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Apella

Apella

Apella was the official title of the popular assembly in the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia in most other Greek states. Every Spartan male full citizen who had completed his thirtieth year was entitled to attend the meetings, which, according to Lycurgus's ordinance, must be held at the time of each full moon within the boundaries of Sparta. They had in all probability taken place originally in the Agora, but were later transferred to the neighbouring building known as the Skias (Paus. iii. 12. 10). The presiding officers were at first the kings, but in historical times the ephors, and the voting was conducted by shouts; if the president was doubtful as to the majority of voices, a division was taken and the votes were counted. Lycurgus had ordained that the apella must simply accept or reject the proposals submitted to it, and though this regulation fell into neglect, it was practically restored by the law of Theopompus and Polydorus which empowered the kings and elders (gerousia) to set aside any "crooked" decision of the people (Plut. Lycurg. 6). In later times, too, the actual debate was almost, if not wholly, confined to the kings, elders, ephors and perhaps the other magistrates. The apella voted on peace and war, treaties and foreign policy in general: it decided which of the kings should conduct a campaign and settled questions of disputed succession to the throne: it elected elders, ephors and other magistrates, emancipated helots and perhaps voted on legal proposals. There is a single reference (Xen. Hell. iii. 3. 8) to a "small assembly" ἡ μικρα καλουμενη εκκλησια) at Sparta, but nothing is known as to its nature or competence. The term apella does not occur in extant Spartan inscriptions, though two decrees of Gythium belonging to the Roman period refer to the μεγαλαι απελλαι (Le Bas-Foucart, Voyage archéologique, ii., Nos. 242a, 243). The apella was responsible for electing men to the gerousia for life. Candidates were selected from the aristocrats and presented before the apella. The candidate who received the loudest applause became a member of the gerousia. The apella also elected the five ephors annually. Ephors presided over meetings of the gerousia and the apella. They could not run for re-election. The gerousia presented motions before the apella. The apella then voted on the motions. However, unlike the ecclesia in Athens, the apella did not debate; it merely approved or disapproved of measures. Moreover, the gerousia always had the power to veto the decision of the apella.

References

- G. Gilbert, Constitutional Antiquities of Sparta and Athens (Eng, trans., 1895), pp. 49 ff.
- Studien zur altspartanischen Geschichte (Göttingen, 1872), pp. 131 ff.
- G. F. Schömann, Antiquities of Greece: The State (Eng. trans., 1880), pp. 234 ff.
- De ecclesiis Lacedaemoniorum (Griefswald, 1836) [=Opusc. academ. i. pp. 87 ff.]
- C. O. Müller, History and Antiquities of the Doric Race (Eng. trans., 2nd ed. 1839), book iii. ch. 5, §§ 8-10
- G. Busolt, Die griechischen Staats- und Rechtsaltertümer, 1887 (in Iwan Miiller's Handbuch der klassischen Altertumsiuissenschaft, iv. 1), § 90
- Griechische Geschichte (2nd ed.), i. p. 552 ff.
- Category:Ancient Greek titles Category:Historical legislatures

Assembly

Assembly may refer to the following things:
- In politics, any body meeting together to discuss matters, a local neighborhood or popular assembly, a parliament or a legislative assembly such as the French revolutionary Legislative Assembly, or a body more designed to mediate between otherwise independent bodies, such as the United Nations General Assembly.
- In mechanics, architecture and electronics, the action of putting together the separate parts of what is intended to be assembled. Modules, components or elements or combinations of such may be the objects of the assembly. "Assembly" may also refer to the whole that results from such action.
- Sometimes, in schools, a body collecting the students together for prayer, song, bible readings and a moral message, or things such as visits from authors or wildlife shelters.
- In Microsoft .NET, .NET assemblies are building blocks of an application, similar to a DLL (a Microsoft shared library), but in addition to containing executable code, an assembly also contains information found in a DLL's type library. The type library information in an assembly, called a manifest, describes public functions, data, classes and version info.
- Assembly Language a type of computer programming language handled by an assembler.
- Assembly might also be mentioned when referring to a non-denominational Bible-centered church Assembly might also mean:
- The Assembly, a short-lived 80's Synth Pop band
- Freedom of assembly
- Assembly demo party

City-state

A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city, and usually having sovereignty. City-states were common in ancient times. Though sovereign, many such cities joined in formal or informal leagues under a high king. In some cases historical empires or leagues were formed by the right of conquest (e.g., Mycenae, or Rome), but many were formed under peaceful alliances or for mutual protection (e.g., the Peloponnesian League). In the Middle Ages, city-states were particularly a feature of what are now Germany and Italy. A number of them formed the Hanseatic League, which was a significant force in trade for a number of centuries.

Modern-day city-states

Monaco

The Principality of Monaco is a perfect exemple of a city-state, Monaco-Ville (the ancient fortified city, which is not a city even though its name means "Monaco-City") and the well known district Monte-Carlo are actually districts and not cities. The territory of the country correspond to the city limits (one government and one town hall, each having specific powers): the Principality of Monaco and the city of Monaco.

Singapore

The port city of Singapore was established by the British East India Company in 1819, and became a British crown colony in 1867. Except for a brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II, Singapore remained a British colony until 1963. In that year, Singapore joined Malaya, Sarawak, and Sabah in the new federation of Malaysia. Unrest marked the two short years during which Singapore was part of Malaysia. Race-riots between the majority Chinese and minority Malays in the city were frequent, and the federal government, dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), clashed with the state government, which was dominated by the People's Action Party (PAP). The UMNO feared that the PAP would challenge their dominant position in the federal government and tip the racial demographics of Malaya. Finally, Singapore was expelled from the federation in 1965, becoming an independent sovereign state. After Singapore's involuntary independence, it rapidly industrialized and modernized, becoming one of the four "Asian Tigers".

Vatican City State

Until 1870, the city of Rome had been controlled by the pope as part of his "papal states". When King Victor Emmanuel II annexed the city in 1870, Pope Pius IX refused to recognise the newly-formed Kingdom of Italy. Because he could not travel through a place that he did not admit existed, Pius IX and his successors each claimed to be a "Prisoner in the Vatican", unable to leave the 0.17-square mile (440,000 m²) papal enclave once they had ascended the papal throne. The impasse was resolved in 1929 by the Lateran Treaties negotiated by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini between King Victor Emmanuel III and Pope Pius XI. Under this treaty, the Vatican was recognized as an independent state, with the pope as its head. The Vatican City State has its own citizenship, diplomatic corps, flag, and postal system.

Other examples

As well as the above sovereign states, the term "city-state" can also refer to federal states such as the German states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, the Austrian state of Vienna, the Russian cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the Ethiopian chartered cities (astedader akababiwach) of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. Countries that have a very high proportion of their population within a single city are sometimes referred to as virtual or near city-states, Kuwait being one such example. In China, the term is sometimes used for the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The term "city-state" should not be confused with that of "independent city", which refers to a city which is not administered as part of another local government area (eg, a county).

City-states in history

The recent past

In the 19th and 20th centuries, a variety of changing political circumstances left several self-governing city-states as enclaves surrounded by the territory of another state. In Europe, they have included Fiume, Danzig, Memel and Trieste. On the edges of Europe they have included Batumi and Tangiers. For others which are still in existence, see above under "Modern-day city states". Elsewhere in the world, European colonialism resulted a number of tiny colonies that were no bigger than a port and its immediate surroundings, such as Zanzibar, Pondicherry, Weihai, and others. A few of these continue to exist as separate political entities, either as fully independent city-states, like Singapore, or highly autonomous territories of the country to which they are now part, such as Hong Kong.

Fiume (Rijeka)

The Adriatic port of Fiume, on the Istrian peninsula, was the main port of Hungary (under Habsburg rule since 1466). The city's population was predominately made up of Croats until the 19th century, when the Austro-Hungarian monarchy began to encourage Italian immigration as a counter-balance to the rise of Slavic nationalism. During World War I, Italy signed a secret treaty with the Allies in 1915, in which it was promised the Habsburg lands on the Adriatic in return for active military support. However, at the end of the war, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson believed the city should be given to the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). The Italians felt bitterly cheated out of what had been promised to them. The Fascist and poet Gabriele D'Annunzio organized a paramilitary force of demobilized soldiers and thugs, the Arditi, who he dressed in black shirts. On September 12, 1919, D'Annunzio led the Arditi into Fiume, and seized control of the city. D'Annunzio was proclaimed dictator. He remained dictator of Fiume until December 1920, when the Italian government sent a battleship into Fiume to bombard the municipal palace. D'Annunzio surrendered, and Fiume was proclaimed a "Free State" under a provisional government. Mussolini, emboldened by D'Annunzio's temporarily successful seizure of Fiume, marched on Rome with his own Fascist "black shirts", and seized control of the Italian government in March 1922. Local Fascists seized control of Fiume at the same time. In 1924, Mussolini negotiated the Treaty of Rome by which the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ceded Fiume to Italy. The city was formally annexed to Italy on March 16, 1924. Fiume was occupied by the Germans in 1943, and was then liberated by Yugoslav partisans in 1945. After World War II, the Italian population was evacuated and the city was annexed to Yugoslavia. Today, it is the Croatian city of Rijeka.

Danzig (Gdańsk)

The Baltic port city of Danzig (the German name for the city called "Gdańsk" in Polish) was made into the "Free City of Danzig", a so-called free city, in 1920. The city, formerly part of the German province of West Prussia, had an overwhelmingly German population of about 400,000. With the re-emergence of a Polish nation in the aftermath of World War I, West Prussia became the "Polish Corridor", giving that country access to the Baltic Sea, but dividing East Prussia from the rest of Germany. This left a large German minority living on Polish territory. Because of Danzig's importance, the League of Nations created the free city as a compromise, so that it would be part of neither nation; this compromise failed to satisfy Poland, which wanted the city's port facilities (and to regain a one-time Polish city), nor the local population, who wanted to remain a part of Germany. Resentment over the status of Danzig was a factor in Adolf Hitler's coming to power, and the city-state came under the control of a local Nazi party. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and Danzig was annexed to Germany. In March 1945, though, the city was occupied by the Red Army. The German population was largely expelled to Germany, and the city was finally restored to Polish sovereignty under its old name of Gdańsk. Danzig had also been briefly a "free city" from 1807 to 1813, during the Napoleonic era.

Memel (Klaipėda)

The port city of Memel had a similar history to Danzig. Originally founded in 1252 by the Teutonic Knights on the Baltic Sea, it eventually became part of Prussia, and thus Germany. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) detached the city from Germany, and it came under administration by the Allied and Associated Powers Commission. In January 1923, the newly-independent Lithuania, invaded Memel (which had once been Lithuanian territory) and expelled the French garrison without a fight. In 1924 the League of Nations acknowledged the fait accompli, and Memel was incorporated into Lithuania as a semi-autonomous district. In March 1939, Hitler sent German warships to Memel, and delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania to surrender the city or face war. The Lithuanians surrendered, in Hitler's last bloodless conquest before World War II. After the war, the German population was expelled, and the city was returned to Lithuania as the city of Klaipėda.

Trieste

The Adriatic port of Trieste, was the chief port of the Austria-Hungary prior to World War I. The population of the region was predominantly Italian. The Italian army conquered what became the province of Venezia Giulia during the war, and it was annexed to Italy once peace came. At the end of the European war in May 1945, Yugoslav troops captured the city. In 1947, as part of the post-war peace negotiations, the city and its surrounding territory became the Free Territory of Trieste, under United Nations protection. The territory was divided into "Zone A", which included the city of Trieste and was under Allied control administered by the United States and the United Kingdom, and "Zone B", the surrounding territory, administered by Yugoslavia. In 1954, Yugoslavia annexed Zone B to its constituent republic of Slovenia, and Zone A reverted to Italy.

Batumi

Batumi, a seaport on the Black Sea, was controlled by the Ajaris, who were conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. Russia annexed Ajara in 1878, but the Ottomans retook it during World War I. In 1918, British forces took the petroleum port of Batumi from the Ottomans and declared it a free port. As Allied intervention in Russia wound down, the city was taken by the Bolsheviks after the British withdrawal in 1920. The port became part of the Ajari ASSR, within what is now the independent Republic of Georgia.

Tangiers

Republic of Georgia When the Sultanate of Morocco was divided into French and Spanish zones under the Treaty of Fez in 1912, Tangiers was given special status. The Convention of 1923 made Tangiers an "international city" governed by a legislative assembly of 26 foreign representatives (from Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden and the United States). Executive power was vested in the "Committee of Control", composed of the consuls of the signatory powers. Mixed courts with French, Spanish, British and Belgian judges administered justice; Arabs and Jews had their own separate court systems. Foreign powers operated a number of postal systems in the city, and Spain, France and Britain issued stamps for Tangiers. When Morocco gained independence in 1956, Tangiers was restored to it.

The Middle Ages and the early-modern era

The Holy Roman Empire

:For further details, see under: Imperial Free City. During the long history of the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany and neighbouring countries), dozens of towns and cities obtained local independence. By the late 18th century, their number had slowly been reduced to around 50, but almost all were eliminated ("mediatized") in 1803; in 1815, once peace had returned at the end of the Napoleonic era, only Bremen and Hamburg remained independent. Those two cities became members of the German Confederation (effectively the empire's successor), and joined the North German Confederation in 1867 (and thence the German Empire. They have continued until today as states in the modern Federal Republic of Germany.

Italy

In the early Middle Ages, Italy split up into a miriad of local and regional states. With the northern regions of the country having been heavily-urbanised for centuries, it was a natural consequence that a number of cities not only established themselves as city-states, but were able to compete effectively with other states. Examples include Genoa, Pisa, Amalfi, and perhaps most famously, Venice.

Ragusa (Dubrovnik)

The Adriatic port of Ragusa (today the Croatian city of Dubrovnik) was a sporadically-independent city until the early 19th century. Briefly a Russian possession, it was then annexed to Napoleon's French Empire. In 1815 it became part of the Austrian Empire.

Cracow (Kraków)

The formerly Polish city of Kraków was briefly a nominally independent republic between 1815 and 1846, when it was annexed to the Austrian Empire.

Ancient city-states

The many poleis of Ancient Greece are classical examples. The city-states of the Maya in Meso-America are also noteworthy. Examples include:
- Ancient Rome
- Jericho, in the Levant
- Mayan city-states
- Phoenician cities (incl. Carthage)
- Sumer, in Mesopotamia

Ecclesia (ancient Athens)

- the term ecclesia or ekklesia (Greek έκκλησία) can also refer to "church" in Modern Greek. The ecclesia or ekklesia (Greek έκκλησία) was the principal assembly of the democracy of ancient Athens. It was the popular assembly, opened to all male citizens over the age of 18 by Solon in 594 BC. In the 5th century BC this amounted to about 43,000 people. However, only those wealthy enough to spend much of their time away from home would have been able to participate. The assembly was responsible for declaring war, military strategy, and electing strategoi and other officials. It originally met once every month, but later it met three or four times per month. The agenda for the ekklesia was established by the Boule, the popular council. Votes were taken by a show of hands. A gang of slaves, called Scythians, carrying ropes dipped in red paint would travel through the city on the days the Ecclesia was to meet, and would lash those citizens not in attendance with their ropes. With garments thus stained, shamed citizens could legally carry out no business until they visited the meeting grounds of the Ecclesia on the hill called the Pnyx. See also: apella Category:Ancient Greek titles Category:Historical legislatures Category:Ancient Greece Category:Ancient Athens

Gerousia

(1) The Gerousia was the Spartan senate. Meaning Council of Elders it consisted of thirty members including the two kings. Members had to be over the age of 60 and were elected for life. Theoretically, any Spartan citizen of the right age could stand but in practice members were selected from the most important aristocratic families. The Gerousia prepared motions or rhetrai for the wider citizen assembly, the Apella, to vote on. The Gerousia could also veto motions passed by the Apella and was consulted by the ephors in matters of interpretation of the law. (2) Some ancient sources refer to a council called gerousia in Judea during the Second Commonwealth period (roughly 530 BCE- 70 CE), presided over by the High Priest. Most scholars identify this body with the Sanhedrin. Category:Sparta Category:Ancient Greek titles Category:Historical legislatures

Gerousia

Ephor

An ephor was an official of ancient Sparta. There were five ephors elected annually, who swore each month to uphold the rule of the kings, while the kings swore to uphold the law. Herodotus claimed that the institution was created by Lycurgus, but it may have arisen from the need for governors while the kings were leading armies in battle. The ephors were elected by the popular assembly, and all citizens were eligible for election. They provided a balance for the two kings, who rarely cooperated with each other. Plato called them tyrants who ran Sparta as despots, while the kings were little more than generals. The ephors presided over meetings of the Gerousia, the oligarchic council of elders. They were in charge of civil trials, taxation, the calendar, foreign policy, and military training for young men. The year was named after one of them, like the eponymous archon of Athens. Two ephors accompanied the army in battle, and they could arrest and imprison the kings for misconduct during war. The ephors were also considered to be personally at war with the helots, so that they could imprison or execute any of them for any reason at any time without having to bring them to trial or violate religious rituals. Cleomenes III abolished the ephors in 227 BC, but they were restored by the Macedonian king Antigonus III Doson after the Battle of Sellasia. The position existed into the 2nd century AD when it was probably abolished by the Roman emperor Hadrian. Category:Sparta Category:Ancient Greek titles

Ecclesia (ancient Athens)

Athens

Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína; IPA ) is the capital of Greece, and of the Attica prefecture of Greece. Modern Athens is a large and cosmopolitan city; Ancient Athens was a powerful city-state and renowned center of learning. It was named after its patron goddess from ancient Greek mythology, Athena. Athens is located at (38.00°, 23.72°). The metropolitan area of Athens is home to some 3.5 million people. Currently the city (metropolitan area) is growing eastwards across Attica (Greater Athens).

Name

In ancient Greek, the name of Athens was -Athēnai, plural of -Athēnē, the Greek name of the goddess Athena. The city's name was used in the plural like those of -Thēbai (Thebes) and -Mykēnai (Mycenae) because it consisted of several parts. In the 19th century, this name was formally re-adopted as the city's name. Since the official abandonment of Katharevousa Greek in the 1970s, however, the popular form Athína has become the city's official name. See also a list of alternative names for Athens.

History

Main article: History of Athens History of Athens History of Athens Athens was the leading city in Greece during the greatest period of Greek civilization during the 1st millennium BC. During the "Golden Age" of Greece (roughly 500 BC to 300 BC) it was the Western world's leading cultural, commercial and intellectual center, and indeed it is in the ideas and practices of ancient Athens that what we now call "Western civilization" has its origins. After its days of greatness, Athens continued to be a prosperous city and a centre of learning until the late Roman period. Athens had a estimated peak population of 310,000 in the year 430 BC. The schools of philosophy were closed in AD 529 by the Christian Byzantine Empire, which disapproved of the schools' pagan thinking. During the Byzantine era, Athens gradually lost a great deal of status and, by the time of the Crusades, it was already reduced to a provincial town. It faced a crushing blow between the 13th and 15th centuries, when the city was fought over by the Greek Byzantines and the French and Italian Crusaders. In 1458 the city fell to the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror. As the Emperor entered the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued a firman (imperial decree) that Athen's ruins not be disturbed, on pain of death. The Parthenon was in fact converted into a splendid mosque. Despite the Sultan's good intentions to preserve Athens as a model Ottoman provincial capital, the city's population went into decline and conditions worsened as the Ottoman Empire declined as well starting in the late 18th Century. As time went by, the Turks slackened their care for Athens' old buildings; the great Parthenon itself was used as a warehouse for ammunition during the Venetian siege of Athens in 1687, and consequently the temple was severely damaged when a chance Venetian shell set off several casks of gunpowder stored in the main hall. The Ottoman Empire relinquished control of Athens after the Greek War of Independence. The city was inhabited by just 5,000 people by the time it was made the capital of the newly established kingdom of Greece in 1833. During the next few decades the city was rebuilt into a modern city applying mainly to the Neoclassic style. In 1896 Athens was the host city of the 1896 Summer Olympics.The next large expansion occurred in the 1920s when suburbs were created to house Greek refugees from Asia Minor. During World War II the city was occupied by Germany and fared badly in the war's later years. After the war the city started to grow again.

Location and setting

Germany Germany With its suburbs, Athens has a population of about 3.5 million representing around 35% of the total population of Greece. Athens has grown very rapidly in the years after the war until ca. 1980 and suffered from overcrowding, traffic congestion and air pollution; it is one of the most polluted cities in Europe. These problems still persist, although the massive investment of recent years in infrastructure has had a significant effect in easing the problem. Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica, which is bound by Mount Aegaleo on the west, Mount Parnitha on the north, Mount Penteli to the northeast, Mount Hymettus on the east, and the Saronic Gulf on the southwest. Athens has expanded to cover the entire plain, and is thus unlikely to grow significantly in area in the future, because of the natural boundaries. The geomorphology of Athens frequently causes temperature inversion phenomena partly responsible for its air pollution problem (Los Angeles has similar geomorphology and similar problems). The ancient site of the city is centered on the rocky hill of the Acropolis. In ancient times the port of Piraeus (modern name Pireas) was a separate city, but it has now been absorbed into greater Athens. The centre of the modern city is Syntagma Square (Constitution Square), site of the former Royal Palace, the Greek Parliament and other 19th century public buildings. Most of the older and wealthier parts of the city are clustered around this area, which is also where most of the tourist attractions and museums are located. Syntagma Square Athens was host to the 2004 Summer Olympics. Athens was also the host of the 1896 Summer Olympics and of the 1906 Intercalated Games. The old campus of the University of Athens, on Panepistimiou Avenue is one of the finest buildings in Athens, together with the National Library building and the Athens Academy building. These three form the so-called "Athens Trilogy", built in the late 19th century. However, most of the university's functions have been moved to a larger modern campus east of the city centre, near Zográfou. The second most significant city institution is the Athens Polytechnic School (Ethniko Metsovio Politechnio), where more than 20 students were killed in 1973 during demonstrations against the Greek military junta (1967-1974). Greek entry into the European Union in 1981 brought new investment to the city along with problems of greatly worsened congestion and air pollution. Throughout the 1990s a series of measures were taken successfully to combat pollution. In preparation for the 2004 Olympic games the city spruced up its image with the introduction of a state-of-the-art transport infrastructure, a new airport, pedestrianised areas, and new museums and public squares. The city's increasingly multi-ethnic population enjoys a vibrant night-life and world-class shopping.

Tourist attractions

1981]] 1981 Athens has been a tourist destination since antiquity. Visitors from all over the world have always been eager to visit its famous monuments. Over the past eight years, the infrastructure and social amenities of Athens have been transformed as a result of the city's successful bid to stage the 2004 Olympic Games. The Greek state aided by the E.U. have poured money into infrastructure projects such as the new "Eleftherios Venizelos" International Airport, the massive expansion of the Metro system, and the new Attiki Odos ring-road. There has also been a great expansion of private investment on hotels and other tourist developments. Most importantly from the point of view of tourism, the area around the Acropolis has been remodelled, and a great pedestrian area from the Temple of Olympian Zeus to Plaka, Monastiraki and the Psirri square has been constructed. This allows the visitor space for calm walks among the ancient monuments, ruins and trees, from the Acropolis, to the Agora (the meeting place of the ancient Athenians) and then to the narrow streets of the old city of Athens (the Plaka), away from the noise of the city centre. Near the Syntagma square (described above) is the Kallimarmaro Stadium, the place where the first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896. It is a replica of the ancient Athens Stadium. It holds a special interest, not only for romantic reasons but also because it is the only major stadium (60,000 spectators) made entirely of white marble from Penteli, the same as the one used for the construction of the Parthenon. Penteli The classic museums like the National Archaeological Museum (which holds the world's greatest collection of Greek art), the Benaki Museum (including its new Islamic Art branch) [http://www.benaki.gr], the Byzantine Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art (strongly recommended for its collection of elegant white metamodern figures, more than 3,000 years old) [http://www.cycladic-m.gr] have all been renovated in view of the 2004 Olympics. A new Acropolis Museum is being built [http://www.culture.gr/2/21/215/21502/e21509c.html] according to a design by acclaimed architect Bernard Tschumi [http://www.culture.gr/2/21/215/21502/e21509c.html]. Not to be missed is also the very impressive Athens Planetarium [http://www.eugenfound.edu.gr], one of the world's largest. As for the night life, Athens has a great number of multiplex as well as romantic open air garden cinemas, more theatres than any other European city (including ancient marble ones that are home to the Athens Festival from June to July) and many music venues including a state of the art music hall known as "Megaron" [http://www.megaron.gr] that attracts world-famous artists all year round. The coastline - now connected to the city centre with a gleaming new tram way - boasts a series of exciting venues next to the beaches where, during the day, Athenians swim and sunbathe. The Psirri neighborhood - aka Athens' 'meat packing district'- has acquired many new bars and restaurants and is a center for young Athenians. The Plaka remains the traditional tourist destination, with many tavernas featuring 'traditional' music, but the food, though good, is expensive compared to other parts of the city. The chic Kolonaki area, near Syntagma Square, is full of boutiques catering to well-heeled customers by day and bars and restaurants by night. Some central areas (south of Omonia Square) are mainly peopled by immigrants and are full of colorful ethnic restaurants and shops. The Gazi area, one of the latest in full redevelopment, is located around a historic gaz factory that has been converted into the Technopolis (Athens's new cultural multiplex)and has a number of small clubs, bars and restaurants as well as Athens' nascent gay village. Kolonaki Casinos operate on Mount Parnitha (accessible by car or cable car) and the near town of Loutraki (accessible by car or suburban railway). An entirely new attraction is the massively upgraded Olympic Stadium Complex (known by its Greek initials OAKA). The whole area has been remodelled by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava with monuments, gardens, futuristic passages and a characteristic new blue glass roof which was added to the main Stadium. A second olympic area, next to the sea at the beach of Kallithea (Faliron), also boasts futuristic stadiums, shops and an elevated esplanade. Athens is close to sand beaches and a very clean sea, and is surrounded by four very green and easily accessible mountains that are protected national parks (Lycabetus in the centre, Parnitha and Penteli to the north and Ymittos to the southeast) some of which feature also unmissable historic sites (Lycabetus,Ymittos). Lycabetus is a large hill in Athens that is said to have been a boulder thrown down by Athena as the legend goes. Lycab(v)etus is pronounced (LEE-KAH-VEE-TOS). Mountain Parnitha 25 km from the centre of Athens) has tens of well-marked paths, gorges, springs, torrents and caves and you may meet a deer in the forest. The nearby islands of Salamina, Aigina, Poros, Hydra and Spetses are also sites of spectacular natural beauty and historical architecture. Work is underway to transform the grounds of the old Athens Airport -named Hellinikon- in the southern suburbs into a massive landscaped park (considered to be the largest in Europe when ready). The Athens municipality maintains a site of tourist interest: http://www.cityofathens.gr/

20th century architecture in Athens

- East terminal by Eero Saarinen, at former Hellenikon airport, 1960-63
- American embassy by Walter Gropius, at Vassilis Sophias Avenue, 1961
- Athens Olympic Sports Complex, by Santiago Calatrava] ([[1998]]-[[2004) ([http://users.auth.gr/~lvorgias/ sketches and models])
- Bridge at Metro-station Katehaki by Santiago Calatrava

Transportation

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava] Santiago Calatrava The public transport system in Athens consists of bus, metro, tram and suburban railway [http://www.proastiakos.gr] services. The Athens Metro is one of the most modern systems in the world. It has four lines three of them which are distinguished by the colours used in maps and signs (green, blue and red). The green line, which is the oldest and for the most part runs on the ground, connects Piraeus to Kifissia. The other two lines were constructed mainly during the 1990s and the first sections were put to service in 2000. They run entirely underground. The blue line goes from Monastiraki to Doukissis Plakentias and the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, and the red line from Aghios Antonios to Aghios Dimitrios. Extensions to both lines are under construction, most notably to Marousi and Old Hellinikon Airport East Terminal (future Metropolitan Park). The fourth line is the Proastiakos (suburban) which runs from the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport to Athens Central train station. It is managed by three different companies (ISAP line 1), Attiko Metro (lines 2 & 3), Proastiakos (line 4). The whole Metro system of Athens has currently 91 km. Considering this issue shows how the mass transport system in Athens has improved in the last years, since until 1999 the length of the system was of just 25 km and comprised by one line. It's expected that for the 2008 it will reach 110 km, after the extensions of the first phase of expansion get concluded. The bus service consists of a network of lines on which normal buses, electric buses, and natural gas buses run (the largest fleet of natural gas run buses in Europe). There are plenty of bus lines serving Athens and the suburbs, and they link the centre of the city with most of the suburbs and neighborhoods. The tram runs from Syntagma Square to Palaio Faliro and there the line splits in two branches, going to Glyfada and Neo Faliro. Both Syntagma - Palaio Faliro - Neo Faliro and the Glyfada branch opened on 19 July 2004. Further extensions are considered. There are many taxis in Athens, which can be recognised by the yellow color of the vehicles. They are quite cheap and during rush hours it is considered normal to halt a taxi even when it is in service (although, strictly speaking, this is forbidden); in that case, if the one halting it happens to go to the same direction as the customer and the customer does not mind (although this is never brought up or an issue, and if you are the customer, be sure to enjoy the impoliteness of the taxi drivers if you do request that they do not stop to pick up other people, despite the fact that you are late, and they will wait for 2 minutes in a queue to take another fare, bearing in mind you pay for that 2 minutes as 'waiting time'), he is also allowed in, and each one pays normally as if they were the only customer. Athens is served by the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport at Spata, east of the city, about a 45-minute taxi ride from the city centre. There is also an express line connecting the airport to the metro system and 2 express lines connecting the airport to Pireus port and the city centre. Athens is also the hub of the Greek National Railway System, and ferries from Piraeus Port travel to all Greek islands. There are two motorways that go to the west towards Patra: (GR-8A, E94) and to the north towards Thessaloniki (GR-1, E75), and a ring motorway (Attiki Odos) which goes from Elefsina on the west to the airport after circling the city from the north, and another from Kaisariani to Glyke Nera where it meets the main road for Eleusis and the airport. Its total length is now about 70 km in 2004 up from 18 km in March 2001 when it first opened. There are about 21 exits and 4 junctions, up from 8. See Athens Mass Transit System for more on this topic.

Municipality

Athens Mass Transit System The modern city of Athens consists of what were formerly distinct towns and villages which gradually expanded to form a single large city; this expansion occurred in the 20th century. The city is now divided into 54 municipalities, the largest of which is the Municipality of Athens or Dimos Athinaion, with about 750,000 people (the next largest are Municipality of Piraeus, Municipality of Peristeri and Municipality of Kallithea). Athens can therefore refer either to the entire metropolitan area or to the Municipality of Athens. Each of the municipalities of Athens has an elected district council and a directly elected mayor. Mrs. Dora Bakoyanni of the conservative New Democracy party has been Mayor of Athens since October 2002. The Municipality of Athens is divived into 7 municipal districts or demotika diamerismata. The 7-district division however is mainly used for administrative purposes , while for Athenians the most popular way of dividing the city proper is through its neighborhoods (usually referred to as areas in english), each with its own distinct history and characteristics. For someone unfamiliar with Athens, getting to know about these neighborhoods can often come very handy for exploring and understanding the city.

Olympics 2004

2002 2002 Athens was awarded the 2004 Summer Olympics on September 5, 1997 in Lausanne, Switzerland, after surprisingly having lost the bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games. It was to be the second time Athens had hosted the Olympic Games. In 1997, Athens made a bid based largely on an appeal to Olympic history. In the last round of voting, Athens defeated Rome, 66 votes to 41. Before this, Buenos Aires, Stockholm, and Cape Town, had already been eliminated from consideration after receiving few votes. After that, the International Olympic Committee expressed its concern over the status of the progress of construction work of the new Olympic venues. A new Organizing Committee was formed under President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki and preparations began at an accelerated pace. Although the heavy cost was criticized, as is not unusual with Olympic preparations, Athens was transformed into a city that uses state-of-the-art technology in transportation and urban development. Some of the most modern sporting venues in the world were created, almost all of which were fully ready on schedule. The 2004 Games were adjudged a success, as both security and organization were good and few visitors reported problems with transportation or accommodation. The only problem noted was sparse attendance at preliminary events during the first days of competition. Total attendance was more than 3.2 million tickets sold, which was higher than any other Olympics with the exception of Sydney (more than 5 million tickets).

Cities nicknamed "Athens"

See Athens (disambiguation) for other cities named "Athens".
- Athens of the East - Madurai, India
- Athens of the South - Nashville, Tennessee
- Athens of the North - Edinburgh, Scotland
- Athens of America - Boston, Massachusetts
- Spree Athens - Berlin, Germany
- Athens on the Isar - Munich, Germany
- Athens of Latin America - Bogotá, Colombia
- Athens of Finland - Jyväskylä, Finland
- Serbian Athens - Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro
- Athens of Ireland - Cork, Ireland

External links

- [http://www.cityofathens.gr City of Athens official website]
- [http://www.athensvirtualtour.com/ Take a short virtual tour of Athens]
- [http://www.athens-today.com/ Take a long virtual tour of Athens]
- [http://www.culture2000.tee.gr/ Athens contemporary architecture and suggested walking routes]
- [http://www.athensdg.gr/ City of Athens official entertainment guide]
- [http://www.timeoutathens.gr/englishnew/default.asp/ TimeOut Athens - Find out what's on in Athens]
- [http://www.athinorama.gr/ Athenorama: the city's oldest weekly entertainment guide (in Greek)]
- [http://www.nyloo.com/index.ath.2.asp/ Tourist info]
- [http://www.oasa.gr/ Journey planner by the city's transport authority]
- [http://www.athens2004.com/ 2004 Olympics official website]
- [http://www.chem.uoa.gr/Location/AthensMap/Athensmap.htm Interactive Map of Central Athens]
- [http://www.transport.ntua.gr/map/en/ Real time traffic map of Athens]
- [http://www.constitution.org/ari/athen_00.htm The Athenian Constitution, Aristotle]
- [http://www.holiday.gr/place5.php?place_id=13 Hotel Finder by Holiday.gr]
- [http://www.edwebproject.org/balkans/athens.html Athens photo gallery by Susanne and Andy Carvin]
- [http://www.athensguide.org/pictures-of-athens.html Athens pictures]
- [http://www.around-athens.com Athens Directory]
- [http://sabin.ro/gallery/athens Athens Photo Gallery] Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Greek prefectural capitals Category:Coastal cities Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games Category:Cities and towns in Greece zh-min-nan:Athína ko:아테네 ja:アテネ simple:Athens th:เอเธนส์

Category:Historical legislatures

Legislatures Category:Institutions of government Category:Legislatures

Razzo V-2

Il missile V2 fu un precursore dei missili balistici utilizzato dalla Germania durante le ultime fasi della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, in particolare contro Gran Bretagna e Belgio. Il nome V2 sta per Vergeltungswaffe 2 (che significa "arma di rappresaglia 2"; un nome inventato da Joseph Goebbels), il nome precedente era A-4.

Storia

Già dal 1927, i membri della Società tedesca sui razzi iniziarono i primi test sui razzi a combustibile liquido. Nel 1932, il Reichswehr (la Difesa Nazionale Tedesca) si interessò degli sviluppi di questi test soprattutto per il settore militare, e una squadra condotta dal Generale Walter Dornberger rimase molto impressionata dal test di un vettore progettato e costruito da Wernher von Braun. Nonostante le abilità di questo primo razzo fossero molto limitate, Dornberger riuscì a capire il genio di von Braun e lo spronò ad entrare nei militari. Von Braun accettò, così come fecero molti altri membri della società. Nel dicembre del 1934, ebbe un altro successo con il missile A-2, un piccolo modello spinto da etanolo e ossigeno liquido, ma con una affidabilità maggiore. Dal 1936, il team di von Braun si concentrò sulla costruzione dei successori del razzo A-2, l'A-3 e l'A-4. Quest'ultimo era un progetto che prevedeva un portata di ben 175 km, un'altitudine di 80 km, e una capacità di trasportare una tonnellata di carico utile. Questo netto miglioramento era dovuto a una totale revisione dei motori fatta da Walter Thiel. Era ormai chiaro che i progetti di von Braun stavano diventando realtà, così il Generale Dornberger trasferì il team da Kummersdorf (vicino a Berlino) verso una piccola città, Peenemünde, sull'isola di Usedom (litorale baltico della Germania), per fornire più infrastrutture per i test, e soprattutto maggior segretezza. Il razzo A-3 risultò dare dei problemi, così si decise di riiniziare lo sviluppo di questo sotto il nome di razzo A-5. Questa nuova versione era decisamente più affidabile e nel 1941, erano già stati testati circa 70 razzi A-5. Il primo missile A-4 volò nel marzo del 1942 per circa 1,5 km e si schiantò in mare. Il secondo raggiunse un'altitudine di 11km prima di esplodere. Il terzo, lanciato il 3 ottobre 1942, seguì quasi una traiettoria perfetta, atterrò a 193 km di distanza, e divenne il primo oggetto costruito dall'uomo ad entrare nello spazio. La produzione partì nel 1943, anche se gli alleati erano già a conoscenza dell'arma tedesca. Infatti, durante un test in Polonia, un missile fu recuperato dagli agenti segreti della resistenza polacca e i particolari tecnici erano stati trasmessi al servizio segreto brittannico. Gli inglesi lanciarono una pesante campagna di bombardamenti contro la base di Peenemünde, che causò ritardi nella produzione dei razzi e la morte di molti operai, che erano i detenuti del campo di concentramento vicino. Dornberger aveva sempre desiderato una rampa di lancio mobile per i V-2, ma Hitler fece pressione per la costruzione di immense strutture sotterranee per il lancio. I razzi venivano prodotti in più fabbriche e spediti lungo le linee ferroviarie, in modo da permettere dei lanci quasi ininterrotti verso il nemico. La produzione del missile avveniva in grandi fabbriche sotteranee, come la tristemente nota Dora Mittelbau, al riparo dai bombardamenti alleati. Il costo di produzione di una V-2 era comparabile a quello di un bombardiere e certamente non giustificato dal limitato carico (meno di una tonnellata) di alto esplosivo. Questa constatazione fece credere ai servizi segreti alleati che il successivo passo tedesco fosse l'uso del missile come vettore per una costruenda bomba a fissione nucleare. La storia, successivamente, dimostrerà che la produzione di tale ordigno era molto al di la delle capacità tecniche tedesche dell'epoca.

Epilogo

La V-2 ebbe una breve ma intensa storia di utilizzazione nell'immediato dopoguerra. Sia gli americani che i russi poterono disporre di centinaia di questi missili al fine di far partire i propri programmi spaziali sulla base delle ricerche tedesche che si erano rivelate molto ingegnose, economiche ed ecologiche si pensi che il sistema di propulsione di tali razzi consisteva nella miscela dei due composti liqudi dell' alcool etilico ,estratto dalle patate, e dell'acqua ossigentata pura che generavano quantità di gas tali da fornire una spinta , fino ad alora, senza precedenti e che solo combustibili derivanti dal petrolio erano in grado di fornire. Molti missili costruiti alla fine degli anni Quaranta ed inizio degli anni Cinquanta derivano dal progetto tedesco, un brillante esempio fu il missile Redstone derivato dalla tecnologia della V-2 permise agli Stati Uniti di lanciare il suo primo satellite orbitale Explorer 1 e successivamente il primo astronauta in un volo suborbitale programma Mercury.

Voci correlate

- Wernher von Braun
- Saturn V
- NASA

Bibliografia

- Tracy Dungan: V-2: A Combat History of the First Ballistic Missile. Westholme Publishing ([http://www.westholmepublishing.com/id19.html]) 2005, ISBN 1594160120

Collegamenti esterni

- [http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/v2.htm Il missile V2] dall'Encyclopedia Astronautica
- [http://www.v2rocket.com Sito sul V2]
- [http://www.sapere.it/tca/minisite/storia/guerre_tecnologie/armamenti_01.html Tecnologie & guerre del Novecento: I missili tedeschi V2] Categoria:Missili Categoria:Armi e armamenti della Seconda guerra mondiale ja:V2ロケット

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Razzo V-2

Storia

Epilogo

Voci correlate

Bibliografia

Collegamenti esterni