Let us introduce ourselves

1st GYMNASIUM OF RHODES, GREECE

ERASMUS+: “Passport to the future”

Greece (Hellas) Greece is located in the

Southeastern Europe.

It has a land surface 130.647 km2 and it has 13.676km of coastline.

There are about 6.000 small or big islands and rocky islets. Only 117 from them are inhabited.

Population: 10.773.253 people.

It’s a member of EU since 2001.

Greece (Hellas)

Our country is surrounded from the Mediterranean Sea which is divided in smaller seas such us Aegean sea, Ionian sea, etc.

The border countries are: Albania Former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia Bulgaria Turkey

The capital of Greece is ATHENS.

Currency: euro (€)

Climate: Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.

Greek history briefly• Greece has a history

stretching back almost 4.000 years. The people of the mainland, called Hellenes, organised great naval and military expeditions, and explored the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, going as far as the Atlantic Ocean and the Caucasus Mountains. One of those expeditions, the siege of Troy, is narrated in the first great European literary work, Homer's Iliad. Numerous Greek settlements were founded throughout the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and the coast of North Africa as a result of travels in search of new markets.

• During the Classical period (5th century B.C.), Greece was composed of city-states, the largest being Athens, followed by Sparta and Thebes. A fierce spirit of independence and love of freedom enabled the Greeks to defeat the Persians in battles which are famous in the history of civilization - Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.

In the second half of the 4th century B.C., the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered

most of the then known world and sought to Hellenize it.

• In 146 BC Greece fell to the Romans. In 330 A.D. Emperor Constantine moved the Capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, founding the Eastern Roman Empire which was renamed Byzantine Empire or Byzantium for short, by western historians in the 19th century. Byzantium transformed the linguistic heritage of Ancient Greece into a vehicle for the new Christian civilisation.

• The Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in 1453 and the Greeks remained under the Ottoman yoke for nearly 400 years. During this time their language, their religion and their sense of identity remained strong.

• On March 25, 1821, the Greeks revolted against the Turks, and by 1828 they had won their independence. As the new state comprised only a tiny fraction of the country, the struggle for the liberation of all the lands inhabited by Greeks continued. In 1864, the Ionian islands were added to Greece; in 1881 parts of Epirus and Thessaly. Crete, the islands of the Eastern Aegean and Macedonia were added in 1913 and Western Thrace in 1919. After Word War II the Dodecanese islands were also returned to Greece.

Greek Monuments and Archaeological sites

Acropolis Herodium Theater Kerameikos

Stoa Attalou Hephaestus Temple

Olympius Zeus Temple

ATHENS

Greek Monuments and Archaeological sites

Vergina’s tomb and museum

Macedonia

Greek Monuments and Archaeological sites

Epidaurus Theatre Archaeological site of Olympia

Mycenae Delphi

Greek Monuments and Archaeological sites

Knossos Palace, Crete

Rhodes : our island

It’s located in the Southeastern Aegean sea.

It’s the largest island of the DODECANESE islands.

It has 115.490 inhabitants (2011).

Highest elevation 1.216m (Attavyros mountain).

Rhodes: our city

Rhodes is the principal town of the capital.

Coordinates: 36o 10΄ Ν, 28o E.

The city of Rhodes has 50.636 inhabitants (2011).

Rhodes The island of Rhodes is also

called the “Island of Sun” (Helios). According to mythology, the god Helios had fallen in love with the nymph Rhodes, and when he shone his light on her, she transformed into the island.

Another name that the island has had is Ofioussa ("Snake island") as well as the island had many snakes.

The most well known name of Rhodes is “The island of the Knights” which is related with the history of the island.

Rhodes’ History(briefly)

The ancient city of Rhodes was founded in 408 BC at the northern tip of the island and laid out on a regular grid according to the principles of Hippodamus of Miletus. The ancient city was much reduced in size in Byzantine times, and was protected by fortifications from the 7th century. The early walls contained the area later known as the Collachio. In the early 12th century, however, a new wall enclosed a rectangular area of 17.5 hectares. This was the town conquered by the Knights of St. John (Knights Hospitaller) in 1309. 

Rhodes’ History(briefly)

From this time until 1522 the town was the headquarters of the Order's island state, which also included most of the other Dodecanese islands and had to face, apart from internal matters, the increasing pressure of Islam. The sophisticated fortifications of the town repelled even the might of Ottoman sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror in 1480. 

Rhodes’ History(briefly)

In 1522, a landmark for the history of Rhodes, sultan Suleiman II the Magnificent managed, after a lengthy siege, to drive the Knights Hospitaller out of Rhodes. They eventually ended up in Malta, leaving behind a host of monuments that testify to their presence on the island. Rhodes remained under Ottoman occupation until 1912. They were driven away by the colonial expansion of Italy who held the Dodecanese islands until the surrender of Italy to the Allies in World War II. In 1948 Rhodes became formally part of Greece.

Places of interest - Lindos

Lindos

Places of interest – The valley of butterflies

The valley of butterflies

Places of interest - Filerimos

Filerimos

Places of interest – Piges of Kalithea

Piges of Kalithea