Greece is located in southeastern Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula. The Greek mainland is bounded on the north by Bulgaria, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Albania; on the east by the Aegean Sea and Turkey; and on the west and south by the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas.
The country consists of a large mainland; the Peloponnesus Peninsula, connected to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth; and more than 1,400 islands, including Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, and the Dodecanese and Cycladic groups. Greece has more than 14,880 kilometers (9,300 mi.) of coastline and a land boundary of 1,160 kilometers (726 mi.).
Greece has a history stretching back more than 4.000 years. The people of the mainland, called Hellenes, organised great naval and military expeditions, and explored the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, going as far as the Atlantic Ocean and the Caucasus Mountains.
One of those expeditions, the siege of Troy, is narrated in the first great European literary work, Homer's Iliad. Numerous Greek settlements were founded throughout the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and the coast of North Africa as a result of travels in search of new markets.
During the Classical period (5th century B.C.), Greece was composed of city-states, the largest being Athens, followed by Sparta and Thebes. A fierce spirit of independence and love of freedom enabled the Greeks to defeat the Persians in famous battles - Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.
In the second half of the 4th century BC, the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered most of the then known world and sought to hellenize it.
In 146 BC Greece fell to the Romans. In 330 AD Emperor Constantine moved the Capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, founding the Eastern Roman Empire which was renamed Byzantine Empire or Byzantium for short, by western historians in the 19th century.
Byzantium transformed the linguistic heritage of Ancient Greece into a vehicle for the new Christian civilisation. The Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in 1453 and the Greeks remained under the Ottoman yoke for nearly 400 years. During this time their language, their religion and their sense of identity remained strong.
On March 25, 1821, the Greeks revolted against the Turks, and by 1828 they had won their independence. As the new state comprised only a tiny fraction of the country, the struggle for the liberation of all the lands inhabited by Greeks continued. In 1864, the Ionian islands were returned to Greece; in 1881, parts of Epiros and Thessalia.
Kriti, the islands of the Eastern Aegean and Makedonia were added in 1913 and Western Thraki in 1919. After World War II the Dodecanissos islands were also returned to Greece. |
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+-Greece Travel Guide : Greece is a paradise for different kind of tourists. It is far out for the beach bum, it is great for the lover of the classics and it is a must see for anyone interested in knowing where civilization as we know it stems from
+-----Travel Guide to Athens, Greece : Your interactive guide to Athens with maps, weather forecasts and online hotel reservations within Athens and Greece
+-----Travel Guide to Corfu, Greece : Your interactive guide to Corfu with maps, weather forecasts and online hotel reservations within Corfu and Greece
+-----Travel Guide to Crete, Greece : Your interactive guide to Athens with maps, weather forecasts and online hotel reservations within Iraklion Heraklion Knossos Hania and Crete
+-----Travel Guide to Rhodes, Greece : Your interactive guide to Rhodes with maps, weather forecasts and online hotel reservations within Rhodes and Greece.
+-----Travel Guide to Thessaloniki, Greece : Your interactive guide to Thessaloniki with maps, weather forecasts and online hotel reservations within Thessaloniki and Greece
+-Map of Greece : Located in southeastern Europe, Greece is bordered by Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
+-History of Greece : The Acropolis, whose summit is 156 m. above sea level, constitutes with its about 3 hectares of surface (1 hectare=10,000 m), a real natural fortress. It is accessible only through the sloping ground to the west. All the other sides are overhanging or precipitous steep descends. Thanks to the strategic importance of the Acropolis, it became the first residence of the Attica sovereigns and of its tutelary divinities statues and sacred stones
+-The Acropolis of Athens in Greece : nother one was occupying the very site of the present Parthenon. Besides this Proparthenon, a Propylon was erected. All these edifices , as well as Athens, were almost entirely destroyed by the Persians in 479 B.C.
+-Greek People and Culture : reek people, culture of greece, greek culture, greek people, news from greece, headlines greece, visa to enter greece, embassies, greek visa, Greek embassies, greece embassies, embassies in greece, high commissions, politics, histrory, political histotory greece, The Acropolis of Athens, acropolis, Greece Map, Greek Weather, Athens Hotels, Corfu Hotels, Chalkidiki hotels, Crete hotels, Rhodes hotels, Thessaloniki hotels, griechenland, lastminute, last minute
+-Visa Requirements for Greece : Visa Requirements to enter Greece
+-Transportations in Greece : Transportation to and within Greece / Athens / Crete / Corfu / Ios
+-Embassies of Greece : Greek Embassies and and consultates abroad. Updated monthly
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