many more cities in Europe who restored their ancient buildings. The State is actively involved and the public often subscribe with donations to these projects.

In France one famous site is the Palais of Versailles, with the help of the American Friends of Versailles, hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised to restore this palace and garden to its pre-revolutionary glory. I remember one visit in 1969 with my parents, what a sad site it was, so much was closed to the public and only up-keep work could be done. Much of the furniture of the palace was sold in 1792 prior to the execution of Queen Marie-Antoinette. Most bought by wealthy English Aristocrats for a few pennies, in London today much of this furniture and various paintings and objects belonging to the Royal Family of France can be seen in mint condition.

Restoration and conservation is important and gives an accurate picture of what life was like back then. One wonders why in Canada we make so little effort to conserve and protect our history.

 

 

Caryatids Erechteion

Tags

Acropolis, Archeology, ATHENS, Caryatids, Greece, history

The caryatids of the erechteion on the Acropolis in Athens are famous due to their great age but also for what seems like eternal presence on this spot. What you see today is not the original but faithful copies. The originals are in the New Acropolis Museum where now you can walk all around them and admire their beauty and intricate hairstyle, each different from the other. They inspired an architectural style found in many buildings. One is missing as it was stolen by the infamous bounty hunter Lord Elgin and sold for a pittance to the British Museum.

If you look at them standing up high on this portico it is difficult to appreciate them for their beauty. However by going to the New Acropolis Museum you can walk around them and see at eye level how well preserved the original caryatides are despite being 2400 years old.

The Erechtheion (or Erechtheum) is an ancient Greek temple constructed on the acropolis of Athens between 421 and 406 BCE in the Golden Age of the city in order to house the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena and generally glorify the great city at the height of its power and influence. The Erechtheion has suffered a troubled history of misuse and neglect, but with its prominent position above the city and porch of six Caryatids, it remains one of the most distinctive buildings from antiquity.

The project to replace the damaged buildings of the acropolis following the Persian attack on the city in 480 BCE was begun in 447 BCE, instigated by Pericles, supervised by Pheidias. The results would include the Parthenon and new Propylaea on the Acropolis itself and an Odeion and the Temple of Hephaistos. The final piece to complete the magnificent complex of temples on the acropolis was the Erechtheion, begun in 421 BCE. However, the project was interrupted by resumption of hostilities between Athens and Sparta and the temple was not finally completed until 406 BCE under the supervision of the architect Philocles.

The Erechtheion, named after the demi-god Erechtheus, the mythical Athenian king, was conceived as a suitable structure to house the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena, which maintained its religious significance despite the arrival of the gigantic statue within the nearby Parthenon. The building also had other functions, though, notably as the shrine centre for other more ancient cults: to Erechtheus, his brother Boutes – the Ploughman, Pandrosos, the mythical first Athenian king Kekrops (or Cecrops) – half-man, half-snake, and the gods Hephaistos and Poseidon.

The sacred serpent (oikouros ophis), which was believed to be an incarnation of Erechtheus, dwelt in one of the western chambers and acted as guardian to the city. Well looked after, it was regularly fed with honey cakes.

As with the other new buildings on the acropolis, the Erechtheion was built from Pentelic marble which came from the nearby Mt. Pentelicus and was celebrated for its pure white appearance and fine grain. It also contains traces of iron which over time have oxidised, giving the marble a soft honey colour, a quality particularly evident at sunrise and sunset.

The whole building was originally surrounded by a 63 cm high Ionic frieze, but this has been so badly damaged that it has been impossible to determine even the general theme of the piece. What is known is that it was carved from Paros marble and attached to a dark blue (or grey) background of Eleusinian marble. Pediment roofs of wood and tiles protected the cella and north porch, while the south Caryatid porch had a flat roof. To the south-west of the building stood the sacred olive tree, a gift from Athena, for which she became the patron deity of the city. The tree can still be seen today and it is quite beautiful though not original.

The real stars of the Erechtheion are without doubt the Caryatids or korai as they were known to the ancient Greeks. The finely-sculptured figures are not unique to the building as other examples exist in the architecture of the Archaic period, particularly in Treasury buildings at sacred sites such as Delphi and Olympia. Their clinging Doric clothes (peplos and himation) and intricately plaited hair are rendered in fine detail. Their bold stance and the firm set of the straight standing leg give the impression that the task of bearing the weight of the porch entablature and roof is effortless. Rather cleverly, the straight leg also creates folds in their clothing remarkably similar to the flutes on an ordinary Ionic column. Originally, the figures raised slightly their robe with one hand and held shallow libation vessels (phialai) with the other. This may have been in reference to the fact that it was believed that the tomb of the mythical King Kekrops lay under the building, and perhaps the libations poured by the Caryatids replicate the practice of pouring libations into the ground as an offering to the dead. The Caryatids now on the acropolis are exact copies; five of the originals reside in the Acropolis Museum of Athens and the other is in the British Museum, London.

 

 

The Greek Crisis, what of it?

Tags

ATHENS, Crisis, debt, Greece, Greek, King Constantine

Currently the news pages are full of stories about Greece and the Financial Crisis and its possible default on its enormous debt. It is all very confusing because it is not clear to the average reader how can a country so mismanage its affairs that bankruptcy is the result.

I served in Greece for several years and I have read quite a bit about the modern country we know today. Greece was never a rich country to begin with, I am excluding here the period of the City States of Antiquity. During the Ottoman occupation of Greece which lasted for 400 years the country was small population lived on a agricultural and pastoral economy, the Greeks living on the numerous islands faced a subsistence living based on fishing and were mostly isolated during the winter months given the Aegean Sea storms. Lawrence Durrell wrote an excellent book on the Islands of Greece in the 1930’s, it was not the life of today. Given Greece’s economic woes and role as yet another Mediterranean holiday destination, it is hard to appreciate the freedom, sunlight and sense of space that it provided 50 or more years ago. Intrepid travellers would come to explore ruins and ancient villages in solitary peace, and sleep under the stars on empty sandy beaches.

Greece had a Monarchy until April 1967 when a group of Colonels took over in a Coup and sent King Constantine packing. He has been living in exile in Spain, he is related to the King of Spain and to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. His naiveté and lack of action in the face of military action caused his downfall.

The Junta finally fell from power in 1974 after the Cyprus Crisis which saw Turkey occupy half of the Island to this day. A crisis which is still unfolding today and has repercussions in Greece proper. After the fall of the military Junta the subsequent Greek governments did all they could to foster a sense of prosperity and worked at joining the European Union. Something that was not possible during the years of military dictatorship when Greece a member of NATO, was an international pariah. Government spent lavishly on the population and introduced many economic measures which could not be sustained. Greece’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism and tax evasion was and is a national sport with little consequences. Finally Greece joined the EU in 1981 and adopted the Euro as its currency 2001, however it did so by presenting to the European Economic Commission cooked books on its real financial situation. An investigation was opened in 2004 when the true economic picture of Greece became known. The Greek Government had misrepresented the extent of its debts and its lack of hard currency to pay back what it owed. However the true extent of the crisis took hold in 2010. To this day Greece has received 290 Billion Euros in loans to help it get out of this financial crisis it created through years of large deficit spending on a population of 10 million people, most of whom work in government related jobs. Another scandal was the building of the Megaron in Athens with EU funds. The Greek government had asked for and received generous subsidies to build a Convention Centre however the money was used instead to build a marble Opera palace on a lavish scale. I went to the opera in Athens and was stunned by the luxury of the place. It is this lack of honesty and the widespread corruption within the Greek administration that has the EU up in arms now.

The austerity program denounced by the current newly elected left wing government is nothing more than economic reforms which are necessary to avoid more debt. Greece use to give at Christmas time a full 13th month salary to all State employees. A free month pay for no work, just one example of the many extravagances it could not afford. But who was going to complain about free money. Tax evasion remains a large scale problem with little effort to tackle the beast, capital flight another. The EU has run out of patience and it is understandable. Germany has held a firm line like anyone who is afraid that it will never see the money it lent paid back. The canard bandied about in the media that Greece forgave Germany its debts in 1953 and now Germany should do the same, ignores the fact that in 1953 Greece was in turmoil and dealing with the aftermath of a Civil War following the end of WWII. It was in no position as a poor European country whose population largely immigrated to the USA and Canada for work to do any such thing. It was the Marshall Plan and other countries like Canada who came to the rescue of Europe and Greece.

The banks and the IMF are not at fault here and suggesting that they are is nonsense and ignores the facts of the case and history. Germany, France, the EU are also not at fault. For the last 5 years they have been asking while lending money to float the Greek boat, economic reforms which have not come. The left wing Syrisa Party now in power made wild promises to the Greek people to get elected, of those promises nothing has come,they wasted opportunities to make economic reforms and now are unable to negotiate a better deal with the EU. Syrisa refused to negotiate knowing this would mean concessions, they promised the Greek people to stand firm, now Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has painted himself in a corner. His Financial Minister Yanis Varoufakis has been intransigeant and today called the other EU governments ”terrorists” showing a lack of maturity and silly bravado. Greeks are truly caught now in a terrible situation. If Greece is forced out of the European Union it will fall into a third world status amongst the poor countries of Southern Europe. The EU will recover from any exit (Grexit) by Greece, it is the Greeks who have all to loose and then some. Sunday 5 July is the referendum date ordered by Greek PM Tsipras, Greece knows that a NO vote will send them out the door with all the terrible consequences that entails. A YES vote will not be the end of the problems but it will be a clear signal to Europe.

Syntagma Square and the Greek Parliament

This referendum is in fact not so much about the debt and more austerity it is a referendum on PM Alexis Tsipras and his Syrisa government, if the Greeks vote YES it will be a terrible defeat for him and he will be forced out, his government will fall and Greeks will have to return to the Polls to elect a new Government. This is really what it is all about.

Moussaka

Tags

Akis Petretzikis, ATHENS, Greece, Moussaka

My friend, Yannis B. who is a chef in Greece posted this on his FB, it is Akis Petretzikis a young chef and I like his recipe for Moussaka, the big difference is that instead of frying the vegetables he oven bake them, much healthier.

Just watch this video on how to make Moussaka and how to pronounce the word Moussaka.

New Banner, ACROPOLIS

Tags

Antiquity, ATHENA, ATHENS, Greece

This photo is one of my favourite, the Sacred grove surrounding the Acropolis of Athens. Visible the Parthenon which is still under renovation after 25 years and millions of Euros. If you wonder about the white and dark gold colour of the temple this is the repair work, new Pentelic marble is white and turn a dull golden colour with age. The work aims to stabilize this 2500 year old Temple to Athena. It is a spectacular temple and you can see what Athenians paid for after Pericles convinced them to give freely to finance this monument to the Goddess protecting their City. He told them that it was their duty as Citizens of Athens to do their duty and finance this project. An ancient concept that it is your Duty to do whatever you can for your country. Also visible is the Erechtheion and the entrance gate Propylaea. The neighbourhood below the hill is the Plaka, one of the oldest neighbourhood of Athens. In the distance the Aegean Sea and the Port of Piraeus, quite the dramatic view of the City.