Retirement – a sense of purpose through an intercultural dialogue Pyrgos Community Council May 2010 1 The book you have in your hands is a common outcome of the following partner municipalities/community councils of: Pyrgos – Limassol in Cyprus Santa Severina in Italy Plunge in Lithuania Breaza in Romania Menai Bridge in Wales UK The five institutions worked together under the Grundtvig project: RE.S.P.I.D. Retirement - a sense of purpose through an intercultural dialogue Many thanks to the coordinators of the partner towns and to those who worked with enthusiasm for this project. Panayiotis Kyrou Project Coordinator Pyrgos - Limassol, Cyprus May 2010 2 Partner Towns PLUNGE MENAI BRIDGE BREAZA SANTA SEVERINA PYRGOS A TRIP TO THE FIVE PARTNER TOWNS 3 CYPRUS The island of Aphrodite... PYRGOS 4 Pyrgos, the town of the ancient perfumes… Pyrgos village is located 13 km east of Limassol, the second biggest city of Cyprus. The village is built at an average altitude of 85 meters. The altitude presents a noticeable increase from the settlement to the north and near its north administrative boundaries it reaches 488 meters. In the south of the settlement the altitude steadily decreases and comes down to about 50 meters. Further south the altitude decreases steadily up to the sea. History The village existed during the Medieval times under the exact same name. In old maps it is marked under the name Pirgo and Birgo. The name of the village originated from the fact that there was a tower in the region, apparently one of the Byzantine years. A tower must have existed also during the Frank domination era, in the sense of a central building of a family of nobles, to which the village -as a feud -belonged to. We have no records on which family of nobles it belonged to. In any case the tower that existed in the village was a common Medieval one. According to a legend "Pyrgos tis Rigainas" (Tower of the Queen), from the floor of which began a tunnel that extended to Amathous. As it often occurs with such traditions that are related to medieval or more ancient structures, the legendary existence of some great treasure is necessary. In the case of Pyrgos, the legendary treasure is a solid gold carriage with which the notorious Rigaina moved around. An old building in the village is known as "rigoudin" and it is believed that its floor is that of the original tower from where the tunnel begun. 5 In the region of the village there are at least two archaeological sites from Prehistoric times that prove an older inhabitation of the area. No proper archaeological excavations have been conducted yet. Besides, the village is too close to the ancient city of Amathous, to which its area was included in its administrative range. Visit the unique archaeological site with the oldest Aromas in the Mediterranean The research of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pyrgos, has led to the discovery of the oldest industrial area in the entire Mediterranean basin. This archaeological site comes from 2200 B.C. It was a Palace in which each room was dedicated to a different type of work. Ancient Cypriot technicians worked on metallurgy, textile, production of wine, olive oil and aromas. Many jars were found in the site revealing just how people, 4000 years ago, produced the famous Cypriot aromas, typically a mix of natural spices and olive oil. The lab, believed to have been destroyed in an earthquake in antiquity, shows that making perfume was a serious business. Throughout the Bronze Age and into the 1st millennium B.C., Cyprus played a key role in copper and olive oil production and trade. Olive oil was used as a base for medicine, cosmetics and perfume, some of which were exported mainly to Greece. Agriculture Citrus, olive and locust trees, cereals, forage plants, various fruit trees, a few grapevines and very few legumes are cultivated in the area. Various types of vegetables and especially tomatoes are also cultivated. Pyrgos is famous for the quality of its tomatoes. 6 Tourism in Cyprus Nice beaches with the award of the Blue flag are located south of the village. The marina of Saint Raphael, which is considered one of the most fully organised marinas. Five-star hotels, tourist apartments, nice restaurants welcome you... Panayia Chrysopirgotissa Church Ryrgos Town Hall Monument of Andreas Nikolaou 7 ITALY The country of antiques... SANTA SEVERINA 8 Santa Severina Santa Severina is a town in the Province of Crotone in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It rises on a crop of a rock, in a beautiful panoramic position dominating the valley of the Neto river. Today it represents the most important cultural center of the whole Province. It is 25 Km away from the administrative centre Crotone, 32 Km away from "Pitagora" Airoport of Isola Capo Rizzuto and about 30 Km from Sila Crotonese. It is 100 Km away from Cosenza. Documentation of the 5th century BC. already shows that the town known with the Greek name of Siberene a town in Enotria. It is not known, however, when the place changes its name. There are two hypotheses: the name is Latinized into Sevriana/Severina, with the appellation of Saint added by the Byzantines, after the town is re-conquered in 886. Or a Saint Severina was already venerated by the Byzantines and to whom they dedicated their new homeland. The Church of Saint Filomena, an interesting example of Byzantine-Norman architecture, is an 11th century construction formed by two chapels placed on top of a rectangular floor plan, with a small dome decorated with little columns (a typical pattern in Armenian buildings) and two Norman ogival portals. What was once the Church of the Pozzoleo has been restored, and today holds the crypt of Saint 9 Filomena. It once held a beautiful holy-water font made of Parian marble, now in the Diocesan Museum. The majestic, imposing Castle was built by the Normans in 1076 on the remains of the previous Byzantine fortification. The spirit of Roberto il Guiscardo was cancelled in 1496 when Andrea Carafa decided to enlarge, and in part rebuild the manor-house, which underwent further restoration at the hands of the noble families living there, the Ruffo, Sculco and Gruthers. In 1905 the Castle was purchased by the Municipality who recently returned it to its ancient splendour. One of the most complex and beautiful military buildings in Calabria, it consists of a fifteenth century square watch tower, with four angular towers on four protruding buttresses. Surrounded by strong, crenellated walls with a moat on three sides, it contains intricate, underground labyrinths and stables with the remains of mediaeval frescoes. Magnificent stucco decorations and Baroque paintings by Francesco Giordano ornate the large living rooms of the fortress. In comparison with the Castle, one can admire the Santa Anastasia Cathedral (1274- 95). Of the original structure there remains the portal, whereas an epigraph on the façade is a reminder of restoration begun in 1705 by the archbishop Berlingieri. A further inscription dedicates the church to Saint Anastasia, patron saint of the town. The Baptistry is adjacent to it (VIII-IX century), with its 13th century portal; one of the oldest 10 monuments of Calabria. Among the other noteworthy religious buildings, we would like to point out: the Santa Filomena Church (XI-XII century) and the Addolorata Church, which encompasses architectonic elements from the ancient Cathedral (1036) of Santa Severina. The Cathedral to the north and the Norman Castle to the south are the two important buildings in the “Field”, the name given by the inhabitants of Santa Severina to their square in memory of its military use as a square for arms. Separated from the Castle by a deep moat, two rocky crags form a belvedere overlooking an impressive panorama that sweeps from Mount Sila to the Ionian Sea. Laleo University An intensive course lasting three months or one month(usually during summer). All courses will end with a final exam. The upper couse last six months. 11 LITHUANIA The country of amber... PLUNGE 12 Plunge History of Plungė Town and District Everything has its own history and roots. The town of Plungė is not an exception. It seems so small but has what to be proud of. The amazing Gandinga is the headwaters of Plungė town which was formed as a township at the eve of Lithuanian statehood settlement and is mentioned in the written sources even earlier than Vilnius. Until the 15th c. Gandinga was the centre of the district municipality and Plungė belonged to it. In the 17th c. after the Swedish desolated Gandinga, the district municipality was transferred to Plungė. Since then the quickly growing town was granted the rights of Magdeburg on 13th January, 1972. During the growth of the town in 1797 a wooden Saint John the Baptist church was build. The parish of Plungė was one of the richest Samogitians in the bishopric. From 1806 Plungė belonged to the graphs Zubovas. Zubovas constructed a stone belfry in Plungė, equipped a large All Saints chapel, where noble people used to be buried in its cellars. He built a small castle in the park of Plungė – a clock-house which was an imitation of the palace built by Vecchio in Florence in the 14th century. In 1873 duke Mykolas Oginskis bought the estate from the descendants of Platonas Zubovas. The duke actively carried out cultural, educational and public work. By initiative of the duke a stone church of Plungė was started to be built instead of the wooden church.