On October 9, in the port of Piraeus (Athens, Greece) on board the “Standart” sailing frigate, the international historical and educational expedition “Flame of Chesma” was launched.
Greek Gambit “, organized by the Kostroma regional branch of the All-Russian public organization” Russian Geographical Society “(RGO), the Department of Expeditionary Activities of the Russian Geographical Society and the film company” SKYFIRST “. and the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic.
View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://rua.gr/news/news/44210-plamya-chesmy-grecheskij-gambit.html#sigProId5ea0cd1816
The expedition, which includes historians, UNESCO experts on underwater cultural heritage, art historians, schoolchildren and students from the Kostroma region, will visit the islands of the Aegean Sea, connected with the history of the First Archipelago Expedition of the Russian Imperial Fleet in 1770, for two weeks – from October 8 to 24 -1774 A two-part documentary will be filmed at the locations where the warships are based and destroyed, to be shown on Russian and Greek television. Photo exhibitions, concerts, the installation of memorial plaques on the island of Paros dedicated to the military glory of the Russian fleet are planned.
The right thing to do
On the eve of the official start of the expedition, it was cool and rainy in Athens, but early in the morning of the ninth, a rainbow spread across the entire Greek sky and a dazzling sun was shining. Good sign. According to Roman Ryabintsev, the head of the expedition, the head of the Kostroma branch of the Russian Geographical Society, the preparation of the project took two long years, given the situation with the pandemic, but “we are doing a good, right thing, and therefore we ended up here. We would like to thank the representatives of our embassy who helped us in this – they, like guardian angels, took care of us, contributed to the solution of numerous issues; and the captain of the frigate Shtandart, who supported us and provided a wonderful opportunity to organize an expedition on this ship. “
Unique story
Alexey Nikulin, director of the SKYFIRST film company, scientific leader of the expedition, has been researching the existence of the Archipelago province in the Cyclades at the end of the eighteenth century for more than twelve years. He is deeply convinced that “these events had the most radical effect on the fate of both Greece and Russia. Unlike many stories of 250 years or more, which are not very cinematic, this story is unique in that many artifacts, witnesses of those events – Russian icons, pictures of Russian sailors in church books, sunken ships, anchors and cannons – all this still exists in the Cyclades archipelago. And it would be extremely wrong not to make a film about it. Therefore, we are planning to make a two-part documentary in the genre of adventure. will have an educational and educational component. It is important that we will do this on the frigate Shtandart with the participation of its permanent captain. “
A number of interesting facts about Russian ships and sailors were cited by Alexei Nikulin after the official part of the event: “The ships sailed in the Baltic for decades, but when they got here, they quickly turned into dust and disappeared in six to seven years. In addition, most of the sailors of the expedition did not were sailors. All the sailors were recruits from the hinterland of Russia, who had never seen the sea. The climate here is very difficult, unusual for the Russians, and it negatively affected health, therefore they were persecuted by epidemics. Sometimes people died in hundreds. I will cite the example of the Shlisselburg regiment, which in within three months lost nine hundred people. There was no black – the usual – bread, which also caused problems. The separation from families had a negative effect on health and psychological state. These people were sailing around Europe for almost a year, it was an incredibly difficult voyage. But despite no matter what, they managed to defeat a very strong enemy in the battle of Chesme. in me, first of all, it causes admiration and surprise. ”
View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://rua.gr/news/news/44210-plamya-chesmy-grecheskij-gambit.html#sigProId4159c35a16
Legendary “Standard”
Vladimir Martus, captain of the Shtandart sailing frigate, noted the symbolism of what is happening: “We are conducting this expedition on an exact copy of the Peter’s frigate dating back to 1703. The ships we will talk about were no different from the ship you are on now. “Shtandart” was built by the hands of volunteers out of love for such interesting unusual things. We have been building it for six years, and for more than twenty years it has been giving the positive energy invested in it, this human love, to those on board. And I am sure that both the ship and all the members of the expedition will also give this love and positive energy to those islands to which we will head for the next two weeks. I would like to express my colossal respect for the Greek sailors, navigators, navigators. Maybe not all they know, but in Magellan’s expedition a Greek was the chief navigator. ” The captain invited everyone who sees the frigate near their islands to climb on its deck – to visit the “Standard” as a maritime museum or to join the voyage as a sailor-trainee.
Vladimir Martus gave an excursion around the ship, and, in particular, talked about the difficulties that sailors face in the waters of the Mediterranean: “Greece has very great depths, so you can’t drop anchor where you want. close to the ground, you need to be sure that there are no reefs in this place. The weather is changeable, changing very quickly – just now the wind was in one direction, and after half an hour it was already on the other side. For the sailing fleet, very difficult conditions. good local knowledge. One must have great skill. “
Youth raise the flag
For the first time, young researchers – Kostroma schoolchildren and students who won the competition and received training – take part in the expedition. Evgeny Smirnov, head of the youth club of the Kostroma branch of the Russian Geographical Society, said that more than 300 applications were submitted for the competition, which was held in two stages, and the best of the best won. One of them, Nikita Abakumov, was entrusted with an honorable mission to raise the flag of the expedition. The link between times and generations continues.
View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://rua.gr/news/news/44210-plamya-chesmy-grecheskij-gambit.html#sigProId5270bbba10
Token of appreciation
In gratitude for the help and support, the organizers of the expedition presented honorary medals (a copy of the medal “In memory of the burning of the Turkish fleet at Chesme”, which was established in honor of the victory in the Battle of Chesme by Catherine II) to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Greece Andrei Maslov and humanitarian cooperation of the embassy to Fyodor Kalaydov.
In conclusion, it should also be noted that the exhibition “Peoples of Russia” is being held as part of the expedition, which presents the works of the winners and finalists of the photography contest of the Russian Geographical Society “The Most Beautiful Country” of different years.
Photo by the author
More Stories
Lordi: this is what they look like today "freaks"winners of Eurovision in 2006
During the restoration of the Hagia Sophia, the minaret was demolished
Greek Air Force parade: fighter jets and helicopters fly over Athens