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Search - The Rough Guide to Greece - 10th edition

The Rough Guide to Greece - 10th edition
Author: Lance Chilton, Marc Dubin, Nick Edwards, Mark Ellingham, John Fisher, Natania Jansz

Introduction to Greece With well over a hundred inhabited islands and a territory that stretches from the south Aegean sea to the Balkan countries, Greece offers enough to fill months of travel. The historic sites span four millennia, encompassing both the legendary and the obscure, where a visit can still seem like a personal discovery. Beache... more »s are parcelled out along a convoluted coastline equal to France’s in length, and islands range from backwaters where the boat calls twice a week to resorts as cosmopolitan as any in the Mediterranean. Modern Greece is the result of extraordinarily diverse influences. Romans, Arabs, Latin Crusaders, Venetians, Slavs, Albanians, Turks, Italians, not to mention the Byzantine Empire, have been and gone since the time of Alexander the Great. All have left their mark: the Byzantines in countless churches and monasteries; the Venetians in impregnable fortifications in the Peloponnese; and other Latin powers, such as the Knights of St John and the Genoese, in imposing castles across the northern and eastern Aegean. Equally obvious is the heritage of four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule which, while universally derided, contributed substantially to Greek music, cuisine, language and way of life. Significant, and still-existing, minorities – Vlachs, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Gypsies – have also helped to forge the hard-to-define but resilient Hellenic identity, which has kept alive the people’s sense of themselves throughout their turbulent history. With no local ruling class or formal Renaissance period to impose superior models of taste or patronize the arts, medieval Greek peasants, fishermen and shepherds created a vigorous and truly popular culture, which found expression in the songs and dances, costumes, embroidery, carved furniture and the white cubist houses of popular imagination. During the last few decades much of this has disappeared under the impact of Western consumer values, relegated to museums at best, but recently the country’s architectural and musical heritage in particular have undergone a renaissance, with buildings rescued from dereliction and performers reviving, to varying degrees, half-forgotten musical traditions. Of course there are also formal cultural activities: museums that shouldn’t be missed, magnificent medieval mansions and castles, as well as the great ancient sites dating from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Minoan, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras. Greece hosts some excellent summer festivals too, bringing international theatre, dance and musical groups to perform in ancient theatres, as well as castle courtyards and more contemporary venues in coastal and island resorts. But the call to cultural duty will never be too overwhelming on a Greek holiday. The hedonistic pleasures of languor and warmth – going lightly dressed, swimming in balmy seas at dusk, talking and drinking under the stars – are just as appealing. And despite recent improvements to the tourism "product", Greece is still essentially a land for adaptable sybarites, not for those who crave orthopedic mattresses, faultless plumbing, Cordon-Bleu cuisine and attentive service. Except at the growing number of luxury facilities in new or restored buildings, hotel and pension rooms can be box-like, campsites offer the minimum of facilities, and the food at its best is fresh and uncomplicated. The Greek people To attempt an understanding of the Greek people, it’s useful to realize just how recent and traumatic were the events that created the modern state and national character – the latter a complex blend of extroversion and pessimism, which cannot be accounted for merely by Greece’s position as a natural bridge between Europe and the Middle East. Until the early decades of the twentieth century many parts of Greece were under Ottoman (or in the case of the Dodecanese, Italian) rule. Meanwhile, numerous Greek Orthodox lived in Asia Minor, Egypt, western Europe and in the northern Balkans. The Balkan Wars of 1912–13, Greece’s 1917–18 World War I involvement, the Greco–Turkish war of 1919–22 and the organized population exchanges – essentially regulated ethnic cleansing – which followed each of these conflicts had sudden, profound effects. Worse was to come during World War II, and its aftermath of civil war between the Communists and the UK- and US-backed Nationalist government forces. The viciousness of this period found a later echo in nearly seven years of military dictatorship under the colonels’ junta between 1967 and 1974. Such memories of misrule, diaspora and catastrophe (including frequent, devastating earthquakes) remain uncomfortably close for many Greeks, despite three decades of democratic stability and the country’s integration into the EU. The poverty of, and enduring paucity of opportunity in, their homeland long frustrated talented and resourceful Greeks, many of whom emigrated. Those who stayed were lulled, until the late 1980s, by a civil-service-driven, full-employment policy which resulted in the lowest jobless rate in western Europe. The downside of this was a staggering lack of worker initiative and a burgeoning public deficit, but official attempts to impose a more austere economic line are still often met by waves of strikes. Since the early 1990s, Greece has become fully integrated into the Western economy, privatization and competition have demolished state monopolies, and inevitably growing disparities in wealth have appeared. Outside the public sector, the meticulousness of Greek craftworkers is legendary, even if their values and skills took a back seat to the demands of crisis and profiteering when the evacuation of Asia Minor and the rapid 1950s depopulation of rural villages prompted the graceless urbanization of Athens and other cities. Amidst the often superficial sophistication that resulted, it’s easy to forget the nearness of the village past and stubbornly lingering Third World attributes. You may find, for example, that buses operate with Germanic efficiency, but ferries sail with an unpredictability little changed since the time of Odysseus. Social attitudes, too, are in transition as Greece adapts to mass tourism and the modern world. The encounter has been painful and at times destructive, as the values of a rural, conservative society have been irrevocably lost. Though younger Greeks are adaptable and cash registers ring happily, at least in tourist areas, visitors still need to be sensitive in their behaviour towards the older generation. The mind boggles imagining the reaction of black-clad elders to nudism, or even scanty clothing, in a country where the Orthodox church remains an all-but-established faith and the self-appointed guardian of national identity. Although senior clerics have recently depleted a huge reservoir of respect with regressive stances on a number of issues, even the most worldly young Greeks, who never otherwise set foot in a church, are still likely to be married, buried and have their children baptized with Orthodox rites.

ISBN-13: 9781843532514
ISBN-10: 1843532514
Publication Date: 8/16/2004
Pages: 1,168
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Rough Guides Limited
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Travel >> Europe >> Greece >> General
Travel >> Guidebook Series >> Rough Guide

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