European civilisation owes its origin to the legendary country of Greece. The country was segmented into some of the greatest city-states known to humanity – Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. However, they were constantly fighting each other in order to establish their stranglehold in the region. It was the threat of Persian invasion that united these great city-states into one Greece.
The capital city, Athens, became the cultural capital of the Mediterranean during 5th Century BC and some of the finest works related to the fields of sculpture, art, literature, and architecture came out of the city and this established their supremacy in the entire region.
The modern Greece of today is no different than other modern European countries, except for its splendid historical glory that reflects in the carefully preserved places of significance. The entire country is dotted by Greece’s rich historical remnants. Some of the best-known ones include Delphi’s Temple of Apollo, the Athens’ Parthenon, and the ruins on Crete of the Minoan city of Knossos.
The placid blue waters of the Aegean play host to over 1,400 Greek islands having a unique story of their own. The largest island in this cluster in Crete. Where the clam and picturesque island of Skopelos displays its unmatched beauty, at the same time, there is Mykonos and Paros, infamous for their hedonistic parties where the worship of Dionysus (God of Revelry) is still observed with all the fanfare including house music and beats of garage music.
Better know as the country to host the first modern Olympic Games (Athens) in 1896, the city of Athens was also awarded and successfully hosted the Games again in 2004.
Up untill 1830, Greece was under the rule of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. However, the baggage of past still haunts the relationship between the two neighbours. The major dispute between the two relates to the settlement of the Northern Cyprus dispute. However, this once volatile situation is now under control with the Greece-controlled Cyprus region obtaining EU membership in 2004, and Greece lending support to the Turkish application for EU membership.
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Greece
