The Greek ambassador to Albania, Sophia Philippidou spoke for Euronews Albania about the project of the Hellenic Park of Tirana, which will open its doors on June 18th.
“We have worked on this project for almost two years. The idea was to create a park, where people can have fun and at the same time, it will be a space for athletes too. It is located at the lake of Farka, it is a beautiful space, where you can see the Dajti mountain, the beautiful lake and the spectacular surrounding lands,” – stated the ambassador, while pointing out that she can’t give an exact estimate of the project’s cost.
The Park will be called ‘Tiranathlon’, which gets its name from a play on words, between triathlon and Tirana, as Philippidou explained, whereas the first event will be organized on June 20th, two days after the grand opening.
“It will be an international sports race. At the moment we are not too many, around 100 participants from many countries, mainly from neighboring, Montenegro, Kosovo, Greece but also Turkey, Great Britain and Austria. The numbers are going up, we hope to reach a higher number and to declare this an annual event,” – stated the ambassador.
Sophia Philippidou confirmed that the race is relatively difficult and not just everyone can participate. It includes 750 meters of swimming, 20 km cycling and 5 km running.
In addition, the ambassador also clarified that the message conveyed by this park, is related to the 200-year anniversary of Greece’s independence and the 50th anniversary of the settling of diplomatic ties between Greece and Albania, apart from the obvious tentative to revamp the area and to give a contribution in this aspect.
At the end of her interview for Euronews Albania, Philippidou admitted that the relations between both countries are consolidated and are only getting better with time.
