Port of Piraeus
10 Surprising Facts About Greece That Don’t Seem Real
Written By: Christophoros
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.
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