Crete Chania -Greece- at the Gymnasium Platanias

Departure from Todi for Chania – Greece on 27 May 2024

Welcoming Ceremony on the 28 May at Gymnasio Platanias

Teachers activity with Mrs Dora Riga on Food culture – Openness towards other cultures, cultural awareness

Students learnt Greek dance

In the morning on 29 May there was a meeting between all the teachers and partners in order to discuss about Erasmus Projects and Cooperation between schools. In the meeting was also discussed how to implement and disseminate the various activities.

The afternoon was devoted to the cultural and historical background of Platanias with the visit to the WW2 German Cemetary and the WW2 Platanias Museum.

On 30 May the students attended a lesson on how does climate change effect Crete and what a school can do about it

Teachers discussed on how to use a weather station at school taking into consideration a document found on the net
In the afternoon there was a visit to the Venetian Port of Chania

On 31 May the founder of the Botanical Park presented the sustainable environment of the Park

The Botanical Park of Chania is one of the most impressive attractions in Crete thanks to its wide variety of plants, herbs and animals. It is located in the White mountains, 20km away from the noisy Town of Chania, and occupies an area of 20 hectares with plants native to various climatic zones. The park was built in 2003, following a devastating wildfire that burnt everything on the mountainside, including almost a hundred thousand olive trees, aged more than 400 years. A burnt olive tree still stands amidst the strong and healthy vegetation of today, to serve as a reminder of tragedies passed.
The park is comprised of an impressive variety of plants, including lemon and other citrus trees, cherry trees, vineyards, and various herbs, many of which are endemic to Crete; the island’s unique climate also allows the garden to include a number of plants native to tropical climate zones.
Apart from impressive flora, however, the park also boasts an array of fauna, with many birds, including buzzards, kestrels, crows, thrushes, finches, wrens, blackbirds, swallows, sparrows, turtle doves, nightingales, robins, and even hoopoes!
Other specimens of Crete’s wildlife include hares, badgers, hedgehogs, martens and weasels, and the endangered Crete spiny mouse.
Unique lizards and amphibians are also found here, such as tree frogs, the Balkan green lizard, and the European rat snake, believed to have been an object of worship in Minoan times. Special mention must be made of the Cretan frog and Cretan wall lizard, two species endemic to the island.

Closing Ceremony with Certificates of Attendance given by Mr Papastamos headteacher of Gymnasio Platanias.

On 1 June we visited the The Archeological site of Knossos – The Palace of Knossos and the Archeological Museum of Heraklion.

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF KNOSSOS
The Archaeological site of Knossos in Crete is the most important bronze age settlement in the Aegean. Once home to a seafaring and trading people, it was the hub of the first maritime empire. Known as the Minoans today, they controlled the island of Crete, the nearby Cycladic islands and had settlements around the east coast of the Mediterranean for over a thousand years.
Often called the oldest city in Europe, the site of Knossos is the stuff of legends. Greek myths tell of the King Minos who trapped his half beast son the minotaur in a labyrinth, the architect of the labyrinth Daedalus escaped the island with his son Icarus using wings made of feathers and wax. Finally, Plato’s description of the lost city of Atlantis bears close resemblance to the palace of Knossos on Crete. The best way to visit the archaeological site of Knossos is with a guide. Information panels are lacking and the site is huge. With a guided tour you can see the very best of the archaeological site and your guide will explain the development and long history of the Minoans.

THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS
The centre of Minoan civilisation and capital of Minoan Crete lay 5km south of Heraklion.
Knossos flourished for approximately two thousand years. It had large palace buildings, extensive workshop installations and luxurious rock-cut cave and tholos tombs. As a major centre of trade and the economy, Knossos maintained ties with the majority of cities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Wealth accumulation and the advancement of an urban lifestyle were the hallmarks of this zenith, which began circa 2000 BC and was typified by magnificent monumental buildings and a complex social structure.
The Minoan palace is the main site of interest at Knossos, an important city in antiquity, which was inhabited continuously from the Neolithic period until the 5th c. AD. The palace was built on the Kephala hill and had easy access to the sea and the Cretan interior. According to tradition, it was the seat of the wise king Minos. The Palace of Knossos is connected with thrilling legends, such as the myth of the Labyrinth, with the Minotaur, and the story of Daidalos and Ikaros.

Archeological Museum of Heraklion
The Heraklion Archaeological Museum is a museum located in Herakliom on Crete. It is one of the largest museums in Greece and the best in the world for Minoian Art, as it contains by far the most important and complete collection of artefacts of the Minoian Civilazation of Crete. It is normally referred to scholarship in English as “AMH” (for “Archaeological Museum of Heraklion”), a form still sometimes used by the museum in itself.
The museum holds the great majority of the finds from the Minoian Palace at Knossos and other Minoan sites in Crete.