A new cooperation that will change your perspective of guided tours

In our continuous efforts to enrich our knowledge of the Ancient Greek history and culture, and provide expats and guests with a profound understanding of Greece, its people, its culture and timeless spirit. we are proud and honoured to announce our cooperation with Diazoma, one of the most prestigious organizations dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of Ancient Greek Theatres.
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My journey to ‘DIAZOMA’ has been a long one with many ports of call: Kalamata, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of the Interior, Administration and Decentralization, Ministry of the Aegean. On the way I have been involved with the reconstruction of a town destroyed by earthquake, the enhancement of its historical centre, cultural networks, Castrorum Circumnavigatio, a programme on ancient theatres, island policies, Citizen Service Centres… Ports of call en route to a destination of which I am not yet aware, which has not yet taken a specific shape.

Caring for monuments has always been a special part of my life. I cannot look upon them as ruins, as something dead. I see in them living organisms transmitting messages of knowledge, wisdom, aesthetics, harmony, dialogue with the environment and nature, as transmitting messages of life. And I have always disagreed with the classic treatment of monuments, that which treats them as museum pieces, which puts them to one side, on the margins of our era, which is blind to their secret life, which ignores their own adaptability and harmonization with every historical period.

That is why, wherever I have passed, I have tried in every way to include them in the daily life of the place and the people. From the Neoclassical buildings of Kalamata and the restoration of the town’s historical centre to the opening of archaeological sites on summer nights with a full moon, all my actions have been in the same direction, aimed at the same ultimate target and inspired by the same philosophy.

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Small Theatre of Ancent Epidavros

 

Τhe ancient theatres are unique examples of exceptional architecture. Culminating achievements of ancient Greek civilization. Works of art built to host works of art. Buildings that concentrate in their structure, their parts and their details the originality, the grace, the sagacity, the expression of democracy and of citizens’ participation. In other words, the best of what the Greek spirit offers. Buildings which have been keeping the usefulness and the uniqueness of their form alive and up to date for centuries.

 

These characteristics led me to combine my ideas on monuments with ancient theatres. I started this particular endeavour five or six years ago. I failed. ‘Wherever you fail go back and wherever you succeed leave’, says Kazantzakis. I paid him heed. A couple of years ago, I returned. It seems that the right moment had come. The time was now ripe for a more dynamic confrontation of the monuments. The time was ripe for certain things to go ahead, because we take their fortunes into our own hands. And we help them to proceed. We take part in their development. The time was now ripe for creating a Movement of Citizens, of a large group of people, which can see beyond the miserly limits of a short-sighted age, which feels the primary right to demand transcendence of the dreary daily routine, by including monuments in our daily life.

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At once I found myself surrounded by an enthusiastic and dynamic group of people, which widened in the blink of an eye. All of them, ‘as one long prepared…’ Scholars, intellectuals, artists, people in local government and pro-active citizens embraced ‘DIAZOMA’. Fellow-citizens who have decided that the research, study, protection, enhancement and, wherever feasible, the use of ancient theatres and other venues for spectators and listeners, such as ancient odeia and stadia, are also their concern. And they are resolved to take these monuments’ fortunes into their own hands, to work together dynamically, as helpers of the State and the services responsible, in the major task of including ancient theatres in modern life.

Stavros Benos
President

 

Click on: ANCIENT THEATRES – ANCIENT THEATRES’ IDENTITY

 

TOURS


Logo-Diazoma-220In this section, Mr. Stavros Benos, chairman of “DIAZOMA“, shares his impressions from touring all over Greece. Joining him in these visits are the heads of the regional services from the Ministry of Culture, local authority representatives, residents and “DIAZOMA”  members from each particular area.

These tours have three  main objectives:

  • to help compose  a well-defined “monument inventory”, both in the scientific and sociopolitical sense (availability/response of local communities etc.)
  • to bring together in joint action all  parties necessary for the restoration/showcasing of  important monuments (archaeologists, local authorities, etc.)
  • to raise public awareness about  the tremendous value of these monuments, not only in the context of  historical and cultural heritage, but  as a part of contemporary Greek society. This can be achieved  via press conferences and open debate  sessions with the public.

Click on:  CULTURAL ITINERARIES & ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARKS

 

DIAZOMA – DIAZOMA MEMBERS

Become a member If you believe that the most beautiful and the most symbolic monuments in Greece, the ancient theatres, should be brought back to life. If you believe that for great plans and grand dreams to become reality they must be embraced by us all.

Take part in the efforts of DIAZOMA.

Study our Memorandum of Association, brief yourself on our aims.

And if you agree with them,

Join us by becoming a member. Just fill in, sign and fax the membership form (MS Word file format) to: 0030.210.82.54.258
or e-mail it at info@diazoma.gr. It will be forwarded to the Board for approval.

read more: diazoma.gr

 

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Epidavros event: “a unique experience”

Dearest friends,

We came back on Saturday from a lovely 2-day trip to Epidavros and we would like to tell you about it, so that you make sure you join next time.

As we had already told you before, the plan was to prepare the play beforehand and this is what we did on Thursday evening. We had a little something to eat, we read-or better, role – played – Lysistrati, which was a very amusing and useful activity for a number of reasons: we got familiar with the play that we were going to see the following day; people got a chance to unfold talents we never thought they had – some of them are born actors-; and, last but not least, they met and got together with new people!

On Friday at around 17.00 we set off for Epidavros. It took nearly 2 hours, we had something to eat at the restaurant outside the theatre (very good food!) and then we went into the theatre and saw the play. We absolutely loved it and, having read it, it was a lot easier to follow. After the theatre we drove to Nafplio where we had booked a hotel to spend the night.

The next day we visited a photo exhibition with works of Fred Boissonas and saw photos of Greece at the beginning of the 20th century. Then we had delicious ice cream at one of the best ice cream parlors in Nafplio, we walked around the town, had our coffee by the sea, and after a small lunch, we drove back to Athens. We personally loved the trip and so did our friends. They said that it was a unique experience. We know one thing: we had the time of our lives and we are already planning our next event. We’ll let you know in due time! Try to make it this time!

Photos will follow

KAROLOS KOUN

Today Google is dedicating its Doodle to the great Greek theater director Karolos Koun who reformed the Greek theater

 

biography:’

(1908–87), Greek director, who while teaching English in Athens during the 1930s mounted a remarkable series of productions of the classics performed by young people. In 1942, during the German occupation, he founded the Art Theatre (Theatro Technis) in Athens, where he produced the plays of ancient and modern Greece as well as such works as Ibsen’s The Wild Duck (1942), García Lorca’s Blood Wedding (1948), and The Glass Menagerie (1947) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1949). The theatre was closed because of his Communist sympathies between 1949 and 1954. His work for other companies included Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1950) and for the Greek National Theatre Pirandello’s Henry IV and Chekhov’s Three Sisters. In 1962 he took his company to the Théâtre Des Nations in Paris, where their performance of Aristophanes’ Birds was much admired. It was seen during the World Theatre Season of 1964, and again in 1965 and 1967 together with Aeschylus’ Persians and Aristophanes’ Frogs respectively; in 1969 the company presented Aristophanes’ Lysistrata there. In 1967 Koun also directed Romeo and Juliet for the RSC. Koun’s school of drama, attached to the Art Theatre, supplied the Greek stage with a number of leading actors. The company moved to a new building in 1981.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/karolos-koun#ixzz2el2kWeu6

Here is a video of “Όρνιθες – Les Oiseaux – The Birds” by Aristophanes directed by Karolos Koun, with the music of Manos Hatzidakis. It is a performance of 1975 in Epidaurus theater. 

We choose this part of the play, because you can get an idea of parodos*, one of the parts of

Ancient Greek Theater (Comedy & Tragedy).

* Parodos, an ode sung by the chorus as it made its entrance

If you would like to watch the whole play, please click on: youtube,com

 

LYSISTRATE means: “She who ended the War”

Another event we are organizing is a visit to Epidavros on the 16 and 17/7 to watch one of Aristophanes’ most famous anti-war comedies, Lysistrate. Don’t worry about it being in Greek, we will prepare it beforehand. The visit will include a stay at a hotel in Nafplio after the performance, a swim or a walk in Nafplio and a visit to an exhibition of Fred Boissonas in the morning and a relaxed return to Athens. If you don’t feel like driving there, we could all hire a mini van. Just answer in time so that we can organize the whole event better.

Une autre chose qu’on organise est plus tard, le 16 et 17 Juillet a Epidaure. La il y aura une piece de theatre, une comedie d’Aristophane, ‘Lysistrate’. Je vous ecoute dire:’mais c’est en Grec ! Eh bien, on vous prepare avant,on va vous donner la piece en francais,on va le lire ensemble,etc.

Repondez vite pour s’organiser mieux.

Merci !