Think you know everything about the homeland? Chances are these 10 facts will take you by surprise. Here are some tidbits you can pull out at random when you’re out at the kafeneio with your parea.
1. The Acropolis was a Christian Church longer than it was a pagan temple
It’s true. I’d always associated the Acropolis with pagan worship before I looked into its history. After the building’s construction finished around 423 BCE, the Parthenon was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and served as an Orthodox Christian Church from the 580s AD until the 13th century, remaining so until it was converted to a Catholic Church by Latin Crusaders. It then became a mosque following Ottoman conquest in 1458, staying that way until the late 17th century.
2. The Parthenon was in near-perfect condition until the late 17th Century
Speaking of the Acropolis, it was actually in extremely good condition until suffering an interior explosion due to Venetian bombardment in 1687. The Parthenon building we are familiar with from thousands of postcards and millions of contemporary photographs – pictured with no roof and partially-intact white columns – suggests a history of slow deterioration over thousands of years.
In actuality, the Parthenon roof, columns, and much of the inner chamber were very well preserved until a Venetian mortar made contact with the building on September 26, 1687, which caused a major explosion since the Ottomans were using the Parthenon as a munitions storage. If not for this explosion, the Parthenon would have, in all likelihood, remained in remarkably good condition for future generations of Greeks and visitors alike.
3. Piraeus is the fastest-growing port in all of Europe
For several years now, the port of Piraeus has been ranked No. 1 in Europe for container traffic. This is largely due to its operation by COSCO, a Chinese state-owned company, since 2016. COSCO famously acquired a majority stake in the port for €280.5 million back in 2016. Today, a significant volume of goods from Asia and Africa pass through Piraeus due to its strategic positioning in the Eastern Mediterranean.
4. Greece has the largest merchant shipping fleet in the world
While we’re on the topic, did you know that Greece alone accounts for 16.9% of the world’s merchant shipping fleet? Despite having a population of just under 10 million, Greece is ahead of other maritime nations like China (13.3%) and Japan (10.4%) in terms of shipping capacity. China still possesses more vessels overall than Greece – approximately 6,600 compared to Greece’s 4,992 – but the Greek fleet comprises larger ships on average, giving it the edge when measured by tonnage.
5. Melbourne, Australia boasts the largest Greek population outside of Greece and Cyprus
This one was another shocker to me, especially as a Greek-American. According to the 2016 Australian census, over 170,000 people in Melbourne claim Greek ancestry, constituting around 4% of the city’s overall population. More recent estimates of the Greater Melbourne area indicate up to 400,000 Greek-Australians residing there, encompassing first, second, and third-generation Hellenes.
6. Over 1/3 of the population lives in the Greater Athens area
This statistic is probably the most well-known among Greek Diasporans to make this list, but it still took me by surprise. As of the 2021 Greek census, 36.4% of Greece’s population live in the Attica region, which comprises the Greater Athens area.
One negative outcome of this fact is that Greece is struggling to repopulate many of its abandoned villages and islands, compelling the institution of governmental programs that offer young families thousands of Euros to move to struggling islands like Antikythera (€18,000 over three years).
7. Multiple Greek islands claim to be the birthplace of Aphrodite
According to ancient myth, most scholars attribute the birthplace of Aphrodite to be Cyprus, but it’s not always clear-cut. For instance, Kythira also claims to be her place of origin, since it is mentioned as such in Homeric hymns and various philosophical texts. Other islands such as Rhodes, Crete and Santorini also compete for this title – no doubt adding to their commercial appeal.
8. Most of the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers were actually from Asia Minor
This prestigious group of philosophers includes Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Thales, Heraclitus and many more – all of whom lived and taught in modern-day Turkey. At the time, this region was a Greek-speaking mecca that served as fertile ground for advances in mathematics, scientific exploration and philosophical thought, further benefiting from access to Babylonian and Egyptian knowledge.
9. As recently as the 1950s, 100,000 Greeks still lived in Constantinople
The last pogrom against the Greeks in Constantinople occurred in September 1955, culminating in a state-condoned riot against Greek residents which resulted in the looting and destruction of Greek businesses, the vandalism of several Orthodox churches, the raping of hundreds of women and over 30 deaths. This tragedy greatly accelerated the expulsion and emigration of thousands of ethnic Greeks, reducing the Hellenic population in Constantinople to just a few thousand by the 1960s.
10. Nafplio was the first capital of Greece after achieving independence, not Athens
I feel like we ought to end on a positive note after that last one. Beginning in 1828, Nafplio served as Greece’s official capital city because it was strategically located as a port city and was liberated from the Ottomans in 1822 – years before other major Greek cities.
Nafplio also served as a base of operations during the Greek War of Independence, but unlike Athens and Thessaloniki, it hadn’t sustained much damage to its administrative buildings and housing. Its run as the Greek capital was relatively short-lived, though; King Otto transitioned the distinction from Nafplio to Athens in 1834 out of a desire to connect the modern Greek state with its classical past.