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Greece
Quick Overview:
Greece may be the home of Zeus and his fellow Olympians, but at first glance its bustling, traffic-ridden capital, Athens, is anything but divine. Yet here, as all over Greece, are reminders of the country's glory - from Athens' Parthenon and Delphi's Temple of Apollo, to the ruins on Crete of the Minóan city of Knossós, a civilisation reaching even further back into history. Scattered throughout the calm blue waters of the Aegean are the islands, each with its own special story. Visit Zakynthos in the spring to see why it is 'the island of flowers', or the volcanic Santorini, where the blackness of the sand accentuates the brilliant whiteness of the villages. The serenity of islands like Skópelos contrasts with the hedonistic party islands such as Myknos and Páros where the worship of Dionysus the god of revelry continues to the beat of garage and house music. It is easy to forget that from this fertile land of mythology, olive groves and retsina sprang political, philosophical and artistic ideas that shaped the whole course of western civilisation. Greece today offers the traveller the comforts of modern Europe in close proximity to the stark beauty of the ancient world.
Geography:
| 7000 B.C. | First Stone Age settlements in mainland Greece. |
| 2500 B.C. | Bronze Age is effective on mainland and some islands. |
| 1550 B.C. | Mycenaean civilization started on mainland Greece. |
| 1450 B.C. | Mycenaean culture spreads to islands. |
| 1200 B.C. | Disappearance of Mycenaean civilization. |
| 1100 B.C. | Dorian movements to the islands and Asia Minor. |
| 776 B.C. | First official Olympic Games held in Greece. |
| 800-600 B.C. | First Greek city-states appear, Athens and Sparta are among them. |
| 545 B.C. | Persian invasion of Asia Minor cities. |
| 490 B.C. | Persian incursion and the battle of Marathon. |
| 479 B.C. | Persian invasion of mainland Greece. |
| 430-404 B.C. | War between Athens and Sparta ends in Spartan victory. |
| 359 B.C. | Philip II became the king of Macedonia. |
| 336 B.C. | After Philip II, Alexander the Great became the king of Macedonia. |
| 0-300 A.D. | Romans rule Greece. |
| 324 A.D. | Emperor Constantine established the Byzantium and Constantinople became the capital. |
| 529 A.D. | Non-Christian schools of philosopy in Athens were forced to close. |
| 650 A.D. | Invasion of Greece by Slavic tribes. |
| 800 A.D. | Byzantium established the control over Greece again. |
| 1200 A.D. | Latin - Venetian crusaders took control of Greece. |
| 1260 A.D. | Byzantium reclaimed the control over Greece. |
| 1430 A.D. | Ottomans conquered Thessaloniki. |
| 1453 A.D. | Ottomans conquered Constantinople. This marks the end of Byzantium. |
| 1460 A.D. | Ottomans took Mistra. |
| 1522 A.D. | Ottomans conquered Rhodes. |
| 1566 A.D. | Ottomans took Chios and Naxos. |
| 1577 A.D. | Samos taken by Ottomans |
| 1669 A.D. | Ottomans conquered whole Crete. |
| 1685-1715 | Venetians occupied Peloponnese |
| 1799-1814 | France, Russia and Britain occupied Ionian islands successively. |
| 1821-1830 | Greece gained independence against Ottomans after the battle of Navarino. |
| 1831 | President Capodistrias was assasinated. |
| 1833 | Otto was declared as the king of Greece by Russia, France and Britain. |
| 1864 | Britain gave the control of Corfu and Ionian islands to Greece. |
| 1881 | Ottomans surrendered Thessaly to Greece. |
| 1912 | First Balkan war and Greece claimed Thessaloniki, Ioanina and Chios. |
| 1913 | Second Balkan war. After Bulgarian attacks, Greece gains Crete, Lesbos and Ikaria. |
| 1914 | World War I. Divisions in Greece and finally joining the war on the side of Allied forces. |
| 1919 | Britain and France convinced Greece to annex the land at Smyrna (Izmir) in Turkey. |
| 1919-1923 | After the collapse of Ottoman Empire, the existing conditions triggered a war between Greece and newly formed Turkey. Greece lost the war and Greek population in Anatolia was exchanged with Turkish or muslim population in Greece. |
| 1936 | After a long period of political chaos, General Metaxas became dictator. |
| 1939 | After the invasion of Albania, Italy demanded access to Greek ports. Metaxas refused (28th October "Ochi Day"). |
| 1941 | World War II and the German invasion. |
| 1944 | After 3 years of German occupation, British troops took the county back from Germans. |
| 1945-1949 | Civil war between royalists and communists. |
| 1967 | Military junta took control of political power. |
| 1973 | Pro-democracy movement mainly led by students was crushed by fascist junta and a large number of students were brutaly killed. |
| 1974 | Military junta supported a right-wing Greek coup in Cyprus. This led to Turkey's intervention to the island and finally junta collapsed |
| 1975-1996 | Socialist PASOK and right-wing New Democracy Party maintain the democratic process uninterruptedly since then. |
Related Links:
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News Athens News Agency Several News Resources |
Offical Sites Government Prime Minister [greek] Greek Embassy |
Country Guides National Tourist Organization Greek Hotel Net |
Education Greek Education Foundation Education System Explained |