GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Edessa Waterfalls (Καταρράκτες Έδεσσας).
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 04.07.1988.
Face value: 60 Greek drachma.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 700,000 copies.

Catalogs
- Karamitsos No. 1801.
- Michel No. 1693A.
- Scott No. 1629.
- StampWorld No. 1675.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1792A.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1676A.

The Edessa or Edessis Waterfalls (Greek: Καταρράκτες Έδεσσας) are located in Edessa city (Central Macedonia), inside the Waterfall Geopark. The falls are a natural phenomenon that arose after a strong earthquake that struck the surrounding area in the 14th century. Since then, many changes have taken place in their morphology due to earthquakes of smaller scale. The main source of these waterfalls is the wetland of Agra-Nissiou, from which flows the main river, Edessaios. At the end of the 19th century several factories were built on the rock of the city as waterfalls could be used to produce electricity. Altogether, five large textile factories and several labs and tanneries were erected. The waterfalls are an interesting tourist attraction.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Plastira Lake and Martagon lily (Lilium martagon).
Sixth stamp in a set of 8, issued on 27.06.2001.
Face value: 200 Greek drachma / 0.59 euro.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 26,000,000 copies.
Size: 38 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2091.
- Karamitsos No. 2163.
- Michel No. 2076.
- Scott No. 1998.
- StampWorld No. 2058.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2163.
- Unificato No. 2054.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2063.

Lake Plastiras (Greek: Λίμνη Πλαστήρα) also called Tavropos Reservoir (Greek: Τεχνητή Λίμνη Ταυρωπού) is an artificial lake fed by Megdovas river, located in Karditsa regional unit (Thessaly). It is named after the Greek general and politician Nikolaos Plastiras, who was the first to visualize the construction of an artificial lake in the area. The building of the dam started on December 14, 1955, and on October 30, 1960 it was officially inaugurated. The surface área of the lake is 24 km2 (9.3 sq mi). It is used for irrigation and as a power source of a hydroelectric plant, but also as the main water source to the city of Karditsa.

The martagon Lily or Turk's cap Lily (Lilium martagon), is a Eurasian species of lily. It has a widespread native region extending from Portugal east through Europe and Asia as far east as Mongolia. It is stem-rooting, growing between 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) and 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall. The flower colour is typically a pink-purple, with dark spots, but is quite variable, extending from near white to near black. The flowers are scented.

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.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Greek Islands.
Kefalonia.
Eight stamp in a set of 10, issued on 16.06.2006.
Face value: 85 Euro cents.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 160,000 copies.
Size: 41 x 25 mm.

Catalogs
- Karamitsos No. 2436A.
- Michel No. 2379C.
- Scott No. 2268A.
- StampWorld No. 2355.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2410B.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2347B.

Kefalonia or Cephalonia (Greek: Κεφαλλονιά) is the largest of the Ionian Islands and the 6th largest island in Greece. The island’s total area is 786.58 km² (303.70 sq mi). Its capital city is Argostoli. In 1864, Kefalonia, together with all the other Ionian Islands, became a full member of the Greek state. Important natural features include Melissani Lake and the Drogarati caves. The island's highest mountain is Mount Ainos, with an elevation of 1,628 m (5,341 ft). The island has a rich biodiversity, with a substantial number of endemic and rare species. Some areas have been declared a site in the European Union's Natura 2000 network. Olive oil production is a major component of Kefalonia's economy.

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.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

100 Years from Mount Olympus First Ascent.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 19.07.2013.
Face value: 0,10 euro.
Printing: Offset typography and hot stamping.
Print: 1,000,000 copies.
Size: 40.5 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- Karamitsos No. 2764.
- Michel No. 2722.
- Scott No. 2582.
- StampWorld No. 2678.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2782.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2669.

Olympus or Mount Olympus (in Greek: Όλυμπος) is the highest mountain in Greece and the second of the Balkan Peninsula (after Musala, in Bulgaria), with 2,918 m (9,573 ft) of altitude. Located between the Greek regions of Thessaly and Macedonia, it has been a Greek nature reserve since 1938 and a natural heritage of the European Union since 1981, in its category of biosphere reserve. The first documented ascent is that of the expedition of Christos Kakkalos, Frédéric Boissonnas and Daniel Baud-Bovy on August 2, 1913.

For Greek mythology, Olympus was the home of the Olympians (Olympian gods), the main gods of the Greek pantheon, presided over by Zeus. The ancient Greeks believed that on the summits of the mountain there were built glass mansions in which the gods dwelt.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Landscapes.
The Samaria Gorge, Crete.
Ninth stamp in a set of 15, issued on 15.12.1979.
Face value: 10 Greek drachma.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 26,000,000 copies.
Size: 26 x 37 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1413.
- Karamitsos No. 1511.
- Michel No. 1395.
- Scott No. 1336.
- StampWorld No. 1377.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1498.
- Unificato No. 1373.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1373.

The Samaria Gorge (Greek: Φαράγγι Σαμαριάς) is a National Park of Greece since 1962 on the island of Crete and a World's Biosphere Reserve. The gorge is in southwest Crete in the regional unit of Chania (Χανιά). It was created by a small river running between the White Mountains (Λευκά Όρη) and Mount Volakias (Βολακιας). The gorge is 16 km (9.94 mi) long, begins at an altitude of 1,250 m (4,101 ft) at the northern entrance and ends on the shores of the Libyan Sea at Agia Roumeli (Αγιά Ρουμέλη). The most famous part of the gorge (represented on the stamp) is the stretch known as the Gates (Πόρτες), where the sides of the gorge close to a width of only four meters and rise to a height of almost 300 m (980 ft).

CASTELLORIZO

CASTELLORIZO / CASTELROSSO / ΜΕΓΊΣΤΗ (Italian occupation).

2nd anniversary of the Italian occupation.
Map os the island and Italian flag.
Second stamp in a set of 5, issued in 03.1923.
Facial value: 10 cents of Italian lira.
Printing: Typography.
Print: 100,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 24 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 11.
- Sassone No. 11.
- Scott No. 61.
- StampWorld No. 11.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 11.
- Unificato No. 11.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 11.

Castellorizo or Kastellorizo (in Greek, Καστελλόριζο, officially Μεγίστη; in Italian, Castelrosso; in Turkish, Meis or Kızılhisar), with the smaller islands of Ro (Ρω) and Strongyli (Στρογγυλή), is a Greek island and municipality of Dodecanese, in the Eastern Mediterranean, 2 km (1 mi) off the south coast of Turkey, about 125 km (72 nautical miles) east of Rhodes Island. Disputed and occupied throughout history by Greeks, Byzantines, Turks, Egyptians, Aragonese, Venetians, French, Italians and British, in 1920 the Treaty of Sèvres assigned the island to Italy, which occupied it from 1921 until September 10, 1943, when the Italian troops capitulated and the island was in the hands of British, who evacuated the entire population (about 1,000 people) to Gaza. On March 7, 1948, by the Paris Peace Treaties signed in February 1947, the island was definitively under the administration of Greece, together with all the Dodecanese islands, and was assigned to the peripheral unit of Rhodes. According to the 2011 census, the island's population was 492 inhabitants.

-
Thanks to Vairo Gregori for his contribution (https://ternifil.org/). 

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.

Prefecture capitals.
Karpenisi (Evritania) and Mount Tymfristos.
Sixth stamp in a set of 12, issued on 12.10.1992.
Face value: 60 Greek drachma.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 24,400,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 25 mm.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 1832A.
- Karamitsos No. 1921A.
- Michel No. 1817C.
- Scott No. 1654A.
- StampWorld No. 1799.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1916B.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1805B.

Karpenisi (in Greek, Καρπενήσι) is a town in central Greece, capital of the regional unit of Evrytania. It is located at an altitude of 975 m (3,200 ft), in the valley of the river Karpenisiotis (Καρπενησιώτης), a tributary of the Megdovas. The Mount Tymfristos (Τυμφρηστός), 2,315 m (7,595 ft), which rises north of the city, is part of the Pindus Mountains. In the area are the best ski slopes in Greece.

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Centennial of Independence, 1830-1930.
Historical map of Greece.
Twelfth stamp in a set of 18, issued on 01.04.1930.
Face value: 4 Greek drachma.
Print: 4,868,336 copies.
Printing: Recess.
Printed by Bradbury, Dickinson & Co. Ltd., London.

Catalogues
- Karamitsos No. 502.
- Michel No. 338.
- Scott No. 359.
- StampWorld No. 317.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 444.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 386.

In 1814, a patriotic society was founded in Odessa (in present-day Ukraine) made up of Greeks willing to fight for the independence of their country, subjected to the Ottoman Empire. It was called Philiki Etairia (Φιλική Εταιρεία, “Friendly Brotherhood”) and it was the beginning of the rebellion that in March 1821 lit the fuse of the Greek war of independence, which in 1829 forced the Ottomans, under military pressure from Russia, to sign the Treaty of Adrianople, by which Greece obtained its autonomy, the first step towards independence from the Kingdom of Greece (central Greece), finally recognized by the London Protocol of February 3, 1830. The independence of the entire territory of the Present-day Greece, however, did not arrive until after the First World War, by the Treaty of Versailles (June 29, 1918), after the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Part of that territory (like the island of Crete, for example) would not be permanently integrated into the kingdom until 1945.

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.

Katarraktis (Καταρράκτης) waterfall (87 m / 285 ft), in the Tzumerka mountains.
First stamp in a set of 3, issued on 04.07.1988.
Face value: 10 Greec drachma. 
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 700,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Karamitsos No. 1800.
- Michel No. 1692.
- StampWorld No. 1674.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1791a.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1675.

At the roots of the Athamanika Mountain peaks there are two impressive twin waterfalls, near the village of Kryopigi, which belongs to the village of Katarraktis on the western slopes of Tzoumerka. The earliest name of the village of Katarraktis, until 1927, was Shoretsena. They are at an altitude of 1,360 meters and are among the highest waterfalls in Greece.

The northern waterfall is more fast-flowing and has a height of 87 m, while the southern one reaches 100 m. On top of them stand the northwest ridges of Tzoumerka, thus creating a magnificent scenery. The waters of the mountain end after a series of steep drops of about 10 kilometers in the course of the Arachthos River.

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.