Art & Architecture

Greek architecture has fundamentally influenced Western architecture to such an extent that its forms are still omnipresent today — from the White House in Washington to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. At the center are the three orders of columns:

Doric Order

The oldest and strictest form (from around 600 BC). Columns without a base, with fluting (grooves) and a simple capital (abacus + echinus). The Parthenon on the Acropolis is the perfect example — and a masterpiece of optical illusion: The columns lean slightly inward, the base is slightly curved, so everything appears straight. Other examples: Temple of Aphaia on Aegina, Hera Temple in Olympia, Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.

Ionic Order

More elegant, slender, with volutes (spiral scrolls) on the capital. The Erechtheion on the Acropolis with its famous Caryatids (columns in the form of women) is the best-known example. The Ionic order was mainly used in Asia Minor and the Ionian Islands.

Corinthian Order

The newest and most elaborate — the capital is decorated with acanthus leaves. The Olympieion (Temple of Olympian Zeus) in Athens shows it in full splendor: 104 columns of 17 m height (15 still stand). The Romans loved the Corinthian order and spread it throughout the empire.

Ancient Theaters

The Greek invention of the theater brought forth a distinct architectural form: semicircular seating (Theatron) nestled into hillsides, with Orchestra (performance area) and Skene (stage wall). The Theater of Epidaurus (4th century BC) is the acoustic marvel of antiquity — on the uppermost tiers (14,000 seats!) you can hear a coin dropped on stage. It is still used for performances today (Athens & Epidaurus Festival, every summer).

Other significant ancient theaters: Delphi (overlooking the valley), Dodona (oldest in Greece), Philippi, the Theater of Dionysus in Athens (birthplace of theater).

For over a thousand years, the Byzantine Empire produced a distinct art tradition that fused antiquity and Christianity and continues to shape the Orthodox world today.

Icons

Icon painting is not just art — it is theology in color. Icons (Greek "Eikon" = image) are sacred images through which, according to Orthodox belief, the divine itself is present. They are not "painted" but "written" (graphein), follow strict rules (iconography), and are consecrated. The main types: Christ Pantocrator (All-Ruler), the Theotokos (Mother of God) in various poses, and portraits of saints.

In the 8th/9th century, the Iconoclasm controversy raged: Emperors wanted to ban icons, the people and monks resisted. The victory of the iconophiles is celebrated on the "Sunday of Orthodoxy." The result: Orthodox churches are still richly adorned with icons, while the Western iconoclasm of the Reformation had the opposite effect.

The best places for Byzantine art:

• Byzantine Museum Athens: The most comprehensive icon collection in Greece
• Monasteries of Meteora: Frescoes and icons in spectacular locations
• Churches of Thessaloniki: 15 UNESCO-protected early Christian and Byzantine churches
• Mystras (Peloponnese): Ghost town with fully preserved Byzantine frescoes
• Monastery of Daphni (near Athens): One of the most beautiful Byzantine mosaics worldwide
• Nea Moni (Chios): 11th-century mosaics of incredible color intensity (UNESCO)

The white-blue houses of the Cyclades — Santorini, Mykonos, Paros — have become the epitome of Greece. But why do they look like this?

The answer is pragmatic, not aesthetic:

• White walls: The houses were whitewashed with lime (Asvesti) — a cheap, locally available material that also acts as a disinfectant. During the cholera and plague epidemics of the 19th/20th centuries, whitewashing was even legally mandated. The white color also reflects the sun and keeps the houses cooler.
• Blue accents: Blue was the cheapest available color — a mixture of lime and Loulaki (copper sulfate or laundry blue), which fishermen already used to paint their boats. Doors, shutters, and domes were painted blue because it was simply the most affordable.
• Cubic form: The cube-shaped houses with flat roofs are a response to wind (Meltemi) and earthquakes — low, compact, aerodynamic. The thick stone walls insulate against heat and cold.

From the 1970s, the government made the white-blue law: On the Cyclades, houses can only be built in traditional colors and forms. Irony of history: What began as poverty architecture became Greece's most expensive real estate market.

On other islands, the architecture looks completely different: Corfu has Venetian pastel facades, Thessaloniki Ottoman wooden houses, the Mani somber residential towers, and the Zagorochoria in Epirus are built from gray stone, without a drop of color.

After independence in 1829, Greece was rebuilt by European architects in the neoclassical style — ironically, the Bavarians (King Otto was a Bavarian prince!) reimported Greek forms back to Greece.

In Athens, the magnificent buildings of the "Athenian Trilogy" were created:

• Academy of Athens (1859-1885, Theophil Hansen): Ionic columns, sculptures of Apollo and Athena, probably the most beautiful neoclassical building in Greece.
• University of Athens (1839-1864, Christian Hansen): The oldest university building of modern Greece.
• National Library (1888-1903, Theophil Hansen): Doric staircase, impressive facade.

Beyond Athens: Ermoupoli on Syros is the best-preserved neoclassical city in Greece — an entire city ensemble of marble, less known than Santorini and ten times more elegant. Nafplio (first capital of modern Greece) has a charming old town with neoclassical mansions, Venetian fortresses, and Ottoman fountains.

Many neoclassical buildings in Athens and Thessaloniki were demolished in the 20th century to make way for the faceless concrete blocks (Polykatoikia) that dominate the cityscape today — a cultural catastrophe that is now widely lamented.

Greek music is as diverse as the country itself — from the oriental sounds of Rembetiko to folk Dimotika to modern pop and the vibrant indie scene of Athens.

Rembetiko — the Greek Blues

Rembetiko originated in the 1920s in the port cities (Piraeus, Thessaloniki) — born from the pain of the Asia Minor refugees who had lost everything. The lyrics speak of poverty, drug use (hashish!), unrequited love, and life on the fringes of society. The instrument: the Bouzouki, a long-necked lute whose sound became synonymous with Greek music.

The big names: Vassilis Tsitsanis (the "Patriarch"), Markos Vamvakaris (the rough pioneer from Syros), Sotiria Bellou (the voice of female Rembetiko). Today, the genre is experiencing a renaissance — live music and dancing in Athenian Rembetadika (Rembetiko clubs) often last until the early hours.

Laiko & Entechno

Laiko (folk music) is mainstream — catchy, emotional, danceable. Singers like Stelios Kazantzidis and Giorgos Dalaras are national treasures. In the Bouzoukia (nightclubs), people dance to live music and throw flower pots — literally: hundreds of euros are spent on trays full of carnations, which are thrown at the singer's feet.

Entechno (art music) fused Greek folk music with classical composition in the 1960s. Mikis Theodorakis (Zorba the Greek, Canto General) and Manos Hadjidakis (Oscar for "Never on Sunday") made Greek music world-famous. Theodorakis' music was banned under the junta — listening to his songs risked arrest.

Folk Dance

Greek dance is communal — people hold each other's shoulders or hands and dance in a circle. The main dances: Sirtaki (actually invented for the film Zorba, but now folklore), Kalamatianos (the pan-Greek dance), Tsamiko (heroic dance), Hasapiko (butcher's dance, basis of the Sirtaki), Zeimbekiko (the solo dance — a man dances out his emotions alone, others clap in rhythm. Spectators: NEVER intervene!).

Greek literature has shaped Western civilization as deeply as no other — from Homer's epics to Attic tragedy to two Nobel laureates in the 20th century.

Antiquity

Homer (circa 8th century BC) stands at the beginning: The Iliad (Trojan War) and the Odyssey (Odysseus' wanderings) are the founding texts of European literature. Whether Homer was a real person or a collective phenomenon is still debated. The places of the Odyssey — Ithaca, the Bay of Calypso (Gozo?), the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis (Strait of Messina?) — have fascinated travelers for 3,000 years.

The Attic tragedy (5th century BC) — Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides — created an art form that is still performed in theaters worldwide. Antigone, Electra, Medea, Oedipus — these figures live on. And Aristophanes' comedies (The Birds, Lysistrata) are as biting and relevant as ever.

Modern Greek Literature

Greece has produced two Nobel laureates:

• Giorgos Seferis (Nobel Prize 1963): Diplomat and poet whose melancholic verses negotiate homeland, exile, and the burden of history. "Wherever I travel, Greece wounds me."
• Odysseas Elytis (Nobel Prize 1979): Poet of light and the Aegean. His major work "Axion Esti" (Worthy It Is) is a hymn to Greece, set to music by Theodorakis.

Other authors to know:

• Konstantinos Kavafis (1863-1933): Alexandrian Greek, whose poem "Ithaka" is one of the most quoted in the world: "As you set out for Ithaka, hope your road is a long one..."
• Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957): Crete's great son. "Alexis Sorbas" (Zorba the Greek) is a hymn to life; "The Last Temptation" a controversial Jesus novel that the church excommunicated. His grave in Heraklion bears the inscription: "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."
• Petros Markaris (*1937): The king of Greek crime fiction. His Inspector Charitos investigates in Athens — the books are the best introduction to modern Greece. "Hellas Channel" and "Zahltag" are available in German.