Latest news with #Aegean Sea
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Happy people': folk festivals punctuate Greek summer life
It's midnight in the Aegean Sea but on the Greek island of Ikaria, in the courtyard of the church of St Elijah, the revelry was barely getting started. Dozens of dancers and scores of onlookers, including many tourists, were attending the local "panigiri", a folk celebration that is an integral part of centuries-old summer traditions in villages across Greece. Anyone can lock arms under the strumming of lutes and join the circle for the "Ikariotikos", a dance whose origins are believed to date to the 15th century. "People of all ages dance together in a circle, and the energy that emerges is fabulous," said Katerina Gerner, a German yoga instructor who spends half the year on the eastern Aegean island of around 9,000 residents. Some of the dancers were elderly men who are among Ikaria's notoriously long-lived residents. "It's like entering a trance through music, dance, in the circle, people are happy," she said. "There are large tables... we drink, we dance, it's a very friendly and cheerful atmosphere where everyone talks to each other," said Martine Bultot, a former doctor from France who has visited Ikaria for 35 years. Most Greek summer festivals are held on August 15, an important religious holiday marking the Dormition of Virgin Mary. In Ikaria, however, they go on to mid-September. Each panigiri is associated with the feast day of a local patron saint, such as the Prophet Elijah on July 20 and Saint John on August 28. Panagiota Andrianopoulou, an ethnologist at the Museum of Modern Greek Culture in Athens said the celebrations have existed "since the early years of Greek independence" in the early 19th century. "We tend to associate them with entertainment, but in fact these celebrations had an economic, social, and symbolic function," said the researcher who has studied these festivities in northern Greece. - Local values - "It is the moment when local values are consolidated, such as hospitality, openness, and acceptance of the other," she told AFP. And summer, the height of the harvest, was conducive to trade exchanges, she noted. "Animals, fabrics were bought, dairy products and dried fruits were exchanged, for example," Andrianopoulou said. Ikaria, which has a strong left-wing tradition and votes Communist, was one of the first islands to open up its folk festivals to outsiders. "It is important for the community of a village to come together as one," said Kostas Politis, one of the organisers who helped prepare the food sold during the evening. Goat, mutton and pork are usually on the main course, accompanied by resinated retsina wine. Not without mishaps, some people have been hospitalised with food poisoning. In the Peloponnese village of Ilia last year, nearly 40 people fell ill after eating boiled mutton. Another 30 were briefly hospitalised in Arta, northwestern Greece. - Instagram guests - The festivals have become so popular in recent years that some residents have begun to worry about the growing tourist turnout. Some are upset about these panigiri becoming "Instagrammable", with people mainly showing up to take photos and videos for social network postings. "In the past, these celebrations lasted three days, from Friday to Sunday," said Theodoris Georgiou, a retired engineer from Piraeus who spends his summers in Ikaria. "Today it's a bit more commercial. It's linked to the development of tourism," he added. The all-night duration of the panigiri is a more recent phenomenon, going back 40 years or so. A young Greco-Belgian woman who did not give her name argued that tourism has irrevocably changed the nature of the celebration. "I will never return to Ikaria; nothing is more respected in these traditions that tourists appropriate and destroy," she said, criticising the "post-colonial" attitude of visitors. Vagelis Melos, who came to the celebration with his two sons, was more philosophical. "When people change, the panigiria change," he said with a smile. yap/jph/giv
Jordan Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Jordan Times
Greece to create new marine reserves to protect underwater wildlife
ATHENS — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday said that his government was creating two new protected marine areas, fulfilling a promise he made at a United Nations conference on the oceans in June. The new protected areas -- in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades in the Aegean Sea -- would be "among the largest marine protected areas in the entire Mediterranean", he said in a video message in English. The prime minister said that the "hugely damaging practice of bottom trawling" by commercial fishing boats would be banned within the new marine reserves and in all Greece's marine protected areas by 2030, making it the first country in Europe to take such a significant step in preservation. Fishing is generally allowed in protected marine areas worldwide, even by trawlers which scrape the seabed with a huge funnel-shaped net, to devastating effect. Mitsotakis said that he had "made a promise to honour (Greece's) unique marine heritage" at last month's UN Oceans Conference in southern France, "and to protect it for generations to come". "Today I am delivering on that promise with the establishment of two new marine national parks... because when we protect our ocean, we protect our own future." Greece is located in the eastern Mediterranean and has around 13,600 kilometres (8,450 miles) of coastline and hundreds of islands. Greece, Brazil and Spain all used the UN conference in Nice, to announce new protected marine reserves and measures to ban bottom trawling, in order to better protect marine wildlife. Mitsotakis said that the size of the new Greek marine reserves "will enable us to achieve the goal of protecting 30 per cent of our territorial waters by 2030". He said that the government would work with "local communities, local fishermen, scientists (and) global partners [to] make these parks examples of what is possible". The oceans are 'life itself' In May, Athens banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs that are exceptionally rich in marine wildlife. Neighbouring Turkey, whose western coast is close to the Aegean islands, responded to Monday's announcement by criticising such "unilateral action". "International maritime law encourages cooperation between the coastal states of these seas, including on environmental issues," the foreign ministry in Ankara said. It said that Turkey was willing to cooperate with Greece and would soon announce its own plans to protect maritime areas. Greece and Turkey, both members of NATO, have historical disputes over maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea. They signed an agreement in 2023 aimed at easing tensions. Mitsotakis said that "Ocean", a new documentary by British natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, had inspired Greece to accelerate efforts to protect life below the waves. "Ocean", which features spectacular footage of undersea habitats and marine life, emphasises the importance of healthy seas for tackling climate change and the current sweeping loss of wild species across the planet. Mitsotakis said "Ocean" showed that the sea was "not just beautiful scenery". "It is life itself. Delicate. Powerful. And under threat."
France 24
21-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Greece to create new marine reserves to protect underwater wildlife
The new protected areas -- in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades in the Aegean Sea -- would be "among the largest marine protected areas in the entire Mediterranean", he said in a video message in English. The prime minister said that the "hugely damaging practice of bottom trawling" by commercial fishing boats would be banned within the new marine reserves and in all Greece's marine protected areas by 2030, making it the first country in Europe to take such a significant step in preservation. Fishing is generally allowed in protected marine areas worldwide, even by trawlers which scrape the seabed with a huge funnel-shaped net, to devastating effect. Mitsotakis said that he had "made a promise to honour (Greece's) unique marine heritage" at last month's UN Oceans Conference in southern France, "and to protect it for generations to come". "Today I am delivering on that promise with the establishment of two new marine national parks... because when we protect our ocean, we protect our own future." Greece is located in the eastern Mediterranean and has around 13,600 kilometres (8,450 miles) of coastline and hundreds of islands. Greece, Brazil and Spain all used the UN conference in Nice, to announce new protected marine reserves and measures to ban bottom trawling, in order to better protect marine wildlife. Mitsotakis said that the size of the new Greek marine reserves "will enable us to achieve the goal of protecting 30 percent of our territorial waters by 2030". He said that the government would work with "local communities, local fishermen, scientists (and) global partners (to) make these parks examples of what is possible". The oceans are 'life itself' In May, Athens banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs that are exceptionally rich in marine wildlife. Neighbouring Turkey, whose western coast is close to the Aegean islands, responded to Monday's announcement by criticising such "unilateral action". "International maritime law encourages cooperation between the coastal states of these seas, including on environmental issues," the foreign ministry in Ankara said. It said that Turkey was willing to cooperate with Greece and would soon announce its own plans to protect maritime areas. Greece and Turkey, both members of NATO, have historical disputes over maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea. They signed an agreement in 2023 aimed at easing tensions. Mitsotakis said that "Ocean", a new documentary by British natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, had inspired Greece to accelerate efforts to protect life below the waves. "Ocean", which features spectacular footage of undersea habitats and marine life, emphasises the importance of healthy seas for tackling climate change and the current sweeping loss of wild species across the planet. Mitsotakis said "Ocean" showed that the sea was "not just beautiful scenery". "It is life itself. Delicate. Powerful. And under threat."
Reuters
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Greece reveals boundaries of two marine parks in Ionian and Aegean seas
ATHENS, July 21 (Reuters) - Greece revealed on Monday the boundaries of two planned marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean seas, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying they will be the largest in the Mediterranean region. Athens wants to establish the parks, for the protection of sea mammals and turtles in the Ionian Sea and for seabirds and seals in the Aegean, this year. Mitsotakis said they will help the country meet its global commitment to expand marine protected areas to 30% of its waters by 2030. "They will allow us to meet the target ... way ahead of schedule," Mitsotakis said. "They will be vast sanctuaries for life beneath the waves," he said, adding that trawling of the sea floor will be banned inside the zones. The environmental studies on the parks' boundaries were submitted on Monday for public consultation until September 22. The planned Aegean Sea park has previously stirred tensions between Greece and neighbouring Turkey, with the two countries at odds over a range of issues including maritime boundaries. Athens has said the park's boundaries are within Greece's territorial waters. Turkey's Foreign Ministry said Greece was exploiting universal values such as environmental issues, that the parks would have no legal bearing on disputes between the neighbours in the Aegean and Mediterranean, and that Turkey will announce its own projects for marine life protection in coming days. "Unilateral actions should be avoided in closed or semi-enclosed seas such as the Aegean and the Mediterranean," it said in a statement, adding Ankara was ready to work with Athens as a fellow Aegean coastal state to address any outstanding disputes while the NATO allies try to maintain positive sentiment. The Aegean park, at 9,500 square kilometres, will initially expand around the southern Cyclades islands, further south from Turkey, according to the maps Greece submitted on Monday, along with the environmental studies. The size of both parks is seen at 27,500 km2, government officials said, and Greece wants to expand them further. When the public consultation ends, the Environment Ministry will draft two presidential decrees, which will be submitted to the Council of State by the end of October, the officials added. The parks will be established once the decrees are published.
