The Carnival of Naousa
par Nikos Biliouris
partager
The Carnival of Naousa |
|
|
The carnival dances of the “Boules” of Naousa are also associated with the Greek War of Independence. During the revolutionary struggle, the warriors used to come down from the mountains to the city of Naousa, at night all through Carnival. Thus, disguised as masquerades, they could slip past the Authorities unobserved and this way they could communicate with their relatives and friends.
The drum and the clarinet (zournas) are heard from far away calling for the group to gather. The musical instruments, playing a melody of the free rhythmic type, called Zalistos, will pass by all the houses of the young men who participate in the group and they will gather them one by one.
The musical instruments will not gather the small boys. Those boys go with their fathers to the houses of the older men.
When Zalistos is heard, the Genitsaros will come to the window or the balcony of the house to hail the group, which is coming to gather him. He stretches his hands up and hails by moving his chest to the right and left, so that the coins that hung from his chest are heard. Then the young man greets all the people of the house and everybody who helped him dress up by a handshake and by hopping on his two feet.
From http://zaliosparadosi.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
The Carnival of Naousa is an old Greek traditional event and attracts many visitors. Men wearin...
Carnival party at Naousa with hot wine, “tsipouro” – a Greek distilled spirit &ndas...
Sunday of the Carnival. The gathering of the group: The young man dressed up from the previous evenin...
The square of Naousa at carnival season with a lot of happenings.The carnival of Naousa is an old Gre...
The square of Naousa at carnival season with a lot of happenings.The carnival of Naousa is an old Gre...
The Carnival of Naousa is an old Greek traditional event and attracts many visitors. Men wearin...
Boules are a very old carnival custom of the town of Naoussa. It is very difficult for us today to di...
Europe is generally agreed to be the birthplace of western culture, including such legendary innovations as the democratic nation-state, football and tomato sauce.
The word Europe comes from the Greek goddess Europa, who was kidnapped by Zeus and plunked down on the island of Crete. Europa gradually changed from referring to mainland Greece until it extended finally to include Norway and Russia.
Don't be confused that Europe is called a continent without looking like an island, the way the other continents do. It's okay. The Ural mountains have steadily been there to divide Europe from Asia for the last 250 million years. Russia technically inhabits "Eurasia".
Europe is presently uniting into one political and economic zone with a common currency called the Euro. The European Union originated in 1993 and is now composed of 27 member states. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.
Do not confuse the EU with the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states and dates to 1949. These two bodies share the same flag, national anthem, and mission of integrating Europe. The headquarters of the Council are located in Strasbourg, France, and it is most famous for its European Court of Human Rights.
In spite of these two bodies, there is still no single Constitution or set of laws applying to all the countries of Europe. Debate rages over the role of the EU in regards to national sovereignty. As of January 2009, the Lisbon Treaty is the closest thing to a European Constitution, yet it has not been approved by all the EU states.
Text by Steve Smith.
