Greece – Valia Kalda National Park 2007 Proof Silver 10 Euro 40mm (34.00 grams) 0.925 Silver (1.0111 oz. ASW) Reference: KM# 222 | Engraver: Georgios Stamatopoulos Certification: NGC PF 70 ULTRA CAMEO 2854693-013 ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ 10 ΕΥΡΩ 2007, The National emblem of Greece inside an artistic representation of a tree. ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΠΑΡΚΟ ΠΙΝΔΟΥ – ΒΑΛΙΑ ΚΑΛΝΤΑ MAYPOPEYKA THE PINDOY, Forest of the Valia Kalda National Park.
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Valia Kalda means warm valley. Spreading over 6,8 acres, it is the biggest and most important national park of Greece. Its official name is the National Park of southern Pindos. It is situated at the mountain range of Pindos, around 25km north of Metsovo, at the borders of Ioannina and Grevena. The tour of the valley, which was named ‘warm,’ as its temperature is 10-15 degrees lower than the mountains around it, is a unique experience.
The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos) (Greek: Πίνδος) is a mountain range located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637m (Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is known colloquially as the spine of Greece. The mountain range stretches from near the Greek-Albanian border in Northern Epirus, entering the Epirus and Macedonia regions in northern Greece down to the north of the Peloponnese. Geologically it is an extension of the Dinaric Alps, which dominate the western region of the Balkan Peninsula.
Historically, the name Pindos refers to the mountainous territory that separates the greater Epirus region from the regions of Macedonia and Thessaly.
According to John Tzetzes (a 12th-century Byzantine writer), the Pindos range was then called Metzovon.
When Anastasios Gordios translated (between 1682/83 and 1689) to a more conversational (colloquial) language the initial praise to St. Vissarion, which was drafted in 1552 by Pahomios Rousanos, he wrote: “A mountain called by the Greeks Pindos is the same mountain which is called Metzovon in Barbarian” and further down the same text he adds “this mountain, Metzovon, separates the Ioannina region from the Thessaloniki region.”
By the eighteenth century, there had been identification of the name Metsovo with the Pindos mountain range (in a French encyclopedia of 1756). BY 1825, the traveller John Cam Hobhouse was writing that “…the latter mountains, now known by the name of Metzovo, can be no other than Pindus itself…” while a patriarchal document of 1818 states: “Because the high mountain of Pindos in Epirus, that is commonly called Messovon…”. The word Pindos was used more in literary sources, while the folk name for the mountain range from the Middle Ages up to the 19th century was either “Metsovo” or “the mountains of Metsovo”. Most probably this name was not meant to indicate the whole range as it is meant today, but only its central part between the area of Aspropotamos and the springs of the Aoös River. This part coincides with the mountainous region which the ancient Greeks used to call Pindos.
Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα), officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία), historically also known as Hellas, is a country in Southern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016. Athens is the nation’s capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.
Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a large number of islands, of which 227 are inhabited. Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres (9,573 ft). The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization,[a] being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama.[12] From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, spreading Greek culture and science from the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus River. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire, wherein the Greek language and culture were dominant. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World. Falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greece’s rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe and the world.
Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join the European Communities (precursor to the European Union) and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Greece’s unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic importance[b] classify it as a middle power. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor.
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