about Greece

1. ΕΛΛΑΔΑ/ GREECE
Capital City : ATHENS
Currency: Euro (since 2001) until 2001 we had drachma
euro drachma
Population : 11,03milion (2016)
Area: 131.957 m2
Type of Government: Hellenic Republic

2. Famous people in the past
Alexander the Great
Homer the Epic Poet of Iliad and the Odyssey.
Socrates the Enigmatic Philosopher
Phidias sculptor, painter, and architect
Pericles the Inspired politician
Hippocrates the Physician
Archimedes the Mathematecian

3. El Greco the painter
Nikos Kazantzakis, the writer
Aristotle Onassis the most famous Greek businessman
Iohannis Kapodistrias , the first Greek prime minister
Manos Xatzidakis, Greek composer, Received Academy Award for
Best Original Song for his song «Never On Sunday» from the film of the same name.
Maria Callas was a Greek-American soprano, and one of the most
renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century
Seferis, Giorgos or George was a Greek poet-diplomat. He was one of
the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate.

4. Odysseas Elytis, was regarded as a major exponent
of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Literature.
Famous people in the present
Michael "Mikis" Theodorakis –composer
Nikos Galis Sportsman ––Greece basketballer,
Lefteris Petrounias, the Olympic champion
Anna Κorakaki , is a Greek shooter and Olympic champion. At the
2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro won the gold medal and became the first woman Greek
athlete in the history of the Greek Olympic Team, who won two medals in the same
event Olympic Games.

5. Ekaterini Stefanidi- is a Greek vaulter, won a gold medal in Olympics,
2016 with a jump of 4.85 meters. She also won the 2005 World Youth
Championships and the 2016 European championships.
Dimitri V. Nanopoulos is a Greek physicist. He is one of the most
regularly cited researchers in the world, cited more than 43,200 times over across a
number of separate branches of science.
Joseph Sifakis is a Greek-born French computer scientist, laureate of
the 2007 Turing Award,
Nana Mouskouri, an international singer, considered to be one of the
best-selling music artists in the world

6. Famous places
Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Corfu, Rhodes
Typical landscape
The general terrain of Greece is mountainous, comprising 80 percent of the country's
mountains and hills, interspersed with numerous islands and islets around the Ionian and
Aegean seas. Its main topographical features include a peninsular mainland, the
Peloponnese peninsula and around 6,000 isles.
Greece has 13,676 kilometers (8,498 mi) of coastline, the largest in the
Mediterranean Basin.
Mainly Mountainous- 80% of Greece is mountainous

7. Mount Olympus is the highest point in Greece and the fourth highest in
relative topographical prominence in Europe.
Some plain fields

8. Rivers
Some reservoirs

9. And a lot!!! Of islands.
With most of them being in the Aegean Sea and the rest in the Ionian Sea. There are
6,000 islands, with 227 of them inhabited. The Greek islands amount for about 20% of
the country's total territory

10. Monuments
Parthenon, Acropolis, ATHENS
The temple of Poseidon, Sounion, Attica

11. Delphi, Fokida it was considered as the center of the world, UNESCO , World
Heritage Site
The ancient theatre of Epidaurus , Peloponnese, regarded as the best preserved
ancient theatre in Greece in terms of its perfect acoustics and fine structure.

12. Monastery of Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the cave of Apocalypse
, Patmos island , UNESCO World Heritage Site
Knossos, island of Crete, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological
site on Crete and is considered Europe's oldest city.

13. Medieval City of Rhodes, Rhodes island, UNESCO World Heritage Site

14. Food
Salads, spreads, dips
 Greek salad(χωριάτικη σαλάτα)
Greek salad consists of tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, onion, feta cheese, and olives
(usually Kalamata olives), typically seasoned with salt and oregano, and dressed with
olive oil. Sliced capsicum, usually green, is often added also.
 Tzatziki-(τζατζίκι)
Dip made from combining yogurt, cucumber, and (usually) garlic. Dill is sometimes
added according to people's tastes. Olive oil is typically added.

15. Appetizers
 Tiropita, Spanakopita
Tiropita or tyropita is a Greek layered pastry, made with layers of buttered phyllo and
filled with a cheese-egg mixture. The traditional filling comprises
chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions or scallions, egg, and seasoning.
Soups
Fakes (φακές σούπα) or Faki (φακή)
A popular lentil soup usually served with vinegar and olives and/or smoked herring
Fasolada (φασολάδα) a popular bean soup considered the traditional Greek dish. It is
typically made from various beans, tomatoes, carrot, onion, celery, dried herbs, and
plenty of olive oil.

16. Main dishes
Moussaka
It is an eggplant and potato-based dish, including ground meat, topped with
a Béchamel ("white") sauce, and baked. It has three layers that are separately cooked
before being combined for the final baking: a bottom layer of sliced eggplant sautéed in
olive oil; a middle layer of ground lamb lightly cooked with chopped or puréed
tomatoes, onion, garlic, and spices (cinnamon, allspice and black pepper); and a top
layer of Béchamel sauce . The composed dish is then layered into a pan and baked until
the top layer is browned.
Baked lamb with potatoes.
A common Greek dish, very delicious.

17. Souvlaki (σουβλάκι) Lit: 'little skewer') anything grilled on a skewer (lamb, chicken,
pork, swordfish, shrimp). Most common is lamb, pork, and chicken, typically marinated
in oil, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon. Also known as kalamaki (καλαμάκι)
Desserts and sweets
Melomakarona"Honey macaroons" which are cookies soaked in a syrup of diluted
honey (μέλι or meli in Greek, thus melo-makarona), then sprinkled with crushed
walnuts. Typically baked for Christmas.
Spoon sweets Made of various fruits, ripe or unripe, or green unripe nuts. Spoon
sweets are essentially made the same way as marmalade, except that the fruit are
boiled whole or in large chunks.

18. Vasilopita (βασιλόπιτα) Saint Basil's cake or King's cake, traditionally prepared for
New Year's Day. Vasilopites are often baked with a coin inside, and whoever comes
across the coin in their slice is considered to have God's blessing for the New Year.