Tourism in Greece
Some of the country's major tourist destinations include the capital city Athens, the islands of Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu and Crete, as well as the peninsula of Chalkidice.
Cultural exchange took place between the Greek colonies of Magna Graeca and the young Roman Republic before Rome's rise to dominance of the Western Mediterranean.
[5] During that time, large-scale construction projects for hotels and other such facilities were undertaken, and the country saw an increase in international tourists over the years.
[7] As a developed country highly dependent on tourism, Greece offers a wide variety of tourist facilities.
[8] Tourism infrastructure in Greece has been greatly improved since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and continues to expand with a number of important projects particularly in areas of less mass-tourism.
[9] Some popular beach resorts include Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Corfu, Kefalonia, Zante and Skiathos attracting millions of foreign tourists every year.
In 1983 was founded the Hellenic Association of Municipalities with Thermal Springs [1] Some of these ancient "spa resorts" were situated in Aidipsos, known from the time of Aristotle,[12] Loutraki, mentioned by Xenophon,[13] Traianoupoli [2], founded by the emperor Trajan in the 2nd century A.D., whereas some others are attested in the Byzantine period, such as the Thermal baths of Langadas [3].
Visitors, however, can already find high-standard touristic facilities in Pozar [4], in Aidipsos [5] and in Kamena Vourla [6], in Loutraki close to Corinth [7] as well as at Kaiafas, on the western shores of the Peloponnese [8].
A detailed List of spa towns in Greece can give an insight in the inexorable richness of thermal springs of the country.
Generally speaking, every major city and town in Greece has its own Archaeological Museum, which houses findings from the nearby area.
Most important of all, however, is Mycenae, which, in the second millennium BC, was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece and parts of southwest Anatolia.
On the western side of the peninsula are Bassae, an archaeological site in the northeastern part of Messenia; Messene itself, the ruins of a large classical city-state refounded by Epaminondas in 369 BC; and, at Pylos, the ruins of the Palace of Nestor, which is the primary structure within a larger Late Helladic era settlement, likely once surrounded by a fortified wall.
Archaeological sites in Epirus, the western part of mainland Greece, include Ambracia, the ruins of the ancient capital of Pyrrhus of Epirus; Dodona, whose shrine was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BC according to Herodotus; Elaea, near the mouth of the Acheron; and Gitanae.
In addition, there are the ruins believed by some to be those of the Necromanteion of Acheron, an ancient Greek temple of necromancy devoted to Hades and Persephone.
Thessaly, another region of central Greece, has an archaeological site in Larissa, the Frourio Hill, which is the location of an ancient theatre and the ruins of a basilica.
It has many historic buildings, some World Heritage Sites, including the Arch and Rotunda of Galerius, the Church of Panagia Chalkeon and the White Tower.
Delos is an uninhabited island in the Cyclades famous for its numerous archaeological sites, including the Stoivadeion, the Temple of the Delians, the Terrace of the Lions and the House of the Dolphins.
On Syros, near Piraeus, and linked to the latter by a ferry taking only 2.5 hours, is the neoclassical city of Hermoupolis, where two civilizations and two religions lived harmonically and peacefully together.
Santorini, one of the Cyclades, is the location of Ancient Thera, an antique city on a ridge of the steep, 360 m high Messavouno mountain, and of Akrotiri, a Minoan Bronze Age settlement.
Crete, the largest Greek island, has archaeological sites at Phaistos in the south, Zakros in the east, and most important of all, Knossos in the centre, which is famous for its ruined Minoan palace, with bull motifs.
On the nearby island of Kos is the Asclepeion, the ruins of one of the greatest healing temples of the Ancient World and the place where Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine was trained.
Greece also is one of Europe's most popular LGBT tourist destinations, particularly its largest cities Athens and Thessaloniki and some of its islands such as Lesbos, Santorini, Skiathos and Mykonos.
As a result, the Greek government, with strong support from local authorities, has been offering lucrative cash grants, leasing and employment subsidies and tax allowances to establish new conference facilities and expand existing ones.
In a recent report in Meeting and Incentive Travel, Greece was ranked eighth in the world in overnight stays for conferences.
The numbers of jobs directly or indirectly related to the tourism sector were 659,719 and represented 16.5% of the country's total employment for that year.
