After more than half a millennium ago they traveled to the ends of the earth and crossed seas and oceans in search of the New World, two great navigators of world history, “catch port” in Papagou and Holargo. The municipality of the north-eastern suburbs of Athens will host a special Exhibition and with international cooperation, for the Spanish Ferdinand Magellan and for the Genoese Christopher Columbus, under the auspices of the General Secretariat of Hellenism Abroad and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Partners in this special cultural action, the Embassies of Italy and Spain in Athens, as well as the Educational Institutions of the two countries, namely the Italian Educational Institute and the Cervantes Institute.

However, the Greek element as the third pole of this Exhibition, how does it arise?… But from the presence of Greek sailors in both historical expeditions. It is not well known, however sailors from Rhodes, Chios, Nafplion and Corfu were also members of the crew, who participated in both Columbus’s transatlantic voyage and Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the Earth. In fact, Francisco Albo from Chios, was the keeper of the Nautical Diary and captain of the ship Victoria, the only one that finally returned to Seville and thanks to his writings we know today details of Magellan’s daring journey. Over the centuries, the history of Spain, Italy and Greece developed and was shaped in a close relationship with the sea and much more with the Mediterranean that unites them and this cultural coexistence of the three countries in this particular Exhibition comes to indicate this.

The Exhibition, which was initiated by the municipality of Papagos-Cholargos, is entitled “Seafarers of the Old Continent – Greek sailors with Columbus and Magellan”. It will be hosted in the “Alekos Sofianos” room at the City Hall from 15/1 to 2/2 and will be open every day (except Saturday and Sunday) from 9 am to 2 pm and from 5 pm to 8 pm night. The opening will take place tomorrow, Monday (15/1) at 7 pm. in the “Mikis Theodorakis” amphitheater of the town hall. Immediately after, the dramatized documentary by the Spaniard Pedro Olaya, entitled “Francisco Albo, the Greek sailors on the first circumnavigation of the Earth” will be screened and the event will conclude with guided tours.

Essentially it is a double exhibition, a combination of two separate exhibitions, an Italian one on the discovery of America by Columbus and a Spanish one on the first circumnavigation of the Earth by Magellan, two expeditions carried out on behalf of Spain. What it aspires as a cultural event, is to highlight and enlighten in a direct way, two great moments of world history, but also a relatively unknown aspect of the Greek Diaspora.

“The Exhibition also highlights the power of Europe’s own ideas and cooperation with the cohesive fabric of classical culture: Odyssean Greek seamanship, as the culmination of cultural experience and knowledge, meets in the Renaissance – as it happened earlier in Ancient Rome and later in the Enlightenment – the culture of Latin Europe. It thus transmits new values ​​and ideas, mainly that of the search for knowledge and self-knowledge through a new “course” or “derrotero”, with the overcoming of the mare nostrum and the self-determination of the new emerging Europe in the great “mirror” of the New World. states, among other things, in his note, the Secretary General of Hellenism Abroad and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ioannis Chrysoulakis.

“A connecting link in the presentation of the work, travels and discoveries of the two great European explorers is the decisive participation in these actions that changed the world, of the Greek sailors, officers and crew members. For this reason, for the participation of the Greek navy in the discovery of the New World, we believe that these exhibitions concern the maxims and Hellenism of the Diaspora. These actions also in municipalities of Mediterranean countries create and maintain relations of friendship and trust”, states the mayor in his own note Ilias Apostolopoulos.

“Our municipality has a tendency towards extroversion in terms of Culture”

The Municipality of Papagou-Cholargou has signed Memoranda of cultural cooperation with the Italian Educational Institute and the Cervantes Institute. In fact, as part of this collaboration, some events have already taken place, such as a concert by an Italian band at the Municipal Festival and Spanish cinema nights.

Speaking to APE-MPE the person responsible for the organization and coordination of the Exhibition and the Culture advisor of the mayor Papagos-Cholargos, Katerina Dalagiorgos, says about this trinational cultural action: “It started with the initiative of our municipality, which has a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Italian Educational Institute and the Cervantes Institute. The beginning was with smaller events and we have now reached this Exhibition, which concerns the two great seafarers and their mission. We focus on the participation of Greek sailors in these excursions. In other words, the presence of the Greek navy also appears through the material of the Exhibition”.

And he continues: “Since our mayor has a tendency to be extroverted in terms of Culture, we decided and proceeded with this cooperation and in fact under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through Hellenism Abroad. The two countries bring their exhibits, their material. The official material is from the Ministries of Urbanization of Italy and Spain. The Benaki Museum also helped us, with the material from the Greek side, but we, as a municipality, are also creating the Catalog of all of them. And the Directory is not an easy task at all, it is trilingual and our municipality publishes it. This is a great effort, which proves that there is cooperation. And there is also the screening of an award-winning documentary by Pedro Olayas, which talks about Greek seafarers”.

Mrs. Dalagiorgou also stands by one more parameter: “There is of course the Local Government in all of this, but there is also a second important pillar, which is the educational nature of the Exhibition. There will be collaboration with schools, who will be invited to come and visit the Exhibition with more targeted material from the two Institutes.”

Regarding the extroversion of the Municipality of Papagou-Cholargou and the collaborations on Culture, Mrs. Dalagiorgou mentions: “We have held other Exhibitions through collaborations, such as with the Hellenic Parliament for parliamentarism or with the municipality of Ioannito, with which we also have a Memorandum of cultural cooperation. And we will continue in the future with other collaborations, such as with the Ministry of Culture. But with both Institutes, some events have preceded, such as the summer for Italian song and for Spanish cinema, and there will be others in the future, such as for Dante.”

Finally, regarding the interest and response of the citizens to all these cultural actions, the mayor’s advisor replies: “The response is very great and this is not accidental. The average resident of our municipality has the intention and the mood and maintains a very good standard. He shows it in all cases, he showed it for example with the lectures of professor and historian Maria Efthymiou, who started the cycle of all these lectures from here.”