Arta

During the rest-time (Jeanne, could you tell me what the Greeks officially call this time of day?) we headed into Arta to look around a bit, have a coffee and pick up a cake for Yiorgos.

Arta is a city in northwestern Greece, in the Epirus region. In ancient times it was known as Ambracia (Αμβρακία), a settlement from the 7th century B.C.

We headed through Jeanne's old neighborhood and drove by her mother-in-law's house but it was closed down for the rest-time as well, so we headed to the famous 13th century Byzantine Church of the Paregoretissa (Mother of God the Consoling), built about 1290 by Despot Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas.

We were lucky as the church is open only one day each year, the Greek Fourth-of-July! 

The Greeks revolted against the Turkish yoke* and was recognized as an independent nation in 1832. They celebrate independence each year on March 25. 

We came back on that Monday and took a look inside. It was gorgeous. 

Afterward we headed down to the center of the city where Johnny met another Johnny ("Yahnny") and played a little pick-up soccer (or, I should say, the older boys tolerated him for a few minutes, see video to come) and then headed down to "the old bridge" ( Γεφύρι της Άρτας) for a coffee. 

The bridge crosses the Arachthos river in the west of the city.  According to Wikipedia, the bridge was probably initially built by the Romans, but has been rebuilt several times. "The current version is Ottoman, probably from 1602-1606 or perhaps 1613. From 1881-1912, the highest point of the bridge was the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Greece." Seraphim, the Archbishop of Arta, has noted that the bridge was built, according to some tradition, by an Artan grocer. 

A folk ballad of the "acritic songs" family, 45 masons and 60 apprentices, under the leadership of the Head Builder, were building a bridge, but its foundations would collapse each night. Finally a bird with a human voice informed the Head Builder that, in order for the bridge to remain standing, he should sacrifice his wife. As she is being buried alive in the foundations of the construction, she curses the bridge to flutter like a leaf, and those who pass it to fall like leaves also. She is then reminded that her brother is abroad and might pass the bridge himself, so she changes her curses so as to become actual blessings: "As the tall mountains tremble, so shall the bridge tremble, and as the birds of prey fall, so shall passers fall."

 Across the bridge we sat at a cafe that is situated around a Plane tree known as "The Plane Tree of Arta" or "Ali Pasha's Plane Tree."

The tree is hundreds of years old and, according to folklore, provided shadow for Ali Pasha of Ioannina (pronounced "yah-nah-nah") and that he would hang Greek revolutionaries from the tree. The story of The Plane Tree of Arta, one of the oldest and most beautiful in Greece, is also a folk revolutionary song which is very popular during the festivals in the villages of the region.

The tree has been declared as a natural landmark deserving special protection ever since 1976.

Many of its huge branches are artificially supported. It is widely respected by locals, who have placed a protection fence around its huge trunk.

*For some reason unknown to me, every region that was at one point controlled by the Ottoman Empire refers to that time in its history as having been under the Turkish Yoke. I spent some time in Bulgaria and all of the history texts use this word, so I was surprised to hear the Greeks use it as well.