Sani Magazine 2013 by Sani Resort

Contents 09

destination

shopping

Editorial

114

HALKIDIKI: Timeless beauty

Fabulous shopping

photo album

(Photographs: Andreas Sfiridis)

12 The smile of daybreak (Photographs: Fokion Zisiadis, Vice President Sani SA)

life

Holidays with attitude

122

(Photographs: Andreas Sfiridis)

150 The setting sun (Photographs: Fokion Zisiadis, Vice President Sani SA)

Living well

THESSALONIKI: The locals' view

gastronomy

(Photographs: George Manos)

125

cosmos

The scent of memory (Photographs: Sani Resort archive)

sani life

The people of Halkidiki

nature

(Photographs: Studio VD.gr Nikos Vavdinoudis-Christos Dimitriou Aris Rammos)

132

virtue

mythology

(Photographs: Sani Resort archive)

137

Hospitality through the ages

Beautiful eros

Vision and action (Photographs: Sani Resort archive)

24 Sani news

HELIOS VILLAS: Return to Eden (Photographs: Heinz Troll)

(Photographs: Heinz Troll)

beauty landmark

104

Children's paradise

The dance of the bees

142 Beauty over the centuries

(Photographs: Aris Rammos)

The white tower

139

tradition

Beauty in numbers

146

Simply perfect

The scents of summer

(Photographs: Studio VD.gr Nikos Vavdinoudis-Christos Dimitriou)

148

Wedding bells (Photographs: Sani Resort archive)

culture

144

Sani spas

SANI FESTIVAL: The future is female (Photographs: Sani Festival archive)

129 The flavours of Greek cuisine (Photographs: Apeiron, Red Creative)

fashion

90 Cosmopolitan summer (Photographs: Aris Rammos)

108

view

Objects of desire

(Photographs: Studio VD.gr Nikos Vavdinoudis-Christos Dimitriou)

(Photographs: Heinz Troll, Iosifina Svania, Sani Resort archive)

soundtrack

156 THE BEATLES: Here comes the sun

Art forms

Special thanks to Vamvalis Foods SA, and also Ms Katerina Evaggelidou for their help on the production of the cover. Photograph: Red Creative

editor in chief: Georgia Dodou (georgia@saniresort.gr) EDITORIAL TEAM: Αrgyro Barata, Katerina Magounaki, Anna Papadaki, Vassiliki Papageorgiou, Fotis Vallatos COPY EDITING: Anna Papadaki COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: Georgia Dodou Advertising Manager: Nasia Efthimiou

TRANSLATIONS: Christopher Markham PHOTOGRAPHS: Apeiron, Andreas Sfiridis, Ιosifina Svania, Heinz Troll, Studio VD.gr Nikos Vavdinoudis-Christos Dimitriou DESIGN: Red Creative IMAGE PROCESSING: Sotiris Giannakopoulos PRINTING: Skordopoulos

SANI MAGAZINE Edition 2013 | PUBLISHER: Sani SA, 55 Nik. Plastira Str., 54250 Thessaloniki Τel: +30 2310 317327, Fax: +30 2310 317881. Sani Magazine is published annually by Sani SA in 10.000 Greek, English & Russian copies and is distributed free of charge. All rights reserved. www.saniresort.gr Sani® is a Registered Trademark in the European Community, owned and controlled by Sani SA

Editorial

Dear guests, On behalf of all of us, welcome to Sani Resort. We are honoured and delighted to welcome you to our facilities. Continuing the course we have charted over many years, and remaining faithful to our founding principles, we are once again this year fully prepared to offer you the amenities and resources of a world-class resort – one that combines the highest quality of services with a determination to retain its human scale, and at the same time protects and conserves the remarkable natural environment where the Sani Resort is located. Our company – a Greek family business – invests the great majority of its profits every year into the enhancement and improvement of its facilities. We feel, very simply, that this is what we owe to you, our guests. The proof of this philosophy is, I believe, more than evident for all to see, especially for those of you who have visited us before. Our objective is to ensure that the Sani Resort is better every year – more up-to-date, more tastefully and lavishly appointed – more deserving, finally, of the confidence you show in us. Let me list what is new at Sani this year. The entirely renovated Sani Asterias Suites, with their state-of-the-art design and décor; the new family suites in the Sani Beach Hotel as well as the exciting new Grill by the Pool and renovated Veranda and Poseidon restaurants at this facility. And we have created a dynamic renovated Dunes brasserie on the shore at the Sani Beach Club. These are just some of the advances you will find at the Sani Resort, advances we have made with you in mind, and for which we are justly proud. I would like to thank you sincerely for choosing us as your holiday destination this year. You can be confident that all of us at the Sani Resort will do whatever we can to ensure your stay with us is absolutely unforgettable!

Stavros Andreadis President of Sani SA

Photo album

The smile

of daybreak It must have been the extraordinary beauty of the dawn which led our ancestors to turn it into a goddess. Eos, the ancient Greek goddess, was the sister of Helios, the sun, and every morning opened the gates of the orient to her life-giving brother, who cast his golden light onto the glory of the world.

Photographs by Fokion Zisiadis Vice President Sani SA

Nea Potidea, Kassandra, 40째11'49.93"N, 23째19'19.57"E

Sani, Kassandra, 40째 6'4.79"N, 23째18'22.24"E

Sani, Bousoulas beach, Kassandra, 40째 6'44.47"N, 23째18'57.68"E

Sani Marina, Kassandra, 40째 5'52.19"N, 23째18'32.85"E

sani life

Vision and

action

When a concept needs to be redefined, it is up to the visionary thinkers to provide the answer required. As a visionary enterprise, the Sani Resort has always operated in the vanguard, incorporating in its philosophy parameters which advance the objective it has set itself: to ensure that hospitality is always a principle. by georgia dodou

he global crisis has provided an occasion for reforming and transforming every aspect of human life, and our vacations are no exception to this rule. A relatively recent innovation in our lives, unknown to our ancestors, holidays are now much more than just an annual break; we see them now as an opportunity for a total overhaul of our lifestyle and attitudes. We want more than just to lie and enjoy the sun and swim in the sea; the contemporary holidaymaker is looking for a physical and spiritual re-awakening, a regeneration that will stimulate new creative energy in everyone who cares about his personal development. The old model of ‘room and board’ is now hopelessly outdated, and seems no longer to appeal to anyone.

Sani Resort: where vision has been turned into reality. Enjoy the experience. This was the challenge faced by the Sani Resort – the challenge it has risen to so successfully, as one of the first resorts anywhere in the world to structure the entire holiday experience on these contemporary foundations. The emphasis is laid on high aesthetic standards, warm and personal service, a concern for the environment in every aspect of daily life - and more broadly a practical interest in the surrounding area, which has had concrete results in the protection of the local wetlands. There has also been investment in the arts through the two major cultural events (Sani Festival and Sani Gourmet) organized and financed by the resort and which have now become regular institutions, and in general an orientation to activities serving the principle of "a healthy mind in a healthy body".

The Sani Resort, in Kassandra, Halkidiki, is one of the most beautiful locations in Greece. Set in a thousand acres of land, it is managed with great respect for the natural landscape; this, and the intelligent use of space, are evident from the first moment the visitor arrives. The four five-star hotels, the luxury villas and the state-of-the-art marina all seem to emerge naturally from the landscape, not to be imposed upon it by some outside force. Together, they merge into a contemporary community, destined to be a milestone in the lives of those who pass through its gates, an experience of pleasure for the senses, creativity, physical activity and discovery – discovery of new places, images, people, flavours and music.

Linger over your morning coffee at Bousoulas Beach, and then enjoy an invigorating dip in the cool morning sea. Then, if your beachwear is feeling a little tired, why not shop for a new look at the Amazonia pop-up summer store, just by the beach.

For romantics, we recommend a dinner for two at the water’s edge, at the Sani Beach Club or Sani Asterias Suites. A unique experience you will never forget.

2 If you’re staying at the Porto Sani Village or Sani Asterias Suites, we recommend a breakfast of eggs benedict and pancakes. Poetry on a plate.

7 For the last word in evening entertainment, try the Sea You Bar at the Sani Marina, the Grill by the Pool at the Sani Beach Hotel or Dunes at the Sani Beach Club. Start with dinner and then enjoy delicious cocktails.

sani resort top 10! 3

At the Sea Breeze they ser ve the most revitalizing natural fruit juices, tailor-made to your specifications. For a really healthy lunch, try the Lagoon at Porto Sani Village.

You must book tickets for at least one of the Sani Festival concerts, on Sani Hill. Magical views and enchanting music under the starlit sky.

4 For dinner, try Tomata, Ergon or Alexis – all serving fine examples of new Greek cuisine.

5 Ammos at the Sani Beach Hotel is the ideal place to admire a fabulous sunset; and when darkness has fallen, stay and enjoy a superb dinner, with wonderful views of Sani Hill.

9 There’s plenty for nature lovers at Sani. Explore the paths through the Sani forest, watch the birds at the wetland and then enjoy a picnic on the beach by the sand dunes. There are maps available at reception, and a special picnic service for those of you who want to eat al fresco.

10 A spa session is always fun, and even more so when it’s at one of the three paradises of wellbeing available at the Sani Resort! Try My Spa, the Spa Suite or the Club Spa and see – you’ll feel like a new person!

sani life

Sani news There’s always something new happening at the Sani Resort – because we’re always introducing improvements to make your vacation here more enjoyable.

NEW LOOK The newly renovated Sani Beach Hotel has reduced its number of rooms to 394, giving our guests more space to enjoy. We have also given the popular Poseidon Restaurant a warmer, more friendly feel, and the Pool Bar has been re-designed to provide an ideal setting for pre-dinner drinks or an evening with friends. Our new arrival, the rustic Grill by the Pool, offers superb menus. At the same time the number of family rooms at the Sani Beach Club has been increased from 10 to 20, allowing more families to enjoy the amenities of the resort – the ideal holiday destination for children. The new Cocktail Bar at the

Nautical Lounge at the Sani Beach Club is for adults only, serving imaginative cocktails and a wide range of cigars, while the Ouzeri restaurant now serves an authentic Greek breakfast every morning through the season. The 48 suites at the Sani Asterias Suites have been upgraded to make a stay there an even more luxurious experience, while, finally, guests at the Porto Sani Village can enjoy the new in-house Patisserie, serving everything from high-quality sweets and snacks to a wide variety of teas.

SERVICES AND AMENITIES Sani VIP Services has been set up to anticipate our guests’ every wish. Fancy a private dinner party? We offer a whole range of options, from Dining-on-Board (dinner served on a yacht) to Private Dining for one to five persons (barbecue, candlelight dinner or picnic on the beach with whatever you fancy). For nature-lovers, we can even arrange a picnic in the woods! The Sani Picnic Packages service (three options) will serve a meal al fresco in the shade of the trees, with special towels provided free of charge. For those of you interested in local cuisine, we offer organized visits to nearby farms, where you can learn about rural life in Halkidiki, sample freshly picked fruit and vegetables and enjoy light meals of local produce accompanied by wine and tsipouro. Nature-lovers may also want to observe the local bird life, and we offer guided tours of the Sani wetlands, with a free copy of Sani Wetlands, a guide to this unique area produced by Sani SA. We also organize fishing trips – with room for all on morning and afternoon excursions.

But this year’s big surprise is our innovation for fashion-lovers: tailormade shopping trips to Athens and Thessaloniki, with visits to the top stores where you can renew your wardrobe with all the latest looks and the best items from the resort collections, while checking out superb examples of jewellery from the top Greek designers. Thessaloniki’s Proxenou Koromila, Tsimiski and Mitropoleos Streets are among the country’s top shopping destinations, with a wide range of choices from traditional to the latest word in fashion. The excursion to Athens will allow guests to combine sight-seeing with shopping – a unique opportunity to stroll through the old commercial centre, exploring the little streets and shops of the Monastiraki district, enjoying the bazaar experience on Avyssinias Square and visiting the outlets of international luxury brands like Cartier, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Lanvin and Luisa. And after a day’s shopping, what could be better than dinner at one of the city centre’s open-air restaurants, enjoying fine food in a unique setting.

SHOPPING FUN The mall at the Sani Marina is far and away the best you’ll ever see. With shops small and large, new boutiques with some of the top names in fashion, Greek and foreign, accessories, jewellery, swimwear, cosmetics, books and everything else you need for the perfect vacation. All brought together in one little shopping village right by the water’s edge. Important new arrivals this year include Notos Galleries, with top names like Ralph Lauren, Lacoste and Gant, as well as leading cosmetics companies like Chanel, Hermès and Clarins. A new entry at the Sani Marina is also Toms, which is the first Pop Up Resort Store at Sani Marina. Toms designs have caused a sensation in recent years with celebrity shoppers, who are also attracted to the company's keen social awareness. For our younger friends, Anemi has selected ranges of games, specially designed to entertain your children while developing cognitive and other skills. After visiting the shops, be sure to try the new menu at the Macaroni restaurant, with its range of authentic Italian dishes, or sample the new creations of top chef Chrysanthos Karamolegos at the upgraded Tomata restaurant and bar. The Sani Marina mall - shopping that revives and refreshes.

PARENTS AND CHILDREN We all need time out to relax – no one more than parents with young children. This is why we have set up our Babewatch service on the resort’s beaches, with highly qualified staff undertaking to look after your children for as long as you need – and the first half-hour free of charge! We also offer the Sani Beach Experience, for those who want to chill out on our recliners while friendly staff bring snacks from the Bousoulas Bar, games for your children, coffee, drinks and ice cream. And when the time comes for some physical exercise, dads with sons can play football on the mini-pitch, open every day, where professional trainers offer coaching and organize tournaments for children of different ages, while mums and daughters can head for one of our spas for a full course of rejuvenation! This year we are running junior spa sessions with a whole range of treatments for older children. Another fun opportunity for children: we have organized an art competition on our Facebook page. Last year’s topic was A planet called Sani, and the winning entry was by Marie Gantigger, who spent her summer vacation here with her family – and can’t wait to come back.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY We support our local community through donations to schools and churches, sponsorship of youth programmes and purchase of local produce for the resort’s kitchens. Every year we supply the Halkidiki Animal Rescue charity with free towels and sheets to help it in its work.

sani green ACTIVITIES We’ve been busy developing our resort’s ecological programme, and guests will once again be invited to donate one Euro to the programme when they check out. We will match each contribution and the proceeds will go to protecting the Sani wetlands. We have carried out a special study of the wetlands, in association with the Greek Ornithological Society, and have taken special measures to safeguard the threatened bird species and their habitat (signing, construction of artificial nesting platforms, observation trails, etc.). We have also arranged free guided tours of the wetlands for children from primary schools in Fourka and Kassandrinos, giving them the chance to study the birds in their natural habitat. At Sani we care for other animals, too. For four years now we have been running our own Animal Rescue programme, improving life for the stray animals in the area, in association with Halkidiki Animal Rescue. All strays found in the area of the resort are recorded, sterilized and given shots against the common animal diseases. We cover the cost of the jabs and, where possible, place the animals with local families. Some of our guests, too, have adopted strays from the area, and we do all we can to provide the necessary papers and ensure everything goes smoothly. For more information, please contact: mariosts@otenet.gr The resort’s recycling programme is still going strong, with invaluable help from our guests. Every month in 2012 we recycled, on average, 2,360 kilos of used cooking oil, 4,862 kilos of paper, 24,471 kilos of glass, 372 kilos of cans, 20,528 kilos of plastics, 300 kilos of electrical equipment, 26 toner cartridges, 17.8 kilos of batteries, 112 kilos of marine batteries, 142 kilos of oil from yachts and other craft, and 570 kilos of chemical waste. 26

don't miss 1. The Eco Day events every Sunday from the 23rd of June at the Sani Marina. 2. The Entertainment shows at the Garden Theatre including Mamma Mia, Michael Jackson and Zorba. 3. The White Nights sunset parties at Bousoulas Beach from the 15th of May. 4. The children's painting classes. For more information please contact your hotel's Guest Relations.

culture

The future is

female

The Sani Festival will be raising the curtain on this year’s season with a new feature dedicated to Female Jazz Vocalists – divine voices under the summer sky. by georgia dodou

ver the last two decades a host of distinguished female performers have appeared on Sani Hill, stars of the Greek and international music scene, women who have left their mark on the cultural landscape, with divine voices and a powerful stage presence. To raise the curtain on the new season – represented by a new logo, a beating heart – it seemed only natural to introduce a new

feature, concerts dedicated entirely to the female voice, a new beginning, the successor to so many other initiatives developed with great success by the Festival over the years. So, this year’s innovation will feature, among other performers, Madeleine Peyroux, dubbed the Billie Holiday of the 21st century by leading figures in the jazz world, amazed and awed by her talent.

Peyroux was born in 1974, in Athens, Georgia, USA. She was raised in southern California and Brooklyn, but made her debut not in the States, but in Paris. From an early age she had been fascinated by street musicians, and joined their ranks as a member of a street band called the Riverboat Shufflers. Her career began collecting coins from passers-by, but it was not long before her vocal talents were recognized, and at the age of 16 she joined a new group, the Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, with whom she toured Europe for several years. Influenced in her performing and singing styles by figures as diverse as Bessie Smith, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Mercer, Charlie Chaplin, Serge Gainsbourg and Bob Dylan, she soon carved out her own distinctive niche. Acclaim came quickly, and in 1996 Atlantic Records brought out her album Dreamlands, featuring leading figures from the New York jazz

scene like pianist Cyrus Chestnut, drummer Leon Parker, guitarists Vernon Reid and Marc Ribot, and saxophonist/clarinettist James Carter. Her performances on the tracks Getting Some Fun out of Life and Hey Sweet Man, written by herself, were truly stunning. Success was now assured, but she remained selective in accepting live dates. From 1997 to 2003 she worked with William Galison on his album Got You on my Mind, and sang at jazz venues in New York. In 2004 she released her album Careless Love, and in 2009 Bare Bones, a collection of her own songs, rather than covers, which marked a significant change of direction. She went on to consolidate her standing with her next two albums, Standing on the Rooftop in 2011 and the recent Blue Room (March 2013), featuring her long-time collaborator producer Larry Klein, a melodious combination of musical styles which result in an entirely new sound.

Madeleine Peyroux will appear at the Sani Festival on 14 July 2013, following on two other great female vocalists on the 12 and 13 of July. We are confident that all three performers will weave their unique magic under the stars on Sani Hill. More information on the Sani Festival programme for 2013 at www.sanifestival.gr

Sani hill There have been human settlements at Sani since ancient times and the traces can still be seen of the cultures and civilizations that have succeeded one another during its long history. The most conspicuous of these remains is the Byzantine Tower, dating from 1543, built to protect the local dependency of the Stavronikita Monastery. Set on the low hill, which forms a natural amphitheatre, the Tower provides the backdrop for the Sani Festival, a mysterious and imposing presence when the lights go down and the performances begin. It is the silent presence of the Tower which transforms even an ordinary concert into a truly unique occasion, rich in mystery, steeped in historyâ&#x20AC;Ś definitely an experience not to be missed!

view

Art forms T

They say that every crisis is an opportunity, and the contribution of talented Greeks to the fields of fashion and design in recent years proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. by anna papadaki

he arts can flourish in the most unpropitious of circumstances, not only in times of general affluence and prosperity. Just as spring comes round after the long winter, nature born again like the phoenix from the ashes, so human creativity and expression will find an outlet even in the most difficult times, as if human nature were always striving to emerge from darkness into light.

Ceramic dishes by Greece is for Lovers

In the last few years Greece has been at the very heart of the storm being experienced by the whole world. The crisis has been one more phase in her long history from which, as experience has shown over the ages, she will emerge even stronger than before, drawing on the talents of her people and the wealth of her cultural heritage. And the renewal will begin in small ways, with everyday things. Already we see a distinguished Greek presence in the fields of fashion and design, where Greek designers are earning more and more critical and public acclaim. We can trace the beginnings of this phenomenon back several years, when figures like Sophia Kokosalaki and the Greek-Austrian Marios Schwab burst onto the fashion scene (where it was many years since Greeks had had any impact), attracting the interest of the foreign press and foreign customers, both of them drawing attention on the catwalk with their own personal brands and through their collaborations with major fashion houses. This surge of Greek creativity has encouraged other talented individuals to demonstrate their potential with bold innovations. Mary Katrantzou, for example, whose creative designs have featured in the pages of Vogue and other major fashion magazines, a breath of fresh air in a world tired of imitation and repetition. Another exceptional talent in the world of fabric design is Annie Papadimitriou, a graduate of the Camberwell College of Art, where she began to experiment with fabric design before working alongside Roberto Cavalli and branching out into interior design. Maria-Flora Papapanayiotou has worked with Christopher Kane and used her experience to produce the Somf range of clothes featuring superb prints, created with Olivia Efstathiou. She also designs stunning jewellery. There is also Lia Kastanidi, who created the Enoe me collection; she has worked with designer Liza Bruce, who introduced her to such prominent customers as Queen Rania of Jordan, Madonna and Rita Wilson. Her brand, founded in 2007, features womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothes made of opulent, beautifully textured fabrics, as well as original accessories, and has already made its mark in the difficult American market. One of the most surprising of Greek ideas, which has conquered the fashion world, are the Ancient Greek Sandals of Christina Martini, worn by stars like Madonna and now gracing the windows of stores in twenty-seven countries! Before launching her own designs, Martini had worked at Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga. A designer who has made a name for theatricality is Filep Motwary, whose work attracted the interest of major fashion houses and led to collaborations with John Galliano, Dior Couture and Chloe. Returning to Greece in 2005 he entered a partnership with the equally talented jewellery designer Maria Mastori, under the label Mastori*Motwary Studio.

1. The much talented Lia Kastanidi 2. Mary Katrantzou, Catwalk S/S13 3. Sandal by Christina Martini

3 36

Time now to turn to the world of jewellery, where names like Lalaounis, Zolotas and Fanourakis have made a distinguished contribution to a tradition where Greeks have demonstrated remarkable creativity for four thousand years, inspiring younger artists like Maria Mastori, mentioned above, Lito Karakostanoglou, Elena Syraka, Nikos Koulis and Elena Votsi. The last of these, Elena Votsi, has worked with names like Ralph Lauren and Gucci, and has also earned critical praise for her household designs – her dinner services attracting particular attention. In the world of design we must not overlook the CTRLZAK Art & Design Studio, run by Thanos Zakopoulos and Katia Meneghini. Based in Milan they have made a name for themselves in the design of art objects in a contemporary spirit, technologically innovative and designed for high efficiency. Both of them are also active in the field of art installations. Apostolos Porsanidis has raised everyday objects to the level of art, creating his inspired designs at his base in Paris. He studied at Central St. Martin in London and the Domus Academy, and worked with designers like Rena Dumas. The world of the toy has attracted the talents of Sergios Fotiadis, who studied industrial design in Greece and abroad and worked with major companies in Europe and America before setting up the We Design practice in Athens. He has presented numerous design projects, including some original designs for children’s toys. After a successful career as art director for a number of major magazines, Tzannis Sifnaios decided to dedicate himself to his great love, décor, and set up with Miltos Halyvopoulos the studio Letter T., producing household items which are bright, original and authentically Greek. The Greek quality of the designs by the Greece is for Lovers group has a humour which can be pleasantly surprising. But the best place to appreciate the full range and scope of Greek design is the very popular (here and abroad) website www.yatzer.com, an inspired and comprehensive collection of items by Greek designers which you can order online.

6 © DIMITRA SPIROPOULOU

4. Ring by Elena Votsi 5. SoPHia Kokosalaki, S/S13 6. Costas Voyatzis, aka yatzer.com

destination

halkidiki

Timeless beauty

A visitor cannot hope to appreciate the region of Halkidiki, with all its breath-taking natural beauty and its glorious beaches, without some knowledge of its history. by anna papadaki

ecause of its contemporary impor tance as a tourist destination, and its beautiful landscape and coastline, we are often led to forget the important role the region has played in the history of Greece. Everyone knows, of course, that Halkidiki was the birthplace of Aristotle, but its history is rich in other personalities and events, too. There is archaeological evidence of life here dating back to prehistoric times, and the famous fossilized human skull from the Petralona Cave is believed, by the scholar Aris Poulianos, to date back around 700,000 years, while other scholars maintain it is just 250,000 years old. Whatever its age, it is a highly important find, which, together with the fossilized bones of animals no longer found in the region, and the stone tools also discovered here, indicates the existence of life on the European continent in prehistoric times, the founding of settlements in the Neolithic era and their growth

and evolution in the Bronze Age, with the original Pelasgian population living first mainly on the Athos peninsula (originally known as Acte), and then gradually spreading out over a wider area. The middle â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;footâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of Halkidiki, Sithonia, owes its name to a Thracian tribe, the Sithonians, who poured down from the north, followed by the ancient Pellinians, who gave the name Pallini to what we now call Kassandra (originally known as Phlegra). In the early 8th centur y BC Chalcidian and Eretrian colonists expelled the Thracian tribes and occupied mainly the coastal areas (the Chalcidians gave their name to the whole peninsula). In the 7th century the northern part of the region was occupied by the Bottiaians, driven by the Macedonians from their home west of the Axios River. Corinthian settlers also played their part in populating the region,

founding the city of Potidaia, and settlers from Andros founded Stageira, birthplace of Aristotle and Akanthos. It was during this period that important cities were founded and prospered, the plentiful mineral deposits of the region (gold, silver, lead) favouring the growth of trade and the accumulation of wealth. The 32 largest of these cities founded, at the end of the 5th century BC, under the leadership of Olynthos, the Commonwealth of the Chalcidians, which was dissolved in 379 BC by the Spartans. The Commonwealth had been preceded by a period of Persian rule, during the Persian Wars of 492479 BC, when Xerxes compelled the peoples of Halkidiki to collaborate with him by providing ships and men and working on the construction of the isthmus across the Athos peninsula.

This collaboration came to an end with the defeat of the Persians at Salamina, but on his retreat to Persia Artabazus, the Persian commander, laid waste to Olynthos, the large city founded by Athenians and Chalcidians. The region then became part of the Athenian League, playing a role in the Peloponnesian War, but seceded from the League in 432 BC to form an alliance under the leadership of Olynthus and acquire considerable prestige from resistance to the Macedonians (390380 BC). They later allied themselves to the Spartans, and then joined the Second Athenian League, finally allying themselves with Philip of Macedonia, who occupied the region and made it part of his huge Macedonian Kingdom (348 BC). In 168 BC Halkidiki came under Roman rule and then entered on a long period of decline, falling prey to disastrous incursions by the Goths (269 AD), the Huns (6th century AD) and the Catalans (1307).

Mythology Halkidiki features prominently in ancient Greek mythology; it was at Phlegra that the Battle of the Giants took place, in which the sons of Uranus and Gaia were defeated by the Olympian gods. According to the myth, the Giants were slain by Hercules; a few survivors, trapped by rocks beneath the surface of the earth, were believed to be the cause of volcanic eruptions. The Athos peninsula was believed to have been created from the rock hurled at the gods by a giant of the same name. Sithonia was said to owe its name to Sithon, king of the Thracian peninsula or the Odomatnian people, son of Ares or Poseidon.

he monastic republic of Mt Athos traces its beginnings to the 9th century, when Emperor Basil I issued a decree in 855 that the peninsula should be a place of silent contemplation for ascetics. In 963 the Great Lavra Monastery was built, followed by another 19 monasteries, which gradually acquired most of the cultivated land in Halkidiki, the results of grants and concessions by the Emperors of large areas of forest and agricultural land for the founding of monastic dependencies. Halkidiki was

first converted to Christianity in 50 AD, when the Apostle Paul visited the region on his way from Philippi to Thessaloniki. In the middle of the 14th century a large part of the region was annexed to the Serbian state, while before the Turkish conquest in 1430 Kassandra and other coastal areas were under Venetian rule (1425). During the centuries of Turkish occupation the whole region prospered, thanks to the production of grain and silkworms, the livestock farming and the silver mines, operated under concession from the Grande Porte granted

exclusively to the villages known then and now as the Mademohoria. In 1821, on the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, the region took part in the struggle for freedom, under the leadership of Emmanuil Pappas, with calamitous results. Another insurrection was staged by Tsiamis Karatasos in 1854, and again the people rose up in 1878, but the Turkish yoke was not cast off until 1912, although in the meantime the local people had played their part in the Macedonian Struggle.

destination

Holidays with attitude Take the pulse of Halkidiki with a tour of the sights and the beaches, restaurants and bars. By fotis Vallatos

alkidiki is one of the most beautiful parts of Greece, blessed with a varied and delightful natural landscape, friendly local people, important archaeological sites, glorious beaches and superb cuisine. Discover the region in all its glory with a tour that takes in many of its attractions, and some of its secrets.

KASSANDRA PENINSULA When the impressive Petralona Cave was discovered in 1959, 300m above sea level in the western foothills of Mt. Katsikas, it revealed an ancient and hidden world. The interior of the cave was found to contain fossilized bones of animals – lions, hyenas, bears, panthers, elephants, etc. – as well as a very well preserved human skull, the oldest human find ever uncovered in Greece. The cave features stalactites and stalagmites of extraordinary quality, as well as a corridor cut into the rock over a length of 400m. Visitors may enter the cave every day from 9am to one hour before sunset. The next stop on the tour is Nea Potidaia, with its landmark canal cutting through the head of the peninsula. The town is also home to the fish taverna Marina (6 Golden Hat awards for Greek cuisine, and 2 Gourmet awards). The fish is always fresh, purchased from the catches of the best fishing vessels in the harbour, and the most popular dishes are steamed mussels, the octopus stew and the lobster macaroni. Directly opposite the restaurant you’ll find the Bayamo beach bar, with great music and superb cocktails.

In Nea Gonia, just down the road, you’ll find the workshops and saleroom of the business Ta Ntolmadakia tis Mariannas, famed throughout Greece for its superb stuffed vine leaves, as well as jams, preserved fruits and traditional pies. Now we drive on to Sani, an Eretrian colony with an important role in ancient history. Admire the impressive Sani Hill, 8m in height, built in 1543 to protect the dependency of the Stavronikita Monastery, on the site of the acropolis of ancient Sani. This is where the concerts are held each year in the Sani Festival, which attracts star performers from Greece and farther afield. It is an area of fabulous beaches, and also boasts an important wetland.

Within the Sani Marina you will find some of the best restaurants in Greece as Tomata (tel. 23740 99465) where chef Chrysanthos Karamolegos performs culinary miracles. The travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller ranked the restaurant among the 25 best in Europe, and Karamolegos has won a whole host of other awards. Nearby is the fish taverna Alexis (tel. 23740 31176), recognized as the best fish taverna in Halkidiki, and one of the best in Greece. Simple and elegant, the restaurant is set among lofty trees and a variety of Mediterranean flowers and plants; the menu features fresh fish, superb salads, shellfish, fried mussels – the very best of raw ingredients cooked with the highest level of artistry.

Now we move on to Siviri, one of the best-known fishing villages in Halkidiki, the perfect place to stop for a coffee and ice cream (or a meal at the Diamantis tavern, opened in 1938). All along the coast here there are enchanting little bays and coves, most of them only accessible on foot. Kypsa is a particularly magical beach, with its turquoise waters and background of pine-clad hillsides. This is the site of the beach bar Helona, with its own distinctive style setting it apart from most of the bars of Halkidiki. A little to the south we come to Poseidi, a popular camping site for students from Thessaloniki, and the site of the Temple of Poseidon, the oldest known sanctuary dedicated to the god of the sea. Nearby there is also a fine lighthouse, built in 1864 by a French company. On the eastern side of Kassandra, descending south from Nea Potidaia, the first village we come to is Nea Phokaia, where you can see the tower of the dependency of the Agios Pavlos Monastery, and sample superb mezedes (salted fish with tomato paste, smoked mackerel with chickpea puree) at the Massalia restaurant (tel. 23740 81008). The Massalia offers very reasonable prices and the atmosphere of an oldstyle Greek restaurant.

Now on to Athytos, a village with a long history, referred to by both Thucydides and Herodotus. There are lots of beautifully preserved buildings, with narrow, stone-paved streets, stone houses and a wide range of shops and restaurants. Take a walk through the streets after swimming from one of the nearby beaches, and sample the cuisine of chef Nikos Katsanis at his bizarrely named restaurant I Sousourada kai o Sgouros Skantzohoiros [The White Wagtail and the Dark Hedgehog]. Reservations can be made at 23740 91594. On the way you will pass one of the most important archaeological sites of the region, the Sanctuary of Dionysus, dating from the 8th century BC. There was a cult of Dionysus here, centred on a cave within the rocks, where followers worshipped the god of wine and his nymphs. On the same site there was later a Temple to Zeus Ammon (5th century), and a Doric temple, built in the 4th century. Little has remained of these structures, but the site still has a powerful energy and is well worth a visit. Nearby Kallithea is the centre of the area’s nightlife, and if you drive a little farther south you will come to Pefkohori, where the most fabulous sunsets can be witnessed from the Glarokaravo beach. And finally, our tour of Kassandra comes to an end with a visit to Agios Nikolaos, a ‘forgotten’ fishing village with just a handful of houses.

SITHONIA PENINSULA The second foot of the Halkidiki peninsula is Sithonia, famed for its glorious landscape and some of the best beaches in Greece. Just a few years ago Sithonia was a secret known only to a few foreigners, but it has since been discovered and extolled in travel guides, and has now evolved into an important tourist destination. Let’s start our tour on the western side, and call in at the Beekeepers Cooperative of Nikiti – the largest of its kind in Greece – to buy some of the superb honey made by the bees of Halkidiki. Here at the Danai Beach Resort you will find the Squirrel restaurant (23750 20400), where chef Herve Pronzato serves his own creative take on traditional Mediterranean dishes. Next stop, the beach at Agios Ioannis, with its fine, white sand and an amazing restaurant, Aqua Heaven, and beach bar at the water’s edge. Farther down the road we come to Spathies, a relatively quiet beach with a broad-spreading pine tree.

Now we move on to Elia, worth visiting just to discover the magical world of Boukadoura (69445 47239), run by Yiota from Ikaria, a superb cook and hostess, whose menu features smoked wild greens with eggs, smoked amberjack and a whole range of wonderful fish dishes. Time to leave the coast behind us for a while and head up to the traditional village of Parthenonas, with its beautiful stone houses (many of them are new, but built carefully in the traditional style), before driving back down to the shore and the little harbour of Neos Marmaras. Here you will find another wonderful fish tavern, Kymata (23750 71371), whose special recipes include home-made seafood dishes, steamed fish and a lovely fish soup with vegetables. A little farther south and we come to the huge expanse of the Porto Carras hotel complex, set among acres of vineyards. The trick here is to turn off the main road and head down to Tristinika, where there are a series of beaches to visit: Koutsoupia (with the Spalathronisia islands in the background), the Diaporti headland (when the water is low you can walk across to the island of Pounta), the shallow beaches of Monodentri and Alatobara, and then finally Tristinika, a vast expanse of sand and the Ethnic beach bar. And now we come to the end of the western road down the peninsula, at Porto Koufo, reminiscent of a Scandinavian fjord.

The eastern coast of Sithonia is probably the most beautiful part of either peninsula. We start at Vourvourou, with its rugged shoreline and views of the many tiny islands and rocks just off the coast. There are many wonderful beaches to enjoy here: Lagonisi, Dimitrakia, Platani, Pneumatikos, Fteroti and Karydi, while on the islands (boat trips available) there are fine beaches at Agios Isidoros and Myrsini. We recommend the Talgo beach bar on the beach of the same name, famous for its loud music, while there is excellent fresh fish to be had at the Gorgona i Poulman fish tavern (23750 91461). A little to the south we come to the Zografou beach, with its white sand, beach bar and camping site, while nearby there is Bahia Beach, also with a beach bar, and then the Akti ton oneiron – Beach of Dreams. Next we come to the famous resort of Armenistis, with a huge camping site, the size of a town, a paradise for young people. The beach is superb and with the world famous Kavourotrypes rock formations offers a landscape that seems to come from a futuristic movie, with sandy coves and crystal-clear water. If you’re hungry, head to Kalamitsi, where the Giorgakis tavern (23750 41013) serves delicious meat and fish dishes.

ATHOS PENINSULA The Athos peninsula, the third foot of Halkidiki, is home to the Mt. Athos Monastic Republic, the centre of Orthodox monasticism, with its 20 monasteries and other monastic institutions – a place of enormous spiritual importance. The only part of the Athos peninsula you can visit without special permits (only

available to male visitors) is the northern area, where you will find Ierissos, with its beautiful sandy beach and impressive boatyards, well worth a visit, Ouranoupolis, gateway to Athos, and the little island of Ammouliani, a popular destination reached by boat from the little harbour at Tripiti. Excellent cooked dishes and fresh fish can be had at Tzani (23770 51322).

Photographer: Studio VD.gr/ Nikos Vavdinoudis-Christos Dimitriou Photographer of Claudia Papagianni: Aris Rammos Sittings Editor: Nasia Efthimiou

cosmos

Halkidiki – birthplace of Aristotle, a region of lush forests, mountain villages, cosmopolitan resorts and crystal-clear waters – is home to many ordinary people, people who love the region in which they live and are working hard every day to improve their lives. Here we give you an opportunity to meet just a few of the many inhabitants of Halkidiki, to learn something of their lives, their hopes and dreams. by katerina magounaki

Marianna & Sakis Kazakis Owners of Kasakis Vineyard "For us, work is all about creativity. It’s about the phone call from customers to tell us how much our Marianna products remind them of what their grandmothers and mothers used to make. The care we take of our vines – as if they were our own children! It’s the smile on the faces of our visitors. When we saw the first jars of our produce with labels in Japanese, it brought a lump to our throats. From tiny Nea Gonia all the way to Japan! It’s been a long, hard road… For us, Halkidiki is paradise on earth. And that’s how we want it to stay. We want to show our visitors the real meaning of Greek hospitality, to introduce them to the secrets of our local cuisine, to share with them all the hidden mysteries of our region. And to make them wish they could stay here for ever."

The Kazakis vineyard, a family business, was founded in 1994 and seeks to provide the consumer with high-quality traditional products and organic foods. The family hope to use innovation to break into new markets in Greece and abroad.

The Apolymeni Petra began life in 1999 as a cluster of five little houses and a small restaurant. Over the years it has acquired another thirteen rooms, a bigger restaurant, a bar and sporting facilities. The management are keen to keep improving the amenities and services.

Asterios Karadaglis Owner of the Apolymeni Petra guesthouse in Taxiarchis, Halkidiki "Work is an everyday struggle, to improve our service, to do the best we can for people who have chosen to stay with us. Holomondas is a part of Halkidiki which can play an important role in the region’s tourism. It’s a mountain area with a great deal for the visitor who loves forest scenery, enjoys hiking, mountain-biking or horse-riding. I have great confidence in the tourist industry; we live in a country with a unique landscape, centuries of history and a civilization that shaped the lives of all mankind. I think the current crisis has helped to bring us to our senses; it’s been a rude awakening, a call to learn from past mistakes. Tourism is the only industry here in Greece which is still working properly, generating income. And it’s an industry which can’t be moved abroad. It’s tourism which can bring us the economic growth we need so badly, starting right now."

Claudia Papayianni Winery Owner "I love my work! For me work is my hobby, my pastime! Obviously, there are difficult moments, times when you are anxious and worried – in the current crisis particularly – but even when times are hard you get a sense of satisfaction, you take pleasure in rising to the challenge! In my own case, it was a traumatic personal experience which helped me grow and discover my inner strength. I worked very hard to build up the business which gives me so much fulfilment today. And just as I want the best for my business, I feel the same ambitions and dreams for my town. I want its beauty to remain unspoiled, and appreciated by as many visitors as possible. Arnaia is such a beautiful little town, with its own distinctive character, and such fine, fresh air! The local people are warm and friendly, and the town has much to offer, with superb local products like wine, honey and cheese. My only complaint would be that people here are too inward-looking; it’s a shame we don’t do more to bring in visitors, because our produce really deserves a wider market. As for the future of Greece, no one can really predict how things will develop. But we all have high hopes for our tourist sector – which is really Greece’s only heavy industry."

Back in 2004 Claudia Papayianni began planting vines in Arnaia and Marathousa, one vineyard at 650m above sea level, the other at 250m. Her intelligent choice of grapes – a mix of indigenous and international varieties – and her use of state-ofthe-art technology in wine-making have resulted in wines of excellent quality. Work on construction of the winery began in 2006, over an area of 3,300 square metres, and the facility was completed in 2008. Visitors are welcome, and can see the 800 square metre cellar, the multimedia and tasting room, and a shop selling the domain’s own wines and other local produce. Exports to America, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, Cyprus and elsewhere now account for about 30% of production. The winery is open to the public from 08.00 to 16.00 every weekday, by appointment at weekends.

Stavros Kalpakis President of the Action for Wildlife association ‘Working with wild animals, helping to rescue them and reintegrate them into the natural world – this isn’t just exciting work, it helps generate a reciprocal relationship with the natural world, an exchange of energy, knowledge and emotion. It’s a genuinely life-changing experience, which has affected the way I think and feel. Halkidiki, like Greece, is a wonderful part of our planet. I want to see its beauties preserved, the natural landscape protected. I want to see my people retain their good humour and sense of hospitality. Halkidiki will always be one of Greece’s favourite tourist destinations, and we must take good care of it if we want it to continue attracting visitors. It’s essential that we have the right sort of tourist infrastructure and the proper education and training for people in the sector, to prevent the kind of over-development which has spoiled other parts of Greece’.

Every year Action for Wildlife takes care of 1,000 to 1,500 injured animals, most of them birds and many of them belonging to species threatened with extinction. It works with a host of agencies and services, forming part of a network of associates stretching all across northern Greece. It has hosted the Eurobirdwatch event at Sani Resort for the last two years, where it releases many rehabilitated birds into the Sani Wetlands. It seeks to inform and educate public opinion, to raise awareness of the need to protect the environment and preserve biodiversity. The organization depends on voluntary support, donations from members and support – in the form of animal food, medicines and services – from individuals, companies and other organizations. www.drasi-agriazoi.gr

Giorgos Stroikos Maker of hand-made, traditional string instruments "My work is my whole life, the reason I get out of bed full of enthusiasm every morning. I honestly don’t know if I could do anything else. I spend the whole day in my workshop – it’s what makes me happy. My village, Galatista, is one of Halkidiki’s traditional mountain villages, not far from Thessaloniki. With its vernacular architecture, narrow streets and stone house, its stone-paved village square and Byzantine tower – it has masses of tourist potential. Another good thing is that alongside the traditional societies and associations we have always had in the village – Women’s Association, Riding and Dancing Clubs – we are now also seeing our younger people organizing things. That’s a very good sign. When you see your community evolving like that, you can be optimistic about the future."

Giorgos Stroikos began making musical instruments back in 1976, as an apprentice to a craftsman in Thessaloniki. After eight years hard work and determination to learn, he had enough experience to make his first hand-made string instrument. A few years later he was ready to set up his own workshop, Techne, in Galatista, the family village. And this is where he continues to practice his traditional craft, making a range of folk instruments.

Julie Tsiakmakis founded Halkidiki Animal Rescue and works with stray animals across Kassandra. For the last five years, in cooperation with Sani Resort, she has also ran Sani Animal Rescue, through which stray animals in the Sani region are immunized, sterilized and rehomed. Many Sani guests have participated by providing loving homes for dogs and cats. For more information about the programme at Sani please see your Guest Relations team. You can also be in touch with Julie directly on mariosts@ otenet.gr or support her charity's work by donating to Paypal account halkidikianimalrescue@hotmail.co.uk.

Julie Tsiakmakis Halkidiki Animal Rescue ‘Working to ensure better treatment for animals has become my whole life. There’s nothing glamorous about it, but the rewards are enormous. In times like these, in the midst of economic and social crisis, it’s a way of doing something positive. I first got involved in helping stray animals on New Year’s Day in 1999, when I opened my front door and found five new-born puppies, whose mother was a stray suffering from malnutrition and unable to feed them. I soon found out just how hard it is to find homes for strays, and that the only way to keep down the stray population of the area was to start a sterilization programme. I’d like to see more local councils and businesses taking action to deal with the problem, following the example of Sani SA, which has set up its own sterilization project, and also the example of local people who do what they can to help stray animals’.

STRATOS NIKITAS organizes jeep tours of Halkidiki, taking mountain trails through the pine forest, showing visitors the olive groves, the waterfalls, the unexplored paths of the other side of Halkidiki, the hidden paradise of Greece.

Stratos Nikitas Safari through Halkidiki "I’ve been lucky enough to make a living from my hobbies and dreams. I travel around Halkidiki and enjoy its beauties, its unique qualities, its combination of mountain and sea, confirming what I hear from so many visitors I take on my tours: that this is the best place in the world. It has everything you could want in one place. I would like to see Halkidiki become a paradise for tourists who return over and over again, not a great big fast food factory. And I wish more people realized that it is not just a summer destination, the mountains in winter are well worth visiting too." 54

Vasilis Pavlis Sculptor

Vasilis Pavlis has been a sculptor since 1981. He has held 25 one-man shows, and shown work in many group exhibitions. Examples of his work are to be found in many public and private collections.

"I live in Afytos, a genuine place of stone houses, where I still see the simple, honest people amongst whom I grew up. A place whose history goes back to ancient times, with a fabulous landscape, home to important artists like Giorgos and Nikos Paralis. The village has had a significant influence on my work. Its stone is the material with which I work. Sculpture is life to me, my passion, the way I give something back to my community and to the world at large. I’ve also played an active part in the community affairs of the village, for 30 years now, and I’m proud that we’ve managed to save many of the traditional buildings, so important a feature in attracting tourists to Halkidiki. The village is now a beacon of sensible, civilized development, and I’m delighted to have played a part in that. I hope we can still bring out some of the hidden qualities of Afytos, of which there are so many, all of them derived from our history. Tourism has changed our lives in economic terms, and contact with people from other countries is vital! But we weren’t sufficiently prepared for the foreign influences. I would like to see the Greeks recover their innocence, and the lifestyle they used to have, so that we could pass it on to our foreign visitors."

Thamyriades Choral Ensemble "We are not really happy with the term “work”. We could accept its use only if it referred to the professionalism with which hope to approach all we do. For us, singing keeps us in touch with the music we love, gives us opportunities to travel, to see new places and meet new people. It’s a part of our everyday lives, it’s all about seeing our friends and keeping up contact with them all.

After we finished our education we resisted the siren call of the big city and came back here, to work in Halkidiki. It is truly a blessed place, with great natural beauty and lively, interesting people. What we would like to see are more infrastructures for access and transport, support for cultural activities, incentives for people to move out here. Tourism is of critical significance to the economy and to growth; directly or indirectly it affects us all. Apart from its natural beauty, its hotels and restaurants, we believe Halkidiki has a rich cultural life to share with its visitors. There is a wealth of cultural tradition, and lots of young artists whose work could draw in tourists and perhaps even extend the region’s tourist season."

The Thamyriades choral ensemble consists of Konstantina Zgialtou, Katerina Katertzi, Maria Ouzouni, Anna Sangou, Dina Spyropoulou, Nancy Tsina, Haroula Tsina and Christina Hatzipanteli. They have been companions since they were children in the Polygyros children’s choir, and for 15-20 years have been singing at festivals and concerts in Greece and elsewhere in Europe, under the guidance of their conductor Sotiris Alevizos. They set up the ensemble in 2005 and in 2011 brought in new singers and adopted the name Thamyriades. Their repertory covers classical, rock, pop and songs from musicals. They are based in Polygyros, Halkidiki.

Dimitris and Stefania Gardikiotis Artists "Work is the way we make our living, and the way we communicate with the world. Stratoni is a lovely little village close to the mountains and the sea. We would love to see activities here which would showcase the arts as well as rural and tourism issues, activities that would help visitors understand the place, its people and history. We are big believers in alternative tourism and in closer relations between visitors and local people."

Dimitris and Stefania Gardikiotis live and work in Stratoni. They have been painting and making wood-carved and painted icons since 1984. Stefania was born in Bucharest and studied painting under eminent artists in Bulgaria. She came to Greece in 1983, where she met Dimitris and where they decided to share their work and their lives. Dimitris was a student of Yiannis Vranos and Andreas Zembetoglou. The couple have had well-received exhibitions in many cities of Greece, and also in Germany, Italy and the United States.

Nea Fokaia Cultural Group Pavlos Patzikis (President), Dimitris Koutsoulis (Vice President) "We work alongside all the local agencies in the region to conserve and showcase our rich cultural heritage, to get local people involved in cultural, sporting and social activities. Our area is one of the most beautiful parts of Halkidiki. It has the wonderful appeal of the sea, the forests, the wetlands and the Byzantine buildings – we want to see them managed rationally and sustainably. The local council needs to build the right infrastructure, but there also have to be private sector initiatives to generate environmentally friendly tourist development – development which respects the natural, cultural and historical environment."

Nea Fokaia has around 3,000 permanent residents – in summer the population rises to more than 10,000 – and is 78km from Thessaloniki. In date it is one of the later villages of Kassandra, founded by refugees from Asia Minor who arrived here on 14 July 1924. The Community was formally established by government decree in 1925, the land being withdrawn from the Community of Afytos. In the same year the Refugee Rehabilitation Committee constructed 215 dwellings. The area itself has a distinguished history; where the Byzantine tower now stands was once the site of a prehistoric settlement, dating to around 5,000 BC. There were two significant cities here in ancient times: Sani, a colony founded by the Eretrians, built on the western shoreline, and Skythai in the Bay of Toroni. Close to the modern town of Nea Fokaia there once stood the village of Agios Pavlos, destroyed between 1321 and 1407, the year in which land was conceded to the Monastery of Agios Pavlos on Mt. Athos, by decree of the Emperor John VII Paleologue, and there gradually developed here one of the most important dependencies of the Monastery. The monastic buildings, located with a fine view of the village and surroundings, were among the most imposing of their kind in Kassandra. All that remains now 58

is part of the ground-floor 19th century wings, which served as the school for the first refugee children, and the Church of the Twelve Apostles, the first parish church of Nea Fokaia. Two construction phases can be seen in this church, the eastern half, dating from before the Greek War of Independence in 1821, and the western half from the mid-19th century. One of the main events in the local area is the Feast of Saints Paul and Peter on 29-30 July. The service is held in the little church of Agios Pavlos, at the north-eastern entrance to the village. The church building was originally a Macedonian tomb, in all probability, and is made of hewn blocks of limestone. It makes a striking impression on visitors. Tradition has it that St. Paul sought refuge here when he was in Halkidiki, fleeing his persecutors, and would secretly baptize converts here. There is an underground passage which leads to a spring, from which the holy water is taken. On the right there is a dark, rectangular chamber, the only part of the structure where a visitor can stand upright. A few traces of the original frescoes can still be seen in the corners of the chamber, while there is also a marble column which is believed to have served as the altar of the chapel.

sani life

Helios

Villas Return to Eden For those of you who have fallen in love with Halkidiki and the Sani Resort, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the chance to stay here in your own place. One of the Helios Villas located on the edge of the resort could be your very own holiday home.

he superb Helios Villas have been constructed on a plot of land of 23,555 mÂ˛, laid out in an amphitheatre arrangement right next to the Sani Beach Club Hotel in the Sani Resort. The site extends back from the shoreline, with a western orientation, enjoying delightful views of the infinite blue expanse of the Aegean, and of Mt. Olympus, home of the gods of the ancient Greeks. The Helios Villas, each of them entirely independent and free-standing, are surrounded by their own private gardens. Designed by the Nimand Architects group, which has overall esponsibility for the architecture of the Sani Resort, and constructed by the experienced technicians of Sani SA, these villas offer luxury, the highest standard of aesthetics, privacy and security. The owners of the villas will be able to enjoy the excellent infrastructure private marina, wide choice of restaurants, shopping and leisure venues, three impressive spa centres, sporting facilities, superb beaches with white sand and pine trees, large, specially landscaped parks and forest trails which has made the Sani Resort a world-class holiday destination.

ach owner of an Helios Villa has free access to a private position, with parasol and comfortable recliners, on the Sani Beach Club beach, next to his villa. If he wishes, he can enjoy full, five-star services at home, such as chambermaids, cook, gardener and maintenance by the trained Sani Resort staff. Constructed using local ochre-coloured Halkidiki stone, in combination with grey concrete surfaces, wooden door and window frames and floors made of beige marble, the Helios Villas are designed to blend perfectly with their superb natural setting. Particular emphasis has been laid on the design of spacious, shaded verandas, ideal for living outdoors in the summer months and leading down to the large private pool of each villa, equipped with Jacuzzi and waterfall feature. The gardens around each villa are surrounded by a concrete wall and the gardens are fully landscaped with lawns, trees and flowers. Each walled garden has its own independent entrance and there is covered parking for two cars.

he Helios Villas are fitted with the last word in technical equipment. They have full air conditioning, independent heating, satellite TV, regulated internal and external electricity supply, alarm system, oil and water tanks and an automated watering system for the garden. Some of the villas are offered fully furnished and decorated by the Nimand Architects group. The combination of their exceptional location and view, with the quality and high aesthetic standard of their construction and the unique infrastructures of the Sani Resort, makes the Helios Villas an exceptional opportunity to acquire a home of superb quality for all seasons of the year. Make one of them your own home! For more information about the Helios Villas, please contact your hotel reception.

virtue

Hospitality through the ages The concept of hospitality – the extending of a friendly welcome to the stranger – runs through the whole of human history, from ancient times, when Zeus was known, amongst other names, as Zeus the Hospitable, to our own world of holiday resorts. Over the centuries, hospitality has taken many and varied forms - from the coaching inn to the caravanserai, from the homeless hostel to the luxury hotel. by anna papadaki

owadays we are familiar with two notions of hospitality: on the personal level, the extending of a friendly welcome to visitors to our home or country; and on the commercial level, the offering of accommodation and entertainment in exchange for payment. But the situation has not always been like this. In ancient Greece, for example, hospitality was a virtue, a moral duty, a divine imperative. The stranger was a person who must be respected and honoured by the community or the private individual; to enter into a guest-host relationship was to earn the privilege of being able, in turn, to satisfy one’s own curiosity about the outside world, given that the only way of learning what was happening elsewhere was through the personal tales of the travellers one welcomed and entertained. The idea of hospitality was so important that we should not be surprised to learn that Zeus was sometimes known as Zeus Xenios – Zeus the Hospitable – or that travellers enjoyed the special protection of the goddess Athena and the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux.

But in ancient times, too, hospitality was also a business – not without similarities to the tourist industry of the present day. The reason for this was that the need for accommodation increased as more and more people began to move from place to place: carrying news or merchandise, attending the major festivals and sporting events organized by the various cities, or even travelling for their health. It is not hard to imagine the demand for accommodation created by travellers to Olympia at the season of the games. It was this demand which shaped a new state of affairs in early historical times, expanding and modifying the concept of hospitality into a more commercial activity, though not entirely eliminating the idea of welcoming the stranger as a sacred duty, on both the public and private levels. This was partly due to the involvement of the authorities, which often undertook to entertain official guests, giving rise eventually to the institution of the consul (a representative of the city who assumed his role following the concluding of a treaty, and who ensured that the proper reception was provided for his fellow citizens and helped them resolve any difficulties that might arise while they were away from home) and perpetuating, down to the present day, the idea of respect for the stranger, the guest. It is to the same period that we date the appearance of the first inns, the katagogia, by no means as primitive as one might expect, but often opulent buildings with all sorts of facilities, a large number of beds, with meals provided for travellers. One of the largest and best-known of these was the katagogio at the Sanctuary of Asclepius in Epidaurus. Built in the late 4th – early 5th century BC, this was the largest structure at the sacred site, with 160 rooms for pilgrims, patients and their companions. Open all year round, it was particularly busy during the festival known as the Asclepeia. It came to light in 1893, during excavations by the Archaeological Society, and is a fine example of the architectural genius of the ancient Greeks. At the other end of the scale there were the simple travellers’ inns or pandocheia; privately run and offering, at first, very basic services, they evolved over time into more comfortable accommodation and were eventually classed, like the hotels of today, in different categories – ranked according to the level of comfort and convenience they provided for travellers. Of course, there were also cheaper forms of accommodation, the so-called kapileia, which started out as shops and evolved into a type of tavern offering food, wine and cheap entertainment, and later somewhere to sleep for poorer travellers who could not afford an inn. These were places of ill repute, explaining the negative connotations still attached to the word kapilos in modern Greek.

The era of Roman rule saw an even greater demand for accommodation for travellers, with an ‘internationalization’ of travel as people made their way across the enormous extent of the Roman Empire. Soldiers, merchants, pilgrims and wanderers (the forerunners of today’s ‘alternative’ tourists) were forever moving along the roads of the Roman provinces, carrying goods and ideas, contributing to the multicultural development of the regions around the Mediterranean basin. All along the Via Egnatia - the amazing road built by the Romans to link the Adriatic shore to the eastern provinces of the Empire (running for 800km from ancient Epidamnus, modern Durres, to Kypsela on the Evros) – there were hundreds of rest stations where horses could be changed and travelling soldiers find accommodation for the night. At that time the Via Egnatia was strictly a via militaris, a military route, but this changed with the rise of the Byzantine Empire, which saw an increase in commercial hospitality but a decline in the dignity and opulence associated with it in ancient times. The pandocheia or inns now operated solely on the basis of commercial demand, offering food, wine and a bed for the night, with other facilities varying according to the category of inn. The sacred duty of extending a welcome to the stranger was now forgotten. As Constantinople evolved into the commercial centre of the known world, with so many people pouring into the city that it was often impossible to meet the demand for accommodation, it was the churches which now stepped in to elevate the idea of hospitality, once again, into a virtue. Across the Empire the churches operated their own guesthouses,

known as xenones, run on a charitable basis, often with financial support from the Emperors themselves, offering a bed and a meal to the poor and the sick, as well as travellers who could not afford a commercial inn. The nature of these guesthouses was to change once again, with the arrival of the Ottomans, who adapted the hospitality offered to suit their own cultural norms, as defined largely by their religion. The old pandocheia were replaced by hania, while the xenones, or those that survived, were seized by the state and converted into halting places for caravans, the famous caravanserai. Both of these served as resting places for people, animals and goods. The caravanserai were usually larger, two-storied buildings, with a spacious inner courtyard, stables for the animals on the ground floor and rooms for guests above. They offered food and a roof over one’s head for a very modest price – sometimes nothing at all if a traveller had no means of paying – and were built all along the major roads and sometimes within the city. Thessaloniki had a famous caravanserai, providing accommodation and a centre for trade at the heart of the city for around 400 years. The inns known as hania were smaller and cheaper, built along the major provincial roads and on strategic passes and crossing points. Some were privately owned, others run by the state. They offered rudimentary hospitality and food, like the inns of western Europe at the end of the Middle Ages, at which point a significant increase in the movement of people and goods began to be seen, laying the foundations for the development of hotels and related services which occurred gradually from the 14th to the 19th

centuries. A significant milestone in this development was the arrival and expansion of the railways in the 19th century, which led to the decline and disappearance of the inns along the provincial roads, as interest shifted to sites close to the new railway stations. Another influential development was the increasing tendency of the more affluent classes to travel to fashionable destinations, of ten in mountain locations, where the first luxury hotels began to be built. The foundations were now being laid for the hotels we know today, and the secondgeneration resorts and boutique hotels of the 21st century, which lay the emphasis on wellness, leisure and the cultural dimension of the tourist product. Autres temps, autres moeurs. All that has remained the same, a thread linking the hospitality of the modern world with that of ancient times, is that hospitality is once again a value we cherish. In an age of decadence and decline, which ours appears to be, this is perhaps one of the first indications of change, of a new orientation to a new and better world. 67

destination

Eight young local people take us through the streets of the city, showing us how it feels to live here. βυ "follow the sheep" group Photographs: George Manos

Thessaloniki

ART WALK

Τhe locals’

Guide / Tipster Evi Papavergou

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CREATIVE WALK Guide / Tipster Athina Tsombanoudi

MALAKOPI STOA

157+173

Located on Valaoritou St. this is a building of great historical and commercial significance. It was built in 1906, to plans by the architect Vitaliano Pozelli, to house shops and the offices of the Bank of Thessaloniki. It looks out over Dimokratias Square, in the centre of the Frankish Quarter of Ottoman Thessaloniki, and was one of the few buildings to survive the great fire of 1917. The clock on its façade still shows the time at which the earthquake of 1917 struck the city, 11.05 in the evening. The Malakopi Stoa and the surrounding area are full of life and movement, especially in the evenings when people flock to the bars, restaurants and arts venues.

Down by the port, in one of the old buildings that characterize the district, the 157+173 designers set up their studio in 2009. This light, contemporar y space dedicated to creativity and expression was established by Babis Papanikolaou and Christina Tsirangelou, architects who since 2009 have been designing household items of high quality and great aesthetic appeal. They create objects from a variety of materials, including wood, metal and cement, some hand-made, others industrially produced. One of their recent projects has involved creating lighting to 2D designs in 3D constructions. www.157-173designers.eu

good life tips: > elxate bar, 10 Isauron Str. > Italos Ice cream, 46 A. Svolou Str.

Athina Tsombanoudi Creative Walks curator & guide Studied accounting and then interior architecture. She works for an advertising company and is a founding member of Follow the sheep.

STATE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART The State Museum of Contemporary Art first opened its doors to the public fifteen years ago. It is housed in the buildings of a 19th century Catholic monastery, built by French Lazarist monks in the western half of the city. Its main attraction is the famous Kostakis Collection – works of the Russian avant-garde collected over a lifetime by Georgios Kostakis, whose family originated from the island of Zakynthos and who was a secondgeneration immigrant living for many years in Moscow. Through instinct and

Evi Papavergou Art Walks curator & guide Born in Kavala in 1983, Evi studied plastic arts and art sciences, as well as exhibition curating. For the last six years she has been living and working in Thessaloniki, since 2008 at the State Museum of Contemporary Art, where she designs and implements educational programmes and visual arts workshops.

dedication he succeeded in building up a highly significant and representative collection of works from this very important movement in modern art. The collection consists of 1,275 individual works – paintings and drawings, constructions and ceramics – by such artists as Kazimir Malevich, Vasilii Kandinsky, Lyubov Popova and Vladimir Tatlin. They all express the turbulent socio-political landscape of Russia in the early 20th century, characterised by the October Revolution, the arrival of electricity and other modern technologies, and the utopian desire for a radical transformation of society. The collection features works from all the main schools and movements of the first thirty years of the 20th century in Russia: suprematism, cubo-futurism, constructivism, productive art, etc. Stellar landscapes alternate with microcosmic shapes and forms from the organic world; electric light illuminates strange machines; multi-coloured geometrical shapes float in non-representational compositions, architectural constructions come to life in three-dimensional space. At the same time, artists brought their art into the daily lives of ordinary people, through functional, household objects … and the very first science fiction films were made! www.greekstatemuseum.com

LES YPER YPER

good life tips:

A space in the heart of the city. A group of seven young people. An idea based on extroversion and fruitful collaboration. Les Yper Yper are artists from diverse backgrounds – including graphic design, visual arts, sound, video, silk-screen printing and photography – who have come together to create a space that functions both as a studio and a venue that can easily be converted to host events, workshops, live music and whatever else involves inspiration and synergy among the various art forms. Amenities include free wifi, collections of experimental magazines and journals from all over the world, and a free bulletin board. Les Yper Yper challenge us to interact, to experiment, to innovate and invent – or just to get to know them and discover their own free and creative world. www.lesyperyper.com

> Stavroupoli street market, next to the State Museum, every Wednesday from 8.00 to 14.00. Fresh fruit and vegetables straight from the local farmers. > The Koubarakia restaurant, ser ving traditional Greek dishes appreciated by local people for the last thirty years. Favourite dish: cod cooked in garlic. 140, Egnatia Str.

M2 BUILDING, THESSALONIKI CONCERT HALL ORGANIZATION

architecture WALK Guide / Tipster Stamatios Giannikis

Concealed behind the M1 building (the ‘old’ concert hall), the M2 building is one of the architectural treasures of Thessaloniki, and one of the most important examples of contemporary architecture in Greece. Designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, it opened its doors to the public in the autumn of 2010. With its geometrical lines, huge areas of glass and metal,

MEMORIAL GARDEN, NEW WATERFRONT Stamatios Giannikis Architecture Walks curator & guide Born in Thessaloniki in 1979. He studied architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He has worked as an architect and academic here in Greece and abroad. In 2009 he set up GiannikisSHOP (www. giannikis.gr), working on projects in the field of architecture and design.

Grandfathers with their grandchildren, students and joggers, cyclists and dog-walkers – every hour of every day the new waterfront is crowded with people. In fact, it’s one of the city’s most popular sport and leisure spots. The Memorial Garden is one of the 12 themed gardens along the new waterfront, and the only point where the stroller can look up into the city, as far as Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, known in the early years of the last century as the Boulevard of Towers because of the opulent summer villas that lined it. At the rear of the Memorial Garden, full of fragrant flowers and herbs, stands the beautifully preserved Villa Ahmet Kapatzi, built in 1898 and now home to the Ethniki Bank Cultural Centre. Standing here one can almost imagine the bathers returning to the villa after their midday swim in the Thermaic Gulf… as if we were still in 1898 and all the many changes since then had never happened.

it is a picture of striking simplicity, complementing wonderfully the older Byzantine-influenced M1 building. ‘Yin and yang’, says the architect. Full of natural light, the foyer provides a magical frame for city and sea, while from the terrace of the top floor visitors can almost, it seems, make out the figures of the twelve gods on Mt. Olympus across the bay.

good life tips: > The Municipal Café in the Water Garden (part of the remodelled new waterfront) is a low-key venue with a contemporary design, soft music, reasonable prices and professional service. The emphasis is all on the views of the sea and gardens. Order an ouzo with appetizers and relax, gazing out to sea and watching the world go by. > At the end of the new waterfront, after the Concert Hall and next to the old harbour of Thermi (remains of the harbour can still be seen beneath the surface) is the tavern To Nisi. Set right at the water’s edge, it offers fresh fish and friendly service. You will soon forget you are in the centre of a modern city – it feels more like a scene from an Aegean holiday. We recommend the squid, grilled on charcoal. 58B', Themistokli Sofouli Str.

TRIGONIO TOWER The Turks called it Zincirli Kule (Tower of the Chain) or Kusakli Kule (Girdled Tower), because of the band of carved stone that runs around it forming a decorative ring that was believed to protect those inside from evil spells. Legend has it that the tower was designed by a Venetian alchemist. The great tower, at the north-eastern corner of the city fortifications, known to more recent scholars as the Trigonio Tower, was built by the Ottomans in 1430, after their conquest of the city. This, the White Tower and the Vardari Tower were the three strongholds constructed by the Turks to buttress key points in the Byzantine city walls. About 22m in height, the tower was built to resist the newly introduced siege cannon. It was erected on the site of an earlier rectangular tower, from the early Byzantine period, which has survived on the interior and forms the core of the tower we see today, giving the impression of a double wall. However, the Trigonio Tower was not just a key point in the defences of the city. It is also believed to stand at a point crossed by many Telluric currents, in the centre of powerful energy fields. These heighten the emotional sensibility of visitors, and may account for the many suicides that have occurred here – and its popularity as a rendez-vous point for lovers!

CITY OF MYSTERY WALK Guide / Tipster Giorgos Mantzouranidis

GARDENS OF THE PASHA

Giorgos Mantzouranidis Thessaloniki – City of Mystery Walks curator & guide Born in Athens in 1973, he studied English Literature and Fine Arts, and for the last 25 years he lives and works in Thessaloniki. For the last ten years he works as a copywriter for Fotone advertising a g e n c y, a n d h e r e c e n t l y started to practice the craft of screenwriting.

An oasis of green in the centre of a major Greek city – that’s rare enough in itself! But if you add the exotic architectural touches, which seem to transport you to a corner of Catalonia, then the effect is almost shocking! And add to that the mystic traditions of the Orient, and you have a location that is truly unique. The gardens lie opposite the eastern walls of the city, where a cemetery once stood, just behind the Aghios Dimitrios hospital, one of the last architectural legacies of the Ottoman Empire. Covering an area of just over

a hectare, the trees and lawns form the background to a surrealistic complex of buildings, reminiscent in style of Antonio Gaudi. The purpose of their buildings has remained as mysterious as their style, and is perhaps best explained by the eccentricity of the man who commissioned them – Seiphulah Pasha, commander of the city garrison at the time the gardens were laid out, who occupied the attic floor of what is now the hospital. Some scholars associate the strange creation with the presence of positive natural energies in the area, others with the activities of the Order of Dervishes and Ottoman Freemasonry in the city. Whatever their origin, the gardens now provide a valuable area of green in the centre of the city, a place of relaxation and well-being, and a little gateway to the past of the city.

street art WALK Guide / Tipster Nestoras INVA Kehayias

LADADIKA FAITH 47 – DALEAST, 2011 One of the features of the city you won’t be able to overlook is the figure of a woman, with a strange black bird, which adorns the rear side of a building on Tsimiski St., in the Ladadika district. The work was created as part of a parallel action in the 15th Biennale for Young Artists of Europe and the Mediterranean – under the title Symbiosis – in the autumn of 2011.

The striking piece of graffiti is the product of a collaboration between the South African Faith47 and the Chinese DALeast. A woman with her head bowed and eyes closed (by Faith47) holds the tail of a dark flying creature (by DALeast). Each artist in his/her own style has offered a take on the theme ‘Fighting Violence against Women’.

ATHONOS SQUARE SER – INVA – SIMONI, 2011 If you find yourself on Athonos Square and raise your eyes a little above street level you will see an impressive wall painting, 20 metres high, with a green shoot emerging from the word Pnoe (breath) done in cement, and surrounded by the three surreal characters of the artists who created the work. The three local street artists – Ser, Inva and Simoni – spent five days on scaffolding rising to the eighth floor, creating the work with spray paints and brushes, and with the consent of the occupants of the apartment building. The artists say there are too many blind sides to buildings in the city, making us feel suffocated by concrete walls. They are trying to change the scenery of the city, creating a welcome splash of colour for passers-by to enjoy.

Nestoras INVA Kehayias Street Art Walks curator & guide Born in Thessaloniki in 1986, he studied theatre at the Poupoulo Theatre Workshop and graphic arts at AAS College. Since 2000 he has been involved in Street Art, using the pseudonym INVA, participating and winning awards at Greek and international festivals. Since September 2012 he has been a member of the Ogilvy group in Athens, still visiting Thessaloniki to act as guide for the Street Art walks organized by Follow the sheep.

Karl Langerfeld Dvf Dsquared2 Balmain Marni Missoni Diesel Valentino Maison Martin Margiela Vivienne Westwood Plein Sud Pierantoniogaspari Jean Paul Gaultier Philip Plein See By Chloe Parosh Hache 2b

8 P.P. Germanou str. 546 22, Thessaloniki, Greece t: +30 2310 28 28 31, +30 2310 28 28 41, e: grigiopp@otenet.gr

Giorgos Manos Street Photography Walks curator & guide Born in Larisa in 1980, Manos has lived in Thessaloniki since 2000, studying vehicle engineering. In 2009 he set up Cre8ive Studios, is a professional photographer and acts as guide for the Street Photography Walks of the Follow the sheep group.

street photography WALK Guide / Tipster Giorgos Manos

Thessaloniki is a vibrant city, full of life and colour. Day or night, the streets are always full of people, stories, strange figures and expressions. As you descend the narrow streets from the Old City, nothing prepares you for what you will encounter on the way down to the waterfront. Idyllic scenes, bright colours, shapes, textures and shadows – in extraordinary variety. Now and again, at a turn in the road, you look ahead for a moment to the sea beyond, appreciating the contrast between the old city and the new. As you continue your descent, the landscape changes. The scenery is now more severe, there is more noise, a greater sense of urgency. Every few minutes a new square or street market offers a completely new composition. The centre of Thessaloniki is like a giant playground for photographers. The scene changes suddenly and often, giving your photographs a wild beauty with stark contrasts in subject: architecture, people, history. Thessaloniki wears no make-up. And when the golden light of sunset has passed, you can’t do better than drop into Lena’s Bistro (7, Katouni Str.) to sample one of the many wines on offer. And no photographer should leave without trying the superb cocktails at the Fragile bar (29, Valaoritou Str.).

KIKO SURFACE DESIGNER

fashion WALK Guide / Tipster Jojo Provatidou

Behind the Kiko brand lie thirty years of hard work, full of colour, travel and creativity. Kiko started out as a painter, but soon decided to replace canvas with cloth, and ever since then fabric has been the material on which she makes her unique creations. Working only with natural materials, like silk, velvet and cotton, and using traditional techniques from Java and Japan, she works on the natural off-white colour of the fibre until the result she wants is attained. On cloth and paper she

Konstantinos Theofanidis Bespoke Shoe Designer With a family tradition dating back over thirty years in the men’s shoe business, Konstantinos has been producing bespoke shoes to order for more than a decade. From an early age Konstantinos worked alongside his father at their workshop in the western suburbs of the city; they turned out around 100 pairs of shoes every single day, selling them to various shops around the city, and farther afield. Eventually Konstantinos set up his own workshop, producing hand-made men’s shoes to the highest standard of quality. And of course, a number of his designs can be made in smaller sizes – for women who favour an androgynous look. At his showroom on Proxenou Koromila St. you will find an excellent selection of his work, with shoes that rival anything you will find on Saville Row or St. James Street in London. The main difference is in the prices, starting at 350 Euro, and the exclusive service provided by Konstantinos, who cares for customer’s shoes with annual home visits or repair sessions at the store. 15, Proxenou Koromila Str. / info@kwnstantinoshoes.gr

creates multi-use garments fitted directly to the body using magnetic pins of her own invention. Kiko and her creations can be found at her studio-showroom on the fifth floor of an art deco building in Thessaloniki, built in 1936, while selected creations can be found in Athens, at the Benaki Museum and the Gallery Marneri. To arrange a visit to the studio, or to ask Kiko to make a home visit, you can call 6973 749930. Next door there is the opportunity to make your own scarf at one of the three-day seminars she organizes in association with the group followthesheep.gr 22, Pavlou Mela Str., 54622, Thessaloniki kikosidiro@gmail.com

Gogo Provatidou Fashion Walks curator & guide Born in Kavala in 1984, after a ten year stay in London, studying and working, Gogo (aka Jojo) returned to Thessaloniki, where she works for Redfish Inspirations and teaches in the Fashion Promotion Department of AAS. Exploring the streets of the city every day with the Follow the sheep group, she discovers new places and people, new images, flavours and ideas, all of them enriching and enhancing our lives.

good life tips: > Mantola, 19, Katouni Str., Ladadika. Amazing dishes from Kephalonia, including favourites rooster cooked in wine, oregano bread, also from Kephalonia, and talagani cheese. > Nargis, 18, Kapetan Patriki Str. The city’s secret from India.

FLAVOURS OF THE CITY

EAT & WALK Guide / Tipster Sotiria Strati

Thessaloniki is a city of fragrant aromas and powerful flavours, evocative of the city’s past and characterising its present. The only way to appreciate the cuisine of the city is to sample as much of the local food as you can. It’s no surprise that one of the locations most popular with visitors is the old street market, the Kapani, where fresh food can be found in abundant variety. The history of the market dates back to the Ottoman period; it was originally established as a market for corn and flour, but with the passing of time all sorts of other traders and vendors of food set up their stalls here – Greeks, Turks and Jews. Even today, this vivid mosaic of colourful produce and characters continues to enchant the visitor, with the lively banter of the stallholders and shopkeepers and the astonishing diversity of local delicacies on sale.

The best place to get a really in-depth view of contemporary, multicultural Greek cuisine is the professional school for chefs known as Marmita (www.marmita.gr). From the French word marmite, a cooking pot, the restaurant here is as full of flavours as its name suggests, and the proprietor Smaragda offers delicious culinary sensations for diners of all ages and tastes. This is a must-visit destination for anyone keen to penetrate the inner secrets of fine Greek cooking, the best place to discover the gastronomic heart of the city.

Sotiria Strati Fashion Walks curator & guide Sotiria is a qualified food technologist, a passionate food blogger and food lover – in short: crazy about food! She can’t get enough of new recipes, sampling them, photographing them, writing about them. She is also a keen oenophile, believes we should follow our own palette when choosing wines, and has written a small guide to wine. Her dream is to combine her two great passions, food and writing. She is currently organizing gastronomic walking tours of Thessaloniki.

good life tips: > Rayian on Athonos Square, 13, Balanou Str., for cheese and traditional produce, specializing in delicacies from the Black Sea region. > Papageorgiou in the city centre, 11, Ag. Mina Str., for delicious memories of the old Thessaloniki: loukoumia, jams and preserves, and cherry drinks for the younger visitor.

WHO WE ARE www.followthesheep.gr is an internet platform set up by a group of creative young people living and working in Thessaloniki. The idea was to set up an online space as a reservoir for information, experiences and services, a tool for information and communication among all those wishing to experience Thessaloniki as fully as possible. With a target audience of locals and visitors, whatever their age, they propose itineraries around the city and unusual aspects of the urban environment worth seeing, for all those keen to discover the secrets of the city, its streets and its people. The founding members of the group – Gogo, Athina and Evi – all have a keen interest in the pure and applied arts and in architecture. They hope the platform they have created will bring together people from a variety of backgrounds interested in all forms of expression and creativity – music, photography, theatre, animation, design, history and theory of art – allowing them to exchange experiences and ideas.

It is also hoped that the platform will allow direct interactive relations within the urban environment, with organized tours in which members of the Follow the sheep group will introduce participants to the city’s galleries, museums and studios, as well as historic buildings and people and activities in the areas of fashion, gastronomy and any other field where creative and innovative activities are taking place. The two basic fields of activity for Follow the sheep, i.e. the online space for information, proposals and sharing of experiences, and the real space where the city tours are staged, form a blank canvas on which everyone can paint his own daily life in new, brighter colours, can escape his routine existence for a moment and appreciate the extraordinary things all around us – the things we usually pass by and ignore.

THE WHITE

tower In its various colours, the White Tower has reflected the changing fortunes of the city of Thessaloniki, its stones turning grey and then black with the passage of the centuries, stained red with the blood of its victims, and now white again and restored to its pristine form. The White Tower encapsulates the history of our city.

landmark

s if to propitiate its many ghosts, the grey, imposing form of the White Tower, like a shape from a dark mediaeval fairy tale, has been restored, immaculate and unstained, to the contemporary citizens of Thessaloniki. It is as if it has been euphemistically named to conceal the dark truths of its history – a White Tower that has at times been bathed in blood! Most notably the blood of the janissaries who were massacred on the orders of Mahmud II, for daring to rise up against the Ottoman state. Some 3,000 of those who survived the initial massacre were rounded up and executed in the tower; those who had formerly used it as their garrison and as a prison for their victims were now confronted by their Nemesis and called on to pay the ultimate penalty for their crimes – in the very place where those crimes had been perpetrated.

The dark history of the tower begins in the year 1535, about a century after the occupation of Thessaloniki by the Ottomans, when Suleiman the Magnificent gave orders to reinforce the city’s defences. The White Tower was constructed to strengthen the walls of the city, along with the Eptapyrgio complex and the Trigonio Tower, both higher up on the city’s acropolis. Some scholars, however, date its construction to the period between 1450 and 1470, and believe it was built on the site of an old defensive tower erected by the Byzantines in 1185. An inscription on a marble lintel is the main source for the date of its construction. This was first referred to by the traveller Evligia Tselebi, and then photographed by the German Struck, but subsequently destroyed – probably by the Sultan Abdul Hamid, or by the Greek authorities in 1937. The inscription read: ‘Built by the orders of the lion among men Suleiman, this was the lion of all fortresses. Defended by its great cannon, breathing fire like dragons, this fortress is worthy to be known as the lion of all fortifications. In the 942nd year of the Prophet’. We cannot be certain whether the tower is the work of Suleiman’s famous architect, Mimar Sinan, but its similarities with a comparable tower attributed to the architect in Aulona suggest it might be his creation.

In its early days, then, the White Tower formed part of the south-eastern section of the city’s fortified walls. From the 17th century onwards it was known unofficially as the Kalamaria Fort or the Tower of the Janissaries, and in 1826 acquired the name Kanli Kule (Tower of Blood), retaining this appellation, as a result of its continued use as a prison and place of executions, until 1891. It was in this year that a Jewish prisoner, Natan Gidili, convicted of a crime of passion, agreed to whitewash the whole tower in exchange for his freedom. This probably reflected a wish on the part of the Sultan to see the tower distanced from its bloody past, and may be associated with the decision to hold all prisoners henceforth in the Yedi Kule complex in the upper city. And thus gradually the new name Beyaz Kule came into use – the White Tower – although the Christian population of the city continued to call it the Tower of Blood until 1912. The term White Tower is believed to have prevailed, finally, as the official title, in acknowledgment of the term used by the Jewish population – Torre Blanca, but this is only a theory. Another version of the story, based on the account of the British Consul-General Sir John Blunt, is that the name was changed in 1883 or 1884 on the orders of the Sultan Abdul Hamid II, conveyed to the Governor of the city, Galib Pasha. The Sultan was displeased to see references to a Tower of Blood in official documents and ordered the name to be changed immediately. There are also reports of a disturbance among the prisoners in the Tower, in 1883, which came to the knowledge of the Sultan and prompted him to order the change of name.

The White Tower has a ground floor and six upper stories, connected by a winding staircase. On each floor there are rooms with fireplaces, chimneys and latrines. Until the early 20th century the tower was surrounded by an octagonal enclosure, also containing another two-story tower, used as a mosque, a Dervish house of retreat, gunpowder magazines and a water cistern. One theory has it that the inscription on the lintel we mentioned above referred to the construction of the enclosure, not the White Tower itself. These ancillary buildings were demolished in 1905 and 1911. When Thessaloniki was finally liberated from Ottoman rule in 1912, the White Tower passed into the hands of the Greek state. During the First World War it housed the Allied Movement Centre, and in 1916 it was used as a place of safekeeping for antiquities, as well as a prison for Turks captured during the Asia Minor campaign. It was also used as part of the city’s air defences, as a meteorology laboratory and a home for the Sea Scouts. The final change to its external colouring was the application of camouflage paint in the Second World War. Between 1983-85 extensive restoration work took place to convert the tower into an exhibition venue. It now belongs to the Museum of Byzantine Culture, and serves as the Thessaloniki City Museum.

tradition

Simply The koulouria of Thessaloniki are the city’s favourite breakfast. Crisp and full of flavour, these bread rolls in the shape of a bagel are the perfect way to start the day. And when followed by another local delicacy, the bougatsa or custard pie, they offer an unforgettable pleasure.

KOULOURI Man has been baking and eating bread for many thousands of years, and in many different forms. Bread has played a vital symbolic role in ancient civilizations, and even in the Christian religion, and over the years its evolution has reflected cultural perceptions, social changes and technological advances. While it has been through a thousand changes in form, its substance has remained more or less the same. Made of cereals like wheat, barley and maize, it has always been one of man’s staple foods. Perhaps it is the blessing of its patron goddess, Demeter, which has ensured its continuing place at the heart of our daily diet. The famous koulouria of Thessaloniki have become a favourite all across Greece. They were first produced in Byzantine times, in Thessaloniki and Constantinople, both cities which were lively commercial centres where there was a demand for foods which could be consumed easily at work by busy people. They were originally known by the name kollikion, made and sold mainly by bakers of Epirot descent – proving once again the superiority of the region of Epirus when it comes to breads and other products of the bakery. The greatest good fortune an Epirot mother could wish for her son was to become a baker in Constantinople! The modern revival of the koulouri came about when the refugees arrived in Thessaloniki from Asia Minor, in the exchange of populations, bringing with them the art of making the koulouri - and with it a means of earning their living. Every morning they would pour out onto the streets, bearing on their heads a great baking tray full of koulouria, to sell their delicious and fragrant wares to the people of the city. Before long, the fame of this delicious breakfast snack had spread all across Greece, but its origins were preserved in its name, it was always referred to as a Thessaloniki koulouri. In an era of junk food and fast food, what could be better than a healthy, natural bread roll to start your day? Baked in a characteristic ring shape, crisp and crunchy on the outside, soft inside, with its distinctive aroma and taste of roasted sesame, the koulouri is a superb source of carbohydrates and energy. Plain or filled, depending on the taste and imagination of the baker, it is a snack which fills the stomach and raises the spirits, reminding us of the old saying: ‘Simple is best’!

koulouri recipe: (for around 15 koulouria) • 1 kilo of flour • 2 sachets of dry yeast • 1 tablespoon of salt • 1 tablespoon of sugar • 5 tablespoons of oil • Lukewarm water • Sesame

instructions: Pour the sifted flour into a bowl, hollow out the centre and place in it the yeast, salt, sugar and oil. Add the lukewarm water and stir gently, kneading the dough until it is firm and does not stick to surfaces. Leave in a warm place until it doubles in volume. Knead again, then pull into small strips and form them into ring shapes; sprinkle with water and sesame. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200° for about 20 minutes.

perfect BOUGATSA When I was a child we used to eat bougatsa from Ioannina; then in my student years I discovered the distinctive Cretan variety of the snack, and later those of Thessaloniki and Serres. But whatever the variety, I have always greedily devoured the crispy fyllo pastry with its divinely smooth filling of cheese or custard. At the moment of consumption, few people think of the history of what they are eating – but later in life I have learned something of the story of bougatsa, and have found it particularly interesting. Its name betrays its origins in the Greek communities of Asia Minor, but the truth is that something very similar to bougatsa has been known to the Greeks since time immemorial. A version of the snack was eaten by the ancients, a type of pie with a variety of fillings known as plakountes; these survived in local gastronomic traditions for many centuries, finally, in the Byzantine period, taking the form in which we know the bougatsa today. It was particularly popular in Constantinople, with both poor and affluent. Sources tell us it was originally made of crisply baked sheets of pastry sprinkled with cinnamon and caster sugar and then filled with a variety of mixes. The famous Turkish traveller, Evligia Tselebi, writes that there were two bakeries in Constantinople producing bougatsa filled with ground beef or cheese, or sprinkled with sugar. The word bougatsa comes from the Turkish pogatsa, a corruption of the Italian focaccia – a sweet pastry. The Italian root can be seen clearly in the word fogatsa, still used in Corfu to describe a type of sweet Easter bread. Given the close cultural and commercial links between Constantinople and Thessaloniki, it was only natural that bougatsa would come to play an important part in the gastronomic life of the latter. The great explosion in its popularity came with the arrival of the refugees from Asia Minor in 1922, and bougatsa was now introduced to local communities up and down the country, as well as Thessaloniki and Crete where it had long been enjoyed, particularly as a special treat during the New Year period. On Crete it still plays a prominent part in New Year celebrations; in the past, revellers returning home were expected without fail to bring bougatsa with them – to bring good fortune to the house in the New Year.

bougatsa recipe: • 4 sheets of fyllo pastry • 1 cup of melted butter, and some butter to coat the pastry • 1.5 litres of milk • 200gr of semolina • 1.5 cups of sugar • 1 pinch of salt • 2 vanilla pods • Cinnamon • Caster sugar

instructions: To prepare the custard filling, heat the milk with the sugar, gradually adding the semolina while still stirring, then the vanilla, the salt and finally the butter. Once the mixture has bound we leave it to cool. While it is cooling we lay out four sheets of pastry in a baking tray half the size of the sheets, buttering the sheets one by one. Then we pour in the custard mixture, carefully turning over the excess pastry and sealing the filling inside it. Bake in a preheated oven. On removal from the oven, turn the bougatsa upside down immediately. Cut into small pieces and serve sprinkled with caster sugar and cinnamon.

Variations in the dish from place to place are negligible, or non-existent. They can be found mainly in the way the bougatsa is cut or served – in small pieces in Serres, in larger slices elsewhere, accompanied by a type of crunchy bread in Yiannina, and so on. The technique used in making the pastry, which distinguishes bougatsa from other kinds of pie, remains the same, requiring exceptional skill on the part of the pastry-cook. It is vital that the pastry is sealed on all sides to preserve the filling during baking, while the choice of filling is a matter of taste: savoury, with a cheese filling, to soothe the pangs of hunger, or sprinkled with sugar when you fancy a sweeter start to the day. 87

Photographer: aris rammos Fashion editor: georgia dodou Production: argyro barata Make-up: nasia efthimiou Styling: kyriaki sidiropoulou Hair stylist: nicole for yianni hair spa Model: nancy markopoulou Cosmetics: inglot

fashion

COsmopolitan SUMMER In a cosmopolitan resort, where everywhere you go is packed with elegantly dressed figures, you need to make really special fashion choices if you want to stand out from the crowd. Clothes and jewellery with attitude â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for men and women who understand how to use fashion to express their unique personalities. only the sani marina shopping centre makes fashion a treat.

Coverall jersey Eight Sin, CARIBOU, glasses Balenciaga, Optomania, shoes from personal collection 91

Jacket Who is Who, Colors and shorts lined with lace Maison Scotch, CARIBOU 92

SPRING/SUMMER 2013

4 Solonos & 5 Milioni str., Kolonaki, Athens 5 vogatsikou str., thessaloniki, t. +30 2310 228.784

Cotton dress that ties on the neck Queen of Leaves, CARIBOU, colored straw hat Mad Hat, Colors 94

Cotton strapless dress Sky, CARIBOU 96

Bikini Emporio Armani, Armani and flip flops Havaianas, AMAZONIA 98

Bikini Amazonia, shirt Aesthetics, glasses Mykita, Optomania 99

Silk dress with geometric patterns by Mario Fresh, POSH and glasses Mykita, Optomania 100

Dress with flower pattern Lavand, POSH 102

sani life

Children's paradise

Relaxed parents make for happy children. When their parents are not anxious and worried, children can enjoy their fun and games – and everybody’s happy! Special thanks to Mrs Roxani Balletou and the Kassandra Cultural Society for their participation. We also thank Tweety and Aesthetic stores at the Sani Marina for the clothes and shoes.

ove, security and the opportunity to play – these are all that children need to be happy. The first can be taken for granted with any normal parent or friend, but security and the opportunity to play can depend on external factors, not always present. On holiday, for example, when the parents are enjoying a very necessary break, looking for somewhere they can relax and the children can enjoy the sun and sea without their parents having to keep an anxious eye on them. It’s not always easy to get the combination right, but at the Sani Resort there’s absolutely no problem. Everything here – from accommodation and catering to leisure and play - is arranged to ensure that adults and children have whatever they need, every minute of the day. For our younger guests there is a private club, a lively, welcoming and absolutely safe environment, to which the children will want to return time and time again. Safe, sandy beaches, children’s pools, tennis courts and football pitches where they can burn off excess energy, alongside creative activities run by trained animators to stimulate the child’s imagination. There are also special services to take care of very young children while their parents enjoy a meal at one of our gourmet restaurants, an evening at a club in the Sani Marina, a film at the resort’s own cinema or one of the concerts in the Sani Festival programme. What more could you ask for?

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Services and facilities for infants and children at the Sani Resort

1. MELISSA CRECHE

4. WWKC FOOTBALL ACADEMY

Private babysitting for infants and children at set times of day (charge depending on age and time, from 15-50 Euro), or by appointment at other times (10-15 Euro). The babysitters are all trained and highly experienced.

For children aged 5-14, with teams organized by age. The football activities are run every day except Sunday, with a charge of 35 Euro for two hours, and a discount for regular attendance. At the end of the course children are awarded a Player Evaluation Card and medals for special skills.

2. MELISSA MINI CLUB Supervised activities for children aged 4 and over. Free at certain times of day, and 15 Euro per child between 18:00 and 21:00 in the evening. Supervised meals at the buffet of the Sani Beach Hotel and Sani Beach Club restaurants, cost depending on your accommodation package.

3. SANI TEEN CLUB Supervised activities for teenagers at the Nautilus Club of the Sani Beach Hotel. Available daily free of charge at set times, with charge for certain extra activities.

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5. OTHER AMENITIES 24-hour medical care. Children’s swings, baby headphones, warming pans for milk, sterilizing equipment and comforters. Specially designed menus for babies and small children, baby food and care products at the mini-markets. Nappy-changing equipment in all public toilets. Free use of children’s high chairs in restaurants. Children’s DVDs and play stations. Pushchairs, bikes and tricycles available for hire. Children’s bathrobes at the Porto Sani Village and Sani Asterias Suites.

fashion Photographer: Studio VD.gr Nikos Vavdinoudis-Christos Dimitriou Concept: Georgia Dodou Styling: kyriaki sidiropoulou Addresses: Thalia Exarchou: 103, Mitropoleos Str. & Chrysostomou Smyrnis Str., T. 2310 278 780 Katerina Ioannidis: 5, M.Iosif Str. T. 2310 256970 Î&#x;RO VILDIRIDIS: 43, Ioanni Tsimiski Str., T.2310 275 496 GALLERY DIAMOND: 40, Mitropoleos Str., T.2310 220786 APARTE: 42, Pavlou Mela Str., T. 2311 271348 Sani marina jewellery shops: OXETTE Kalfidis Petra Collection Denny Vildidiris

Diamonds, sapphires, emeralds. all exquisitely set in gold. reflecting the opulence that women love and crave.

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18-carat gold earrings with baby pearls and amethyst, Katerina Ioannidis // 18-carat white-gold ring with brilliant 0.58ct diamonds and multi-coloured 1.20ct sapphires, Î&#x161;alfidis // Handmade 18-carat gold necklace , oro Vildiridis // 18-carat white gold earrings, with diamonds, Gallery DiamonD // 18-carat gold earrings with 6ct brilliant diamonds and 8ct emerald, denny Vildiridis // Ring in shape of a snake, with diamonds, Thalia Exarchou

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18-carat white gold cross, with brilliant diamonds & tourmaline, Î&#x161;alfidis // 18-carat gold earrings with brilliant diamonds & multi-coloured citrine, Kalfidis // Handmade ring â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a unique piece made of white 18-carat gold with South Sea pearl, yellow diamond and brilliant diamond, oro vildiridis // Handmade ring in shape of octopus â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a unique piece made of 18-carat white gold and brilliant 3.05ct diamond, oro vildiridis // Necklace of natural South Sea white, golden and grey pearls, from 11 to 14gr, Kalfidis // Arlekinos Collection 18-carat white gold ring. Round brilliant cut 0.77cts. Center, Rock crystal with black rutile needles, 11.00cts., Gallery Diamond // 18-carat gold bracelet with brilliant 4.93ct diamond, denny Vildiridis // 18-carat gold bracelet with brilliant 9.1ct diamond, denny Vildiridis 110

Sautoir with white shells, pearls, white and orange corals, hemimorphite, lapis lazuli and gilded silver shell, Apรกrte// Turquoise necklace with pearl and mother of pearl, Petra Collection // Silver ring with amethyst and cubic zirconia, Petra Collection // Gilded silver necklace, Oxette // 18-carat gold ring with rutilated quartz, Katerina Ioannidis 111

Handmade, 18-carat gold necklace, a unique piece, denny vildiridis // Diamond pin in shape of butterfly, Thalia Exarchou // Diamond ring in shape of flower, Thalia Exarchou // Long earrings with gilded silver feather and semi-precious stones, Apรกrte // Earrings in chains of gilded silver, Oxette // Diamond ring 18K with heliodore & gold beryl centres, Gallery Diamond 112

Rose gold-plated ring with chalcedony and cubic zirconia, Petra Collection // Rose gold-plated pendant with sapphire and ruby, Petra Collection // Brooch of carved coral with baby pearls, set in 18-carat gold and silk, Katerina Ioannidis // Earrings with beige fabric settings, pink pearls and gold-plated silver, Apรกrte

SHOPPING

Fabulous shopping There’s nothing like some serious retail therapy to boost your spirits – and the stores of the Sani Marina, as well as those in Thessaloniki and Athens you can visit on one of our organized shopping trips, by georgia dodou.

THESSALONIKI Innovative and elegant, the shops in the centre of Thessaloniki make a trip to the city an exciting experience. We present below a choice of some of the best stores to visit.

1. LAPIN

4. Thalia EXARCHOU

7. STYLE FAX BOUTIQUE

10. KALFIDIS

Everything your child could want or need, presented with love and imagination. Helping you ensure your little heroes are always well dressed. // 20, Agias Sofias Str., T. 2310 224467.

Opulent, exquisitely made jewellery from the rich imagination of Thalia Exarchou – impressing even the most jaded of jewellery connoisseurs! // 103, Mitropoleos Str. & Chrysostomou Smyrnis Str., T. 2310 278780.

A classic haunt of Thessaloniki fashionistas, this boutique with its imaginative range of fashion options is a must-visit destination every new season. // 19, Proxenou Koromila Str., T. 2310 240898.

Apart from their own jewellery items, Kalfidis also feature the Pandora creations which have caused such a stir abroad, showcased in major fashion magazines and worn by celebrities. // 6, Venizelou Str., Panorama, T. 2310 331000.

2. KERASTASE

5. ATTICA

8. LOUIS VUITTON

Hair care can be a luxury, says Kerastase, whose Elixir Ultime range is turning everyday hair care into a sensuous experience, enriching the hair with deep nourishment and making it rich and lustrous. From your hairdresserconsultant. Yianni Hair Spa, Sani Beach Hotel, Porto Sani Village. T. 23740 99496.

Corners with at titude in ever y department. This popular department store has a distinctively European atmosphere – a whole world dedicated to the fine things in life! // 11th km on Thessaloniki-Moudania highway, T. 2311 813000.

This top-ranking Parisian fashion house always has something worth seeing, whether it’s examples of the very latest collection, or their classic accessories in timeless Vuitton style. // 48, Proxenou Koromila Str. & 5 Mitropolitou Iosif, T. 2310 225052.

6. DIESEL

9. NOTOS GALLERIES

Denim paradise – the most addictive of destinations for the young and young at heart! Jeans of every kind for those who want to look cool all day. // 12, Agias Sofias Str., T. 2310 221303.

Fashion, beauty, household goods, inspired ideas for gifts. At Notos Galleries shopping is sheer pleasure! // Hirs Arcade, 24, Tsimiski Str. & 31, Mitropoleos Str., T. 2310 366600.

3. KATERINA IOANNIDIS Katerina Ioannidis takes a simple jewellery idea and turns it into a work of art. With her wide range of materials she breathes energy and originality into every one of her creations. // 5, M. Iosif Str., T 2310 256970.

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11. EMPORIO ARMANI The king of minimalism. Every new collection carries the label ‘Simple is beautiful’. Can you think of anything better? // 5, Vogatsikou Str., T. 2310 228784.

12. MAX MARA All-time classic elegance, striking designs and high-quality fabrics – Max Mara creations are always the height of fashion. Every woman needs to own one of their amazing coats. // 54, Mitropoleos Str., T. 2310 284123.

13. KALOGIROU A store with a well established reputation for stylish footwear and bags showcasing almost all the major foreign brands. Additionally, the same company owns the Dolce & Gabbana and Tod's store at Proxenou Koromila Str. // 75, Mitropoleos Str., T. 2310 250500.

14. HATZIIOANNOU LIGHTS Beautiful light fittings to brighten up your home, at competitive prices. Because good lighting should be left to the experts. // 123, Georgikis Scholis Ave., T. 2310 473601.

15. GRIGIO 13

One of the most beautiful stores you will ever see, designed with a taste and elegance that do full justice to the designer collections on display (Chloe, Valentino, Missoni, etc.). // 51, Proxenou Koromila Str., T, 2310 282831, 2310 282841

16. LUSSO High-quality furniture, beautifully designed. Lusso furniture adds a note of luxury to everyday life. // 14th km on Thessaloniki-Halkidiki highway, T. 2310 466489, 2310 466562.

17. SMILE BITES Renowned Thessaloniki dentist Kostas Dimakos promises clients a brilliant smile in just one hour. This man has the whole art of cosmetic dentistry at his fingertips – one visit and you’ll be a convert! // 29, Pavlou Mela Str., T. 2310 460890.

18. MEXX A new firm with distinctive fashion ideas for children – they’ll be style addicts for life! 3, Ethnikis Antistaseos Str., Nea Moudania, T. 2373022246.

14 16 116

19.RODANOS Everyday fashion choices with a hint of luxury, and unbeatably glamorous Armani jeans to keep you always in style. // 11th km on ThessalonikiMoudania highway, inside the Mediterranean Cosmos mall, T. 2310 473281.

20. M&F FLORA A home makeover can be the best tonic in difficult times, and the easiest and most economical way to transform your living space can be to reupholster the furniture. // 21, Pavlou Mela Str., T. 2310 280103.

21. GIOLANDA PEPE Thessaloniki’s best-known plastic surgeon will have the solution to any beauty problem that is bothering you. Friendly and pleasant atmosphere. Showing you the true face of beauty. // 37, Agias Sofias Str., T. 2310 287800.

25 22. PAROUSIASI Helping to make the best of your home: all the latest trends, with different ideas for each new season. Beautiful objects to make your life richer and add style to your everyday life. // 90, Tsimiski Str., T. 2310 251595.

ATHENS In the heart of the city, the top stores have fashion with a European feel, but service with the warmth and hospitality of Greece.

23. FRATELLI KARIDA Fashion for your feet – with an explosive sense of style! All the season’s trends in shoes, to keep you absolutely up to date with your footwear fashions! // 28, Tsimiski Str., T. 2310 226511, or 69, Mitropoleos Str., T. 2310 220299.

24. SAMARA FURS The ultimate destination for lovers of fur. Amazing designs, hundreds of choices, remarkably reasonable prices! // 88, Tsimiski Str., T. 2310 223540.

25. CARTIER The historic jewellery firm exercises a continuing fascination for women around the world, who can never resist a browse through the Cartier display cases. Enjoy the authentic sensation of luxury! // 7, Voukourestiou Str., T. 210 6471310.

26. LUISA You’ll find the best of international fashion at Luisa, a regular haunt of all the most up-to-date fashionistas. // Kolonaki, 15, Skoufa Str., T. 210 3635600; Kifisia, 11, Kolokotroni Str., T. 210 8016641; Mykonos, Psarou, T. 22890 22015.

27. FREY WILLE

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The art of jewellery acquires a new dimension in the collections of Frey Willie. Inspired by such talented artists as Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet and Alphonse Mucha, created with a sophisticated enamelling technique you will feel as if you are wearing a painting! The imaginative colour combinations are a delight, too, full of joie de vivre. // 21A', Voukourestiou Str., T. 210 3387150.

special advertising section

TOMS The first TOMS Pop Up Resort Store has opened at the Sani Resort! TOMS was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, who was inspired during a trip to Argentina to start a different kind of business. There he observed extreme poverty, adverse health conditions and children walking without shoes. Wanting to help, an idea came to him: the traditional Argentine alpargata shoe could be a simple yet revolutionary solution. He quickly set out to reinvent the alpargata for the global market â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to show how together we can create a better tomorrow by taking compassionate action today. To realize this mission, Blake made a commitment to give a pair of new shoes to a child in need, for every pair sold. One for One.

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Five years later, TOMS used the same model to launch its second product: TOMS Eyewear. With ever y pair purchased, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need. One for One. As more everyday choices have the power to impact the lives of those around the world, the TOMS movement continues to grow and evolve. To date TOMS has given millions of pairs of new shoes to children in need in over 50 countries, has restored sight to over 100,000 people around the world and has become one of the most fashionable and socially responsible brands in the world. Visit the store at the Sani Marina.

life

Living well Making the transition from life to the good life – it’s easier than you think! By Katerina Efstratiadou

he good life and happiness – key concepts for 21st century man – have been discussed and pursued by many millions of people. The plan we recommend is a simple one, with just 10 parameters – which will lead you to success if you advance steadily under their guidance.

Katerina Efstratiadou is a personal life coach (Dip. L.C.), licensed to practice the E.F.T. technique. She has studied at the International Life Coaching Institute in London, attended NLP seminars run by Matthew Davis, and served an apprenticeship as a coach with the group known as the Masters of the Law of Attraction, The Secret. She remains a member of their group. She is the founder of Energy Point, organizing seminars in personal development, and offers her services to individuals and groups, live and over the internet. 44 Papamarkou St., Athonos Square, Thessaloniki Τel 2310 261623, Fax 2310 261624, e-mail: katerina@coachforenergy.gr www.coachforenergy.gr www.coachforenergy.blogspot.com

1. Setting the target

4. Taking action

8. The keys to success

Decide what it is you want – money, professional success, personal fulfilment, social acceptance. Dedicate the necessary time to arriving with certainty at what you really want, what best suits your personality. Repeat it over and over again in your mind, until it is stamped on your subconscious as your paramount objective.

Note down the steps you will have to take to get what you want. Don’t be seduced by pipe-dreams – stick to the task in hand. Don’t let inactivity sap your will. Take action, and learn from your mistakes. Learn the art of self-criticism. And reward yourself for every success.

Cultivate relations with people who can teach you important lessons. Rid yourself of bad habits. Recognize the efforts and merits of others. Don’t go behind your colleagues’ backs. Defend others when necessary, and they will defend you in turn. Share the credit when things go well. Don’t be a slave to money, use it and master it! All the strength in the world lies within you. Just be yourself and never stop growing.

5. Preparing a route map 2. The lonely road Attaining your objectives is a matter for you and you alone, regardless of whether you meet people who help you along the way. Be prepared to travel a lonely road. Learn to take the right decisions; cultivate a sense of fairness, cooperate with others and build your self-esteem. If you proceed like this, when you finally arrive at your destination, having conducted yourself with dignity and integrity, you will be received with warmth and affection instead of envy and jealousy.

3. Taking responsibility Are you ready to take responsibility for attaining your objectives? Or are you sitting around waiting for something to get you started? Nothing is going to fall into your lap if you just sit there. It is you who have to pull the strings, take the decisions, make things happen. It’s up to you and you alone to take the initiative, to take responsibility for your actions.

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Make a careful study of the way ahead. Learn to recognize the obstacles, see them as a challenge, overcome them, learn from them. Exercise selfdiscipline as and when necessary. Learn to say no. Study the situation carefully before you take decisions.

6. Seizing opportunities The path you will follow to reach your destination is one full of obstacles and opportunities. Successful people are those who recognize the latter, exploit them and create them, while overcoming the obstacles. They move swiftly and effectively, and – first and foremost – never waste their time.

7. Personal characteristics People who make it to the top tend to have a lot in common: belief in themselves, commitment to their decisions, the ability to complete a task however difficult or unpleasant it is, leadership qualities, a clear understanding of the skills they possess, team spirit, the ability to pick themselves up after a setback, an aggressive approach to problem-solving, respect for the needs of others. Exploit these qualities if you already have them – and work on acquiring the ones you don’t!

9. Discovery Learn to live your life to the full. Seek deep in yourself for inspiration and trust your feelings. Act according to your conscience: this will judge your actions and guide your behaviour. Never settle for less than you are worth. Fulfil your innermost desires.

10. Understanding The road to the good life is paved with action, persistence, strength and courage. Always giving all you have to whatever you are doing. Successful people in every field have concrete plans they follow every day, improve, review and revise. They are well aware that the path to happiness and the good life is laid through decisions, not procrastination, through strength, not resignation, through movement, not inertia, through love, not rejection, through gratitude, not ingratitude, through recognition, not egotism, through joy, not misery, through truth, not lies. Success is a conscious choice – not something that just happens to you. The road to success is an understanding, a realization that the good life means loving what you are and what you have achieved.

gastronomy

Î¤he scent of memory The Sani Magazine extends another mouth-watering invitation this year, with bread and honey, delicious breakfast rolls from Thessaloniki, crisp, light bougatsa as well as other creative versions of traditional dishes by well-known chefs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; offering for the third year running their own interpretations of the New Greek Cuisine. Photograph: Studio VD.gr Nikos Vavdinoudis-Christos Dimitriou 125

Taking tradition into the future

This is the objective of the Sani Gourmet 2013, focusing for the third year in succession on New Greek Cuisine.

Î¤

his year Sani Gourmet is looking to creative interpretations of how tradition interacts with the future of the Greek cuisine. Awardwinning chefs, like Nena Ismyrnoglou, Christophoros Peskias, Chrysanthos Karamolegos, Nikos Karathanos, Nikos Kontosoros from Florina, owner of the award-winning restaurant of the same name, Ettore Botrini (whose Etrusco restaurant in Corfu was this year voted the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best gastronomic venue), Pericles Koskinas and many others have responded to our challenge: to work their creative talents on traditional Greek dishes, the nucleus of local gastronomy, looking to the future but using the traditional, high-quality ingredients of the Greek countryside.

Sometimes a simple scent can evoke images that we had long forgotten, imbued with all the nostalgic force of memories long buried. And this power of recall can be all the greater when it is triggered by the fragrance of good food, awakening a longing for culinary pleasures at the family dinner table, the company of good friends, the joy of animated conversation. The rich savour of foods cooked in fine oil, crisply grilled fish and tender meat dishes, shellfish and the exotic aromas of spices intoxicating our senses with a virtual reality we would love to become tangible again.

4 1. Nena Ismyrnoglou 2. yorgos Venieris 3.yiannis LuCaCos 4.christophoros Peskias

From 10-19 May, a plethora of fascinating fragrances will be issuing from the restaurant kitchens of the Sani Resort. Scents and aromas that evoke the dishes of our childhood: macaroni with delicious ground beef, spinach and cheese pies, superb meats and mouth-watering seafood dishes and all the other recipes which have accompanied us through our lives and woven their way into our deepest memories. www.sanigourmet.gr

culture

The flavours of Greek cuisine What makes a national cuisine distinctive is not just the range of ingredients it uses, but also the existence of a shared cultural identity underlying the everyday diet of a people. Argyro Barata explores the shared origins and experiences which have shaped the flavours of Greek cuisine.

t is generally agreed that a national cuisine is the product of a slow evolutionary process. The authors of the Histoire de l’Alimentation, Jean Louis Flandrin and Massimo Montanari, describe the best methodology for exploring this process: ‘We can understand the cultural dimension of ancient Greek cuisine by tracing, through the diversity of dishes and culinary methods used at different times and in different places, the founding principles and founding myths’. This same method allows us to identify the fundamental characteristics of contemporary Greek cuisine, even in its most recent and innovative manifestations. The technical term terroir - used mainly in the study of wine and describing the special geographical character, climate and human practices of a region, which determine the flavour of its products – perhaps offers us the most effective tool for explaining the many and diverse local products grown in Greece. The true guardians of authentic Greek cuisine are the livestock farmers, from the high mountain slopes of Pindus to Mt. Psiloreitis in Crete, the fishermen of the seas, lakes and rivers, the farmers of the plains, the dairies producing cheeses in the 20 different areas of protected designation of origin, the growers of a huge range of fruit and vegetables, harvested through the four seasons of the year, and, last but not least, their contribution to Greek cuisine matched by none, the producers of olive oil. For just one example of the sheer variety of produce grown in one country, think of the different tomatoes of Santorini, Crete and Langada. It is remarkable that such a small country as Greece can produce superb ingredients for delicious dishes at all seasons of the year. Olive oil, fish roe, smoked trout, peaches, oranges, apples, grapes, yoghurt, feta and manouri cheese – just a handful of the products which help to define the taste of Greece, and whose international success has confirmed the vital role they play in our cuisine.

Flavours from the East The great revolution in Greek cuisine occurred in the early years of the 20th century, when the refugees from Asia Minor and the Black Sea region introduced their own more oriental style of cooking to the traditional dishes of the native Greek population. And so, for the first time, the Greeks tasted and learned to love the new flavours of melitzanasalata, tzatziki, marinated mackerel, salted tunny, stuffed eggplants, stuffed cabbage leaves, artichokes a la Constantinople, Smyrna meatballs and all the other culinary delights from an earlier age of cuisine. This was a gastronomic revolution that was to shape the flavours of Greek cuisine for many decades to come – and lay the foundations for the New Greek Cuisine.

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Crossroads of cultures Greece’s geographical position at the eastern end of the Mediterranean has always made it a crossroads of different cultures. In this process of cultural give-and-take, the most important contribution to the evolution of Greek cuisine was the avgolemono, egg-andlemon sauce, brought to Thessaloniki from Spain by the Sephardic Jews who were driven out of Spain in the 15th century. Known originally as agristada, this rich sauce was incorporated in a large number of Greek dishes, including soups, meat wrapped in cabbage, fricassee, stuffed courgettes, roast pork and leeks, and many others.

Nikolaos Tselemendes The publication in 1917 of the first comprehensive guide to Greek cuisine, by Nikolaos Tselemendes, represented the first attempt to modernize Greek cooking. Influenced by French cuisine – he had studied in Europe and worked in some of the top hotel kitchens of the period – Tselemendes, from the island of Syphnos, evolved his recipes and style of cooking on the basis of French sauces, introducing new methods of preparation to ‘purify’ Greek food from other foreign influences. It was thanks to Tselemendes that the Greek housewife learned to make béchamel sauce and prepare dishes au gratin, while he is also credited with inventing moussakas, the most famous Greek dish of all.

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Country cooking As is the case with all forms of popular culture, in gastronomy too each small area has its own customs determined by geography, the ease of communication with other regions, and the occupations of the local people. The life of the countryside has given rise to many culinary masterpieces, made of simple, plain ingredients and combining the common sense of the housewife with high levels of gastronomic skill. One favourite dish, found all over the Greek countryside, was the pita or pie – a staple in the diet of farmers and shepherds. The cost was negligible, since the greens used to fill the pie were freely available in the fields, while the oil and flour were produced by the country people themselves. The filling of the pie depended on the season: in spring green vegetables were used, in winter leeks, around Christmas time meat and in summer courgettes. During the cheese-making season, cheese pies were the favourite. One surprising fact is that the famous peasant salad, the crowning glory of Greek cuisine abroad, was not invented in the Greek countryside – not a single Greek village has ever claimed the honour of making the first of these salads. It seems likely that it was devised by the middle classes in the city, the big chunks of tomato and onion bringing some local colour to their table and reminding them of life in the countryside.

Obviously this has not been a full account of all the features of Greek cuisine. We have made no mention of the dishes eaten by the ancient Greeks, or the myriad local variations to be found in the many different parts of Greece. And the history of Greek cuisine is by no means over. Just as Tselemendes introduced foreign techniques which altered the native gastronomy, so the chefs of the New Greek Cuisine, trained in famous schools and Michelin-starred restaurants abroad, have popularized a new approach to traditional ingredients. Mousses and savoury ice creams have little to do with the dishes of a century ago. But the flavours we relish in the creations of New Greek Cuisine are just as much a part of Greece as the marbles of the Parthenon, because what defines a national cuisine is the shared heritage of tastes and flavours underlying every dish and every recipe.

nature

The dance "Without the bee, mankind would have just four years to live". The words of Albert Einstein, who described the contribution of the bee to the chain of life as incalculably important. Argyro Barata introduces us to the world of the bee and the production of honey â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a process in which the whole natural world is involved.

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lants, like animals, fall in love, reproduce and multiply â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and this process has been undertaken in part by the insects and the breezes. The most important carrier of pollen is the bee, and the process is called pollination. It is of vital importance to life on earth; without it, most living creatures would be extinct. Nectar is the reason why the bee visits the flowers and plants, thereby carrying the seed from the male to the female. The plants attract the bee and encourage its visits through their powerful and seductive scents and bright colours. On average, a bee will make twelve journeys a day, visiting between 200 to 300 flowers on each trip. Just one forager bee will visit each day some 2,500 to 3,500 flowers. Every morning about 20,000 bees will leave a good hive and by the end of the day some 50-70 million flowers will have been visited. The twelve loads a day weigh just 0.36% of a gram. After 20 days work, and once 63% of the moisture of the nectar has evaporated, each forager will have collected just 1.5 grams of honey. The honey may come from the flowers of plants, in which case it is converted from nectar to honey, or may be honeydew, a sugary juice collected by the bees with the help of insects living as parasites on trees, mainly the pine and fir.

of the bees Bees have a highly evolved social organization, with each member performing distinct duties. During summer the hive will be home to a queen, 250-350 drones and 60,000 workers. The tasks of a worker bee depend on its age: as soon as it is born, for its first two days of life, it cleans the cells of the hive in order to make space for the eggs laid each day by the queen. Then, for ten days, it feeds the pupae with nectar to help them grow. After twelve days it abandons its feeding work and starts to work on the hive, taking the honey brought from outside by the forager bees and placing it in the storage areas. It also begins to construct new cells, and carries its young companions out of the hive. At the age of eighteen days it becomes a guard at the entrance to the hive, ready to attack any alien creature trying to penetrate the family home – there are usually 20-30 guards at the entrance. At 21 days it is fully mature and begins to roam outside the hive, collecting nectar, pollen, propolis and water, until the end of its life, on average a period of forty days. Some of the bees are explorers, assigned the task of seeking out new plants for food. When they find a new source, e.g. flowers just beginning to open, they return to the hive and perform a special dance which informs their companions of the type of food they have found, in which direction and at what distance it is located.

The ancient Greeks, Aristotle in particular, began to study the behaviour of the bees two thousand years ago, but could not solve the mystery of their dance. It was the Austrian biologist, Karl von Frisch, awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1972 for his work on bees, who finally concluded that there were two kinds of dance: the ‘round dance’ and the ‘waggle dance’. The explorers perform the round dance when they have found food at a short distance (less than 25m) from the hive, without indicating the direction in which it is to be found. When the food is located farther away, then the circle of the dance becomes a half-moon shape. And if the food is more than 100m away, they perform the waggle dance, which involves moving in a figure-eight shape, and indicates the distance, type of food and direction the other bees must take in order to find it. The bees identify the kind of food from the scent carried on the explorer bees. All types of bees studied to date dance in a similar, but not identical, way. Halkidiki has witnessed the dance of the bees for many centuries, as thanks to its unique ecosystem it is one of the most important centres of beekeeping anywhere in Greece. There are 6,500 beekeepers, 32% of the national total, with more than 80,000 swarms producing 1,910 tons of superb honey every year. The beekeepers of Halkidiki take good care of their heritage, following traditional methods and allowing their bees to feed on the purest ingredients – the abundant flora of Kassandra, Sithonia and northern Halkidiki – and producing large quantities of honey in, mainly, the areas of Paliouri, Nikiti and Arnaia.

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The wealth of Greek honey The honey produced in Greece is of the finest quality, with a range of unique and delicious flavours. There are two main categories of honey: that produced from flowers and their nectar, and that made from honeydew. Greece is unusual in having legislated to define seven distinct kinds of honey, with specific chemical characteristics. The differences between honey from flowers and that from coniferous trees are important: the former has pollen residues, while the honey from coniferous trees is rich in mineral salts. The honey from nectar is pale in colour, lighter, and crystallizes, while that from honeydew is darker in colour and crystallizes less easily. There are also differences among the types of honey in respect of their chemical composition. Honey from flowers has more glucose and fructose (more than 65%), while that from coniferous trees has less (38% to 65%).

pine honey

fir honey

chestnut honey

citrus honey

About 65% of all honey produced in Greece comes from pine trees, the most important plant in honey production in the country. The main areas of production are Halkidiki, northern Evoia, Thasos, Skopelos, Zakynthos and Rhodes. This is honey of high nutritional value, mainly due to the large number of different substances with which it is enriched â&#x20AC;&#x201C; chief among them minerals and trace elements (calcium, magnesium, mercury, iron and copper). It is not particularly sweet, and does not crystallize. It is richer than honey from flowers in trace elements, proteins and amino acids. It also has fewer calories.

This is one of the best and most expensive kinds of honey in Greece, and the only kind with designated origin status. It is distinctive in appearance, being particularly viscous. It accounts for 5-10% of all honey made in Greece and comes mainly from the mountain areas of Evritania, Pindos, Olympus, Mainalos, Parnonas and Helmos in the Peloponnese, and Parnitha in Attica. It is rich in trace elements (potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, etc.) and contains very small quantities of vitamins, but enough to help the human organism absorb sugars.

This is produced from the nectar and honeydew secretions of the chestnut tree â&#x20AC;&#x201C; found in large quantities across the mountains of Greece. It contains valuable trace elements and is also believed to help stop the symptoms of dysentery. It has a strong, pleasant fragrance, with a slightly bitter taste. It crystallizes slowly, taking one to two years. Here in Macedonia it is harvested mainly in the Mt. Athos peninsula.

Honey produced from citrus fruits, especially the orange, has a superb scent and delicious f lavour. It crystallizes very quickly, in one or two months. It is light in colour and turns white when it crystallizes. It is produced mainly on the islands (Hania and Poros), in the Peloponnese and Epirus.

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Urban beekeeping

here is a growing trend to reclaim public land in our great cities for cultivation, and beekeeping has played its part in this phenomenon. It was first seen in New York, two years ago, when beekeepers began to raise bees in common areas, the terraces of apartment blocks and the courtyards of houses. The trend has been encouraged by the financial recession, and the environmental sensitivity of people who understand the important contribution of the bee to the natural world. NY Beekeeping is the largest group in the city, with more than 1,300 members; their hives can be found all over the city, but mainly on the terraces of skyscrapers. A spokesman for the organization says: ‘For city beekeepers the hive is a little piece of calm in the heart of a crazy world’. The historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel has installed six hives on a specially designed terrace on its 20th floor, intended as a home for 300,000 bees. The hotel’s chef uses the honey in his cooking, and guests are welcome to visit the terrace and watch the bees come and go. The Waldorf’s example was rapidly followed by the Intercontinental New York Barclay, which has the highest hive in Manhattan.

sunflower honey

heather honey

thyme honey

Light in colour and crystallizing in one to two months. The sunflower is grown over large parts of Greece, mainly in the north of the country, and is a rich source of honey. In its crystallized form the honey is a yellowish colour; it is rich in polyphenols, which play an important part in a healthy diet.

Also known as sousouri, it is a product of high nutritional value with a characteristic and agreeable scent and taste. It crystallizes in one to three months, is dark in colour and takes a reddish hue after crystallization. There are two types of heather honey, each with different properties and coming from the autumn and spring heather, among the most important plants for the beekeepers of Greece. It is produced in most parts of the country.

A honey of excellent quality, with a superb colour and taste, as well as antiseptic and invigorating properties. It can help to prevent heart disease and is effective against problems of the urinary and digestive systems. It crystallizes in 6-18 months. Technically a member of the flower honey family, in reality it is in a class of its own, thanks to its intense characteristics. It is popular because it can be mixed with other honeys to improve their fragrance. It accounts for around 10% of all Greek production and is to be found at its best on the Greek islands, particularly Crete and Cythera.

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mythology

Beautiful

eros One of the most colourful figures in the Greek Pantheon, Eros often enraged his fellow gods by his meddling in human affairs. But his powers over the heart, human or divine, were great – and even Death fell victim to his arrow.

n Sophocles’ Antigone Eros is described as invincible, and the characterization is no hyperbole: with his childlike features, beauty, wings, bow and quiver of arrows – he has proved more lasting in his appeal to our imaginations than any other of the ancient gods. A symbol of the most powerful force of attraction among humans, he was linked most closely to the goddess Aphrodite; he was variously said to be her son by Zeus, Ares, Hermes or Hephaestus, although there were many other accounts of his birth. According to Hesiod, he was one of the very first gods, the creators of the world. In the Orphic cult he was believed to have emerged from an egg laid by Cronus in the embrace of Chaos. In his comedy The Birds, Aristophanes claims that Eros was the son of Night and Erebus. Plato presents him, in his Symposium, as a spirit or demon, the son of Wealth and Poverty. Others relegate him to the ranks of the secondary gods, the son of Eileithyia, or of Iris and Zephyrus. Whatever the confusion over his parentage, there is general agreement over Eros’ attributes:

he awakens passion in our hearts, arouses sexual desire, keeps love alive. A god of creative forces, he is not without his darker side; Plato and Euripides refer to his two faces - good and evil, virtue and misery. And this is indeed the effect of his arrows: sometimes capturing our hearts, sometimes shattering them. Love reciprocated can raise us to a state of ecstasy; love denied can plunge us into despair. Young people have always worshipped Eros, poets and artists have exalted him, philosophers have sought to find his deeper meaning (there is a remarkable dialogue on Eros among the pupils of Socrates in Plato’s Symposium), and life itself has vindicated him, as the primal force behind reproduction and the continuation of life itself. Eros has become a symbol of existence, the force uniting separate human beings, the nectar of the spirit. Eros will always triumph, always and everywhere, ensuring continuity, capturing and being captured, serving beauty in all its manifestations, indestructible and immortal.

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sani life

Wedding bells

he natural paradise of Halkidiki is the perfect setting for the The Sani Resort is the perfect most important moment in a couple’s lives: their wedding. place for a holiday wedding, Combine this with professional organization to spare the couple all the stress and fatigue of preparation, and the with all the amenities to satisfy situation is ideal. In response to its guests’ wishes, the Sani Resort now offers a wedding service characterised by the same luxury and the most demanding bride. comfort as the hotel’s other amenities. All the happy couple and their guests need do is pack their bags for a stay at the resort: the rest can be left to us. We will book the date at the local registry office, and arrange the ceremony and the reception at one of the fabulous venues in our range of wedding packages, designed to meet every requirement – from an open wedding with glamorous reception, to a youthful party or a more discreet private gathering. We offer exclusive spa facilities and the services of hairdressers, make-up artists, florists, a photographer – while our own special gift to the newly-weds includes an upgrade to their room, with sparkling wine and floral decorations on the day of the wedding, a wedding cake for ten persons and a candlelit dinner for the couple at one of our restaurants.

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face

to face

Summer is always an opportunity to renew the pursuit of well-being and health, experimenting with new treatments, relaxation methods and the latest developments in a world of vital interest to us all: the world of beauty.

beauty

Beauty centuries over the

The rejuvenation treatments we enjoy at our modern spas are in fact inspired by the secrets and the fragrances of Helen of Troy, the beautiful Penelope, wife of Ulysses, and Roxane, wife of Alexander the Great. We may believe that modern science has left no mysteries of beauty undiscovered, but the truth is that history has many lessons to teach us. By Georgia Dodou

here are many pleasurable experiences which draw women to the spa: soothing massages with essential oils, treatments with steam infused with special scents, aromatherapy using extracts distilled from beautiful and exotic flowers… the modern spa offers a whole range of pleasures to reinvigorate both mind and body, and many of these have their origins far back in the mists of time.

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In ancient times, just as today, taking care of her body and face was one of a woman’s main concerns. The women of the ancient world painted their eyelids, accentuated their cheekbones and lips, covered their faces with pale-coloured powders. The world’s museums contain hundreds of pyxides from ancient times, tiny earthenware pots used to keep powder for the face, and there are dozens of ancient Greek vases decorated with scenes of women admiring themselves in a looking glass. Our ancient Greek sisters loved to adorn their hair with diadems, pins and brooches, their hairstyles following the seasons and the changing fashions. In the archaic period (7th-6th century BC) a woman’s hair was long and worn down with knots at the end, while in classical times (5th century BC) it was piled up in elaborate buns and plaits. The women of the Hellenistic period wore their hair piled high in a heavy mass on top of the head, while statues of Roman women show even more elaborate and varied coiffures. Women were often buried with a looking glass beside them, and when courtesans had lost their youthful looks they would dedicate their mirrors to Aphrodite. Our ancient forebears also had little implements for thinning their eyebrows and removing other unwanted hair. We learn from ancient writers of the use of a special depilating cream, known as psillothron. Beauty care also involved application of aromatic oils – kept in alabaster and earthenware jars - to the body. The women of the ancient world loved new clothes as much as their descendants today: the Minoan women were fond of broad skirts with frills and ruffles; in archaic times the preference was for a heavy, woollen peplo or robe, covering the whole body. The women of classical times favoured the chiton, a dress made of light, clinging linen and showing off the curves; around their shoulders they would throw a cape or imation. Accessories like belts and pins to fasten the peplo, as well as buttons, were widely used. For the finishing touch, there were elaborate items of jewellery: gold, silver and bronze necklaces, bracelets and rings adorned with precious and semi-precious stones.

The intoxicating name of the rose

Aromatic oils Helen of Troy had her scents and perfumes imported from Egypt and was initiated into the miraculous properties of herbs by a woman who had lived in Egypt for many years. It was in the Minoan period that the therapeutic properties of olive oil were first discovered, and it was used as a base for their cosmetics. The ancient Egyptians, too, discovered the power of essential oils, and were famed for this knowledge across the Mediterranean. In the Odyssey, Homer tells us of the properties of the mandrake, the lotus and the pitcher plant – a flower that was credited with driving away pains and countering the effects of poison. Pliny tells us that there were 22 kinds of scent in use in the ancient world and originating from the island of Crete, in particular from the cypress, the cedar, oregano, the iris, the myrtle, laurel and rose. At the most ancient sanctuaries of the island one can see three ideograms in the Linear A script, denoting the oils of sesame, walnut and almond. Even today the Cretan dittany and sage are much sought after for their aromatic extracts.

Crete was not famous only for its oils, but also for its roses, as were Macedonia, with its very red varieties, Rhodes, from which the name of the flower is derived, and Cyprus. In the Iliad, Homer tells us that Aphrodite used the oil of the rose, otherwise ‘the oil of immortality’, to anoint the corpse of Hector. The red roses of Pylos were also famous. The process of extracting the oil from the plant has not changed significantly since ancient times. The finest oil was warmed in a vessel and rose petals thrown into it; the vessel was removed from the heat and left for a whole day to allow the petals to surrender their essence to the oil. In order not to waste a single drop of the precious distillation, the perfume-makers would squeeze the petals in a linen cloth. We find references in Homer to other perfumes: Penelope stocked her closets with an ample supply of an ‘oil with a beautiful scent’, while Telemachus anointed himself with oil after bathing. But the best ancient source for the various fragrances and their use is the poet Sappho. We know from literary sources and archaeological finds that among the substances used by women to highlight their lips and cheeks were cerussite, a kind of lead, red ochre, henna powder, berry and acanthus juices (known as ‘boy love’!) mixed with oils and creams. Kohl and soot were used to circle the eyes, and a mixture of laurel and cedar oil to dye the hair black.

The scents of Eros Alexander the Great, described by ancient sources as having a divine odour and the freshest breath of any man alive, was amazed when he entered the Baths of Darius III after the victory of Issus. According to Plutarch, he could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the serried ranks of basins, vases and flasks of scent, all made of gold, and the baths themselves, the air thick with heady perfumes. We know that of all the plunder he took in Damascus he decided to keep only a small perfume casket, decorated with gold, pearls and precious stones, in which to keep his copy of the works of Homer. And more importantly his soldiers, returning from their campaign of conquest, brought back to Greece new varieties of tree – orange, lemon, cherry and sandalwood, the last forming one of the bases of our modern aromatherapy. During the Hellenistic era Greek perfumes were exported across the Mediterranean: the roses of Macedonia, the iris of Cyzicus, the saffron of Rhodes, the grape oil of Cyprus and the mandrake of Cos became famous among perfume-makers. There is a fascinating work by Theophrastus, On Scents, in which he presents a series of recipes for beauty and procedures for preparing cosmetics, with a precision and accuracy still impressive today. Many of the techniques he describes are still in use today, such as the conversion of aromatic extracts into powders, pastilles for the bath and sweet-smelling sachets full of petals. Aristocratic women of ancient times had different scents for different uses, such as Egyptian oil for the feet, Phoenician scents for the breasts, mandrake for the hair and eyebrows. And of course, all these essences and oils had their erotic uses; in his Lysistrata, Aristophanes has the character Myrinna madden her husband with perfumes, before fleeing and leaving him in a state of keen frustration.

We see in the ancient sources the great variety of raw materials used and the inventiveness our ancestors displayed in the methods of distillation. Perhaps the principles of aromatherapy, too, are something we can attribute to the ancient Greeks? 143

Beauty in numbers

New beauty products – for magical transformations! by vassiliki papageorgiou

8 hours –

that’s the minimum time an application of Symmetria H24 moisturizing cream will last. The moisturizer contains argan oil as well as other active ingredients like sunseed oil and rose extract that regenerate the skin, providing moisture and protection, while the delicate, nongreasy texture of the moisturizer is absorbed immediately. €54 www.symmetria.gr

15th – the day in June 2013 which will see the global launch of the daring new collection by Lancôme – in association with top fashion name Alber Elbaz. The designer’s ability to renew his inspiration by combining haute couture and eccentricity is the perfect expression for the spirit of Lancôme, which has always represented the essence of graceful femininity. According to the company’s management, ‘The sense of luxury so characteristic of Alber Elbaz, his vision of femininity and his bold vision are the perfect match for the new values of Maison Lancôme. We are proud and delighted that he will be working alongside us in bringing his unique vision to the world of make-up, for the very first time’.

4 – the number of vegetable oils contained in Caudalie Divine Oil. The grape oil nourishes and provides in-depth regeneration, while the virgin hibiscus oil prevents loss of moisture from the epidermis and the pure argan oil helps the skin cells to function efficiently. The sesame oil is rich in softening properties and the extracts of grape seeds are effective anti-oxidants which protect the natural hyaluronic acid – an action of which few people are aware. An ideal preparation for body, face and hair. €24 in selected pharmacies, www.caudalie.com

6 – the number of colours in the Essie Resort Collection 2013. Essie Weingarten, the brand’s founder and global creative director, is inspired by the modern woman and creates a dreamy palette that exudes feminity and style. We loved all of them: lilac (under where), neon coral (come here!), fresh green (first time), blue (in the cab-ana), seductive pink (nice package) and striking fuchsia (again?!). € 12,50, in selected hair salons, nail studios, spa and beauty salons.

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100ml –

the contents of the innovative Moroccanoil® Frizz Control, enriched with argan oil. Just a quick spray is all you need to restore hair distressed by weather, chemical preparations and too much brushing, leaving the hair healthy, frizz-free and clear of static electricity. Ideal for summer use. €25.90 - www.moroccanoil.com, www.moroccanoil.gr

90% – the percentage of women who used the Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator night cream, in a four-week trial and found their skin more smoother and more toned. Its creation was based on the success of the exclusive Glycanactif™ complex featured in the homonymous antiageing line but also on a new glycan, that meets the skin’s specific nighttime needs and the ruscus aculeatus root extract, known for its effective decongestant action against puffiness and so-called pillow wrinkles. The signs of fatigue are erased, like after a good night’s sleep. €91.50 for 50ml

6 actions in 1 – what you get from Vichy Aerateint BB Mousse, combining the b enefit s of BB technology and the properties of a fond-de-teint in mousse form. This is a product which offers direct cover with shine, providing a uniform colour and texture, moisturising the skin, closing and protecting pores with SPF 30. The secret to successful use: apply after skin care cream for a natural matt finish, using as a base before applying your usual make-up for a more stable result. €24

4 actions in 1 – Noir Couture mascara is now available in a waterproof version to dress up the lashes as a Couture gown, providing volume length, curl and waterproof protection, thanks to its low-water-contentformula enriched with liquid polymers that adhere instantly to the lashes, coating them with colour and vitality. Its elegant silhouette is now adorned in lacquered white, accentuated by a radiant silver structure that perfectly reflect the creations of the Givenchy house. € 30,90

Body Tender Burberry

Miss Dior EDT Christian Dior

Flash EDP Jimmy Choo

Jour d’Hermes Hermes

ZenSun EDT Fraiche Shiseido

Fleur de Figuier Roger Gallet

Valentina Acqua Floreale Valentino

Manifesto Yves Saint Laurent

2 6

The scents of summer As cool as a sea breeze, as fragrant as the flowers in a verdant meadow, as light and airy as summer clothes. The new fragrances featured here – for both women and men – are ready to bring their cool, refreshing scents to the hot summer days and nights. by vassiliki papageorgiou

Men's corner

Bulgari Man Extreme Bulgari

Dior Homme Cologne Christian Dior

Gentlemen Only Givenchy

Collector’s Edition Terre d’Hermes Hermes

Eros Versace

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beauty

Sani Spas The Sani Resort offers its guests no fewer than four different spas to experience – with four distinctive approaches to relaxation, rejuvenation and beauty.

visit to a spa leaves you feeling like a new woman. You may not understand exactly how, but there’s no doubt it’s true. Whether you attribute it to the luxury personal care, the expert hands of the masseurs, the healing properties of the waters, the delicious scents of the cosmetics used, the pastel colours of the walls, the stylish furnishings, or all these things together – one thing is certain: the spa is a unique experience, essential for recovering your inner

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peace and physical well-being. And this is why the Sani Resort has attached so much importance to designing, equipping and staffing its own spas – not one, but four, each of them serving the same ultimate objective but through different treatments and approaches, designed to meet the special needs and requirements of every individual customer.

My Spa – Sani Beach Hotel

The Spa Suite – Porto Sani Village

Here the approach to beauty revolves around two top names: Anne Semonin and Apivita. The first is a leading French firm whose products combine essential oils with health-giving substances from the sea, while the second is an internationally renowned company drawing on the plants and herbs of the Greek countryside. The spa offers rejuvenating beauty treatments for both men and women, specially tailored to the health and beauty needs of contemporary life.

The key word here is specialization. As soon as you check in you are assigned your own exclusive therapist, who will diagnose your individual needs and draw up a treatment programme specially tailored to your requirements. Treatments are based on the products of Anne Semonin, beloved of the international jet set, which use state-of-the-art methods and natural ingredients to repair damaged skin, restore its natural glow and protect it against the ravages of sun and age. The spa’s approach is based entirely on the concept of treatment ‘sur mesure’ – i.e. tailored to the special needs of the individual client, enhanced by the luxury of exclusive personal care.

Club Spa – Touches of the World – Sani Beach Club The warm baths of the Spa Experience will remind you of the origins of the spa concept – the famous baths of ancient Greece and of the Roman villas, the Ottoman steam baths and the civilizations of the Orient, where the use of water and scents to revive mind and body was elevated into a science. The idea behind the spa is to allow you to experience the ‘touches of the world’ – therapies such as Thai massage, Indian Shirodhara massage, oriental reflex therapy, Mediterranean salt exfoliation, lomi lomi nui treatment, and many others. All the treatments are followed by special face and body care using Anne Semonin techniques and products. The spa also has a couple’s suite, where you can enjoy luxury care in the company of your partner.

In Suite Spa – Sani Asterias Suites A very exclusive service – designed for those not just interested in wellness, but determined to experience it at every opportunity, and with every fibre of their being! Highly expert therapists will transform your own suite into a treatment room – providing luxury care tailor-made to your requirements. Relaxation and beauty care, courtesy of Anne Semonin products. Start with a black sand body scrub ritual – exfoliation with black sand from Tahiti to remove dead cells, and then application of essential oils to make your skin glow with health. And then the phyto-massage finale! You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven!

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photo album

The

setting

sun A l l- p ow er f u l , o n ly t em p o r a r ily defeated by the night, the sun sends us a promise of return, bathed in glorious colours, before descending gently below the horizon. And the natural world too is bathed in the colours of sunset, taking one last breath of light before it sinks into darkness.

Photographs by Fokion Zisiadis Vice President Sani SA

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151

Toroni, Sithonia, 39째59'28.07"N, 23째53'29.53"E

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Toroni, Sithonia, 39째59'29.56"N, 23째53'30.15"E

Sani, Bousoulas beach, Kassandra, 40째 6'48.39"N, 23째19'3.86"E

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Skioni, Kassandra, 39째56'2.27"N, 23째33'30.43"E

Loutra Agias Paraskevis, Kassandra, 39째55'16.94"N, 23째36'0.73"E

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Sani, Bousoulas beach, Kassandra, 40째 6'9.33"N, 23째18'27.76"E

soundtrack

Here comes the sun Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo) Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right It's all right