General News
Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
MYSTRAS, Greece – The official opening of the new 5-star Mystras Grand Palace Resort & Spa took place on May 28 in the presence of President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, the Metropolitan of Monemvasia and Sparta Efstathios, Metropolitan of Mani Chrysostomos, and the owners Dimitrios and Georgia Kaloidis.
The inauguration of the hotel was honored with the presence of officials from the state and the military, from the business world, and those from every corner of Laconia.
Among them were: the President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus Demetris Syllouris, the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Panagiotis Kouroumblis, the former President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias, the Ambassador of Cyprus to Spain Koula Sophianou, the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Marianna Vardinoyannis, MPs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Athanasios Davakis, Stavros Arachovitis, and Leonidas Grigorakos.
In addition, Peloponnese Regional Governor Petros Tatoulis, Deputy Regional Governor of Lakonia Dia Tzanetea, General Secretary of Coordination of the Ministry of Interior Tzanetos Filippakos, Sparti Mayor Evangelos Valiotis, Mayor of Skala Dimitrios Verdos, Mayor East Mani Petros Andreakos, Mayor of Kalamata Panagiotis Nikas, Chief of Greek Police Konstantinos Tsouvalas, Chief of Police Force of Cyprus Zacharias Chrysostomou, Police Commander of Sparta Ilias Axiotopoulos, Fire Brigade Commander of Sparta Athanasios Kolyviras, the KEEM Brigadier Iordanis Hatzinikolaou, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Panagiotis Skandalakis, the former MPs Grigori Apostolakos and Fevronia Patrianakou, Sparta Security Commander Zachos Agraniotis, former New Democracy Director Menelaos Daskalakis, and the media attended by Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers President Maria Antoniadou, Mr. M. Ignatiou, Mr. I. Skalkos, Mr. G. Harvalias, Mr. Ath. Ellis, Mr. F. Papathanassiou, Mr. P. Sourelis, and Mrs. A. Agatsa.
Following the blessing and the cutting of the ribbon by the resort’s owners Dimitrios and Georgia Kaloidis, President Pavlopoulos praised the initiative of the couple to create in Mystras such an important infrastructure that had been missing from tourism in the region.
Pavlopoulos noted in particular that the owners’ goal, in the construction of the hotel complex, is to contribute to their birthplace of Laconia and for this reason so many important personalities attended the inauguration. In a difficult economic climate for Greece, Mr. and Mrs. Kaloidis have created an amazing hotel infrastructure offering jobs to dozens of people in the area.
Pavlopoulos mentioned the significance of Mystras as the center of memory for the Byzantine Empire that preserved the tradition of ancient Greek civilization and contributed substantially to the Renaissance and thus to the creation of Western civilization by offering values ??such as love and solidarity, peace and, above all, social justice.
Finally, Pavlopoulos wished all the best for the newly built hotel as well as health to the owners and staff.
Georgia Kaloidis, visibly moved, thanked the prominent personalities from the political, ecclesiastical, and business worlds as well as the ordinary citizens who attended the inauguration of the Mystras Grand Palace Resort & Spa.
Mrs. Kaloidis said that for many years, along with her husband, Dimitrios, their main concern was philanthropy. For this reason, they have helped finance the creation of many schools, hospitals, charitable foundations, ecclesiastical institutions, etc. in the United States, Greece, and Cyprus.
Their dream was to create an infrastructure in their homeland, with the main purpose of helping the local community financially. For this reason, they chose to build the Mystras Grand Palace Resort & Spa where more than eighty people are employed today with a permanent job status. For the project, she said that in the near future expansion work will begin to more than double the number of rooms, while offering work to several more of our fellow citizens.
During the official lunch at the resort’s main reception hall, President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, Archbishop Demetrios, Metropolitan Efstathios, Minister Panagiotis Kouroumblis, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mystras Grand Palace Resort & Spa Panikos Papanikolaou all expressed their best wishes for success, as well as good health and strength from God for Mr. and Mrs. Kaloidis to continue their efforts and their contributions.
During the reception in the gardens by the pool of the hotel, the guests had the opportunity to tour the facility, which apart from the impressive rooms includes two restaurants, a banquet hall, a wine bar, four tennis courts, two swimming pools, a spa, a cafe, shops with local products, and a hair salon. It is noted that the Mystras Grand Palace Resort & Spa is the first 5-star hotel in Laconia.
The presentation of the event was organized by Zeta Makrypoulias.
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
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