Apollo the Guitarist

802_1539 [Apollo the Guitarist]

 

This statue of Apollo, the ancient Greek Olympian god of music, stands with his lyre on a column outside the Academy of Athens, a world-wide highlight of the city. The statue itself measures 3.71m in height while the column is 19.54! 

 

It is attributed to the Greek architect Leonidas Drossis but there is evidence that there is more to the matter.

For additional information please click HERE to watch a slideshow on the Academy of Athens, in case you have missed it. 

 

Please click on the picture for a better view. 

 

 Photographed downtown Athens on September 13, 2015 

 

 

Kaisariani Monastery: A slide show

[Kaisariani monastery: A slide show]

 

A virtual tour of all the premises of the Byzantine Monastery of Kaisariani (11 c.) on Mt. Hymittos near Athens

in the form of a slide show with extensive presentation of wall paintings in the church.

 

Duration 33' 26"

 

Watching it in FULL SCREEN is recommended.

(Make sure you have your cup of coffee with you to avoid viewing interruption!!!)

• Music:

https://www.purple-planet.com

 

• Liturgical Chant:

excerpts from live transmissions of the Divine Liturgy at Athens Cathedral by ERT 2,

from "Τα Πάθη τα Σεπτά" broadcasted in 2011 by ERT 3 (Voice of Charilaos Taliadoros),

and from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c58KR... (Voice of Dimitrios Papagiannopoulos) 

 

• Script:

based on the leaflet "Kaisariani Monastery" by Aik. Pantelidou - Alexiadou:

distributed free by The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports 

 

Redistribution is allowed as long as the slide show remains unaltered 

and proper reference is made to the source.

 

Photographs taken in 2016-2020

 

Το slide show είναι διαθέσιμο και με ελληνικούς υπότιτλους στο YouTube.

Για να μεταφερθείτε εκεί, παρακαλώ, κάντε κλικ ΕΔΩ.

Spheniscus demersus [African penguin]

303_9737 [Spheniscus demersus]

 

303_9742 [Spheniscus demersus]

 

A lovable and charismatic seabird that unfortunately faces several threats and is in danger of extinction.

I had the chance to see and photograph it in Attica Zoological Park οn September 19, 2012.

 

Please click on the pictures for a better view.

 

 

303_9747 [Spheniscus demersus]

 Info board displayed next to the penguins’ location

 

 

Irakleia bay

302_5236 [Irakleia bay]

 

As I was standing at my window early in the morning today, I was looking at the gloomy, rainy weather outside that was setting off all sorts of depressing feelings. Doing so is not the best thing to do if you need to counterbalance feelings produced by such weather and experienced in the middle of a pandemic. Fortunately, I subconsciously remembered a short, summer trip to Irakleia: a small gem-island in the Greek Small Cyclades. I had visited the island to take pictures of flowers there but I also had the chance to dive into clear turquoise waters and relax in an unprecedentedly tranquil island environment! My thoughts about it proved to be the perfect antidote to my mood! It reacted in only a few seconds!

 

Need to change your mood to the better?

Just click on the picture for a better view and recall similar experiences of yours.

 

Photographed in 2010

 

 

Crocus cartwrightianus

304_5113 [Crocus cartwrightianus]

 

Ideally, one of these days I would go to a nearby mountain and take some fresh pictures of Crosus cartwrightianus but this ‘scenario’ is not possible. The current circumstances of Covid 19 lockdown have confined me home. So, instead, I searched my photo archive and selected an old picture to share with you; and there is a reason for my selection. 

 

Some years ago, I found the flower above in the center of Ilioupoli (a major residential area, part of Athens). I wanted to see it from close before I took a picture of it but getting close was next to impossible because the area was fenced off all around. So, rather than missing the picture altogether, I used my long telephoto and took the picture from behind the tall wire fence. So far so good.  

 

304_5126 [Crocus cartwrightianus]

 

Then, using the same lens, I took a picture of another cartwrightianus, and left in order to go and visit a friend of mine.

Looking at the pictures on my computer screen at home, I noticed that there was only one red style in the second picture instead of three! Where are the other two styles? I still wonder. 

 

No tricks with the camera, no alteration of the picture in processing on my part, I assure you.

 

Anybody out there having a clue? 

 

Photographed on November 20, 2014

Crocus laevigatus

803_8112 [Crocus laevigatus]

A small, scented, widespread crocus with white or slightly lilac tepals.

Its purple stripes on the tepals attract your attention from a distance.

It can be found up to a height of 1500 m.

Photographed on Mt. Hymittos in November 2020

 

DSCN3040 [Crocus laevigatus]

This picture was taken on Mt. Parnonas in October, 2008

Sternbergia lutea

803_7998 [Sternbergia lutea]

803_8001 [Sternbergia lutea]

 

This elegant beauty appears yearly from September to November.

It loves stony grounds but I found it among pine-needles at the foot of Mt. Hymittos.

 

Photographed on October 16, 2020

 

 

Saint George and Saint Irene

Please click on the pictures for a better view. 

 

803_1101 [Saint George Papagou]

A Greek Orthodox church dedicated to Saint George and Saint Irene, found at the residential area of Papagos very close to the foot of Mt. Hymittos. It was opened to the public in 2011 but it was inaugurated in 2018. I found it architecturally attractive and photographically inviting, although it is very similar to many Greek Orthodox churches I had seen before.

 

803_1625 [Saint George Papagou]

 

The interior, however, is quite dissimilar to other churches. 

 

[If you want to see an example of a dissimilar church, please click HERE.]

 

What surprised me, however, were the stained-glass windows it is decorated with, which as far as I know, are not a common feature of Greek Orthodox churches.

 

Here follow four such windows:

803_1612 - 803_1611 [Kosmas + Damianos]

 

803_1614 + 803_1615 [Nektarios + Nikolaos]

 

All photographed on March 28, 2018