Greece

Discover Greece

Fun Foods

Dolmades, Moussaka, Pastitsio, Souvlaki, Baklava, Loukoumades

Zeus threw lightning bolts from Mount Olympus. Poseidon controlled the seas. Athena burst fully grown from her father's head.

The Greeks made up wild stories to explain the world, and we're still telling them today.

Greece is a country of islands and mountains at the southern tip of Europe. Three thousand years ago, people here built temples to gods they believed lived in the clouds above them. Those temples still stand.

The ancient Greeks didn't just tell stories. They invented democracy, where regular people vote instead of obeying kings. Athens tried it first around 500 BC, and the idea spread across the world.

Philosophers like Socrates and Plato asked questions nobody had asked before. What is justice? What is truth?

Socrates annoyed so many powerful people with his questions that they sentenced him to death.

The Greeks fought off the massive Persian army twice. Three hundred Spartans held a mountain pass against thousands of soldiers at Thermopylae. They all died, but they bought time for Greece to survive.

Alexander the Great conquered everything from Egypt to India by age 30. He spread Greek ideas across the ancient world. Then he died young, probably from fever, and his empire fell apart.

Greece spent almost 400 years under Ottoman Turkish rule. Greeks finally won their independence in 1832 after years of bloody fighting. The country rebuilt slowly, surviving two world wars and decades of political chaos.

Visit the Acropolis in Athens to see the Parthenon up close. Explore the palace ruins at Knossos in Crete, where legends say the Minotaur lived in a maze. Santorini has volcanic beaches and sunsets that look fake.

Greeks eat late. Dinner starts at 9 or 10 PM.

Try souvlaki, which is grilled meat on a stick, and spanakopita, spinach wrapped in flaky pastry. Everything comes with olive oil and feta cheese.

Greek Easter involves midnight church services, fireworks, and families roasting whole lambs. Opa! is what people shout before smashing plates at celebrations.

This country invented thinking for yourself, competing for glory, and asking hard questions. Your kids are standing where it all began.