Tuesday, September 9, 2008
More signs of autumn
The storks are beginning to migrate south and this will probably be the last time I see one until next summer. They are so ungainly when they fly and so graceful when walking. Hopefully this year's pair will return to Skaptopara next year.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Autumn is here!
The students are back, the place is buzzing, and there's the smell of roasting peppers and ripening grapes all over town. These are in my garden.
Truly autumn in Eastern Europe. Many houses are bedecked with strings of drying red peppers and bunches of herbs, especially tchubritsa. It's rather festive and it makes you aware that winter is just around the corner, even though the days can still be scorchingly hot.
Truly autumn in Eastern Europe. Many houses are bedecked with strings of drying red peppers and bunches of herbs, especially tchubritsa. It's rather festive and it makes you aware that winter is just around the corner, even though the days can still be scorchingly hot.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Last day in Greece
It's been crazy since my trip, because we started new student orientation as soon as we got back to Blagoevgrad. At last, I have time to post my remaining pictures!
On Sunday morning, we headed to the hills of the city to see the Byzantine walls before heading to Vergina. We visited this church on the way, where they were setting up for a wedding.
We stopped at a small monastery, which was built into a section of the city walls. Initally, we thought we'd found a zoo, because there were a load of peacocks on the grounds!
Then it was off to Vergina, where were toured the royal tombs museum. It was very cool, since the museum is actually built inside the tumulus. It's rather like entering a cave and finding a golden hoard!
After viewing the royal tomb, we went to a current dig, where we saw the entrance to a tomb that was not so elaborate, but that you could examine more closely. We also saw a theatre that was being excavated. My friend and I were dressed for scrambling up the hills in slacks and sneakers, but we kept running into female Greek tourists wearing high heels and miniskirts, looking a lot like someone from the chalga channel back home. We couldn't figure out the logic to that style of clothing for outdoor adventure!
After that, it was back in the car and up the Struma valley, homeward bound.
On Sunday morning, we headed to the hills of the city to see the Byzantine walls before heading to Vergina. We visited this church on the way, where they were setting up for a wedding.
We stopped at a small monastery, which was built into a section of the city walls. Initally, we thought we'd found a zoo, because there were a load of peacocks on the grounds!
Then it was off to Vergina, where were toured the royal tombs museum. It was very cool, since the museum is actually built inside the tumulus. It's rather like entering a cave and finding a golden hoard!
After viewing the royal tomb, we went to a current dig, where we saw the entrance to a tomb that was not so elaborate, but that you could examine more closely. We also saw a theatre that was being excavated. My friend and I were dressed for scrambling up the hills in slacks and sneakers, but we kept running into female Greek tourists wearing high heels and miniskirts, looking a lot like someone from the chalga channel back home. We couldn't figure out the logic to that style of clothing for outdoor adventure!
After that, it was back in the car and up the Struma valley, homeward bound.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Museum of Byzantine Culture
After leaving the archaeological Museum, we moved on to the
Museum of Byzantine Culture. And once again, due to the Feast of the Assumption, we were alone in the place. We spent several hours in the permanent collection and I was making my friend a bit crazy by poring over the clothing and making color sketches. This came to an end when I was approached by a docent who said "why don't you just take pictures?". This was so unexpected I though I misheard and asked the curator who had just come in the room if that was really okay. (Usually you get chased out for even having a camera!)She said "just no flash.", so out came the camera. There's a good overall photo of an seventh century tunic here and I also have close-ups!
I confess to having been a bit excited by the opportunity and the photo of the rondel shows how my hands were shaking. At that point my friend said "she's very interested in history" and the docent thought that was very unusal, but good. We finished viewing the permanent collection and went on to the temporary exhibit entitled "Places and Manners of Worship," which was also very interesting. I didn't take many more photos, because I purchased a copy of the exhibit catalog Byzantine Hours: Works and Days in Byzantium, which is fifteen pounds and 600 pages of photos and text. It is a wonderful resource!
Next it was on to the Church of Ag. Georgios or the Rotunda of St. George. It was built in the reign of Galerius Caesar, and was originally either a temple to Zeus or a mausoleum for Galerius. It later became a Christian basilica, then a mosque (and the minaret is still standing), then later returned to use as a Christian church. Like the Ag. Sofiya, it has amazing chandeliers. Here they are formed of dragons, as opposed to the griffons seen at St. Sofiya.
Near the Rotunda was the Agora. While it's not as impressive as the one in Rome, It still is worth a second look. It seems the authorities are trying to reconstruct a portion of it and there are several columns in place.
It was back to the hotel for showers and a bit of rest at this point. It had been well over 102 F in the afternoon and we needed a break before dinner - not to mention that Greeks don't really start evening meals until at least 8:00 and that's early!
Museum of Byzantine Culture. And once again, due to the Feast of the Assumption, we were alone in the place. We spent several hours in the permanent collection and I was making my friend a bit crazy by poring over the clothing and making color sketches. This came to an end when I was approached by a docent who said "why don't you just take pictures?". This was so unexpected I though I misheard and asked the curator who had just come in the room if that was really okay. (Usually you get chased out for even having a camera!)She said "just no flash.", so out came the camera. There's a good overall photo of an seventh century tunic here and I also have close-ups!
I confess to having been a bit excited by the opportunity and the photo of the rondel shows how my hands were shaking. At that point my friend said "she's very interested in history" and the docent thought that was very unusal, but good. We finished viewing the permanent collection and went on to the temporary exhibit entitled "Places and Manners of Worship," which was also very interesting. I didn't take many more photos, because I purchased a copy of the exhibit catalog Byzantine Hours: Works and Days in Byzantium, which is fifteen pounds and 600 pages of photos and text. It is a wonderful resource!
Next it was on to the Church of Ag. Georgios or the Rotunda of St. George. It was built in the reign of Galerius Caesar, and was originally either a temple to Zeus or a mausoleum for Galerius. It later became a Christian basilica, then a mosque (and the minaret is still standing), then later returned to use as a Christian church. Like the Ag. Sofiya, it has amazing chandeliers. Here they are formed of dragons, as opposed to the griffons seen at St. Sofiya.
Near the Rotunda was the Agora. While it's not as impressive as the one in Rome, It still is worth a second look. It seems the authorities are trying to reconstruct a portion of it and there are several columns in place.
It was back to the hotel for showers and a bit of rest at this point. It had been well over 102 F in the afternoon and we needed a break before dinner - not to mention that Greeks don't really start evening meals until at least 8:00 and that's early!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Salonika
Waking up to the sound of sea birds and the breeze off the Thermaic Gulf was most pleasant. Because it was a holiday weekend, the city was very quiet. After breakfast, we headed out to walk through the Jewish Quarter and to the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. The museum was closed, but the architecture in the quarter was well worth the walk. Next was the Aghia Sofiya, the largest Byzantine church in Greece. I find it unusual to be encouraged to take photos in a church, but that is what happened here.
From there it was up the waterfront to the White Tower.
A former prison, once known as "the Bloody Tower" during Ottoman rule, it is now a museum. It is undergoing restoration and its collections are elsewhere. Luckily for me, the ones I was interested in were at the Archaeological Museum or the Museum of Byzantine Culture.
At the Archaeological Museum we were treated to a wonderful display of exhibits, beginning with "Life in Prehistoric Macedonia" , then "Toward the Birth of Cities", and “Thessaloniki, The Metropolis of Macedonia”.
The musuem is newly renovated, well laid out, and extremely interesting. Amazingly, they permitted non-flash photos!
A gold Myrtle wreath.
Loom Weights.
I want to play this game!
More about the Museum of Byzantine Culture later!
From there it was up the waterfront to the White Tower.
A former prison, once known as "the Bloody Tower" during Ottoman rule, it is now a museum. It is undergoing restoration and its collections are elsewhere. Luckily for me, the ones I was interested in were at the Archaeological Museum or the Museum of Byzantine Culture.
At the Archaeological Museum we were treated to a wonderful display of exhibits, beginning with "Life in Prehistoric Macedonia" , then "Toward the Birth of Cities", and “Thessaloniki, The Metropolis of Macedonia”.
The musuem is newly renovated, well laid out, and extremely interesting. Amazingly, they permitted non-flash photos!
A gold Myrtle wreath.
Loom Weights.
I want to play this game!
More about the Museum of Byzantine Culture later!
A Pilgrimage in Greece
We left Blagoevgrad at 7:00 am on Friday to start our trip to Thessaloniki and the weather could not have been more perfect - cleam, warm, and bright blue skies. We made excellent time down the Kresna Gorge and crossed into Greece around 8:15. We continued down the Struma River valley, eventually turning east to the city of Veroia (or Berea), which is on the Via Egnatia. At Veroia we visited several churches and the new Byzantine Museum.
The Museum is housed in a flour mill, dating from the early twentieth century and is one of the best laid out display spaces I've ever seen. There were glass floors above ancient mosaics so you had the sensation of actually standing on the floor without ever touching it. The exhibits concentrated on Veroia as a part of the Byzantine Empire and the headquarters of a metropolitan see. Admission was free because it was the Day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
From Veroia we traveled toward Thessaloniki along the valley of the Aliakmonas River.
We stopped at the Monastery of Timios Prodromos (or John the Baptist). It's the most important monastery in the area because of the numbers of notable monks (who were later canonized) who were members of the community. A few include Sts. Cyril & Methodius, St. Clement of Ohrid, and St. Antonios ("Crazy for God"). St. Clement's skull has been held there since the twelfth century. It is also believed that St. Paul was a visitor here. The monk we spoke with told us that pilgrims came here and we received a pilgrim's guide to the area and to other holy sites. The prayer of the monastery is "Prodromos, hasten to your friend, the Word, making me, who am dull, a vessel of the light."
It's a marvelous place, due to the beautiful, serene location and the fact that it's a working monastery. As we arrived, the monks were bringing their lunch scraps out to feed to the chickens, geese, and ducks. (The watermelon rinds seemed very popular.) We were given the opportunity to view the church and the narthex frescos were new and bright, the work of iconographers from Krania.
After leaving The Monastery of John the Baptist, we headed toward Vergina, but were distracted by a sign for another monastery. Following it, we drove 15km up a dirt track to find a brand new monastery! It was just being completed and will someday house a seminary. It was quite different from Timios Prodromos!
We decided there was no time for Vergina that day, so from there, it was a beautiful drive to the coast and into Thessaloniki on the Via Egnatia and to our hotel. We had a wonderful dinner on the waterfront, including eggplant, chicken in oregano, and fresh watermelon. And of course, Mythos beer!
Day two will follow soon!
The Museum is housed in a flour mill, dating from the early twentieth century and is one of the best laid out display spaces I've ever seen. There were glass floors above ancient mosaics so you had the sensation of actually standing on the floor without ever touching it. The exhibits concentrated on Veroia as a part of the Byzantine Empire and the headquarters of a metropolitan see. Admission was free because it was the Day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
From Veroia we traveled toward Thessaloniki along the valley of the Aliakmonas River.
We stopped at the Monastery of Timios Prodromos (or John the Baptist). It's the most important monastery in the area because of the numbers of notable monks (who were later canonized) who were members of the community. A few include Sts. Cyril & Methodius, St. Clement of Ohrid, and St. Antonios ("Crazy for God"). St. Clement's skull has been held there since the twelfth century. It is also believed that St. Paul was a visitor here. The monk we spoke with told us that pilgrims came here and we received a pilgrim's guide to the area and to other holy sites. The prayer of the monastery is "Prodromos, hasten to your friend, the Word, making me, who am dull, a vessel of the light."
It's a marvelous place, due to the beautiful, serene location and the fact that it's a working monastery. As we arrived, the monks were bringing their lunch scraps out to feed to the chickens, geese, and ducks. (The watermelon rinds seemed very popular.) We were given the opportunity to view the church and the narthex frescos were new and bright, the work of iconographers from Krania.
After leaving The Monastery of John the Baptist, we headed toward Vergina, but were distracted by a sign for another monastery. Following it, we drove 15km up a dirt track to find a brand new monastery! It was just being completed and will someday house a seminary. It was quite different from Timios Prodromos!
We decided there was no time for Vergina that day, so from there, it was a beautiful drive to the coast and into Thessaloniki on the Via Egnatia and to our hotel. We had a wonderful dinner on the waterfront, including eggplant, chicken in oregano, and fresh watermelon. And of course, Mythos beer!
Day two will follow soon!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Off to Byzantium!
Just 36 hours and it's in the car and off to Thessaloniki! (That's Solon if you're from Bulgaria.) We're going to the Museum of Byzantine Culture, the White Tower, the Archaeological Museum, the Folklore Museum, and the Jewish Museum for sure. And before we head home, we're driving out to Vergina to see Phillip of Macedon's tomb. I hope to bring back lots of photos!
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