november 2016 e-mail: [email protected] discipline in...

NOVEMBER 2016 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: [email protected]

THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN

VEMADISCIPLINE IN THE HOME

The oldestcirculating

Greeknewspaper

outsideGreece

KalavrytaThis Peloponnesian town and province have

overcome historical adversity to become apopular winter destination.

Big successfor Perth Glendi 2016

The Perth Glendi 2016 t ook place in Russelsquare in Northbridge, just outside of Sts Con-stantine and Helen church, on Sunday October23 and proved to be a big success.

The Parish of St Stylianos, Gymea (NSW) cele-brated the 20 years of the Parish on the 15th ofOctober 2016 at the Albert Palais Reception atLeichhardt in the pr esence of H is EminenceArchbishop Stylianos, Primate of the Greek Or-thodox Church in Aus tralia who also w as themain speaker for the evening.

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THE DUAL ANTIDOTEOUR ARCHBISHOP’S VIEW

If we were to take Donald Trump’s pre-election rheto-ric, his declar ations and s tatements, at face value, it isobvious that the American tycoon’s election as the 45thPresident of the Unit ed States signals the s tart of a newchapter not just for the country, but also for the West asa whole.

A world that was built on the principle s of li beralismand tolerance, on multicultur alism and globaliz ation,shaped mainly by the Anglo-Sa xon elite in the aftermathof the Sec ond World War – with a lot of help fr om itsdominance in the ar eas of information and communica-tion – is now a t risk of being disman tled by the low erstrata of Anglo-Saxon society, with the US election c om-ing in the w ake of the Br exit vote. We c ould argue, infact, that the planet is experiencing a seismic shift in po-litical and social norms, a s was the case in Greece in thewake of the fall of the 196 7-74 junta – a process knownhere as metapolitefsi – but t oward something much,much worse.

The situation of course is much more complex. The un-predictable Trump may seem the absolut e victor in theUnited States – especially as the Republicans have main-tained their majority in Congr ess as well – but huge e s-tablished business, strategic and economic interests andthe economic and politic al structures that have beenbuilt across the West in the p ast 70 years or so also r e-main extremely powerful.

For the time being , there are a f ew conclusions thatcan be drawn. To begin with, it is eviden t that the work-ing-class masses in the We st are under intense pressurefrom globalization and from the leaps in technology thatare fast eating up e xisting job positions or gener ating

new jobs that require a much higher set of skills.Societies do not have the reflexes to adapt so quickly to

the barrage of change and anger is s tarting to swell toungovernable proportions as the gap be tween rich andpoor continues to grow, with only the former seeing anybenefits.

This brings us t o the second conclusion. What we areseeing is that the way people are voting is being de ter-mined to a significant degree by social class. This aware-ness of cla ss differences has also led to unbridled pop-ulism, something that the Democrats have clearly failedto address.

The third point is that the “system,” or the e stablish-ment, has obviously f ailed to acknowledge and under-stand the intensity and depth of public disc ontent, as isevident from the failure of public opinion poll predictionsin the runup to the US elections and in the w aning influ-ence of the mains tream media, which is f ast being r e-placed by social media, where every extremist, moron ormouthpiece can shape public opinion.

The outcome of the US elections ha s also revealed thedeep division of American society and there is no way topredict how this wi ll manifest itself or what it will meanin the immediate future.

The wave of the Americ an brand of populism is alsothreatening to sweep across Europe, as Trump’s victorywill provide a boos t to similar forces in Italy , Austria,France, the Netherlands and even Germany.

The question, therefore, is whe ther the Eur opeanstructure will be able to survive the shock.

Source: Kathimerini (9/11/2016)

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St Stylianos Gala20th Anniversary Celebrations

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TThhee ss tt aa rr tt oo ff aa nneeww cchhaapp ttee rr

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/18 NOVEMBER 2016

Letterfrom

Maroubra

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Katerina + Kyriacos Mavrolefteros

His Eminence toured the surrounding areas under construction of the St George Monastery in Springwood in the presence of Archimandrite Fr Sophronios Konidaris, Rector of the Parish in Kogarah.

Four young Greeks among the 100 richest Australians

The annual BRW Young Rich list fea-tures four young wealthy Greeks amongthe 100 wealthiest Australians. Top ofthe list are Atlassian co-founders MikeCannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar witha record $4.6 billion worth of assets, ten-fold the amount of the names that fol-low. Among the young businessmen andcelebrities are four Greeks:

1. Nick GeorgalisThe young Greek worth $144 million is

the highest-earning young Greek in Aus-tralian, who ranks 17th on the list. Heearned his money via successful propertydeals in Canberra where he is based.

2. Tim DemetriouBy helping enroll students in courses

for which they were unsuited or had lit-tle hope of graduating, Tim Demetrioucomes in at 17th place on the young richlist. He earned $84 million by co-found-

ing Acquire Learning. The vocation/edu-cation company started by offering ca-reer orientation but also helps job seek-ers find employment.

3.Kosta DrakopoulosThe young Greek, with a fortune worth

$60 million, is 42nd on the list. He ap-pears on the list for the first time and is arags-to-riches story after dropping out ofa construction course, packing boxes forNike and doing other stints before decid-ing to go back and get his building licensebefore founding property firm Drakk in2006 that builds small apartment proj-ects around Melbourne and Geelong.

4. Kayla ItsinesThere are only eight women on the list,

and Itsines is one of them thanks to herfitness empire that takes her to the 51stplace with a fortune of $46 million. Apersonal trainer, she used social mediato make her business a global sensation.

Ikaros

Sticky Note

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/19NOVEMBER 2016

The West must contain Erdogan’s TurkeyBy Tom Ellis - Kathimerini, Athens

Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is increas-ingly seen as a threat to the stability of the region. Hisgovernment continues its domestic crackdown in thewake of the failed putsch while issuing indirect as wellas direct threats against other states, international or-ganizations and regional institutions.

The Turkish president sees enemies lurking in everycorner: The West is an enemy. Washington tried totopple him. The European Union did not support him.Erdogan is determined to follow his own path.

Erdogan violates the human and civic rights of Turk-ish citizens. At the same time he is destroying what isleft of the country’s policy of “zero problems withneighbors” either by making direct threats or by innu-endo that creates tension with neighboring nations.

There is hardly any country in the region that can besaid to be on good terms with Turkey: Iraq, Syria,Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. And the recent im-provement in Ankara’s ties with Moscow is simply tooopportunistic to survive in the long term.

The Islamist leader of Turkey appears to be out ofcontrol. He is increasingly being portrayed as a dicta-tor. Parliament recently extended a state of emer-gency for an additional three months. His governmentis detaining or firing thousands of soldiers, judges,journalists, academics and business leaders. It recent-ly shut down another 15 media outlets and arrestedthe editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, the oldest secular

newspaper and one of the few media outlets stillopenly critical of the administration. Amid the ongo-ing drive to stifle the press, international organiza-tions are reporting abuses of inmates. Society isdeeply divided.

Erdogan thinks he can do anything he wants. Butthings are not as rosy as he appears to believe. Hefails to realize that Turkey’s robust growth over the

past 15 years was the result of Western backing.Washington praised Turkey as a model of an Islamicdemocracy while Europe served as a carrot for de-mocratization and modernization.

Now Turkey’s economy is about to implode – au-thoritarianism and disregard for the rule of law do notattract foreign investors – and when that happens, itis not certain who exactly would want to support it.

On top of being anti-democratic toward its citizens,this new Turkey is detrimental to the stability of thewider region, including Greece. Erdogan’s heart, as itwere, is not only beating within the boundaries ofmodern-day Turkey but also outside it, in areas whichbelong to other countries, including Thrace, theAegean islands, and even Thessaloniki.

At the same time, Erdogan keeps no secret of his vi-sion of a Turkey playing the role of a regional super-power. Ankara recently announced plans to order 24additional Lockheed Martin F-35 military aircraft – amove that would upset the current balance of powerin the Aegean Sea.

Meanwhile, Baghdad is warning over the possibilityof a conflict between Iraq and Turkey. This is nolonger a theoretical possibility. The West cannot af-ford to remain a passive bystander. The US and theEU must hammer out a comprehensive policy to dealwith a risk of this magnitude. Erdogan is basicallyquestioning international treaties and threatening toinvade neighboring countries.

FECCA appoints Dr Emma Campbell

as new DirectorThe Federation of Ethnic Communities’

Councils of Australia (FECCA) announcedthe appointment of Dr Emma Campbellas its new Director.

The Chairperson of FECCA, Joe Caputo,said that he was delighted to welcomeDr Campbell to run the operations ofAustralia’s peak representative body forethnic communities.

“Emma’s hands-on experience in thehumanitarian sector, as well as her high-level business experience and academiccredentials means that she is well placedto advance FECCA’s goals of celebratingdiversity and promoting inclusion,” MrCaputo said.

“In particular, Emma’s knowledge ofnew and emerging communities will beof great benefit to FE CCA and its mem-bers”.

Dr Campbell previously worked withthe international medical charity,Médecins sans Frontières in Africa andthe Middle E ast. She has experience asAdviser to the Deputy Leader of the Op-position, as well as senior managementpositions at Cathay Pacific Airways. Em-ma was also Postdoctoral F ellow at theAustralian National University’s Korea In-stitute.

Dr Campbell has worked or lived inmore than 10 countries and territoriesincluding Lebanon, Sierra Leone, SouthKorea, China, India, Swaziland, Turkey

and Hong Kong. She speaks Chinese andKorean and has an extensive under-standing of issues faced by Australia’s di-verse and multicultural communities.

Dr Campbell holds a Bachelors of Lawand Chinese from the University of Leedsand a Master’s degree in Political Sciencefrom the School of Oriental and AfricanStudies, University of London. She has aPhD in Political and Social Change fromthe Australian National University. Em-ma has published widely on a range oftopics including Korean unification, secu-rity, migration and humanitarian assis-tance. Her book A New Nationalism inSouth Korea: The End of “One K orea”?was published this year.

Dr Campbell said, “I grew up in a di-verse community and my career has tak-en me to different places around theworld, often to work with people in chal-lenging circumstances.

“I firmly believe in the benefits for allof an inclusive and harmonious multicul-tural society. I look forward to workingwith FECCA to promote multiculturalismas a core Australian value”.

FECCA is the peak, national body rep-resenting Australians from culturally andlinguistically diverse backgrounds. FE C-CA’s role is to advocate and promote is-sues on behalf of its constituency to gov-ernment, business and the broader com-munity.

TO BHMA4/20 NOVEMBER 2016The Greek Australian VEMA

LAW OFFICE OF KONSTANTINOS KARRAS17 Noembri 6-8, Alimos-Attikis (Athens), P.S. 17455

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]: +30-693-67-08-018

Attorney at Law in Athens. Graduated from the Law School of University ofAthens, Master Degree in European Law from the University of Louvain - Bel-gium.

Practice Areas:

a) Hereditary Issues (Wills, Inheritance)b) Legal Support regarding Property Issues (Real Estate-Markets,

Real Estate Leasing, Real Estate Registration in the Land Registry)c) Tax Matters (Tax Greeks Abroad, New estate tax law, inheritance

and gift tax)d) Greek citizenship (Greek Conditions for Granting Citizenship,

Registration at Registrar’s Office and the conditions for granting visas)e) Family Law (Divorce, Affairs)f) Recognition of foreign judgments in Greece

Our office is located in Alimos – Athens and we can be contacted by emailon [email protected] or [email protected]

describing briefly your case.

Moot court verdict: Return the Marbles to Greece

A moot court (simulated trial) was re-cently hosted by the Hellenic AustralianLawyers Association (HAL) and MonashLaw School to discuss returning theParthenon Marbles to Greece.

The Marbles were taken from Greece200 years ago by Lord Elgin and are dis-played in the British Museum.

On October 19 a panel for the mootcourt discussed the dispute between theUK and Greece over proprietorship ofthe Marbles.

The trial kicked off with arguments forGreece by Paul Athanasiou QC, presidentof the Victorian Bar Council and repre-senting the UK, Julian Burnside ΑΟ QC(who clarified after the end of the paneldiscussion that he too stands withGreece).

Both sides presented their argumentsin the moot trial and afterwards the “ju-ry” or audience, was allowed to casttheir vote; a vote which was overwhelm-ingly in favor of returning the Marbles toGreece so they can be reunited with theParthenon.

Judges that sat in on the moot trialwere distinguished professionals Justice

Emilios Kyrou and Justice Rita Zammit ofthe Supreme Court of Victoria and Jus-tice Debra Mortimer of the Federal Courtof Australia.

The Monash University panel mem-bers consisted of Associate ProfessorDouglas Guilfoyle, international law ex-pert; Dr Tria Gkouvas, legal philosopher;Dr Andrew Connor, ancient historian; DrEvangelina Anagnostou-Laoutides, classi-cist.

TO BHMA 5/21NOVEMBER 2016 The Greek Australian VEMA

Our Primate’s ViewTHE DUAL ANTIDOTE

“There is no means of casting out this sort but prayer and fasting”.

(Mat. 17. 21)

The rationalists of every epoch, namely the selfish andnarrow-minded people - who understand man’s power on-ly as mathematical logic - find numerous sophisms, when-ever there is talk about prayer and fasting, so that theymay supposedly prove how primitive and underdevelopedchristian thought and worship is. They choose fasting andprayer as a pretext, because these two are the most tangi-ble weapons of the struggling christian, namely his twomain “tools”.

Thus starting on occasion even from a central word ofthe Bible, as for instance that truly sublime saying “god isspirit and those who worship him must worship in spiritand in truth” (John 4, 24), they try to prove that bothprayer and fasting are not worthy of such a God. F or, theyask, what value is there in praying to a God who, beingspiritual and bodiless, has no ears to hear your prayer?What can you say to an Omniscient God about any of yourproblems or requests, since He knows from beforehandmuch more than you know about these petitions? Thenagain, does not God know what to do? Will you indicate toHim what He should do? These are the most supposedlyusual arguments against prayer, while similar argumentsare employed against fasting. In this respect, those who re-fute fasting often have as their starting point those pas-sages of the Bible that clearly prove that God is not ob-serve the externals. Thus, side by side with the classic say-ing “one is not defiled by what goes into his mouth, but bywhat comes out of it” (Mat. 15, 11), they also recall theconcise word of St. Paul, that belly and food are short-termand ephemeral notions that have no relation at all with theeternal God: “Food is for the belly and the belly for food,but one day God will put an end to both” (1 Cor. 6, 13).

In refuting these objections in relation to prayer andfasting - whether coming from enemies of Christianity oreven from christians of little faith or lukewarm ones - wemust say that both prayer and fasting have a place and ameaning in people’s life only after the fall and the aposta-sy of the original sin. F or before then, placed by the Cre-ator’s love “in the paradise of bliss” people communicateddirectly and continually with their God and Father, havingno need of any “crutches” to help them in their physicalweakness. We may not have sufficient knowledge abouthow man was before the fall, but two basic things are ab-solutely known and decisively significant, because they areexplicitly attested by Scripture. First, that man was fromthe beginning created “in the image and likeness” of God(Gen. 1, 26); and second, that everything around him was“very good” (Geri. 1, 31). Both these two things certify thatthe evil, in the meaning of the “evil spirit” did not exist inthe initial structure of the world. The “evil” generally re-sulted only from the abuse of freedom which God gave toHis logical creatures, namely to the angels and to the peo-ple. It is for this reason that the F athers state that evil hasno objective existence, but that it is merely the absence ofgood. However, with the abuse of freedom by the angel,we now have a distorted will, the evil spirit, Satan. He isthe Devil, the author of evil, who also urges people to doworks of disobedience and apostasy, as he does.

Now it is precisely against this “evil spirit” that one mustset the dual antidote, namely prayer and fasting. But in or-der to understand why these two and nothing else is theantidote to the work of the Devil, one must know what theDevil did, what was his detrimental work, which one mustrefute.

First of all we know from the Revelation that the revoltof the Lucifer aimed at seizing the authority from God, sothat he, too, might become God. He was not satisfied withthe free will, the freedom God gave him, in order to sharethe blessedness and the communion of love, namely to be-come a participant and “partaker of the divine nature” (1Peter 1, 14). To be a partaker was not sufficient for him, hewanted to become “equal to God”, namely a God. The sin,therefore, of the Devil was spiritual greed. F or this reasonhe also taught man, whom he deceived with the form ofserpent, that the highest aim is by analogy something sim-ilar, namely selfishness, the exclusiveness of his own self .But after such a revolt and fall, it was natural that the Dev-il would stop every communion with God. Both the fall of

the Devil and man’s original sin meant the end of com-munion with divine life. It is significant to note that in bothcases the roof of the evil was egoism.

However, we will understand even better the nature ofthe evil spirit, namely of the Devil, if we remember howChrist characterised it. The lord used mainly two adjectivesrepeatedly in order to describe the nature and the work ofthe Devil. He called him “a dumb and deaf spirit” (Mark 9,25). We need to analyse these two adjectives. What does“dumb” and “deaf” mean here? How is the Devil withoutspeech, since we have countless descriptions that “hefoams and grinds his teeth” that he insults and blasphemesagainst God through the mouth of people possessed byevil spirits? And again, when he responds to the com-mandment of Christ “come out of him” (Mark 9, 25), howcan we characterise him as “deaf” spirit? Christ calls herethe evil spirit “dumb” in the sense that the inarticulatecries, the insults and blasphemies are not a word. For theword is a connecting and cohesive power and has a mysti-cal relationship with the God-Logos, the power with whichGod created and sustains the world. And since the Devil isno longer in communion with God, his unique work is to di-vide, to separate and not to unite the creatures. He has in-solent and vain cries, which has no relation with the word,nor any logic of things in the Creation, because he nolonger communed with the Word. And since he does notcommune, it follows that he does not hear, nor does heobey; hence, it has been named a “dumb and deaf spirit”.

After these explanations it becomes clearer whey prayerand fasting is the dual antidote to the work of the Devil.First, because prayer restores the interrupted relationship,putting again the Creator and the creature into a directcommunion. As the Greek word for prayer indicates, it isprayer that is not done abstractly and blindly, but is direct-ed to someone who hears it. In any case, prayer is desire.In this sense, even the Devil has desires and wishes. Butthese constitute only a horizontal movement and the Dev-il tries to realise them by himself. By contrast, the wish anddesire of man is directed toward God, ascends vertically,namely it is addressed upwards. Prayer, therefore, re-stores the Creator and the creature into proper relation-ships and communion of love. Prayer abolishes the mono-logue of death, which the “dumb and deaf” spirit has, andsets again man into a dialogue of salvation with God, a di-alogue surely not needed by God, but which means every-thing for man and for which he finally “thanks” God Him-self.

Fasting, too, aims at a similar restoration. Of course forGod it does not matter how much or what and when weshall or shall not eat. But when fasting is a self-willed ab-stention from food, namely a negation to have even theportion that belongs to us, then it comes as a direct anti-dote to greed, taught by the Devil and followed blindly af-ter the original fall. “To fast”, therefore, means to reduceour demands, to the minimum, to restrict oneself willinglyto the least portion of food, to give up food altogether fora period of time, in order to expiate oneself for wantingeverything for oneself out of selfishness. Fasting thereforeis a kind of self-denial and humiliation, a contracting andsuppression of the powers, so that the commandment ofGod “love one another” (John 13, 34) and “love your neigh-bour as your self” (Mat. 22, 39) may be better heard.

If, after all the above, there is a christian who doubts thevalue and the sacredness of Prayer and F asting of course,not for their own sake, but as means of communion withGod - then it means that such a christian believes that manis never in problematic relationships with God, and for thisreason he does not need to improve them. But such a viewis deeply heretical and is called Pelagianism, after thename of the Scottish monk Pelagian (5th century), whofirst taught something like this. Despite the fact that theChurch has officially condemned this heresy, there are un-fortunately many Christians, even today, who believe so,without openly admitting it, or even without perhaps real-ising it. Among them are all those who say, for instance,that they do not need to confess, because they do notknow that they have any sin. In this respect one does notknow, sincerely, if it is a case of pharisaism, a hardening ofconscience, or both.

May God deliver us from all of these!

Source: “Voice of Orthodoxy”, October 1990

By ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOSOF AUSTRALIA

TO BHMA6/22 NOVEMBER 2016

Over many years now, I try to read a short sec-tion from the Evergetinos each morning. F orthose who are unfamiliar with it, the Evergeti-

nos is a collection in four volumes of the wisdom ofour Church elders and desert fathers. I find it a goodpreparation for the day.

It is not an easy read but buried in the 600 or sopages of each volume are some real treasures. Theymake you think about where your life is heading. Al-though written mainly for monastics these are stillvery useful guides in improving spiritual life for lay-persons. They show us just how much further weneed to go.

Of course, there are far too many excerpts to in-clude in this brief letter to you but I thought I wouldshare a few. These are some of the thoughts that Iunderlined when I was reading. When we meet, wecan talk about them in more detail.

The selections in this letter come from the secondvolume. In Volume 2, the second chapter deals withthe emptying of ourselves in order to bring humility.In comparison, the honours and fame of this world

brings only pride. Paradoxically, only those who aremeek and who are humiliated will rejoice ultimately.When the meek are honoured they are saddened.

An English translation of the Evergetinos exists but Iread the Greek version and thought I would put somephrases into my own words for you. The translation isnot intended to be perfect. The details in bracketsshow the reference for you.

The Blessed Synklitiki said to those who were visit-

ing her – just as the candle melts near the fire, in thesame way the soul is paralysed by praises and losesits power (3(1)).

An elder said, either avoid people by fleeing from

them or laugh at people by presenting yourself onmost occasions as a fool (5(8)).

Some brothers visited Abba Agathona because theywere informed that he had great powers of judge-ment. They wanted to try and see if he became angry,so they said to him: “Are you Agathon. We haveheard that you are immoral and proud.” He answeredthem, “Yes, that’s true.” Then they said to him, “Areyou the gossip and the nit-picker?” “I am”, he an-swered again. On the third occasion, the visitorsasked, “Are you Agathon, the heretic?” To that Aga-thon answered, “I am not a heretic.” After that an-swer they asked him to explain why, when he accept-ed so many things they said to him but he could not

stand the accusation of being a heretic. And the Abbasaid to them: “The first things I accepted becausethey were beneficial for my soul but not the accusa-tion that I am a heretic. Heresy is a separation fromGod.” When the visitors heard this answer, they wereamazed at the discretion of the Abba and departedhaving benefitted spiritually (2(1)).

A brother asked an Elder, “Tell me something to carryout in my life in order to be able to inherit eternal lifewith this action.” And the Elder answered,”If you canaccept humiliation whenever people curse you, thenthis is a great achievement, far greater than all thevirtues (6(13)).

Abba Poimen said: Silence will conquer whateverworries come your way (6(18)).

Take care of yourself with some strictness. If some-

one upsets you for whatever reason and anger orsadness are born within you, be silent and do not sayanything more than what is needed. Do not speak un-til your heart is calmed by prayer and then reconcileyourself to your brother (7(7)).

If you see someone praising you hypocritically then

expect at any moment a criticism from them. Whenyou suffer some attack from people bring to mind im-mediately the reward of glory from God. In that mo-ment of humiliation remain unmoved without beingsaddened. When that moment of final glory comes,you will be found to be faithful and innocent (8(3)).

Whoever enjoys pleasure, is saddened by criticismsand ill-treatment. On the contrary, whoever lovesGod is saddened by praise and other greediness(8(4)).

So there we are my friend – in this crazy world, theancient Evergetinos takes usback to the beginning, tothe fundamentals. I hope that you might find thisbrief introduction to the Evergetinos is a worthwhileguide to your day. God willing – I’ll see you nextmonth!

The views expressed are those of the author and not neces-sarily those of the VEMA or St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theo-logical College.

[email protected]

Letterfrom

Maroubra

The Greek Australian VEMA

A human skeleton was found on the uninhabited is-land of Despotiko, that archaeologists believe is the re-mains of a worker circa 550 BC, says a newspaper re-port.

The skeleton was found during the restoration workon an ancient temple found on the Cyclades island, lo-cated close to Antiparos. The contracted position of theburied skeleton in the natural ground led archaeologiststo assume that it is a worker who was working on thenorth temple wall.

“It is likely the skeleton of a worker, because he wasburied without offerings. He seems to have died duringwork on the north wall in 550 BC and buried at thatpoint,” said Yiannos Kouragios of the Cyclades Ephorateof Antiquities, who works at the site. The skeleton hasbeen sent for anthropological examination.

Restoration work on the temple has been completedfor this year. All eight pillars have been completed andtwo new thresholds have been put in the temple andthe ritual restaurant, a pilaster is built and an interme-diate wall for static purposes.

The Despotiko ancient sanctuary that is underrestoration is the largest in the Cyclades after the oneon Delos, another uninhabited island.

Regarding the pillars that were not found, K ouragiosbelieves that, “Most of them were taken by the Vene-tians to build their castle on Antiparos.”

It was often that Mediterranean peoples were raidingthese islands in the Middle Ages, stealing pillars andmarbles, he said.

According to scientists, Paros, Antiparos and Despo-tiko were one piece thousands of years ago.

Skeleton of worker from 550 BC found in Greece


For enrolment information please contact the Enrolment Officer: Angela Kringas by email at [email protected]

S T S P Y R I D O N C O L L E G E

Scholarships for new and existing students for 2018:

Academic Scholarships offered for entry to Year 7 and Year 11 in 2018 on the basis of ACER exam results.

Year 12 students who achieve an ATAR of 97.0 or above, will receive a scholarship to assist with

payment of fees for their first year of University study.

Entries close on Monday 6th February 2017.

Exams will be held at the College on Saturday 25th February 2017.

Applications and information are available via our website under the “Scholarships and Awards” icon.

For further information please call Angela Kringas on (02) 9311 3340

or online at www.stspyridon.nsw.edu.au

TO BHMA8/24 NOVEMBER 2016The Greek Australian VEMA

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

ST EUPHEMIA COLLEGE202 Stacey Street, Bankstown, NSW 2200 Tel: (02) 9796 8240 Fax: (02)9790 7354

School email: [email protected] * Website: www.steuphemia.nsw.edu.au

Kindergarten - 2017 Orientation DaySt Euphemia College recently welcomed their new Kindergarten students for

2017.On Tuesday 8 November, we welcomed our newest members, the 2017

Kindergarten students.The new parents and their children enjoyed being entertained by our won-

derful and talented students. The students performed ‘The Gruffalo‘, a livelyproduction and also sang a collection of songs.

Congratulations to the Kindergarten teachers and the students for an outstanding performance.



St Euphemia College is a K-12, co-educational Greek Orthodox day School.Our educational ideals are encapsulated in our motto ‘Strive for Excellence’

ST EUPHEMIA COLLEGE

Give your child the best start in life with a solid and positive education at St Euphemia College.

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Our educational ideals are encapsulated in our motto ‘StrivSt Euphemia College is a K-12, co-educational Greek Orthodox day School.



or Excellencee fOur educational ideals are encapsulated in our motto ‘StrivSt Euphemia College is a K-12, co-educational Greek Orthodox day School.

’or ExcellenceSt Euphemia College is a K-12, co-educational Greek Orthodox day School.

School email: or more infContact us f

202 Stacey Street, BankstoST EUPHEMIA COLLEGE

ormation: Phone: (02) 9796 8240 For more inf

wn, NSW 2200202 Stacey Street, BankstoST EUPHEMIA COLLEGE

ormation: Phone: (02) 9796 8240 F

wn, NSW 2200ST EUPHEMIA COLLEGE

ebsite: • WWeax: (02) 9790 7354ormation: Phone: (02) 9796 8240 F

ax: (02) 9790 7354

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The Board of Directors is offering

six new placements with reduced fees

in Kindergarten 2017 to families

with low incomes

.

Contact the School Secretaries for more information: Phone: (02) 9796 8240 Fax: (02) 9790 7354

School email: [email protected] * Website: www.steuphemia.nsw.edu.au


The Parish of St Stylianos, G ymea (NSW) celebratedthe 20 years of the Parish on the 15th of October 2016at the Albert Palais Reception at Leichhardt in the pres-ence of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, Primate ofthe Greek Orthodox Church in Australia who also wasthe main speaker for the evening.

Accompanying His Eminence was His Grace BishopIakovos of Miletoupolis who kindly led the cutting ofthe celebratory cake. Also attending were the presentand previous Committee members including the found-ing President Stylianos Pambris and previous PresidentDr John Macarounas. Ex-President Harry Exikanas wasunable to attend but sent a message of congratulations.The present President of the Parish George Gatz welco-med all on behalf of the Parish, Fr Constantine, Presvit-era Eleni and our various Committees.

The night was marked by celebrations and reminisc-ing over the last 20 years. In particular, everyone recei-ved a commemorative Anniversary book and candle incelebration of this historic milestone.

The book contains a precious photograph library ofthe history of the Parish together with a written history.Also embodied in the book are details of the activitiesof the Parish and the people behind them.

Fr Constantine, the President and and Church Com-mittee members of the Parish of St Stylianos, G ymea,thank the Sponsors of the 20th Anniversary book andthe dance. Particularly, they would like to thank LarkeHoskins Honda for their discounted price of the carused for the raffle and the 4 Sponsors who paid for thecar: Euro Funerals, Parkside Pharmacy and 2 anony-mous Parishioners. Other major Sponsors were DiannDarling Jewellers at Engadine, K yrenia Travel, Peters ofKensington, Maria Karabelas Dancing School, Gold LeafFraming at Como, Albert Palais Function Centre, K rioKrush and SKG Cleaning.

The Gala Dinner was a full house and very successfulin raising money for the St Stylianos Childcare Centre.The signed Sharks jerseys, which were organised by DrGeorge Pitsis successfully, raised over $5000 at live auc-

tion that will go towards the childcare centre and alsoto our Africa fundraising.

Twenty years of prayer, hard work and dedication hascertainly cemented the Sutherland Parish Communitytogether as the Body of Christ.

The next step is to secure DA approval and raise fundsfor our proposed childcare centre.

Finally, the Parish thanks the E vents Committee forcoordinating the function, the MC Dr Philip Kariatlis, thePhiloptochos, Church Committee and Fellowship, all thevolunteers, those participated in the annual raffle and

special car raffle and all who supported with their at-tendance, making the 20th Anniversary event such amemorable evening.

The results of the car raffle: D. Marendy – no 154 Results of the annual raffle: 1) Kafataras 6643, 2) Tsolozidou 42983, 3) Baldas 36253, 4) Gribilas 8934 and 5) Pavlou 42841

St Stylianos Gala 20th Anniversary Celebrations

LEFT: His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis cutting the 20th Anniversary Cake with George (President) and Eleni Gatz, Dr Joh n (previous President) and Rita Macarounas,Mr Stylianos (founding President) and Anne Pambris, Mrs Despina Chambers (previous Philophtohos President) and Fr Constantine a nd Pres. Eleni. RIGHT: This picture shows all 400

guests enjoying themselves at the 20th Anniversary Event. In the background Maria Karambelas middle dancing group entertaining the guests.

His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia delivering the principal addressat the Palais for the 20th Anniversary. Everyone did appreciate His presence and His continued support and prayers.

NOVEMBER 2016 11/27TO BHMAThe Greek Australian VEMA

Greek fashion designers reach SydneyA key challenge in the fashion industry

is bridging the gap from production topurchase. A group of 24 Greek fashionand accessories designers and brands arecurrently reducing that distance by un-veiling their summer 2017 offerings to apreviously uncharted market – as far astheir work goes – Australia.

The medium being used is the GreekStyle Council, a platform for presentingand promoting Greek designers in Aus-tralia, and the first action is a pop-up,holesale showroom which opened at LaPorte Space’s premises in Sydney on Oc-tober 17.

The ambitious project is the brainchildof Helen Tirekidis. A second-generationGreek-Australian, Tirekidis has come along way in Australia’s fashion industry,holding positions at several luxury hous-es including Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier,Issey Miyake, Longchamp and Giorgio Ar-mani.

“It was clear to me for a long time thatthere was amazing talent in Greece and Iwas always a little frustrated that thiswas little known [in Australia],” saidTirekidis in an exclusive interview.

“For years, I always heard about thestate of the economy, the doom andgloom. But what was strange to me wasthat there was not much talk about whatwas really going right in Greece.

“The real trigger for me was that I no-ticed the correlation between the down-turn in the conomy and a super-fast up-surge in creativity.”

The Australian market has made hugeleaps forward in fashion in recent de-cades – a relative desert in terms of luxu-ry brands in the late 1970s, the countrynow hosts the gamut of high-end design-er stores as well as familiar fast-fashionchains.

According to Tirekidis, Australian con-sumers (the country’s population is near-ly 24.5 million) are great travelers whofollow shopping developments in Europeclosely, while the local industry has nowtaken its strategies into cyberspace.

Does this new wave of Greek creativityhave what it takes to satisfy the desiresof today’s clients who, according to Fash-ionUnited, spend 28.5 billion Australiandollars annually on clothes and foot-wear?

“I feel we are moving into a new era,one which is focused more on emergingdesigners,” noted Tirekidis.

“There is a glut of luxury brands and

fast fashion and not much focused onthe in-between ‘new, innovative emerg-ing talent’ per se. I feel that for cus-tomers who appreciate fashion, it’s in-creasingly about having something thatnot everyone has and that is well craftedat the same time.”

The temporary showroom currentlyhosts garments by established Greek de-signers including Yiorgos Eleftheriadesand Liana Camba, emerging talent suchas Ioanna Kourbela and Christina Econo-mou, as well as new brands The Artians,Gaffer & Fluf and Evi Grintela “The ShirtDress” (a concept developed by Evi Ka-ratza) and others.

Accessories are making their presencefelt through an array of products, includ-ing bags by companies such as Grace At-elier De Luxe, Salty Bag and Lommer,among others, footwear with a sandal fo-cus developed by brands including Esiot,Valia Gabriel and Di Gaia, jewelry (Au-morfia, Maesa Morado, Elena Kougia-nou) and swimwear (Sophie Deloudi, Em-manuela). Also available are silk scarvesproduced by brands Grecian Chic and ATotem Fur Elita. What were the criteriafor the selection of designers?

“I searched high and low and all over

Greece to seek out those who displayedthree key elements: a commitment tocraftsmanship, a focus on design and a

global intent,” noted Tirekidis.A few days prior to the pop-up ven-

ture’s opening, Tirekidis was already indiscussions with The Iconic, Australia’slargest online store, while, along withbuyers, representatives from print mediaoutlets as well as bloggers and influ-encers were expected to become ac-quainted with the designers and brandson view.

Besides her vision to see Greek labelson the racks of Australian stores,Tirekidis is contemplating the creation ofa short documentary, the possibility of afashion shoot aimed at an Australianfashion magazine featuring Greek de-signers and photographers, as well tak-ing the showroom idea beyond Australia.An e-commerce space is also in thecards. What unites Greek talent at LaPorte Space, besides creativity and hardwork?

“They share a new sense of optimismcombined with a refusal to accept thestatus quo and the negativity associatedwith Greece lately,” said Tirekidis.

“They’ve trained in the best schoolsaround the world, from Parsons to Cen-tral Saint Martins, and they’ve comeback to Athens – despite the crisis – witha fierce determination. I love this spirit.It’s inspiring.”

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The recognition of Greek families by the city of Subiaco (WA)

By Kevin Kannis and Jasmine McDonald (nee Xanthis)

On Monday the 17th October the Mayor of the City ofSubiaco, Ms Heather Henderson, presided over a nam-ing ceremony for K annis Lane and Xanthis Lane in thecentre of Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, West-ern Australia. Symbolic of the close ties between thetwo families the lanes intersect west of Rokeby Roadand south of Barker Road.

In the order of sixty people attended the ceremonyincluding members of the families, officials of the Coun-cil and a previous Mayor, Mr Tony Costa.

After a welcoming by the Mayor, the Very Rev. Archi-mandrite Elpidios Karalis conducted a brief blessing fol-lowed with speeches by the Mayor, Mrs Despina Tan-ner on behalf of the Kannis family, then Mrs Poppy Xan-this on behalf of the Xanthis family.

After the ceremony the family continued the celebra-tion at the rear of Boucla where there was much remi-niscing. The following is a brief history of the families’association with Rokeby Road adapted from the speechmade by Mrs Xanthis.

The Kannis family has had a long association that be-

gan when Con and Maria K alaf left Greece to set upKalaf’s Fruit Shop in Rokeby Road over ninety years ago.Con and Maria were soon to be joined by two nieces,Asimina and Elefteria Kannis. Asimina was accompaniedby her husband, Sios Xanthis and their two young chil-dren, Despo and Nick. Soon Sios Xanthis was selling fishdoor-to-door in the Subiaco area. This eventually led tohim having his own fish and chip shop – The LondonFish Supply, half way up Rokeby Road.

Asimina and Sios Xanthis used their relative financialsuccess in Subiaco to help the rest of the family migratefrom Greece to Australia and set up businesses in Subi-aco.

They eventually helped bring out Asimina’s parents,Maria and K ominous Kannis, Asimina’s two other sis-ters, Despina and Elpida; and her two brothers, Mickand John. To other Greeks in Perth they became knownas the Subi mob.

Elefteria and Nick Tocas set up a Fish and Chip Shop inHay Street. Elpida and Mick K yrillos set up a grocery s-tore located just up the road from Boucla on RokebyRoad. Despina and George K ounis set up a pastry/cakeshop next door to Asimina and Sios’s Fish and Chipshop. Mick and Anne Kannis set up a Fish and Chip shop

near the bottom of Rokeby Road and John and E velynKannis set up a tailoring business next door to K alaf’sFruit Shop.

Eventually Asimina and Sios Xanthis’ children andtheir spouses, Despo and George Malaxos, Poppy andNick Xanthis, took over the running of K alaf’s FruitShop. Kaye and John K ounis took over the running ofJohn Kannis’ tailoring business. Thus ensuring the influ-ence of the K annis clan on Subiaco was multigenera-tional only to now be followed by Debbie and Brian Tan-ner with their current successful businesses – Bouclaand Lady of Ro.

The Subi mob was not only made up of the K annis,Xanthis, Kounis, Tocas, K yrillos and Malaxos families.Other Greek families wholived and worked in andaround Rokeby Road were the K alafatas, Koufos, Laza-rakis, Loucas, Manolas, Mitchell, Mouglalis, Nicholas,Passaris, Phillips and Tsokos families. These familieshelped to create the wonderful village atmosphere ofthe area and were an integral part of Subiaco life over aninety year period.

The naming of the two lanes was recognition of thecontribution of all these Greek families to the historyand heritage of Subiaco.


The Perth Glendi 2016 took place in Russel square inNorthbridge, just outside of Sts Constantine and Helenchurch, on Sunday October 23 and proved to be a bigsuccess.

This day was one that many in the Hellenic communi-ty were waiting for as it celebrates the Greek culturewith food, music and dance.

Over 25,000 people wattended the event and en-joyed dancing, breaking plates cooking demos andmuch more. There were also special children’s activitiesas well as a fun fair.

Last year was the first Glendi in eight years and or-ganizers are thrilled with the community turnout.

“We’re delighted with the support. It indicates and

reflects that there’s a big interest in Greek culture inPerth and it appeals to not just the Greeks, but to peo-ple from all walks of life and nationalities that come toget their Greek on…

“It’s a great way of uniting people from all differentbackgrounds,” the event spokeswoman Despene K alafexplained.

Big success for Perth Glendi 2016

Great results for Greek Pankration club at Karate CompetitionThe Karate Competition that took place at Whitlam Cen-

tre Liverpool (NSW), on 23 October, was a big success. Over700 athletes from all over Australia from 5 years old to over50 competed.

Seven of those were from the Greek Pankration club inTempe with great results:

* Margarita Fasoularis: 1st in Karate & 1st in Kickboxing.* Elleni Daskalakis: 1st in Karate and 2nd in Self Defence.* Giannis Vavasis: 1st in Karate.* Caleb Messas: 2nd in Karate and 3rd in Jui Jitsu.* Lucas Tsiligiris: 2nd in Karate under 12 years old.* Panos Arvanitis: 2nd in Karate under 10 years old.* Adonis Kid: 2nd in Karate.* Anastasios Christopoulos: 2nd in Karate Veterans

and 3rd in Kickboxing.* Kostas Papaioannou: 1st in Karate Veterans, 1st in Kick-

boxing and 2nd in Self Defence.Note that Papaioannou and Christopoulos met in Kick-

boxing and had to fight each other.Kostas Papaioannou said that the Karate competition is a

very good warm up for the World Pankration championshipwhich will take place in Italy in November.


Arts, Food & WineEditor: Imogen Coward

Finding the right fitBy Dr Ann Coward

Unlike some countries, Australia today does not havestandard dress-sizes for women, which will no doubtcome as a surprise (not), although children’s and infantsclothing do follow standard sizes.

The origins of this situation lie in the last century, andwith a survey that is almost 90 years old. In 1927 theBerlei company conducted a survey of Australianwomen, the results of which led to the creation of stan-dard dress sizes. In the 1970s the Australian Women’sWeekly asked its readers to take their own measure-ments and send them into the magazine. Over 11,000women replied and these two surveys, by Berlei and theAustralian Women’s Weekly, are the only ones thathave been conducted in Australia to date, to determinethe proportions of the women who make up Australia’spopulation. These surveys formed the basis of Aus-tralian Standards for women’s garment sizing at thetime.

By 2007 however, the concept of standard dress sizesfor women was withdrawn. The apparent reasons werethat the make-up of the population, and also the stan-dards used in manufacturing practices had become sodiverse that the concept of a single set of standards wasredundant and unhelpful. As a result, today there arewide variations in the measurements assigned to thevarious dress sizes. While a woman may find she is asize 12 in one brand of clothing, she may well be a size16 in another. Plus sizes are even more erratic.

On paper, it appears that the numerical dress sizingbetween Australia, the UK and New Zealand all match.That is, if you are a size 16 in Australia, then you will al-so be a size 16 in the UK and in New Zealand. But a dis-crepancy quickly appears in the more general size labelsof Small, Medium, Large and so on. F or example, whatis XL in Australia is simply L in the UK.

One might presume that a new standard might be de-veloped and that a logical field, interested in surveyingpeoples sizes, would be ergonomics. Unfortunately forgarment makers, and consumers alike, they are moreinterested with measurements relating to heights ofchairs, than the waist -to-knee measurements neededto design a well fitting skirt. Instead, most work on sur-veying populations’ proportions around the world, ap-pears to be being carried out by mannequin manufac-turers, who provide store dummies for retailers, andcustom made full-body dress forms for individuals.

So where does that leave the consumer? One resultof the diversity in sizing is that once a consumer finds amanufacturer or designer whose clothes fit, they are

likely to stay with that brand so long as it remains con-sistent. This is especially the case where, as with Sports-girl, the clothes have been designed with Australians inmind.

Buying clothes over the internet has rapidly becomecommonplace in Australia and around the world. As aresult, many manufacturers now offer sizing charts ontheir websites, usually containing the basic ‘bust, waist,and hip’ measurements in cm and/or inches. Compari-son tables then translate the Australian sizes into inter-national sizes. However, there is a very definite prob-lem, especially in swimwear and other fitted clothingsuch as vintage dresses with a fitted bodice, thanks tothe differences in the amount of ease manufacturers al-low. Ease essentially determines how close to your ac-tual body the garment will fit.

The end result is that consumers waste a lot of mon-ey, and give couriers plenty of work moving clothes toand from retailers, as they try to find garments that fit.

A solution could be to have more body measure-ments, so that the size charts are more detailed. How-ever, unlike the past when most women sewed, the ma-jority of consumers today are non-sewers and so totake measurements such as ‘nape to waist’ would makelittle sense. A solution used to apparent success bysome online retailers in Australia is to ignore body

measurements, and instead provide garment measure-ments with the garment measured flat. That way theconsumer need only measure items in their wardrobealready, and then find garments with similar measure-ments to get a good fit. It’s a particularly attractive so-lution given that some brands such as Camilla, have in-vented their own numerical sizing code unique to theirbrand, which is not consistent with the numbers used inAustralia or in any other country to denote sizes.

Shopping in-store is not necessarily any easier thanbuying online as many of the larger retailers no longeremploy salespeople who are familiar with all the stockthe store carries. The trend towards employing in-storestylists or personal shoppers is perhaps an attempt torectify this situation. E fforts have also been made bysome retailers to assist shoppers by, for example, with3D body scanning technology, an idea that Target at-tempted to roll out Australia-wide. In an era when pri-vacy is an issue, and personal data trades at a premium,people are suspect of third parties having so much in-formation about them. The benefit to a consumer is al-so questionable when they’re faced in-store with a mul-titude of garments made to different size specificationsand proportions.

At the end of the day though, nothing beats a well de-signed garment, made to measure.

2BR02B: To Be Or Naught To Be,the Canadian short film directed byMarco Checa Garcia, added to it’slaurels recently, winning Best Sci Fishort film at the Sydney Indie FilmFestival. It competed against shortfilms from around the world includ-ing Australia, Spain, the USA ,France and India. Pictured are thefilm’s Canadian-based Greek-Aus-tralian actor and producer ArtinJohn, together with members of theSydney post-production crew: LeonCoward (art director and compos-er), James Tarbotton (artist & edi-tor), Imogen Coward (soundtrackvocals), and Will Oates (VFX).

James Tarbotton, Artin John, ImogenCoward, Leon Coward, and WillOates. Photo by Fawaz Hamawy.

News update: Aussie-Greek filmmakers win at the Sydney Indie Film Festival


ANCIENT GREEK MONUMENT SHINES AGAIN IN SYDNEY

One of Sydney’s most intricate historic monumentshas been restored to its former glory, thanks to thework of the NSW Government’s specialist stonemasonsunit, a group of Sydney philanthropists and the RoyalBotanic Garden.

The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, located in theRoyal Botanic Gardens, is an 1870 replica of an AncientGreek monument dating from 334BC.

Minister for Finance, Services and Property DominicPerrottet today unveiled the monument, which hasbeen painstakingly restored by the Government’sstonemasons following a $200,000 investment as partof the Minister’s Stoneworks Program.

“The Lysicrates monument represents the rich cultur-al history and heritage that has shaped our city, ourstate and our nation, and we simply must preserve thathistory for future generations,” Mr Perrottet said.

“Earlier this year the Government committed an addi-tional $2 million in funding for our specialist stonema-sons to restore and preserve our heritage icons, and Iwas pleased to be able to include the preservation ofthis monument as part of the program.”

In addition to its links to Ancient Greece, the Sydneymonument has considerable local historical signifi-cance. It was commissioned in 1868 by Premier JamesMartin (after whom Martin Place was named), and iscarved from Sydney’s iconic Yellowblock sandstone.

Originally located in Martin’s Potts Point garden, themonument was saved from demolition in 1943 and re-located to the Royal Botanical Gardens by the then Pre-mier William McKell, following a campaign by SydneyMorning Herald journalist Fritz Burnell.

In 2014 a group of Sydney philanthropists noticedthat rain and winds had eroded the soft golden sand-stone of the monument. The group formed the Lysi-crates Foundation, which has worked closely with theMinisters Stonework Program and Royal Botanic Gar-

dens to restore the monument.The Government’s specialist stonemasons and her-

itage architects have since undertaken a detailedrestoration program to return the monument to its for-mer glory.

Ongoing maintenance of the monument will be sup-ported by the Lysicrates Foundation and the Royal Bo-tanic Garden. The Lysicrates Foundation has also found-ed an annual playwriting competition in the Greek the-atrical tradition as part of its work to promote perform-ing and visual arts in Australia.

Thessaloniki set to have Metro by 2020

Thessaloniki is set to have a metro sys-tem by 2020, according to Yiannis My-lopoulos, chairman of Attiko Metro- thecompany implementing this project.

Speaking at a press conference for the81st Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF),Mylopoulos announced that construc-tion of the Venizelos station — whichhad stopped due to archaeological dis-coveries — will now begin in autumn.

According to Mylopoulos, the con-struction plans provide for the archaeo-

logical ruins and the Venizelos station tocoexist. The company’s president addedthat the station will open in 2021 andshowcase findings on a special platformresembling an open archaeological site.

Construction on the Thessalonikimetro, a 3.5-billion-euro project, origi-nally began in 2006- the project, which isco-financed by the European Union, wasoriginally expected to be completed in2016.

Source: Greek City Times

TO BHMA16/32 NOVEMBER 2016

TravelThe Greek Australian VEMA

By H. ARGYROPOULOS

Kalavryta, a small mountain-ous town in the northern Pelo-ponnese, is these days usuallyassociated with skiing, whichhas turned it into one of thecountry’s most popular winterdestinations.

In fact, when the local skicenter opened in 1988, few - ifany - could have imagined theeconomic boost it would giveto this historic location of 2,500inhabitants.

On a plateau 750 metersabove sea level in the lap ofMts Helmos, Panahaiko andErymanthos and surrounded byfir forest, Kalavryta deservedthe boost, if only for the cruelfate that history had dealt it.

It was at the nearbymonastery of Aghia Lavra onMarch 25, 1821 that the bannerof the War of Independence a-gainst the Turks was raised.

But, in a devastating twist offate over a century later, onDecember 13, 1943, the Ger-man occupiers massacred al-most the entire male popula-tion over the age of 13, morethan 1,100 people, in retaliationfor the killing of some 80 Ger-man soldiers by Greek resist-ance fighters, and set fire tothe town.

Today, the bustle in thepedestrianized commercialthoroughfare, several squaresand the wide, welllaid- outstreets, particularly at week-ends, attest to the town’s re-covery.

However, the catastrophe, ofwhich the Sacrifice Monument,500 meters from the center,and the municipal KalavrytaHolocaust Museum stand asthe only reminders, also meantthe loss of architectural her-itage and the town looks ratherunimpressive. Virtually the onlyexception is the PaleologinaMansion that houses the cultur-al center - a building which hadcuriously also escaped de-struction on a number of previ-ous occasions.

The well-developed ski cen-ter is 14 kilometers from Ka-lavryta and its 12 slopes spanelevations between 1,700 and2,340 meters on Mt Helmos. It

is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4p.m., December to April (www.kalavritaski.gr).The prime attractions in the areaare the Vouraikos river gorge,one of the most beautiful in thePeloponnese, and the 22.6-kilo-meter rack-andpinion railway,

known as the Odondotos, whichruns along the river’s right bank,connecting the village of Diakoftonear the coast with Kalavryta.

Built by French and Italian engi-neers in the 1890s to carry min-erals down to the sea, Odon-dotos is just 75 centimeters wide

- the narrowest railway line inEurope, resembling a kind of toytrain fantasy of tunnels and pre-cipitous overhangs.

On the one-hour ride, passen-gers can stop at the lovely andpeaceful village of Zachlorou,where there are rooms to rent,

Kalavryta (area code: 26920) hasplenty of accommodation: Fiday(24552), from 60 euros, suites 200euros; Helmos (29222), from 80euros; Kynetha (22609), from 90euros; Filoxenia (22422/22493),from 70 euros; Castle Resort(24556), 2.5 km from town, from 120euros, 180 euros for maisonettes;Georgios V (24600), 5 km, from 100euros, suites 145 euros; Aphrodite’sInn (23600), from 85 euros; Anerada(24777), from 110 euros; MontageSuites (24700), in Zachlorou, from128 euros.

Don’t miss the imposing and emo-tive Sacrifice Monument and theadjoining sculptural work, emblemof the town. See the breathtakingCave of the Lakes in the village ofKastria, at the 17th km on the Ka-lavryta- Klitoria road. Apart from itslabyrinth of corridors and strangestalactite formations, this ancientsubterranean riverbed has a stringof cascading lakes. See the sourceof the river Aroanios, near Planitero,the trout-breeding facility and thewater-powered mill nearby, whereyou can buy wholewheat flour.

You will find excellent cuisine,particularly meat-based dishes fromlocally bred livestock at good pricesboth in Kalavryta and nearby villa-ges; just exercise some judgment inchoosing, given that the town isnow a developed destination. Intown: Varvitsiotis (excellent bakedentrees and roast pork) Haralambas(fine grilled meats) and Peri Orexe-os (for casseroles); Karteri in Ske-pasto and Romantzo in Zachlorou; inLousi, go to Sperchos and Helmos(here all the ingredients are home-produced by the cook herself).

Kalavryta is 190 km, or about 2 hrs30 mins by car, from Athens viathe Athens-Patras highway; turn leftat Diakofto after Akrata. Alternative-ly, there are two bus connectionsfrom Kifissou station in Athensdaily, at 9.40 a.m. and 2.30 p.m..Buses to Patras from the same sta-tion, leaving every half hour, ortrains (Hellenic Railways info: 1110)can drop you at Diakofto fromwhere you can take the Odondotosrailway (26920.22245), only on Sa-turdays and Sundays in winter time(8.50 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12.10 p.m.).

and take a 45-minute walk up tothe historic Monastery of MegaSpileo, at the bottom of a 120meter wild bluff 10 km from Ka-lavryta. The impressive monaste-ry, partly built in a cave as its na-me suggests, is said to have beenfounded in AD 362.

To make the most of the gorge,you can walk down the railwaytrack from Kalavryta to Zachlorouin about three hours (on winterweekends time the hike to avoidthe train in the tunnels).

The Monastery of Aghia Lavra,4.5 km from Kalavryta, still hoststhe bullet-ridden standard of theWar of Independence and a dia-mond- studded Bible donated byCatherine the Great of Russia.

Also worth seeing is the smallpicturesque Chapel of PanaghiaPlataniotissa, on the Kalavryta-Aegio road via Pteri, 30 km fromKalavryta. Built inside the hollowof a huge plane tree, it has anicon of the Virgin Mary depictedon the tree, believed to date backto early Christian times when the-ologians were locked in a fiercedispute about icons.

The Kalavryta Holocaust Mu-seum, opened in 2005, has awealth of material on the historyand folk tradition of the area, par-ticularly events preceding themassacre.

KalavrytaThis Peloponnesian town and province have overcomehistorical adversity to become a popular winter destination

In the lap of Mt Helmos

november 2016 e-mail: [email protected] discipline in...

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