Aristotle's Park

The Aristotle's Park, a unique theme park of Halkidiki, is located at an altitude of about 500 meters, in the historical village of Stagira, beside the remains of Machalas, the capital of Mademochoria. It is worth visiting for its interesting instruments and the great view to the gulf of Ierissos. The park preexisted and the wonderful location was chosen in 1956 to host the statue of Aristotle, made by sculptor Nicholas, in honor of the great philosopher who was born in Ancient Stagira.

The unique interactive instruments were placed there in 2003 by the Municipal Corporation of Stagira-Akanthos. They are experimental instruments, operating by rules of physics that are mentioned in Aristotle’s textbooks and especially in the one called “The Naturals”. With this addition, the park has become a favorite destination for every visitor and school, since it combines recreation, entertainment and education. It is estimated that has more than 15.000 visitors during the summer. The tower of Madem Agas is also located there, with the house that was the administrative center of Sidirokafsia mines.

THE EXPERIMENTAL INSTRUMENTS

• Compass: It is placed in front of the statue of Aristotle and symbolizes that his philosophy has reached every part of the world, and is a starting point of modern worldwide scientific thought, and belongs to humanity. It displays the direction and distance of the most famous cities in the world, in relation to the park.
• Telescope: Using the modern telescopes placed in specific spots, the visitor can focus on and enjoy details of the fantastic view to the Ierissos gulf and to the Athonite peninsula.
• Prism: The white sunlight passes through the special prism and the famous “colors of the rainbow” are analyzed due to the different speeds of each individual radiation, since each different wavelengthed radiation exits through a different angle.
• Sun clock: The large, horizontal sun clock shows the exact time of the place you are. There is a difference of 1 hour and 25 minutes to the current time during summer and 25 minutes difference during winter. The curved lines on the plate of the clock are for the identification of the current month.
• Lens: The sign next to the lens informs us that every photon, i.e. every minimum amount of light, has little energy by itself, but when every one is concentrated in one spot then that energy becomes greater.
• Pentaphone: It consists of five large pieces of granite that have been calculated to produce a sound of different frequency, a different note. These five notes sound according to the pentaphone ancient scale.
• Optical discs: Experimenting with the optical discs, you will find that when the images pass in front of our visual field with great speed, the human eye does not understand them as different, but it creates a continuous visual whole as if we are watching a movie. This happens because the impression of the image lasts for 1/16 of a second on the optical nerve due to inertia. This quality of the eye is called persistence of vision. Cinema actually depends on the “inability” of the eye to see more than 24 images per second.
• Pendulum: Older people will remember and younger will learn that the energy of one of the systems that initiates the oscillation is transferred to the other due to conjunction. The effect is that the oscillation width is reducing into the first system, while it is increasing into the next.
• Water turbine: By rotating the lever we can create a swirl in the liquid that is contained in the transparent container, and understand the physics of the phenomenon, or compare it with the rotation of the wind that creates a tornado.
• Inertia spheres: By playing with the inertia spheres, we are always impressed by the phenomenon of transfer of momentum, when during the first impact, the initial momentum is maintained and is consecutively transferred from the first sphere to the last.
• Parabolic reflectors: They are placed in a straight line with a large distance from each other. If two people stand in front of each one, they can have a conversation even if they whisper. This happens because the transferred through air sound waves, are reflected, their energy is concentrated in the center and the sound ends up amplified in the ears of those participating in the experiment.

PLATES WITH SUBPARAGRAPHS OF ARISTOTLE

The interactive experimental instruments are accompanied by relevant subparagraphs posted on plates, from the preserved work of the great philosopher.

…Τούτο δ’ η ταχύτης ποιεί της κινήσεως, ώστε δοκείν έτερον είναι το ορών και το ορώμενον…
[…the result is produced by the speed of the movement, in order to show the difference between the seen and the shown…]
ABOUT SENSES AND FEELINGS

…Περί δε της αληθείας, ως ου παν το φαινόμενον αληθές…
[…in terms of truth, not every phenomenon is real…]
AFTER THE NATURAL III

…Νους δε υπό του νοητού κινείται…
[…the movement of the mind is caused by the understandable…]
AFTER THE NATURAL I

… Τα μεν ουν είδη το νοητικόν εν τοις φαντάσμασι νοεί…
[…mental psyche comprehends the species in fantasy images…]
ABOUT SOUL III

…Πότερον δε γέγονε ποτέ κίνησης, ουκ ούσα πρότερον, και φθείρεται πάλιν ούτως ώστε κινείσθαι μηδέν…
[… Movement was one day born, not previously existing and wears down so that it does not exist…]
NATURAL HEARING IX

…εις άπειρον δε κινείσθαι μηδέν…
[…nothing is indefinite…]
NATURAL HEARING IX

…οίον ει εξ αέρος εστί το αισθητήριον, καθ’ έστιν ο αήρ και ψόφου και χρόας…
[…air is the element between the senses of color and sound…]
ABOUT SOUL III

…Το πρώτως κινούν εν άπασιν είναι τοις κινουμένοις ακίνητον…
[…the primarily driven is immovable…]
NATURAL HEARING IX

…Άπαν το κινούμενον υπό τινος ανάγκη κινείσθαι…
[…everything moving is needed to be moved by something…]
NATURAL HEARING VII

…Διό και δοκεί ο χρόνος είναι της σφαίρας κίνησης ότι ταύτη μετρούνται αι άλλαι κινήσεις και ο χρόνος ταύτη τη κινήσει…
[…this is why time seems to be the movement of the sphere (of the universe). Other movements and time also are measured by it…]
NATURAL HEARING IV

…Αλλά τάχιστα κινείται τα εγγύτατα του κινούντος, τοιαύτη δ’ η του όλου κίνησις εκεί άρα το κινούν…
[…the things closest to the one that moves them move faster, this is the movement of the universe, in the circumference of which the thing that moves, exists …]
NATURAL HEARING IX

… Ηχώ δε γίνεται όταν υπό του αέρος, όστις ένεκα του αγγείου, όπερ περιώρισε και ημπόδισε αυτόν να διαχυθή, έγεινεν είς, πάλιν ο αήρ απωσθή, ώσπερ σφαίρα...
[…echo does not happen when the air (sound wave) limited in the vase, not allowed to dissolve, is repelled again as a sphere…]
ABOUT SOUL II