Greece is one the favorite's tourist destinations in Europe. It is a peninsular mountainous country situated in southeast Europe on the Mediterranean Sea. There are about 1400 Greek Islands of which 169 are inhabited. The majority of the islands are scattered in the Aegean Sea between the Greek and Turkish coasts. Greece has a population of 10,610,000 (2000) of which 3.7 million are located in Athens, the country's capital.
Athens is the capital of Greece. Athens Greece is the cradle of one of the greatest civilization which invented and developed the politics, mathematics, physics, architecture, arts and more. Today, the capital of Greece looks like all the capitals with a small difference: the acropolis and its Parthenon Temple, the most important and well preserved heritage of the Ancient Greek civilization, stands proudly over the busy town.
Greece also proposes many event and more especially during the summer. The famous "Athens Festival" organizes concerts and theatrical scenes in the famous theatre of Herodes Atticus and Epidaurus. In August 2004, the Olympic Games returned to their birth country, Greece. Athletes from 200 countries came in Athens during 17 days.
History of Greece :
The history of Greece can be dated back to Stone Age hunters. Later came early farmers and thecivilizations of the Minoan and Mycenaean kings. This was followed by a period of wars and invasions, known as the Dark Ages. In about 1100 BC, a people called the Dorians invaded from the north and spread down the west coast. During the second millennium BC, Greece gave birth to the great civilizations of the Minoan (2600-1500 BC), the Mycenaean (1500-1150 BC) and the Cycladic civilization on the Greek islands of the Centre Aegean.
The Classical Period of Greece History (6th -4th centuries BC) was the Golden Age and the most famous world wide; during this period lived the greatest philosophers and mathematicians. Then, the history of Greece is a succession of various invasions and dominations: the Macedonians formed a strong Empire, followed by the Romans and the Byzantine Empire which ended with the invasion of the Turks. The Ottoman rule lasted for 400 years and was a dark period for the inhabitants of the ex-Byzantine Empire. Wanting to finally win their freedom, people of the Greece territory started to organise themselves and various revolts exploded against the Turkish oppressor.
The Independence War started from the Peloponnese in 1821 and ended on March 1831, with the establishment of the new and independent Greek State. A monarchy was established a few years after that by the Great Powers. |
