Messinia: 750 Italian students in ancient Messini

More than 750 Italian high school students took part in a guided tour yesterday morning on the site of ancient Messini, as part of the collaboration of Diazoma with the Italian cultural association “Festival of Philosophy in Magna Graecia” (FFMG – Festival della Filosofia de Magna Grecia).

The visit – which will be repeated this Thursday for another 750 Italian students and 30 students from Amsterdam, Netherlands – includes experiential cultural and educational events designed by the scientific team of the FFMG.

15 students from the 4th Kalamata High School – which participates in the Diazoma educational project “Students Guide Students in Ancient Theaters” –  guided their Italian classmates in English. The director of the 4th Kalamata High School, Vassiliki Pantazi, was coordinating the project.

The festival is organized for the 5th consecutive year in Greece. Last year, 1,500 Italian high school students were also  guided through ancient Messini by students from the 4th Kalamata High School.

Giusepina Russo, president of the cultural association “Festival of Philosophy in Magnae Grecia”, said in an interview with the e-newspaper “E” that the objective of the visits to the archaeological sites of Athens, Corinth, Epidaurus, Delphi, Messini and Loutraki between March 14 and 25 was that students become acquainted with ancient Greek philosophy and form strong bonds of friendship with Greece. The Festival of Philosophy seeks to “combine cultural action with reality on the ground through the discovery and use of the space in which it takes place” in order to transmit to the students the spirit of the place (genius loci) and contribute to the spreading of Western philosophy.

The program on the site of ancient Messini is conducted in collaboration with the Ephorate of antiquities of Messinia.