By Zois Marinos
MONTREAL – It is, perhaps, the only place in the whole world – outside of Greece – adorned by three different Greek monuments in about one kilometer (less than 2/3 of a mile).
The uniqueness of Jean Talon Street in Montreal was reinforced after the unveiling of the Sculpture of the Greek Immigrant on June 30, the third in a series of Greek monuments in the Park Extension.
“As far as I know, there is no other place abroad which, within a few hundred meters, hosts three Greek sculptures,” says journalist and writer Justin Frangoulis – Argyris, secretary of the Montréal branch of the Greek Lyceum. This shows the temporal influence of Hellenism, a self-evident conclusion, but it is always useful to point it out.
The National Herald on July 6 made a small survey among expatriates in the shops, parks, and streets of Park Extension. The area was once an emblematic district for the Greeks of Montreal. And it remains, though, with less Greek population, as a large part of the Greeks have moved over the last decades mainly to the Laval region.
Most are surprised by the finding.
“I know the statue of Athena and the Greek Immigrant,” says programmer Stelios Papanikolaou, 47, from Kalamata. While Eleni Alexopoulou, 55, from Preveza, an employee in a laundry room, was the only one surveyed who knew about the sculpture devoted to the Olympic ideals. “But I did not combine them. Yes, three Greek monuments on the same street, one close to the other… It seems almost unbelievable,” she told TNH.
The three monuments are:
At the corner of Jean Talon and Park Avenue, the Sculpture of the Greek Immigrant, the work of Professor Giorgos Houliaras. The unveiling of the monument took place on June 30, with Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.
The statue of the goddess Athena, made of granite, located in the center of the homonymous park, on Jean Talon and Bloemfield Street. Project by Spyros Gokakis. Travel guides in the province of Quebec describe the statue as one of the 20 best sculptures in the city of Montreal.
Finally, the sculpture dedicated to the Olympic ideals, in the small park Gaia at Jean Talon and Rockland Street.
The work bears the signature of Praxiteles Tzanoulinos and, on the base – in Greek – it is “dedicated to the Olympic ideals, a donation of citizens of Greek origin to the municipality of the town of Mount Royal.” It was unveiled on July 15, 2014 and is made of stainless steel. It has a diameter of 1.4 meters and was donated by the families of Paul and Melpo Kamateros, Nicholas Tsatas, Jimmy Christopoulos and Nikolaos Arkolakis. It was unveiled during the days of Thanos Kafopoulos as the General Consul of Greece in Montreal. The spot was not chosen accidentally as the small park bears the name of the goddess Gaia, from which, according to Greek mythology, the Earth originated.
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