SPECIAL PROGRAMMES
|
| SPECIAL PROGRAMMES |
|
It is developed in cities or areas,junctions of the Roman Egnatia Way, which bridged the Adriatic and Thermaikos Gulf and linked Macedonia to Thrace.Festivals will be organised,with a vigorous presence of the local element,in the Prespes,Edessa,the Loudias River,Gefira,but also in Veria,Apollonia,Kavalla,Komotini and Alexandroupolis and dozens of other places in Macedonia and Thrace.
Unity concerns the cultural presence of Greeks anywhere in the world. The exhibition of works by the Greeks of the Diaspora will accompany the conference in which the problems of expatriates who persist in their Greek nature will be discussed.
It constitutes the participation of the academic society of Thessaloniki in the Cultural Capital.Conferences,symposia and meetings,with Aristotle as the central subject,will give the bearings of the philosopher from Stagira at the dawn of the 21st century.
The relationship of Thessaloniki to the sea is what gave the city its dominant role for 23 centuries.The port is the gateway to the vast mainland, which starts at the Balkan peninsula and reaches the Caspian,Georgia and the Ukraine.At this port,with its six piers there will be big marine exhi- bitions,multi-spectacles,symposia and conferences on the subject of the relationship between the Mediterranean and Thessaloniki,as well as artistic events.
Behind the nationalistic feelings,which at times shatter every sense of unity of the Balkan region,there has never ceased to be a unified Balkan cultural dimension which one meets with every step.In 1997,the Cultural Capital,through a series of meetings,events and conferences,will try to bring this dimension to the surface and the peoples closer together.
Thessaloniki,ever since it was built,has been a special homeland for the Jews of the Diaspora,a beloved and hospitable city.With the coming of the Sephardim Jews from Spain,five hundred years ago,the city became the metropolis of European Jews,until the black days of the Holocaust. It has also been a mother city for the persecuted Armenians.A series of events for the Jews and the Armenians has been included in the programme.
A series of exhibitions and other events regarding the Macedonian king, having as their climax the exhibition of works by great artists from all over the world,inspired by the brief but so creative passage through life by Alexander the Great.
In multi-cultural Thessaloniki,the art of Gastronomy has always been one of the most cultivated species.Together with the wines of the mainland, which,since ancient times,have contributed to the development of 'living well',they constitute,even today,one of the significant aspects of the culture of the city.There is a programme of events regarding gastronomy, which will take place in 1997.Another programme,'The Roads of Wine', comprising of tours,will bring visitors close to the places where the famous Macedonian wines are produced.
A programme designed to acquaint the citizens,and especially the young
students of Thessaloniki,with the city,its monuments,the wealth of its
museums,the excavations and the way they are carried out.Already,the
'Archaeological Promenades',which began as a pilot-scheme in the
spring of 1996 in the area of the Ancient Marketplace,has proved the
necessity and significance of this programme.
