Culture of Greece

The interior of this palace included monumental reception halls, vast apartments for the queen and bridesmaids, bathtubs with complete sewage and drainage systems, food deposits, shops, theatres, sport arenas, and other amenities.

Classical Ancient Greek temples usually consist of a base with stairs at each edges (known as crepidoma), a cella (or naos) with a cult statue in it, columns, an entablature, and two pediments, one on the front side and another in the back.

[4] For example, in Romania, the Brâncovenesc style is highly based on Byzantine architecture, but also has individual Romanian characteristics.As with the Parthenon, which was built in dedication to the Ancient Greek religion, the Hagia Sophia was considered an iconic church of Christianity.

[6] The building material used by Byzantine architects was no longer marble, which was highly appreciated and utilised by the Ancient Greeks, instead opting for mostly stone and brick while using thin alabaster sheets for windows.

[8] The 19th-century architecture of Athens and other cities of the Kingdom of Greece is mostly influenced by architects like Theophil Hansen, Ernst Ziller, Panagis Kalkos, Lysandros Kaftanzoglou, Anastasios Metaxas and Stamatios Kleanthis.

In 1931, Orestis Laskos directed Daphnis and Chloe (Δάφνις και Χλόη), contained the first nude scene in the history of European cinema; it was also the first Greek movie which was played abroad.

Byzantine instruments included the guitar, single, double or multiple flute, sistrum, timpani (drum), psaltirio, Sirigs, lyre, cymbals, keras and kanonaki.

Maria Callas, Nikos Skalkottas, Mikis Theodorakis, Dimitris Mitropoulos, Manos Hadjidakis and Vangelis also lead twentieth-century Greek contributions, alongside Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri, Yanni, Georges Moustaki, Eleni Karaindrou and others.

Others have also crossed boundaries and are known beyond the regions where they originated; these include the Pentozali from Crete, Hasapiko from Constantinople, Zonaradikos from Thrace, Serra from Pontos and Balos from the Aegean islands.

The avant-garde choreographer, director and dancer Dimitris Papaioannou was responsible for the critically successful opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games, with a conception that reflected the classical influences on modern and experimental Greek dance forms.

Also, the tradition of wall painting in Greece goes back at least to the Minoan and Mycenaean Bronze Age, with the lavish fresco decoration of sites like Knossos, Tiryns and Mycenae.

Chryselephantine sculptures, used for temple cult images and luxury works, used gold, most often in leaf form and ivory for all or parts (faces and hands) of the figure, and probably gems and other materials, but were much less common, and only fragments have survived.

Using high-intensity lamps, ultraviolet light, specially designed cameras, plaster casts, and certain powdered minerals, Brinkmann proved that the entire Parthenon, including the actual structure as well as the statues, had been painted.

The city-state of Classical Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and military power during this period, was its centre, where it was institutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus.

During the late 19th and early 20th century, the Athenian theatre scene was dominated by revues, musical comedies, operettas and nocturnes and notable playwrights included Spyridon Samaras, Dionysios Lavrangas, Theophrastos Sakellaridis and others.

The National Theatre of Greece was founded in 1880. Notable playwrights of the modern Greek theatre include Alexandros Rizos Rangavis, Gregorios Xenopoulos, Nikos Kazantzakis, Angelos Terzakis, Pantelis Horn, Alekos Sakellarios and Iakovos Kambanelis, while notable actors include Cybele Andrianou, Marika Kotopouli, Aimilios Veakis, Orestis Makris, Katina Paxinou, Manos Katrakis and Dimitris Horn.

[13] Ancient Greek cuisine was characterized by its frugality and was founded on the "Mediterranean triad": wheat, olive oil, and wine, with meat being rarely eaten and fish being more common.

The school life of the students, however, can start from the age of 2.5 years (pre-school education) in institutions (private and public) called "Vrefonipiakoi Paidikoi Stathmi" (creches).

Outstanding literary figures of the Hellenistic period were Menander, the chief representative of a newer type of comedy; the poets Callimachus, Theocritus, and Apollonius Rhodius, author of the Argonautica; and Polybius, who wrote a detailed history of the Mediterranean world.

Pericles, the virtual ruler of Athens for more than 25 years, added to the political power of that city, inaugurated the construction of the Parthenon and other noteworthy buildings, and encouraged the arts of sculpture and painting.

Leading modern poets are Kostis Palamas, and Constantine P. Cavafy, as well as George Seferis, and Odysseus Elytis, winners of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1963 and 1979, respectively.

Aeschylus introduced the ideas of dialogue and interacting characters to playwriting and in doing so, he effectively invented "drama": his Oresteia trilogy of plays is judged his crowning achievement.

Other plays include The Sacrifice of Abraham by Kornaros, Panoria and Katsourbos by Chortatzis, King Rodolinos by Andreas Troilos, Stathis (comedy) and Voskopoula by unknown artists.

Pythagoras was a mathematician often described as the "father of numbers"; it is believed that he had the pioneering insight into the numerical ratios that determine the musical scale, and the Pythagorean theorem is commonly attributed to him.

In physics, John Iliopoulos is known for the prediction of the charm quark and the proposition of the GIM mechanism, as well as the Fayet–Iliopoulos D-term formula, while Dimitri Nanopoulos is one of the principal developers of the Flipped SU(5) model.

Politically there has been massive opposition to some of these moves owing to a large, well organized workers' movement in Greece, which distrusts the right-wing administration and neo-liberal ideas.

The population in general appears to accept many of the initiatives, reflected in governmental support; on the economic front many are so far warming to the reforms made by the administration, which have been largely rewarded with above average Eurozone growth rates.

In addition, there are four obligatory, official public holidays: March 25 (Greek Independence Day), Easter Monday, August 15 (Assumption or Dormition of the Holy Virgin) and December 25 (Christmas).

A widely publicised set of corruption scandals in 2004 implicating a small group of senior churchmen also increased national debate on introducing a greater transparency to the church-state relationship.

Other religious communities living in Greece include Roman Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Protestants, Armenians, followers of the ancient Greek religion (see Hellenism), Jews and others.

The Parthenon is an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and the Athenian democracy . It is regarded as one of the world's greatest cultural monuments.
Restored North Entrance with charging bull fresco of the Palace of Knossos ( Crete ), with some Minoan colourful columns
The Temple of Hephaestus on the Agoraios Kolonos Hill ( Athens , Greece ), circa 449 BC, unknown architect
Mosaic in the Hosios Loukas ( Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra , Greece), circa 10th century AD
The Little Metropolis ( Athens ), 9th–13th century, unknown architect
The National Library of Greece (Athens), 1888, by Theophil Hansen
Olympion Theatre in Thessaloniki , seat of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival .
Terracotta kylix that depicts a man holding a lyre , circa 480 BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Late 4th century AD "Mosaic of the Musicians" with hydraulis , aulos , and lyre from a Byzantine villa in Maryamin , Syria
Manos Hatzidakis at the left
Mikis Theodorakis , popular composer and songwriter, introduced the bouzouki into the mainstream culture.
Mosaic from Daphni Monastery (ca. 1100)
Dormition of the Virgin by El Greco , an example of the Cretan School
Carols by Nikiforos Lytras
Peplos Kore at the Acropolis Museum . Relics of the polychromy are visible.
"Discobolus" statue by Konstantinos Dimitriadis , outside the Panathenaic Stadium
The ancient theatre of Epidaurus continues to be used for staging ancient Greek plays.
Apollon Theatre (Patras) , designed by Ernst Ziller
Greek salad
Traditional Greek taverna , integral part of Greek culture and cuisine.
A bottle of retsina
Overview of the campus of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , the largest university in Greece and the Balkans
Alexander the Great also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon, was one of the most successful military commanders in history.
The most famous artist born in Greece was probably Doménikos Theotokópoulos, better known as El Greco ( The Greek ) in Spain. He did most of his painting there during the late 1500s and early 1600s.
Poet Constantine P. Cavafy
Ancient Greek Ostracon bearing the name of Cimon . Museum of the Ancient Agora , Athens .
Idealized portrait of Homer , British Museum
A page from a 16th-century edition of the 10th century Byzantine encyclopaedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, the Suda .
Adamantios Korais , major figure of the Modern Greek Enlightenment
Nikos Kazantzakis , one of the most prominent modern Greek writers
Aristarchus of Samos was the first known individual to propose a heliocentric system , in the 3rd century BC
Manuel Chrysoloras , Greek scholar in the Renaissance
Gemistus Pletho
Constantin Carathéodory , who introduced several mathematical theorems .
The building of the Hellenic Parliament , the Old Royal Palace of Otto of Greece .
The Temple of Hephaestus in Athens is the best-preserved of all ancient Greek temples.
Our Lady of Tinos , the major Marian shrine in Greece
Shards of pottery vases on the street, after being thrown from the windows of nearby houses. A Holy Saturday tradition in Corfu .
Archery matches in Panathenaic Stadium during the 2004 Olympics.
Traditional flag used from 1769 to the War of Independence