Alan Walker

It may seem strange that the Benaki Museum recently opened a temporary exhibit of agricultural tools and implements. Why should a museum renowned for its art treasures bother to exhibit something as prosaic as tools?

SOME CITIES struggle through existence under a cloud: no one has a good word for Philadelphia or Newark or Mesolongi. Others, however, simply have bad reputations which are undeserved.

The average person who hears the name Sparta thinks of the heroic age of the Greek city-states and the great conflict between Sparta and Athens which was the Peloponnisian War.

Monastiraki means ‘little monastery’, named after a monastery founded in the tenth century on the site of today’s Monastiraki Square and now refers to the entire area which comprises the last remnant of the old style, oriental bazaar.

Monemvasia, which means ‘one entrance’, is joined to the mainland by a modern causeway which at one time was only a bridge. It was founded by refugees from the Slavic invasions in the seventh century who fortified the very top of its acropolis or citadel.

EVERY major city in the world has one main area where one can find all the necessities of life, everything one needs to keep the house running smoothly.