AIRFORCE RESORT/SKOTINA TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. LOCATION 2. HOW TO REACH THE RESORT 3. PURPOSE 4. SETTLING AND EQUIPMENT 5. WATER SUPPLY 6. BIOLOGICAL CLEANSING 7. COMMUNICATION 8. CITIES AND SIGHT SEEINGS CLOSE TO SKOTINA 8.1 DION 8.2 LITOCHORO 8.3 KATERINI 8.4 THESSALONIKI 8.5 LARISSA 8.6 VERGINA 8.7 METEORA 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. LOCATION The resort lies on the coast of Scotina, East Olympus’ Department of Pieria‘s municipality, just a few kilometres away from mountain Olympus. (A place surrounded by the mountain of the mythical Gods and the unique clean sea waters of Greece). 2. HOW TO REACH THE RESORT The resort is about 60 kilometers from the city of Larissa and you can get there by taking the road drives to Thessaloniki capital of Macedonia. You can use train and buses from Larissa to Thessaloniki and to Katerini and stop to Skotina. If you arrive in Thessaloniki you can take the train or bus to Larissa and stop to Skotina. The distance between Thessaloniki and Skotina is about 100 Kilometers. 3. PURPOSE The resort is being used for the recreational pleasure of the permanent staff of the Greek Air Force and the training of the crew while living in land and sea. The entire estate covers 48acres. 4. SETTLING & EQUIPMENT The resort is combined by a total of 16 apartments, 1 V.I.P. room and another 126 suites available for the Resort’s stuff and visitors. Each suite’s capability varies from 1 to 5 persons. The room’s price is 8,60 € per day, and the food’s value does not exceed the price of 8 to 10 € per person for the day’s meal and dinner, depending on the menu. It accommodates various amenities concerning the visitors’ everyday needs, such as a mini-market for their better own everyday needs, access to three different snack/refreshment beach bars, restaurant and an organized beach, which is fully equipped to ensure the visitors pleasure with water sports, as well as a well trained life guard support for their protection. For the permanent Air Force crew’s and stuff’s ease of transportation, commute and communication the resort has ensured various cars, busses of frequent route as well as a helicopter court for the immediate transportation to the closest Greek Air Force Bases. There is also a phone center with more than 260 internal and external phone-lines making telecommunications fast and easy to use. 5. WATER SUPPLY For the visitors everyday water needs the resort has stationed its very own water- supply-system which brings in the water from two underground pipe systems with automatic chlorine process. 6. BIOLOGICAL CLEANSING For the protection of the environment (keeping the sea waters clean) there is a biological cleansing system running which is supervised electronically. Both the Water Supply and the Biological cleansing system are being supervised by the head doctor and the person in charge of the resort’s system. 7. COMMUNICATION In order to communicate with the resort the telephone center is 0030 – 23520 – 90399. 8. CITIES AND SIGHT SEEINGS CLOSE TO SKOTINA There are several cities and sight seeings that you can visit during your vacations in Skotina. There are cities close to the sea like Leptokaria, Katerini, Plaka Litochoro etc, but also cities on the mountains and especially to the mount Olympus which is the highest mountain in Greece like Litochoro, Dion. In a distance of 100 kilometers from Skotina there is Thessaloniki, which is the capital of Macedonia and the second biggest city in Greece. 8.1 DION Dion (Greek, Modern: Δίο Dio, Ancient/Katharevousa -on;) is a municipality and village in the Prefecture of Pieria, Macedonia, Greece, best known for its museum and archaeological site. The Ancient city of Dion was a place of some importance, due to its location at the foot of Mount Olympus. Archaeological findings show that this was where Zeus was honored. It is located 15 km. SW of Katerini, and 27 km of Skotina. History The village owes its name to the important sanctuary dedicated to Zeus (Greek "Dias"), leader of the Twelve Gods who dwelt on Mount Olympus, as recorded by Hesiod. The ruins of the ancient city lie within its boundaries. Thyia, daughter of Deycalion, bore Zeus two sons, Magnes and Macedon, who dwelt in Pieria at the foot of Mount Olympus. The first mention of Dion in history comes from Thucydides, who reports that it was the first city reached by the Spartan general Brasidas after crossing from Thessaly into Macedon on his way through the realm of his ally Perdiccas II during his expedition against the Athenian colonies of Thrace in 424 BC. According to Diodorus Siculus, it was Archelaus I who, at the end of the 5th century BC, gave the city and its sanctuary their subsequent importance by instituting a nine-day festival that included athletic and dramatic competitions in honor of Zeus and the Muses. Dion used to be a village called "Malathria". In 1992 a mass demonstration was staged in Dion at the Ancient Theatre in support of the Greekness of Macedonia. This was at a time when the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was in dispute with Greece on this topic. In October 1992, it became a municipality for political reasons, and the municipality now encompasses several villages including Kondariotissa, Vrondou, Karitsa, and Dion. The municipality is called "Dimos Diou" or the "Municipality of Dion" and the administrative centre is in the village of Kondariotissa. Archaeology The site of ancient Dion was first identified by the famous English traveler William Martin Leake on December 21, 1806, in the ruins adjoining the village of Malathria. He published his discovery in the third volume of his Travels in Northern Greece in 1835. Léon Heuzey visited the site during his famous Macedonian archaeological mission of 1855 and again in 1861. Later, the epigraphist G. Oikonomos published the first series of inscriptions. Nevertheless, systematic archaeological exploration did not begin until 1928. From then until 1931, G. Sotiriadis carried out a series of surveys, uncovering a 4th-century BC Macedonian tomb and an early Christian basilica. Excavations were not resumed until 1960 under the direction of G. Bakalakis in the area of the theatre and the wall. Since 1973, Professor D. Pandermalis of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki has conducted archaeological research in the city. In 2006, a statue of Hera was found built into the walls of the city. The statue, 2200 years old, had been used by the early Christians of Dion as filling for the city's defensive wall. 8.2 LITOCHORO Litochoro (Greek, Modern: Λιτόχωρο, Ancient/Katharevousa Λιτόχωρον, older form: Litochoron) is a town and municipality located in the southern part of the prefecture of Pieria at the base of Mount Olympus The town is about 90 km from Thessaloniki, on the western shore of the Thermaic Gulf. The first recorded mention of Litochoro is in an account of a visit by Saint Dionysus (Greek: Άγιος Διονύσιος) to Mount Olympus. The town is a popular destination for those wishing to climb Mount Olympus as almost all climbing routes begin to the southwest of the town. Litochoro is located 22 km S of Katerini, 90 km SSW of Thessaloniki, 58 km N of Larissa and 420 km WNW of Athens, on the eastern slopes of Mount Olympus, of mythological fame as the home of the twelve gods of Olympus. Pine, cedar and fir trees of the forests of Mount Olympus lie to the southwest and northwest. Much of the land around Litochoro, in particular to the South, remains uncultivated. Pláka East of the town of Litochoro is an extended coastal area known as Pláka or Pláka Litochorou (Πλάκα Λιτοχώρου), spreading from the foot of Olympus to the Thermaic Gulf and extending from Leptokarya in the south to Gritsa in the north. The E75 highway national road passes through the area of Plaka to the south of Litochoro. The coast mainly consists of sandy beaches with seaside resorts as well as hotels, campsites, restaurants, and beach bars, (which mostly operate during the summer season from June to September). In the area of Plaka there are private residences, luxurious villas, and cottages. Gritsa North-east of Litochoro (North from Pláka) the costal area continues, known by the name Gritsa or Gritsa Litochorou (Γρίτσα Λιτοχώρου) extending from Pláka in the south to Variko in the north. Sandy beaches can also be found here (as in Pláka) but the tourist facilities are much less than Pláka's. Yet here are some cottages and a luxury hotel (Dion resort). Gritsa is also the port of Litochoro though it's capacity is restricted. Other Litochoro has schools, banks, a post office, a harbour, a sports centre, a town hall, a hospital, a museum, a concert hall, shopping facilities and squares (plateies). There are two main churches, Agios Nickolaos in the centre and Agios Dimitrios in the North. Litochoro has one of the most traditional cemeteries of Greece, known as Hagios Athanasios, in the north of the town. 8.3 KATERINI Katerini (Greek: Κατερίνη, Old name: Ekaterini, Old name in Greek: Αικατερίνη;) is a town in Central Macedonia, Greece, the capital of Pieria prefecture. The town's name stems from Catherine of Alexandria (Agia Aikaterini), a Greek Orthodox Martyr who lived in 4th century AD. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, at an altitude of 14 m. The town, which is one of the newest in Greece, has a population of 56,576 (according to the 2001 census).