Two parks in Bologna renamed after Greek poets

Greek poets George Seferis and Dionysios Solomos were honoured in the Italian city of Bologna by having parks named after them,

The special ceremony was attended by the Greek Secretary General of the Hellenes Abroad and Public Diplomacy.

"Greece and Italy maintain long-standing cultural interaction relations that are well established with mutual exchanges of cultural goods and authentic experiences of transnational friendship and cultural cooperation," said Giannis Chrysoulakis.

He also stressed that the General Secretariat of Hellenes Abroad and Public Diplomacy promotes and supports actions aimed at strengthening our cultural relations with other countries, as in this case with Italy.

In this context, he added, the friendly city of Bologna and its elected mayor, decided, two of its parks to be named after two Greek citizens.

The parks of ​​San Donato - San Vitale of the Municipality of Bologna, renamed after the Greek poets, will be places that connects Greece with Italy.

Chrysoulakis congratulated the Greek community Emilia-Romana for its contribution to this initiative and thanked the Italian authorities for this honourable recognition.

He emphasised that the naming ceremony is an example of promoting philanthropy all over Europe.

Dionysios Solomos is the national poet of Greece – not only because he wrote the Greek anthem, but also because he contributed to the preservation of earlier poetic tradition and highlighted its usefulness to modern literature.

George Seferis was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, a Nobel laureate and a career diplomat in the Greek Foreign Service.

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