Dirt road near Flegga peak

Pindus National Park (Greek: Εθνικός Δρυμός Πίνδου Ethnikós Drymós Píndou), also known as Valia Calda (meaning the Warm Valley in Aromanian), is a national park in mainland Greece, situated in an isolated mountainous area at the periphery of West Macedonia and Epirus, in the northeastern part of the Pindus mountain range. It was established in 1966 and covers an area of 6,927 hectares (17,120 acres). The park's core zone, 3,360 hectares (8,300 acres), covers the greatest part of the Valia Calda valley and the slopes of the surrounding peaks.

The national park has an elevation range from 1,076 to 2,177 metres (3,530 to 7,142 ft) and is characterized by dense forests of European black pine and common beech, rocky ridges, several peaks over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), rapid streams and mountain lakes. The area belong to the wider Pindus Mountains mixed forests ecoregion and is a representative part of

• ...that the Greeks were the first to develop an alphabet with vowels?
• ...that the Greco-Buddhist art is an artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed in Central Asia after the conquests of Alexander the Great?
• ...that the Rio–Antirrio bridge between the Peloponnese and mainland Greece is the longest cable stayed-suspended deck in Europe?
• ...that the country's highest mountain, Mount Olympus was said to be the home of the Greek Gods in ancient Greek religion?
• ...that the Olympic Games, originated in Greece 3000 years ago, and that the 1st games of the modern Olympics were held in Greece in 1896, as a revival of the Games?
• ...that the Greek state comprises only the centre of the ancient Greek world, which comprised also Southern Italy, the coastal areas of modern Turkey and the Black Sea, as well as some colonies in North Africa, Southern France and Spain?
• ...that even though the modern Greek state was established in 1832, some areas of Greece were not liberated until after the Balkan Wars and WW2?

Homer

In Greece, from ancient times down to the present, has been produced countless world-famous poetry in addition to philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and historians like Herodotus and Thucydides. Notable figures of modern Greek literature include Odysseas Elytis and Constantine Cavafy.

Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another.

— Homer, Iliad

Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan prehistorical civilization. The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models. In the East, Alexander the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures. During the Renaissance , the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists.Read more...