Greece Travel : Information On Greek Culture

This part of our guide to holidays in Greece covers the culture of the country…

Greece lies at the crossroads where East meets West. It has also been ruled by the Romans and the Turks, and in turn Greece’s own Byzantine Empire governed much of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. This history has left a rich cultural legacy and the Greek people take a passionate pride in their culture and their country.

Greek, which has its own alphabet, is the sole official national language and is the native tongue of the great majority of the population. However, English-speaking visitors will rarely encounter any significant language problems as English is the most widely studied and understood foreign languages. (French, Italian, and German are also relatively widely studied).

In fact, 1 million residents there (equivalent to 10% of the population) are foreign-born (mainly from Eastern and Central Europe, Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa); which has contributed to not only language diversity, but also to the Greek cultural landscape in general.

In this very religious country, 97% of the population classify themselves as Orthodox Christians. While the Greek State and the Orthodox Church are officially separated, this separation is not formalised by the Constitution and the Greek Orthodox Church is very influential.

Greeks tend to be more likely than other Europeans to believe in supernatural or paranormal phenomena. Common traditions include blessing bread by making the sign of the cross with a knife before slicing it and spitting to ward off the devil and misfortune. But superstitions vary across regions and even between villages within a region.

In Orthodox tradition, Easter is the most important holiday. It involves religious processions and costumed parties, and Easter Sunday is marked with a feast. But Christmas tends to be more private, a family holiday, even though public places across Greece are adorned with lights and decorations. Many towns and districts also have regional festivals at various times of the year that mark local patron saints, wine harvests or historical events.

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