Greeks throughout the country celebrated the Clean Monday holiday in the time-honoured fashion on Monday, with outdoor activities such as kite-flying and picnics, the traditional lenten delicacies, music and dancing.While many quit the cities to enjoy the long weekend in the countryside, municipalities in Attica were also throwing parties for those left behind, offering free […]
As the sun rises behind the mountains, its light bathes the waters of the twin lakes in the Prespes National Park, on Greece’s border with North Macedonia and Albania, creating a breathtaking sight.
A new project by the Archipelago Network aims to explore the age-old maritime traditions of the Cyclades, and conserve them for future generations.
A multicultural lakeside city hosting people of different ethnic backgrounds and their music: “This was Ioannina 200 years ago, a completely different state and society than it was after World War II,” says Christopher King, the distinguished American ethnomusicologist.
The American School of Classical Studies invites US ethnomusicologist Christopher King for a discussion on the violin in the traditional music of the Epirus region of northern Greece.
Eleven-year-old Esma Gljiva from Sarajevo is very precise when making dolls dressed in traditional Muslim, Christian Orthodox and Catholic costumes, and takes care over hairstyles and miniature jewelry.
Every summer, festivals on the Greek islands and the mainland begin in late June and end on August 15 with the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, like in Olympos on Karpathos (pictured).
The Museum of Cycladic Art has launched Cycladic Identity, an initiative to preserve and highlight the character of Greece’s famous island cluster and attract donations and sponsorships, with which it will support organizations active in the islands with programs related to culture, biodiversity and intangible cultural heritage.
Sotirios Gkaintatzis danced across burning coals, his stomping bare feet raising sparks and puffs of smoke as he held aloft an icon of Saints Constantine and Helen. He is the leader of a group of “anastenaria” – the devotees of St. Constantine who celebrate these centuries-old rites in a smattering of small villages near Thessaloniki.
The Culture Ministry has submitted a request to UNESCO to inscribe a traditional Greek custom blessing the bounty of the land on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, it announced on Thursday.
Colorful kites danced in the skies above the hilltops and seafront promenades of Athens on Clean Monday as Greeks turned out to celebrate the Eastern Christian holiday in their traditional fashion after being hit hard by the pandemic during the winter.
The government is expected to announce Friday that parks in cities will remain open on Monday when Greeks mark the first day of Lent – dubbed Clean Monday – and citizens head to open spaces to fly kites.
The Domna Samiou Choir, an ensemble created in 1993 by the late doyenne of Greek folk music, performs traditional Christmas carols from different parts of the country and different eras.
He usually has a bundle of keys clutched in one hand and a sprig of jasmine or basil tucked behind an ear. Although 70 years old he is quick on his feet and I had trouble keeping up as he strode up the steep cobbled streets of Sikinos.
“Tradition is a living thing, not a museum genre.” How many times has Ekaterini Polymerou-Kamilaki repeated this phrase over her 40-year career? Hundreds, probably.
In the wake of a cameraman’s death during a traditional event and the accidental shooting of an 8-year-old girl on Easter Sunday, calls have grown for the imposition of restrictions on potentially dangerous customs.
