Joining the 2010 Via Egnatia Caravan?

Before Crossing the Albanian-Macedonian Border

If you are thinking of joining the Caravan as it makes its way through Macedonia, Greece and Turkey (Thrace) to Istanbul, then have a watch of this video, which will give you some impression of the wonderful experience we all had this year in Albania.

You can look at the 2010 Caravan schedule and sign-up at the Via Egnatia Foundation website.

1989 Opened up the Via Egnatia

1989 – The Berlin Wall

Earlier this week as the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall came and went, I thought about all the wonderful times I had in Germany before that date serving in the British Army.

There were occasions when tensions appeared to get a little too hot, but as our young men and women demonstrate everyday in Afghanistan, you have no fear when young.

It if were not for the fall of the wall and the Iron Curtain, led by Polish Solidarity, we would not have had such easy access to parts of the Via Egnatia as we had this year, and it is this freedom to act and to travel that may help to save the ancient road and promote new bonds of friendship. Those who take part in the Via Egnatia’s Caravan along the route in 2010 will continue to enhance those bonds.

Polish Solidarity

Destination Istanbul!

The dates for the Via Egnatia Foundation’s 2010 trek along the ancient Via Egnatia have been announced. The destination is Istanbul; through the mythical Golden Gate, and maybe ending at Hagia Sophia?

Hagia Sophia

The schedule is as follows:

Week	Dates	From- To	Remarks
1	Sunday May 2 – Saturday May 9	Kristallopigi (Greece, near Albanian Border) – Florina	Other party comes from Skopje/Bitola
2	Sunday May 9 – Saturday May 15	Florina – Edessa	May 16: Bus to Giannitsa / Thessaloniki
	Thursday June 17	Meeting second part trail in Thessaloniki
3	Friday June 18 – Saturday June 26	Amphipoli – Alexandroupoli	June 18: bus to Amphipoli;June 23: bus Kavala – Komotini
4	Sunday June 27 – Saturday July 3	Alexandroupoli – Inecik (Turkey)	June 28: crossing border Greece-Turkey
5	Sunday July 4 – Saturday July 10	Inecik – Istanbul	June 4: bus to Tegirdag
Week 1 and week 3 go partly through mountainous terrain.

Full details of how to join the Caravan for 2010 can be found on the Via Egnatia Foundation website. A extraordinary time is guaranteed!

Macedonian Tomb of Eordaia Opens to the Public

An important, but lesser known, tomb monument of the 4th century BC, discovered in 1987 in the village of Spilia, Kozani pprefecture in northwest Greece, will be accessible to visitors following the completion of restoration works conducted by the culture ministry’s 30th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.

The ancient Macedonian tomb of Eordaia, or the Macedonian tomb of Spilia, as it is also known, is located in Spilia, which is situated along the Via Egnatia, an ancient Roman road.

The tomb has two chambers with a Doric monument-like facade. The monument is among the most significant of its kind across Macedonia and its architecture is exquisite, matching that of the tomb of King Philippos II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, in Vergina and the Macedonian tomb of Lyson and Kallikles, sons of Aristophanes, at Leucadia.

The works launched in 2008 to promote the archaeological site have cost roughly 250,000 euros and were funded by the 3rd Community Support Framework (CSF).  Link to story.

Mosaic Hunting – Aquileia, Grado, and Concordia

The start of my account of a journey my wife and I had recently in Italy to visit Byzantine sites ….

It might be tempting to say that after our trip to Northern Italy to visit all the major Byzantines sites, and to view the mosaics, that we may be suffering from ‘mosaic fatigue’ or even worse ‘Mosaic Neck’ after standing and looking up in awe at the wonderful art we saw, but nothing could be further from the truth. We have returned satiated, full, replete, totally happy with our holiday, and eager for more.

Albanian Iso-polyphony Singing

I discovered this and thought the musicians amongst you may be interested.

Albanian Iso-Polyphony

Albanian iso-polyphony is characterized by songs consisting of two solo parts, a melody and a countermelody with a choral drone. Over the last few decades, the modest rise of cultural tourism and the growing interest of the research community in this unique folk tradition have contributed to the revival of Albanian iso-polyphony. However, the tradition is adversely affected by poverty, the absence of legal protection, the lack of financial support for practitioners and young people’s rural exodus, threatening the transmission of the vast repertoire of songs and techniques

Radio Egnatia?

I can’t really understand what is going on here, but the movie is called Radio Egnatia and they seem to drive through Albania and Turkey – not sure about the bits in the middle.

I can’t find the full movie so this is only a trailer.

Colossus of Roads – the Egnatia Motoroway

L

ogistics and distribution locations are only as good as the lines on the map that connect them. Thus do transportation infrastructure and the destination points it links continue their perpetual dance of development.

Europe has been rich with supersized infrastructure projects over the past decade, with spectacular bridges, highways and tunnels taking shape to help speed cargo and citizens alike. That trend continues as major new investments stretching from Great Britain to Greece are at various stages of development.

One of the world’s major infrastructure achievements is nearing completion in Greece. By any standard, the Egnatia Motorway, is one of the world’s great infrastructure accomplishments. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis opened the final section of the highway in May 2009. Construction began in the 1990s. The €6.7-billion (US$9.5-billion) project stretches 670 km. (416 miles) from the port city of Igoumenitsa on Greece’s western border to the city of Kipi on Greece’s eastern border with Turkey. The European Union, the Greek Government and the European Investment Bank have financed the project.

The Egnatia Motorway features 1,650 major bridges and 76 tunnels along its route as it passes through 330 towns and villages. Approximately half the project’s cost was spent on bridges and tunnels. The route also includes 43 river crossings and 11 railway crossings.

Egnatia approximately traces a major trade route of the ancient world, the Via Egnatia, built in 130 B.C. The original highway was one of the major links to Rome. Greek officials believe the route will regain its regional significance in trade, investment and commerce. It provides an improved link with the Greek metropolitan area of Thessaloniki. On a European level, Egnatia will link the major industrial centers of the West with the East.

The Greek government anticipates the roadway will open many new investment opportunities in areas such as logistics, manufacturing and tourism. Egnatia is a collector route for the Balkan and southeast Europeean transport system, and several regional European transportation corridors connect to the highway. Egnatia directly links Greece with Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey through nine vertical connections.

From Site Selection online

Bulgarian Links to Via Egnatia

I found this article which mentions branch roads from the Via Egnatia that ran into Bulgaria.

“In early August local people told us about a fragment they had seen on the road. We checked into the case and found out that that this is the road from Roman times that connected Perperikon with the branch of the main road East-West-Europe-Asia, the famous Via Egnatia. Five kilometers from Perperikon it branches to reach the stone city.”

The full article is here.

New Book – The world of European roads – from antiquity in the early modern times

I have discovered a new book on ancient European roads by Thomas Szasbo. The Via Egnatia is mentioned. The link below is a poor Live Search Translation, but for those interested in the Via Egnatia and the wider road system of the Romans, this book may be of interest. The article mentions the Via Egnatia as follows:

“Therefore Szabó has published a collection now: “The world of European roads – from antiquity in the early modern times” (Böhlau Verlag Cologne 2009). Two articles to treat the Byzantine road system. The main fernstraßen in the Kingdom were the ancient ways of the Roman Empire. So also the Crusader heere the Via Egnatia travelled, by the Hafenort Dyrrhachion (today’s Albanian Durres) Thessaloniki and Constantinople in the Holy land. The route was the Eastern continuation broken from the Adriatic up in the late Byzantine day via Appia and the most important country Verbindungsweg of Rome to Constantinople. As imperial armies, pilgrims and retailers took the ancient via Diagonalis Sigindunum (the current Belgrade) to Constantinople, at least until the twelfth century. Later, the Ottomans were this road before the gates of Vienna.”

Book title: European roads – from antiquity in the early modern world
Author: Szabó, Thomas