GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Tourism.
Astypalaia Island.
Seventh stamp in a set of 10, issued on 27.12.2004.
Face value: 1 euro.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 600,000 copies.
Size: 56 x 21 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2285.
- Karamitsos No. 2342.
- Michel No. 2269A.
- Scott No. 2171.
- StampWorld No. 2251.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2317A.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2247 (A).

Astypalaia (Greek: Αστυπάλαια), is a Greek island belonging to the Kalymnos regional unit, in the Dodecanese, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. The island is 18 km (11 mi) long, 13 km (8 mi) wide at the most, and covers an area of 97 km², along with numerous smaller uninhabited offshore islets. In 2011, its population was 1,334 inhabitants. The capital and the previous main harbor of the island is Astypalaia or Chora, as it is called by the locals. The island has a small airport close to Maltezana. Astypalaia was believed to be named after Astypalaea, an ancient Greek mythological figure.

HUNGARY

HUNGARY / MAGYARORSZÁG.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Antique map of the East Aegean Sea and statue of the Colossus of Rhodes.
Fifth stamp in a set of 7, issued on 29.02.1980.
Face value: 3 Hungarian forint.
Design: László Dudás (1935-2015).
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 387,919 copies.
Size: 44 x 34 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 3314.
- Michel No. 3415A.
- Philatelia Hungarica No. 3387.
- Scott No. 2635.
- StampWorld No. 3438.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3305.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2713.

The Colossus of Rhodes (Ancient Greek: ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος) was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name in Aegean Sea, by Chares of Lindos in 280 BC. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was constructed to celebrate the successful defence of Rhodes city against an attack by Demetrius Poliorcetes, who had besieged it for a year with a large army and navy. According to most contemporary descriptions, the Colossus stood approximately 70 cubits, or 33 m (108 ft) high making it the tallest statue in the ancient world. It collapsed during the earthquake of 226 BC.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Greek islands.
Skyros.
Fifth stamp in a set of 10, issued on 14.10.2010.
Face value: 0.50 euro.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 4,900,000 copies.
Size: 42 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Karamitsos No. 2624.
- Michel No. 2576A.
- Scott No. 2453.
- StampWorld No. 2551.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2615.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2538.

Skyros (Greek: Σκύρος), is southernmost island of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. At 209 km² (81 sq mi) it is the largest island of the Sporades, and has a population of about 3,000 (in 2011). It is part of the regional unit of Euboea. The north of the island is covered by a forest, while the south, dominated by the highest mountain, called Kochila (792 m, 2,598 ft), is bare and rocky. The island's capital is also called Skyros (or, locally, Chora). The main port, on the west coast, is Linaria. The island has a castle (the kastro) that dates from the Venetian occupation (13th to 15th centuries), a Byzantine monastery (the Monastery of Saint George), the grave of English poet Rupert Brooke in an olive grove by the road leading to Tris Boukes harbour. There are many beaches on the coast.

TURKEY

TURKEY / TÜRKİYE (Ottoman Empire).

Definitive stamps.
Map of Dardanelles Strait.
Sixth stamp in a set of 8, issued on 11.10.1917.
Face value: 50 Ottoman para.
Printed: Typography.
(Printed in Vienna.)

Catalogs
- Michel No. 634.
- Scott No. 428.
- StampWorld No. 649.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 921.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 577.

The Dardanelles Strait (in Turkish, Çanakkale Boğazı), the Hellespont (Ἑλλήσποντος) of classical Greece, is a strait located in Turkey, between the Gallipoli peninsula (in Turkish, Gelibolu) and Anatolia. It connects the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It measures 61 km (37.90 mi) in length, between 1.6 and 6.5 km (99.4 and 4 mi) wide, and has an average depth of about 50 m (164 ft). Historically, it has had a strategic role since ancient times. In 1915, during the First World War, the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles took place there, during which British, French, Australian and New Zealand troops tried, without success, to wrest control of the strait from the Ottoman Empire.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Return of the Dodecanese Islands to Greece.
Map of Kasos Island and ship.
Sixth stamp in a set of 13, issued on 05.11.1950.
Face value: 800 Greek drachma.
Printing: Offset litography.
Print: 16,000,000 copies.
Size: 37 x 27 mm.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 584.
- Karamitsos No. 693.
- Michel No. 568.
- Scott No. 530.
- StampWorld No. 550.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 673.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 560C.

The Dodecanese (in Greek, Δωδεκάνησα) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey. Kasos (Κάσος), 49 km² (19 sq mi), is the southernmost island of the group and the closest to the island of Crete.

In 1522, the Dodecanese came under the Ottoman Empire. When Greece proclaimed its independence, in 1822, the incorporation of the islands was foreseen, but the London Protocol of February 3, 1830 left them outside the new Kingdom. Kasos stood out especially in his attempt to free himself from Turkish rule, but in 1824 it was destroyed by the Egyptian Ottomans (the stamp recalls that episode). In 1912 the entire Dodecanese was occupied by Italy, which officially annexed it after the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). On May 8, 1945, after the defeat of the Axis in World War II, the islands became a British military protectorate, and by the Paris Peace Treaties, on September 15, 1947 they were permanently incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

9th anniversary of Battle of Crete.
Simplified map of Crete.
Flags of Greece, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and King George II.
Stamp issued on 29.04.1950.
Face value: 1000 Greec drachma.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 4,800,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Karamitsos No. 706.
- Michel No. 576.
- Scott No. 523.
- StampWorld No. 558.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 686.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 570.

During World War II, after the Italian attack on Greece (October 28, 1940), Crete was occupied by allied troops in support of the Greeks to avoid the occupation of the island. However, on April 27, 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of Crete through an operation carried out by airborne troops, in which 700 transport planes and 750 gliders participated, in addition to 4,500 paratroopers that took less than two weeks to occupy it. The Allies, with troops from Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand in support of the Greeks, and with massive participation of Cretan civilians, faced the Axis forces unsuccessfully in a bloody battle that lasted from May 20 to June 1. Hitler's strategic victory allowed the occupation of the island, which remained in the hands of the Germans until their garrison capitulated in May 1945.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Corinth Canal (Διώρυγα της Κορίνθου).
Stamp issued on 01.04.1927.
Face value: 5 lepta.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 304.
- StampWorld No. 283.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 348.

The Corinth Canal is a sea lane that connects the Aegean Sea with the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea. Designed by Ferdinand de Lesseps, it was built between 1881 and 1893 under the direction of the Hungarian engineer István Türr. It was inaugurated on November 9, 1893. It is 6,343 km (4 mi) long, 21.4 m (70 ft) wide, and 8 m (25 ft) deep. It is dug at sea level, so it does not require locks. It is limited by the fact that, due to its width, they can only traverse relatively small ships, and not large modern cargo ships, which is why, at present, they mainly sail tourist ships. The idea of opening a canal on the Isthmus of Corinth comes from ancient times: as early as the 7th century BC. the tyrant Periandro thought of executing a similar work but failed due to technical difficulties, insurmountable at that time.

GREECE

GREECE / ΕΛΛΑΣ.

Stylized map on Greece.
Introduction of postcode.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 14.03.1983.
Face value: 15 drachmas.
Print: 6,000,000 copies.
Size: 37.8 x 20.3 mm.

Catalogues
- StampWorld No. 1493.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1489.