In the historic village of Stageira, in a magnificent location at an altitude of about 500 meters, next to the ruins of Mahala, the capital of the Mademochoria, lies the Aristotle Grove. It is the only thematic park in Halkidiki. It is worth visiting to see the interesting instruments and enjoy the stunning view of the Ierissos Bay. The grove existed before, and the wonderful location was chosen in 1956 to host the imposing statue of Aristotle, created by sculptor Nikola, in order to honor the great philosopher who was born in Ancient Stageira.
The original interactive instruments, which are hosted in the grove, were placed there in 2003 by the Municipal Enterprise of Stagira-Akanthos, and today, it is managed by the Municipal Public Enterprise of Aristotle Municipality. These are experimental instruments that operate based on the physical laws mentioned in Aristotle’s writings, especially in his work “Physics.” With this addition, the Aristotle Grove has become a favorite destination for all visitors and schools, as it uniquely combines recreation, entertainment, and education. The same area also features a café-restaurant with a breathtaking view of Ierissos Bay and Mount Athos. It is estimated that it attracts more than 15,000 visitors during the summer months.
In the grove, you will also see the tower of Madem Aga along with its mansion, which served as the administrative center of the area’s Siderokafsia Mines.
It is open every day of the week. Tel. 23760 41327
EXPERIMENTAL INSTRUMENTS
- Compass: It is placed in front of the statue of Aristotle and symbolizes that his philosophy has reached all parts of the world and is the starting point of modern scientific thought, global and belonging to humanity. It depicts the direction and distance of the most famous cities in the world in relation to the grove.
- Telescope: With the modern telescopes placed in the appropriate spots, visitors can focus and enjoy the details of the fantastic view of Ierissos Bay and the Athonian peninsula.
- Prism: The white sunlight falls on the special prism, and due to the different speed at which each individual radiation, which makes up the light, travels through the glass, it is separated into the well-known spectrum of the “colors of the rainbow,” since each radiation with a different wavelength exits at a different angle of refraction.
- Solar Clock: The large horizontal solar clock shows the exact time at the location where you are. In summer, there is a difference of 1 hour and 25 minutes from the current time, while in winter, the difference is 25 minutes. The curved lines on the clock’s plate allow the determination of the current month.
- Lamp: The sign next to the lamp informs us that every photon, meaning each elementary amount of light energy, has minimal energy by itself, but when all of them come together in one spot, the energy becomes very large.
- Five-Note Instrument: It consists of five large pieces of granite that are calculated so that each produces a different sound frequency when struck, corresponding to a different note. The five notes correspond to the ancient pentatonic musical scale.
- Optical Discs: By experimenting with the optical discs, you will notice that when images pass rapidly in front of our field of view, the human eye does not perceive them as separate, but creates a continuous visual whole, much like when watching a movie. This occurs because the impression of the image continues to persist for about 1/16 of a second on the optic nerve due to inertia. This property of the eye is called persistence of vision. Cinema is essentially based on the eye’s “inability” to see more than 24 frames per second.
- Pendulum: With the pendulum, adults will recall and younger visitors will learn that energy in a system initiating oscillation is transferred due to coupling to the next system, resulting in a decrease in the amplitude of the first system and an increase in the amplitude of the next.
- Water Vortex: In the transparent container with liquid, we can create a vortex by turning the lever and understand the dynamics of the phenomenon, or we can parallel it with the rotating motion of the air that creates a tornado.
- Inertia Balls: By playing with the inertia balls, we are always amazed by the phenomenon of momentum transfer, when the collision of the balls preserves the initial momentum and transfers it successively through all the balls, reaching the last one each time.
- Parabolic Mirrors: The parabolic mirrors are placed in a straight line, at a significant distance from each other. If two people stand in front of each of them, they can easily converse, even if they speak in whispers. This occurs because the sound waves transmitted through the air reflect off the parabolic mirror, and their energy is concentrated at the center, where the sound is amplified in the ears of those participating in the experiment.
SLABS WITH PASSAGES FROM ARISTOTLE
The interactive experimental instruments are accompanied by relevant passages from the preserved works of the great philosopher, which are displayed on special slabs.
…Tούτο δ’ η ταχύτης ποιεί της κινήσεως, ώστε δοκείν έτερον είναι το ορών και το ορώμενον…
[…the result of this is the speed of motion, so that it appears that what is seen and what is being seen are different…]
…Περί δε της αληθείας, ως ου παν το φαινόμενον αληθές…
[…concerning the truth, not every phenomenon is real…]
…Νους δε υπό του νοητού κινείται…
[…the movement of the mind is caused by the intelligible…]
… Τα μεν ουν είδη το νοητικόν εν τοις φαντάσμασι νοεί…
[…the intellectual soul perceives the forms in the images of the imagination…]
…Πότερον δε γέγονε ποτέ κίνησης, ουκ ούσα πρότερον, και φθείρεται πάλιν ούτως ώστε κινείσθαι μηδέν…
[…Movement came into being at some point, not existing before, and decays in such a way that nothing moves…]
…εις άπειρον δε κινείσθαι μηδέν…
[…nothing moves infinitely…]
…οίον ει εξ αέρος εστί το αισθητήριον, καθ’ έστιν ο αήρ και ψόφου και χρόας…
[…the air is the element that mediates the sensation of color and sound…]
…Το πρώτως κινούν εν άπασιν είναι τοις κινουμένοις ακίνητον…
[…the first mover in all things is immovable…]
…Άπαν το κινούμενον υπό τινος ανάγκη κινείσθαι…
[…everything that moves must be moved by something…]
…Διό και δοκεί ο χρόνος είναι της σφαίρας κίνησης ότι ταύτη μετρούνται αι άλλαι κινήσεις και ο χρόνος ταύτη τη κινήσει…
[…For this reason, time seems to be the movement of the sphere (of the universe). With this movement, other movements and time itself are measured…]
…Αλλά τάχιστα κινείται τα εγγύτατα του κινούντος, τοιαύτη δ’ η του όλου κίνηση εκεί άρα το κινούν…
[…the things closest to the mover move the fastest; this is the movement of the universe, in which the mover is situated…]
… 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 is not created when the air (sound wave) is confined by the vessel, which prevents it from dispersing, and then the air is pushed back, like a sphere…]
THE ARTICLE