G R E E C E 7th Primary School of Tripoli

Greece (Elláda), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in southeast Europe. Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country. The population of the country, according to the 2011 census preliminary data, is about 11 million. Greece has land borders with Albania, Bulgaria and FYROM to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. 80% of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m.

Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of ancient Greece, generally considered the cradle of Western civilization. As such, it is the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature and historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama, including both tragedy and comedy. This legacy is partly reflected in the seventeen UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in Greece, ranking Greece 7th in Europe and 13th in the world. The modern Greek state was established in 1830, following the Greek War of Independence.

Greece has been a member of what is now the European Union since 1981 and the Eurozone since 2001, NATO since 1952, and is a founding member of the United Nations. Greece is a developed country with an advanced,high-income economy and very high standards of living, including the 21st highest quality of life as of Since late 2009, the Greek economy has been hit by a severe financial crisis resulting in the Greek government requesting €240 billion in loans from EU institutions, a substantial debt write-off, and unpopular austerity measures.

Peloponnese The Peloponnese is a large peninsula, located in a region of southern Greece. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea or Morias, a name still in colloquial use.

The Peloponnese covers an area of some 21,549.6 km² and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece.

It has two land connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth, and an artificial one, the Rio-Antirio bridge (completed in 2004).

The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology, specifically the legend of the hero Pelops, who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name Peloponnese means "Island of Pelops". Mainland Greece's first major civilization, the Mycenaean civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age, from the stronghold at Mycenae in the north-east of the peninsula.

In 776 BC, the first Olympic Games were held at Olympia, in the western Peloponnese. The ancient Olympics were as much a religious festival as an athletic event. The games were held in honor of the Greek god Zeus.

The winner of an Olympic event was awarded an olive branch and he was received with much honour throughout Greece, especially in his hometown, where his fellow-citizens used to demolish part of the city walls saying that they did not need them since they had him to protect the city.

In the Peloponnese there were also the ancient cities of Sparta, Corinth, Argos, Megalopolis, Epidaurus and many others. Nowadays, many archaeological sites exist there, next to the modern homonymous cities.

The Peloponnesians played a major role in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Turks - the war actually began in the Peloponnese, on the 25 th March 1821.

Greek control over the peninsula was established with the capture of Tripoli in September The greatest Greek leader was Theodoros Kolokotronis.

In the middle of the Peloponnese there is the Arcadia prefecture. TRIPOLI is the capital city of Arcadia.

Et in Arcadia ego According to Greek mythology, Arcadia was the domain of the god Pan, a virgin wilderness home to the god of the forest and his court of dryads, nymphs and other spirits of nature. It was one version of paradise, though only in the sense of being the abode of supernatural entities, not an afterlife for deceased mortals.

Greek mythology inspired the Roman poet Virgil to write his Eclogues, a series of poems set in Arcadia. In European Renaissance arts, Arcadia was celebrated as the unspoiled, harmonious wilderness. Arcadia is presented as the spontaneous result of life lived naturally, uncorrupted by civilization.

Arcadia covers about 18% of the Peloponnese peninsula, making it the largest regional unit on the peninsula. Arcadia has a ski resort on Mount Mainalo, located about 20 km NW of Tripoli. Other mountains of Arcadia are the Parnon in the southeast and the Lykaion in the west.

TRIPOLI

In the Middle Ages, the place was known as Drobolitsá='Water City' or ='Plain of Oaks'. Modern Tripolis was created in 1770 near the ruins of 3 ancient cities of Pallantion, Tegea, and Mantinea, hence its name TRIPOLIS means 'three cities’ in the Greek language. Tripoli was one of the main targets of the Greek insurgents in the Greek War of Independence. It became independent on the 23 rd September It is located in the center of the Peloponnese, in a broad montane basin at approximately 650m in altitude. Tripoli is surrounded by thickly wooded mountains on all sides, the tallest and closest of which is Mount Mainalon to the northwest. The southwest of the Tripolis basin used to consist of wetlands which have now been drained and converted to farmland.

UNIVERSITY OF PELOPONNESE Tripoli is the seat of the recently founded University of the Peloponnese with two departments of the Sciences and Technology School and one department of the Economics and Administration School.

7 th Primary School of Tripoli In the 7th Primary school of Tripoli there are 240 pupils (122 boys and 118 girls) aged from 6 to 12 years old. The pupils are classified into 6 classes according to their age: A class for 6-7 years, B class for 7-8, C class for 8-9, D class for 9-10, E class for and ST class for years old.

In our school there are 16 teachers with the Headmaster included, 1 teacher for children with special needs, 1 music teacher, 2 teachers for the English language, 3 physical education teachers, 3 teachers for art (drawing), 1 for the German language, 1 for the French language and 1 for computer science.

Every year we do many celebrations throughout the school year and everybody participates in those.

The Tsakonikos dance (in 5/4) has its roots in the Ancient Greek Times. Its origin is from Tsakonia, a place near Tripoli. The dancers are held tightly, as if they are trying not to lose one another. They dance in an open circle and some times they gradually form a spiral and then again they roll out into the open circle. This way, the dance represents life itself, growth and victory.

The tradition says that Tsakonikos dance has to do with an episode of the Greek mythology: the exodus of hero Theseus out of the Labyrinth.

…………to be continued……….. Thank you all for your attention! See you soon in GREECE! Warm regards 7th Primary School of Tripoli