The Enchanted\u2019 are here. They have returned to Thessaloniki, their birthplace, after 151 years. The replicas of the renowned \u2018Enchanted\u2019 are now at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, while preparations of the venue where they will be exhibited during the anniversary 80th TIF event \u2013 at no extra charge for visitors \u2013 is fully underway.<\/p>\n
After 14 months of efforts, contacts and negotiations, TIF-HELEXPO managed to complete a very special mission: to welcome \u2018The Enchanted\u2019 to Thessaloniki, so as to offer them to the visitors to the 80th TIF event and the city.<\/p>\n
The four sculptures, the so-called \u201cCaryatids\u201d of Thessaloniki, will decorate Pavilion 3; once an agreement has been reached with the State \u2013 in \u00a0cooperation with local bodies \u2013 the national exhibition agency will donate the sculptures to the city. \u2018The Enchanted\u2019 and their legend are an integral link of the history and glorious past of Thessaloniki in line with the city\u2019s current prospects and the role it has been called upon to play. Against this background, TIF becomes the web connecting past and present, while mapping the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Significant contributions to the success of TIF-HELEXPO\u2019s efforts were those made by the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, while an active financial role in acquiring them was undertaken by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki Port Authority Company (THPA S.A.) and the Water and Sewerage of Thessaloniki SA (EYATH S.A.).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The close relationship of TIF-HELEXPO with culture was underlined at today\u2019s Press Conference by the company President, Mr. Tasos Tzikas, who explained that the exhibition agency had observed previous efforts to bring \u2018The Enchanted\u2019 back to town and wanted, in turn, to contribute to the ambitious venture. Besides, given last year\u2019s high number of visitors to the 79th TIF event, the company was looking for a way to make this year\u2019s anniversary event even more attractive. \u201cThe city is proving that when we all join forces, we can achieve great things\u201d, the President stressed, referring to the partnership of the participating bodies\/agencies in the efforts for this common goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
TIF-HELEXPO CEO Kyriakos Pozrikidis characterized this day as a moving occasion, stressing that the Fair is returning the people\u2019s love as a \u201cdividend of joy\u201d for the city. He also added that the national exhibition agency maintains its tradition of cultural contribution, referring \u2013indicatively- to Zongolopoulos\u2019 sculpture at the Fair entrance, which is one of TIF-HELEXPO\u2019s assets. \u201cIt has not been an easy process and it required incredible coordination between various bodies in Greece and abroad, but we made it\u201d, noted Mr. Pozrikidis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The great satisfaction of the Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities of Thessaloniki for the \u201cbirth\u201d of an idea that has been \u201cin gestation\u201d for years, was expressed by the agency\u2019s Deputy Head Stamatis Chondrogiannis. \u201cThis monument helps us connect the present, who we are today, with the city\u2019s history\u201d, he said, underlining that we are lucky the present TIF-HELEXPO Board made this vision come true.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In turn, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris, pointed out that the Fair has proven it is not just a commercial and financial event, but that it also supports cultural events illustrating how important it is to the city. He also expressed his joy that, at last, as he said, \u2018The Enchanted\u2019 have returned to Thessaloniki.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Actions such as this promote small parts of our history, according to President and CEO of EYATH, Mr. Nikos Papadakis, who stressed that the company could not but support an effort to restore some of Thessaloniki\u2019s glamour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On his part, the President of THPA S.A., Mr. Ioannis Pantis, announced that the port is \u201cadopting\u201d one of \u2018The Enchanted\u2019 and that when the company was asked for its financial support to the venture, there was not a moment of hesitation, while he characterized the return of the statues an event of significant importance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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31\/08\/2015 – 11:54<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Enchanted\u2019 are here. They have returned to Thessaloniki, their birthplace, after 151 years. The replicas of the renowned \u2018Enchanted\u2019 are now at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, while preparations of the venue where they will be exhibited during the anniversary 80th TIF event \u2013 at no extra charge for visitors \u2013 is fully underway. … Read More “PRESS CONFERENCE "THE ENCHANTED"”<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1323],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helexpo.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}