WELCOME TO GREECE
Sorry to say my only adventures to Greece are a wonderful city break in Athens and a day trip from Turkey to Rhodes. Greece is a mountainous country with 80 percent of it`s land mountains and hills . Most holiday makers travel to the many islands.
The weather is typical Mediterranean climate. Really hot and dry summers and mild winters. Due to the shape of the country it has the 12 th longest coastline.
Athens stepped into the global spotlight when the Olympic Games returned home in 2004. The games were hailed as a success, despite widely publicised fears that the infrastructure would not be complete in time. The Airport you will use in Athens was built specially for the Olympics.
Below is my film from my trip to the capital of Athens.
Greece is where the Olympic Games started . Olympia, a Greek city, was known to be a very important centre of athletics. The Olympic games, held there every four years, were so important in Greek life that they were used as the basis for the Greek calendar.
The first recorded Ancient Olympic Games were in 776 BC.
The Games were held in a village called Olympia.
The Olympics were part of a religious event. They were held in honour of Zeus, the father of the gods and were a big celebration.
Ancient Greece is called 'the birthplace of Western civilisation'. About 2500 years ago, the Greeks created a way of life that other people admired and copied. The Romans copied Greek art and Greek gods, for example. The Ancient Greeks tried out democracy, and left new ideas in science, art and philosophy (thinking about life).
The Ancient Greeks lived in mainland Greece and the Greek islands, but also in what is now Turkey, and in colonies scattered around the Mediterranean sea coast. There were Greeks in Italy, Sicily, North Africa and as far west as France. Sailing the sea to trade and find new land, Greeks took their way of life to many places.
Greek national dress
When did Greek civilisation begin?
About 3000 BC, there lived on the island of Crete a people now called Minoans. The name comes from their King Minos. Minos and other Minoan kings grew rich from trade, and built fine palaces. The Minoan civilization ended about 1450 BC.
After the Minoans came the Myceneans. They were soldiers from mainland Greece, and were the Greeks who fought Troy in the 1200s BC. After the Mycenean age ended, about 1100 BC, Greece entered a "Dark Age". This lasted until the 800s BC when the Greeks set off by sea to explore and set up colonies.
The Olympic Games begun in 776 BC. This was the start of "Archaic" Greek civilization.
Around 480 BC the "golden age" of Greece began. This is what historians call "Classical" Greece.
Place take the time to look at my pages on the left of my trip to Athens October 2012