* The resolution of the Board of the Organization for the Cultural Capital of Europe, "Thessaloniki 1997", to create the special programme entitled "Roads of Wine - Gastronomy", will bring to the surface traditions and customs dating from many centuries ago, starting in ancient times and reaching the present, passing through the centuries-long history of Greece and especially of Thessaloniki, a city which will, this year, prove its ability to function as Cultural Capital of Europe.

* Our faith in our tradition, our insistence to maintain it by serving choice, local products, which are harmoniously accompanied by the proper wines and, lastly, the high quality of our wines and dishes, will make us proud for eating and drinking in a Greek way.

* Our refusal to abandon customs of many centuries, which are being threatened by a modern way of life and by imported eating models which distort the very character of the Greeks.

* Throughout the duration of the materialization of this programme, the ingenious restaurateurs and wine-makers will provide evidence, based on scientific documentation and on taste, of our long tradition, proving continuously that Gastronomical Thessaloniki can be the Gastronomical Capital in 1997 and in the future.

* To prove beyond any doubt that the Thessaloniki of today maintains its tradition and bequeaths a precious heritage to the coming generations.

The history of Greece is deeply influenced by the vine and wine. Wine, a part of our cultural heritage, is closely related to our history and arts, it is deeply rooted in our habits and customs. Painting, sculpture, poetry, but also religion and our eating habits, bear the mark of the vine and of wine.

In Ancient Greece wine was worshipped in the face of Dionysus, a lively, clever and erotic deity. The wealth of illustrations that can be found painted on ancient cups and vases bear witness to the width and success of the worship of Dionysus.

The objects of art found at Vergina have a prominent place among these. Let us remember that at Aeges, the first capital of the Macedonians, professor Manolis Andronikos discovered the intact graves of the Macedonian kings, among them that of King Philip, father of Alexander the Great. The ancient Macedonians, dispersed in more than one hundred cities and at countless settlements and hamlets, never ceased, even for a moment, enjoying the rich products of their prolific land.

Wines from various regions were served at Macedonian symposia and they bore the name of their region of origin -Mendian, Akanthian, Vivlinos, Thasian, Ismarian and the famous Maronite wine. At the same time, the prosperity of the inhabitants allowed them to buy wines from the most renowned regions beyond Macedonia, as were Chios, Lesvos and Skopelos. The way they enjoyed wine was different. They started with small cups but soon they were using skyphoi, cups which could hold 1 "chous" (a liquid measure equivalent to about 3 litres). It is a fact that Macedonians drank a lot. It is well-known that Alexander the Great consumed 12 "choes" of wine (approximately 36 litres).

Three types of wine are produced: The white wine, natural, diuretic, warming, digestive. The yellowish wine, which brings smokes to the head, because of the evaporation of its elements. The black wine, more nutritious and constipating.

The flower-scented wine is made up of fifty parts of must to which one part of sea-water is added. For stronger-scented wines, new vineyards are chosen. To give scent to the wine, unripe grapes are sometimes added. "The Thasians put dough, mixed with honey, in clay vessels, so that the wine takes the scent of the honey and the sweetness of the dough".

The names given to the various wines are a true revelation. We have the "ariousios" (austere, autocratic), "glixi" (must), "prodromos" (premature, early), "protropos" (made from grapes which have not been trodden-on), "aftitis" (home-made, undiluted), "amphios" (spoilt, dubious).

Macedonia will later become one of the most important provinces of the Roman Empire. It will be conquered but it will subjugate the Romans with its wealth and choice wines.

The most significant event, though, is that the birth and the spreading of Christianity will support even more the vine and wine.

In Byzantium, wine signifies the union of the biblical and the Greek traditions. It is a gift of God, it "pleases the heart of man".

The fall of Byzantium and the establishment of the Ottoman Empire do not bring about significant changes. Although the Koran forbids the drinking of wine, its production is continued, because, through its taxation, it is an important source of revenue. The Ottoman Empire collapses.

Greece acquires its freedom and its own frontiers. Macedonia, exhausted by warfare, will be smitten by the blight of phylloxera, which will destroy what little has been left by the destructive fires set by the defeated Ottomans. However, a new period of prosperity will start again, with the help of the refugees. Yet, industrial growth, the moving of large sections of the rural populations to the cities, and the preference for more productive cultivations will not permit further development.

It is common knowledge, in this area where we live, which were the first companies which dared to create the prerequisites for development, realizing the need for standardization and bottling. They supported and provided motives for the expansion of the Macedonian Vineyard. New vineyards were created and ultra-modern, large and small wineries were developed. A noble competition which resulted in having dreams, wishes and business activities reaching a climax in a very short time. New ideas, new variations, a new philosophy, new people. Wine-making took off from the ground. It is easy to understand that the international distinctions, the prizes, the awards won by our wines, were not by accident.

Finally, we should not forget the close relationship between wine and our Cultural Heritage and the Human Values of our people. The evidence we receive from the traditions of each region concerning the cultivation of the vine at the particular place, the way they made wine, even the way they served it at their table, accompanying the local dishes, go hand in hand with the recent general demand by the consumer for "a turn towards tradition".

Within the framework of maintaining and promoting this heritage, a special form of Agrotourism has developed, that of the "Roads of Wine". "The Roads of Wine" are a statement made to the visitor to follow a predetermined, pre-selected route, which will take him through the most scenic parts of a vine region, including visits to selected wine-making units, give him the opportunity to taste wines typical of each region accompanied by dishes of the local gastronomy, and admire places presenting natural, archaeological or other interest.

In November 1993, 15 wine-producers in Northern Greece established the Wine-makers Union of the Macedonian Vineyard, under the title "The Roads of Wine in Macedonia".

It should be clarified that according to the history of Greek viniculture, the name "Macedonian Vineyard" is used for the broader area in Northern Greece which includes, besides the administrative district of the same name, the wine-producing region of Rapsani, to the south, as well as the Xanthi and Rodopi districts, to the east.

All the companies that participate in the Union have spent time and money to restore the beautiful, vine-growing picture of Macedonia of the past. United by the magical attraction of the vine, and made more creative because of it, they will take us through the wonderful roads of the Macedonian wines to a deeper knowledge and a higher appreciation.

It is a commonly shared secret among all Greeks that the heart of the most authentic and choicest Greek cuisine beats at Thesaloniki and in Macedonia. This mother-city, in the many centuries of its life, has embraced hosts of people of entirely different habits and customs. Having at its side the Aegean Sea, offering all kinds of sea-food, and the blessed plains of Macedonia, it has been the place where Byzantine cuisine was harmoniously united with the oriental resource-fulness and the local gastronomical tradition, thus creating a variety of dishes which are unique in culinary wealth and imagination.

The time has now come when foreign scientists/researchers recognize the value of the mediterranean diet and accept it as the basis for a hygienic diet and the longevity of modern man.

The pyramid of this model, traditional, Greek diet is based on vegetables, legumes and olive-oil and corresponds harmoniously to the ideal concept for a hygienic diet held by experts and scientists, as it was presented at an international conference on Mediterranean diets, organized in the USA by the State School of Health of Harvard University.

According to the conclusions of the scientists who took part in this conference, Greeks have fewer cardio-vascular problems because their diet follows the model of this pyramid. They, also, make mention of the fact that, according to studies conducted, the vine/wine tradition in Greece and in all the countries of the Mediterranean basin is particularly rich. Wine is connected with the culture of their peoples, their religion and their dietary habits.

It is not, therefore, strange that in the renowned "Pyramid of Mediterranean Diet", which is the Diet Pyramid proposed by the World Health Organization, wine is included.

We all know that wine is an agricultural product which has been used for centuries either as an accompaniment to food or as a tranquilliser and a medicine. It has been closely connected with the joys of life, the mysticism of the soul, religious rituals and cultural values. All these qualities of wine are present in the Mediterranean countries that produce it.

Thessaloniki has given affection, work and support to hosts of refugees and has inherited from all these people, during the passage of the centuries, a character which shows that, despite all modern traits and habits, it still retains characteristics, habits, ways of life and actions which reveal secrets of the past, in music, poetry, painting, hagiography, the arts, even in cooking.

It was cooking that established this city as the Greek capital of gastronomy. It is our purpose, through the materialization of the special programme, entitled "Roads of Wine - Gastronomy", to promote and gain official recognition of this ever-increasing reputation, which is constantly enhanced by the renowned restaurateurs throughout the city.

The special programme of the Organization for the Cultural Capital of Europe, entitled "Roads of Wine - Gastronomy", consists of a series of activities which are harmoniously connected and support each other, as:

All these activities are supported by the professional associations of the interested professions, namely, the Wine Producers Union of the Macedonian Vineyard (ENOAM), the Society for Gastronomy and Wine, the Restorateurs Union, the "Olympian Zeus" Chefs' Club, the Gastronomists' Club of Thessaloniki, authors,n archaeologists, folklorists, artists, distinguished scientists, and all the professions directly or indirectly involved.

The general aim of the special programme is to:

More specifically, the programme aims at:

All the activities of the programme will be enriched with and supported by educational visits to wineries in Northern Greece.

The financial institutions and professions involved in this programme, are the following:

If we consider as cultural elements not only the "fine arts" but, also, the everyday habits, the kind and way of our everyday diet, and human behaviour during the production and consumption of food, then, undoubtedly, wine is the oldest and, perhaps, the only unalterable cultural element of the Greeks.

The Apollonian and Dionysian spirit define the Hellenic concept of the world, a generally contradicting world, but with a profound, inherent unity which found its material expression in the common worship of the two gods at Delphi. Let us not forget that in winter the paeans ceased and their place was taken by the dithyrambs.

Aeschylus called the vine "the wild mother" and Euripides, in "Bacchae", provided the greatest defence in favour of wine by placing it next in importance to wheat.

Wine and bread are consecrated by the Christian religion, and are transformed into the body and blood of Christ.

The Dionysian tradition recognizes Macedonia as one of the most important places of worship of the god. The swan-song of Euripides was written in the Macedonian court.

According to the history of Greek viniculture, the term "Macedonian Vineyard" is applied to the broader geographical area which includes, besides the administrative district of the same name, the wine-making region of Rapsani, to the south, and the regions of Xanthi and Rodopi, to the east. The travel through the Macedonian Vineyard may take the following routes:

Travelling through the entire Macedonian Vineyard, following these specific routes, will provide the opportunity to visit places of varied and amazing natural beauty.

At these same places there are monuments of great archaeological interest, and the visitor has the opportunity for an equally interesting travel through time. The monuments of the Ancient, the Hellenic and the Medieval years, especially the early-Christian and Byzantine ones, display a very special wealth, which shows the intense life of the region all through its historical route and are true, living museums of Greek Art. At the same time, they are a privileged field for the development of the conflict between the two cultures that were prevalent in the area through the centuries: the ancient Dionysian and the Christian, both of which had the same sentral symbol - the vine.

A safe vehicle for this travel is the Greek poetry on the subject of the coolness of the vine, dating from the 8c. B.C. and reaching our days.

Greek bacchic literature uses two synonymous words: "oenos" and "krassi". When, at which phase of the evolution of the Greek language and under what influences did "oenos" become "krassi" ?

The search for an answer, through the testimony of poetry, leads to the late byzantine period. With the passing of the centuries, the term "kekramenos oenos" (diluted wine), which was born in the kraters, during ancient Greek symposia, by the mixing ("krassis") of wine and water, gave its place to the term "krassis oenou" (dilution of wine) used in the Byzantine years and the term was soon corrupted into "krassin", "krassi", "krassaki", words common in poetic works of the 14th and 16th centuries. For almost all Byzantines the word "oenos" meant Christ and Bacchus and fearing the Dionysians the prefer the celestial wine-presses. The official religious literature has its own literary categories with celestial symposiac themes. Within this social-religious framework, wine has been identified with the blood of the Lord and became a source in the chalice of the Eucharist, while the "oenos" of the earthen jars and, later, of the barrels, became the "oenari" and later the "krassi" and the "krassaki".

In the modern Greek wine poetry, the Dionysian element is concordant with the Apollonian. The Vine, a symbol of Greece itself, unites the new hellenism with the ancient world. This historical, cultural and social unity is made possible by an exclusively Greek God, Dionysus-Jesus, a central figure in the poetry of Sikelianos, the eternal social and historical God, who expresses the spirit and the worship of the authentic Greek unity.

Twenty-four centuries have passed since the hand of Euripides put the following words in the mouth of the chorus of the Bacchae.

Twenty-four centuries later, every year on 8 January in villages in Thrace and Macedonia, the day of "Babo", the Midwife, is celebrated. It is a custom brought over by the refugees from Eastern Romylia.

At the Naoussa carnival, and not only there, a joyous and intoxicated city abandons itself for days to an almost transcendental drunkenness. At dusk, the sudden and monotonous sound of the drum, followed by the shrill cries of a "klarino" calls the inhabitants for a revelry, causing shivers in them. This uncontrolled drunkenness on the nights of the Carnival, this strange and inexplicable effect of a typical, musical improvisation, sends us many centuries back. The same insistent, unrelenting sound, the same warning, the same shivers, the same indeterminate order.

Macedonia may owe its wealth to other cultivations and to its industry, however, its eternal glory has been its wine. Wine is not just another cultivation, just one more way for survival. The people who cultivate the legendary vine look upon it as if it were something holy, and consider it a member of their family. "The vineyard is sleeping", they say during the winter months. When those other festivities are organized, at the few family distilleries, where they secretly prepare the scents entrusted to them by their forefathers, so that each one of them can make a special, family blend.

The mysterious process of fermentation and maturation of wine may, even today, cause vine-growers and experts to invoke images from ancient legends. They look upon wine as if it were a living entity which gradually transforms the chaotic turmoil of youth into purity and strength. When maturation seems to have stopped and the greatest possible degree of excellence seems to have been achieved, the chaotic motion starts again, as in the case of a man who returns to puberty so that he can once more walk on the road of evolution and conquer an even greater nobility and purity. With its transformation, wine seems to radiate the solar warmth which it had received from outside and an old, popular belief ascertains that wine retains its sequence with the life of nature. This, supposedly, explains the rejuvenated action of wine which matures in spring, when the vines are in bloom.

The Gastronomy and Wine Festival is the composition and promotion of the rich, Greek and, more specifically, Macedonian traditions concerning gastronomy and wine, which date from 2500 years ago.

During this festival, visitors will have the opportunity to taste traditional dishes, accompanied by wines of the Macedonian Vineyard, at selected places, restaurants and tavernas of Thessaloniki, and, in the near future, at the stops of The Roads of Wine of Macedonia (Drama, Kavalla, Porto Carras, Aghios Pavlos, Goumenissa, Naoussa, Amyntaion, Krania, Rapsani, etc.).

It is a 7-day event, or possibly longer, which will take place annually, in Autumn (October - November) or in Spring (April - May).

It includes:

* 2.1. A Symposium at every festival, on subjects relevant to Diet, Wine and, in general, their relation to Culture.

* It has been decided that the May 1997 symposium will be entitled "Oenophoros '97" (Wine-bearer '97), and that all future symposia will be called the same, changing only the number of the year.

The fertile soil of the Macedonian land, suitable for agriculture and animal-breeding, and a gastronomic tradition, rooted in antiquity, have contributed to the formation of the character of the local cuisine. Unlike the frugal Spartans, the Greeks of Macedonia gave more importance to the joys of the table, to companionship, and developed the art of the symposium. Findings at ancient graves allow us to reach such conclusions regarding the life of our ancient ancestors.

The first symposium was organized, with great success, by the Union of Wine-Producers of The Macedonian Vineyard, in 1994.

The Mayor of Thessaloniki had visited the symposium and had saluted its materialization, with very encouraging words.

The 1st Symposium had the title "Wine and Man" and took place on 18 and 19 November, 1994, as part of the 1994 Dimitria, at the premises of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art. The symposium included speeches and the tasting of wines from the Macedonian Vineyard.

Organized by the Gastronomy and Wine Society, from 24 November to 2 December.

The Gastronomy and Wine Society is the joining of forces between the restaurateurs and the wine-related professions, namely the Union of Wine-Producers of Macedonia.

* Site: Hellexpo, International fair of Thessaloniki.

* Events of the 1st Gastronomy and Wine Festival

* Music. Tasting of dishes. Exhibition organized by the participating restaurants and organizations.

* Tasting of Macedonian wines.

* Transfer of the festival from the grounds of the Hellexpo - International Fair into the city of Thessaloniki.

* Gastronomic promenades, with a company of serenade singers who go around the city and provide traditional, musical accompaniment to feasts and dinners.

* Exhibitions of paintings, presentations of typical dishes, musical events, exhibitions of folklore items. Exhibitions of photographs.

Organized by the Organization for the Cultural Capital of Europe, "Thessaloniki 1997", and, specifically, by the special programme "Roads of Wine - Gastronomy".

A total of 5 days at the premises of Hellexpo - International Fair of Thessaloniki, during the Food and Drink International Fair, and then it will be transferred into the city.

* Symposium: "Oenophoros '97"

* Projection: The French Paradox

* Printed matter: the publication, in English, of "Wine and Culture"

* The showing of a multi-spectacle on gastronomy, during the tasting of traditional dishes of Macedonia.

* The creation of a model restaurant which will serve a venue for exhibitions and tasting.

* The creation of model food and wine lists.

* A book exhibition on Food and Gastronomy (in Greek and other languages).

* Training in wine-tasting.

* A bottling competition: bottle, label.

* Presentation of a market research on restaurants and the consumption of wine.

From 6 to 9 November 1997, at the premises of Hellexpo - International Fair of Thessaloniki, during the International Fair on Tourism, "Philoxenia '97".

* A tribute to the cuisines that have passed through Thessaloniki (Jewish, Thracian, Pontic, etc.).

* The "Oenophoros '97" symposium, on historical, archaeological and literary subjects.

* The showing of a multi-spectacle on gastronomy, during the tasting of traditional dishes of Macedonia.

* The creation of a model restaurant which will serve as a venue for exhibitions and tasting.

* The creation of model food and wine lists.

* A book exhibition on Food and Gastronomy (in Greek and other languages).

* The tasting of wines.

* Educational programmes on the harmony between dishes and wine.

* Educational visits at the roads of wine of Macedonia.