Introduction
The most ancient primitive Greeks somewhere
between 10000 and 3000 BC were known as the Pelasgians. They
inhabited areas of Thrace, Argos, Crete, and Halkidiki and are
known to us through the writings of Homer, Herodotus, and
Thucydides.
The remnants of their civilization are found mostly in the
form of scattered stones which were used as tools and the
foundations of dwellings which just look like a bunch of rocks
to anyone but those with a trained eye.
From the Cycladic Islands, carved scupltures are mysterious
figures giving us a look at art of the Bronze age in the
Aegean.
In Crete people from Anatolia came to the island sometime
around 6500 BC and settled in the area around Knossos.
Just as important in the creating of a
Greek identity was the emergence of the Olympic games and the
Oracle of Apollo at Delphi both of which had their roots in
the 8th century.
In the 4th Century King Phillip of Macedonia took advantage
of the disunity of the Greek city states, defeating an Athens
that was paralyzed by political infighting, in the battle of
Chaeronia in 338 BC. and put an end to the Delian league. He
then unified all the Greeks to the south of his kingdom in
Pella.
When Phillip was assassinated in 336, the
20 year old Alexander became the new king of Macedonia. He
immediately ordered the execution of all of his potential
rivals and marched south with his armies in a campaign to
solidify control of Greece. He continued to unite the rest of
the Greeks in Asia Minor and traveled east where he conquered
Greece's great enemy Persia, as well as the lands of Egypt and
as far as India. By then he was known as Alexander the Great
and this era became known as the Hellenistic Age, when the
influence of Greece spread throughout the known world.
Byzantium is the name given to both the state and the
culture of the Eastern Roman Empire in the middle ages. Both
the state and the inhabitants always calle
d themselves Roman,
as did most of their neighbors. Western Europeans, who had
their own Roman Empire called them Orientals or Greeks, and
later following the example of the great French scholar
DuCange, Byzantines after the former name of the Empire's
capital city, Constantinople.
On 1453 the seige and fall of Constantinople is one of the
major events of world history heralding the end of the
Byzantine Empire and the beginning of the Ottoman empire.
Mehmed the Conqueror, with an army of 150,000 Turks besieges
Constantinople starting on April 5th. On Tuesday May 29th,
comes the final assault. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX
is killed, and the city falls.
From 1453 with the fall of Constantinople until the
revolution in 1821 Greece is under the rule of the Ottoman
Turks who control the entire middle east, and the Balkans as
far as the gates of Vienna.
The Greek War of Independence 1821, also
known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war waged by
the Greeks to win independence for Greece from the Ottoman
Empire. Independence was finally granted by the Treaty of
Constantinople in July 1832 when Greece (Hellas) was
recognized as a free country.
Greece today
ACROPOLIS - LYCABETTUS HILL
Greece, land of majestic monuments and priceless treasures.
Your journey begins in Athens city ( capital of Greece, where
you'll visit the Parthenon of Acropolis of Athens and wander
through the Athens Acropolis Museum with its amazing
collection of archaic and classical Greek sculpture.
In ancient Delphi, you'll visit the
Archaeological Museum with
its collection of ancient statuary,
including the Charioteer, a life-sized bronze Greek statues.
In Olympia Peloponese, the most holy place in ancient Greece
and the site of the first Olympic Games in Greece. Other stops
on your memorable journey through time include Olympia the
most holy place in ancient Greece and the site of the first
Olympic Games in Greece - and Sparta, Mykenae and Corinthos.
An optional trip extension to cruise the Aegean Islands,
with stops that include : kos the island of hippocrates the
father of medicine , Corfu island , Myconos island , Santorini
island, Crete the island of minoan civilization and knossos
monuments and Rhodes the island of colossus, is offered.
Piraeus harbour is the home base of Greek shipping and
shipping agents , the largest commercial fleet in the world,
aspace bound to the sea like few others. The harbor of Zea and
Mikrolimano as well as Faliro play host to countless yachts
and sailing craft throughout the year.
Va
rkiza follows, a beautiful seaside
suburb, and then comes Var, Saronida, Anavyssos and Legrena.At
the end of the drive is impressive Cape Sounion embraced by
the Greek Aegean Sea, with the temple of Posidon at its
highest point.
The islands are Greece’s chief morphological trait and an
integral part of the country’s civilisation and tradition. The
Greek territory comprises 6,000 Greek islands and islets
scattered in the Aegean and Ionian Sea in Greece, a truly
unique phenomenon on the European continent; of these islands
only 227 are inhabited.
The Greek Archipelagos takes up 7,500 km of the country’s
total 16,000-km coastline, offering a highly diversified
landscape: beaches stretching along many kilometers, sheltered
bays and coves, golden stretches of sand with dunes, pebbly
beaches, coastal caves with steep rocks and black sand typical
of volcanic soil, coastal wetlands.
Many Greek beaches have been awarded the
blue flag under
the programme Blue Flags of Europe . Apart
from swimming, they lend themselves to scuba diving,
snorkeling, water skiing, sailing and windsurfing. As they are
the cradle of some of the most ancient and prosperous European
civilizations (the Kycladic, Minoa civilizations, etc.), the
islands boast unique archaeological sites, an outstanding
architectural heritage and centuries-old, fascinating local
traditions of a multifaceted cultural past.
Mention Greek island-hopping and images of
the Mediterranean sun, the picturesque white-stone villages,
and lively tavernas, come to mind.
Elsewhere, festivals, music, shopping and vineyard visits
form part of the allure of a Grecian holiday.
To Mountain Athos that is situated in the entire third,
eastern and most beautiful peninsula of Chalkidiki, called the
peninsula of Athos. It is the only place in Greece that is
completely dedicated to prayer and worship of God.
The long and sparkling coastlines offer many beaches,
perfect for an exciting and memorable Greece sailing trip.
In the winter, one can ski in the
snow-covered mountains of Arahova, just off Delphi. At the
same time, one can still enjoy the beaches because the winter
season here is not as cold as the weather of northern America.
Winter season in Greece begins in late October and ends by
March.
Greek tours during winters usually come with cheaper
accommodation rates and airfare. There are also fewer tourist
and crowds traveling at this time of the year.
The winter season is also the best time to go mountain
climbing, biking, trekking, touring archeological sites and
bird-watching, compared to the hot summer months of July and
August, when crowds and the heat take over.
A special time to be in Greece would also be in Easter.
Other than participating or witnessing traditional practices
in commemoration of the season, the smell of roast lamb and
wildflowers of spring, during this time of the year, create an
enticing combination.
General Information
Greece F.A.Q.,
Greek Administration,
The Greek Alphabet,
Greek Tourist Police,
Passport & Visa to Greece,
Getting to Greece,
Greece by Cars,
Prices in Greece,
Accommodation in Greece,
Swimming in Greece,
Working in Greece,
Food Products Greece,
Coffee in Greece,
Medical Services Greece,
Greece Education,
Greece Geography,
Greece Rio Bridge,
Smoking in Greece,
Shopping in Greece,
Yearly Events in Greece,
Greece by Plane,
Greece by Ferry,
Greece Diving,
Greece Natural Dangers,
Greece Spa,
Greece Watersports,
Greece Casinos,
Greece Taverns,
Greece Zorbas,
Greece Bungy Jumping,
Greece Hang Gliding,
Greece Canoe Kayak,
Greek Weddings,
Greece Wild Life,
Greek Folk Dances,
Greek Destinations,
Sleep in Greece,
Forests in Greece,
Greek Classical Excursions,
Greek Monastries,
Greek Classical Tours,
Greek tour packages,
Greece Brief Information,
Railway Network Greece,
Greece Driving Info,
Greece Summer Cinemas,
Greek Festivals,
Greek Wines,
Greek Ouzo,
Greek Olive Oil,
Greek Herbs & Spices,
Greek Cuisine,
Mediterranean Diet,
Greek Popular Dishes,
Greek Recipes,
Famous Greek Gyros & Souvlaki,
"Kamaki" in Greece,
Greek mostly used word,
Greece Meteora Rock Towers,
Greece Sithonia Halkidiki,
Greek Islands Morphology,
Greek National Parks,
Greece Piraeus Main Port,
Religious tourism,
Greek Easter,
Christmas in Greece,
Greece Saronic Gulf,
Scuba Diving Centers,
Greece Sounio,
Weather in Greece,
Blue Flag Beaches,
Greece All Campings,
Greek History
Classical Greece,
Greek Arcaic Period,
Roman Greece,
Hellenistic civilization,
Architectural systems,
Ancient Greek geografy,
Science & Technology,
Acropolis,
Alexander the Great,
Athens - History,
Anc. Greece Social Structure,
Anc. Greece Education,
The Trojan War,
Delfi,
Knossos,
Meteora,
Olympic Games,
Agio Oros,
Greek Castles,
Dionyssos,
Oracle of Delfi,
Zeus and Europe,
Jason - Golden Fleece,
Greek Philosophers,
The Battle of Marathon,
The Greek Revolution,
Greek Currency History,
Vitsentzos Kornaros,
El Greco,
Odysseas Elytis,
Nikos Kazantzakis,
Nikos Xylouris,
Mikis Theodorakis,
Herodotus,
Homer,
Macedonia,
Greek Museums,
Greek Mythology,
Socrates,
Plato,
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