Geography of Greece

It's pure rocket science, and residents of this Greek island village love it.

While church bells ring in Orthodox Easter, thousands of homemade rockets streak across the night sky of the Aegean island of Chios as rival Vrontados parishioners target each other's church towers in a traditional, once-a-year mock war.

Aegean islands are in danger of being without police over the summer months. Popular destinations such as Mykonos, Santorini, Paros and others are urgently seeking personnel to cover their needs over the summer months as permanent staff is not enough.

Scrawled on the homes of the village of Megali Panagia in northern Greece are slogans emblematic of the deep rift caused in this society by a controversial Canadian gold mining project.

"Goldmines are a curse for every nation," reads one -- others are more profane.

Extra ferry journeys for passengers over the Orthodox Easter break were added on Holy Saturday. Coast Guards were stationed at all departure points at Piraeus port to help those wanting to travel after the bad weather prevented ferry travel over the last two days.

Crete's highlands will celebrate Orthodox Easter in the finest ? white, as the mountains on the large Greek island are covered in snow!

Residents in Lasithi prefecture's famed plateau say the last time it snowed in April was 20 years ago, with the temperature on Thursday reaching minus 3C.

Strong winds caused the cancellation of a number of ferry services on Thursday and passengers are advised to call ahead to check regarding departures over the Easter weekend.

A total of 17,828 passengers traveled from Piraeus port on Wednesday, almost a thousand more than during the same day of Holy Week last year.

Heavy rain, low temperatures, strong winds and snowfall in mountainous areas were being observed across Greece on Thursday, as the country prepared for the Greek Orthodox Easter weekend.

Eight out of the 16 cities in a Daily Telegraph travel piece entitled “Europe’s oldest cities” are in Greece, including Athens, Argos, Hania, Halkida, Mytilene, Patras, Thebes and Trikala. One entry was Larnaca, on Cyprus.

Each of the entries are accompanied by a photo of the city.

Two youths believed to be members of a criminal racket behind the violent mugging of a number of Athens taxi drivers over the past six months were to face a prosecutor on Wednesday as police sought another two suspected accomplices.

The two suspects, aged 16 and 19, are both members of the Roma community, according to police.

Police have have redoubled their efforts to trace Spyros Dravilas, a 34-year-old being sought in connection with armed robberies involving jailed Revolutionary Struggle leader Nikos Maziotis, after an investigation pointed to Dravilas?s involvement in a heist last Thursday on a bank branch in the small town of Farkadona, near Trikala, central Greece.