Greece (/ɡriːs/; Greek: Ελλάδα, Elláda, pronounced [eˈlaða]), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a] Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía) and known since ancient times as Hellas (/ˈhɛləs/; Greek: Ελλάς), is a country located …
Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, Spártā; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, Spártē) or Lacedaemon (/ˌlæsəˈdiːmən/; Λακεδαίμων, Lakedaímōn) was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnes…
Helios Airways Flight 522 was a scheduled Helios Airways passenger flight that crashed into a mountain on 14 August 2005 at 12:04 pm EEST, north of Marathon and Varnavas, Greece, whilst flying from Larnaca, Cyprus to Athens, Greece. A lack of oxygen…
The Parthenon (/ˈpɑrθəˌnɒnˌ -nən/; Ancient Greek: Παρθενών; Modern Greek: Παρθενώνας) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. Construction began in 447…
The Battle of Thermopylae (/θərˈmɒpɨliː/ thər-MOP-i-lee; Greek: Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, Machē tōn Thermopylōn) was fought between alliances of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of thre…
The Colossus of Rhodes /roʊdz/ (Ancient Greek: ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος ho Kolossòs Rhódios) was a statue of the Greek titan-god of the sun Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name, by Chares of Lindos in 280 BC. It is co…
Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kríti ['kriti]; Ancient Greek: Κρήτη, Krḗtē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrou…
Santorini (Greek: Σαντορίνη, pronounced [sandoˈrini]), classically Thera (English pronunciation /ˈθɪərə/), and officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα [ˈθira]), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast of Greece's mainland. It …
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure, about 13 m (43 ft) tall, made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around 435 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece, and erected in the Temple of Zeus there. A sculpture of ivory plates and gold pan…
Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη [θesaloˈnici]), also known in English as Thessalonica or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Greek Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Adminis…
The Acropolis of Athens (Ancient Greek: Ἀκρόπολις; Modern Greek: Ακρόπολη Αθηνών Akrópoli Athinón) is an ancient citadel located on a high rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architec…
Rhodes (Greek: Ρόδος, Ródos [ˈroðos]) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is …
The Battle of Marathon (Greek: Μάχη τοῦ Μαραθῶνος, Machē tou Marathōnos) took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Ar…
Mount Olympus (/ɵˈlɪmpəs/; Greek: Όλυμπος; also transliterated as Olympos, and on Greek maps, Oros Olympos) is the highest mountain in Greece and the second highest mountain in the Balkans. It is located in the Olympus Range on the border between Th…
Corfu (/ˈkɔrfuː, -fjuː/; Greek: Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra [ˈcercira]; Ancient Greek: Κέρκυρα or Κόρκυρα; Latin: Corcyra; Italian: Corfù) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite i…
The Aegean Sea (/ɨˈdʒiːən/; Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος [eˈʝeo ˈpelaɣos]; Turkish: Ege Denizi or Adalar Denizi) is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the Greek and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece an…
Knossos or Cnossos (/ˈnɒsɒs/; also Knossus or Cnossus /ˈnɒsəs/; Greek: Κνωσός, pronounced [knoˈsos]), is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and is considered Europe's oldest city.
Mount Athos (/ˈæθɒs/; Greek: Όρος Άθως, Οros Αthos [ˈoros ˈaθos]) is a mountain and peninsula in Northern Greece, in the region of Macedonia.
The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of southern European Catholic maritime states, led by Spain decisively defeated the fleet of the Ottoman Empire on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corin…
Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών "Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος", Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos") (IATA: ATH, ICAO: LGAV), began operation on 29 March 2001 and is the primary civili…
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic, a naval engagement between Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, in …
The Metéora (Greek: Μετέωρα, pronounced [mɛˈtɛoɾɐ], lit. "middle of the sky", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above" — etymologically related to meteorology) is one of the largest and most important complexes of Greek Orthodox monasteries …
HMHS Britannic was the third, last-built, and largest member of the White Star Line's Olympic class of vessels. She was the sister ship of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, and was intended to enter service as the transatlantic passenger liner, RMS Brita…
Mykonos (/ˈmɪkəˌnɒs/, /ˈmɪkəˌnoʊs/; Greek: Μύκονος [ˈmikonos]) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island spans an area of 85.5 square kilometres (33.0 sq mi) and rises to an elevation of 341 met…
Arcadia (Greek: Αρκαδία, Arkadía) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological ch…
Mycenae (/maɪˈsiːni/; Greek: Μυκῆναι Mykēnai or Μυκήνη Mykēnē) is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 kilometres (7 miles) to the south; Corinth,…
Lesbos (/ˈlɛzbɒs/; Greek: Λέσβος Lesvos, pronounced [ˈle̞zvo̞s]), sometimes referred to as Mytilini after its capital, is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of 1,632 square kilometres (630 sq mi) with 320 kilometre…
The Peloponnese (/ˈpɛləpəˌniːz/) or Peloponnesus (/ˌpɛləpəˈniːsəs/; Greek: Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos; see also list of Greek place names) is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is separated from the central part of the country …
Olympia (Greek: Ὀλυμπία; Ancient Greek: [ˈolympia]; Modern Greek: [oliˈbia] Olympía), a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times.
Chios (/ˈkaɪ.ɒs/; Greek: Χίος, pronounced [ˈçios]; Turkish: sakız alternative transliterations Khíos and Híos) is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) off the Anatolian coast. The island is separa…
The Corinth Canal (Greek: Διώρυγα της Κορίνθου, Dhioryga tis Korinthou) is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnese from the Greek …
Icaria, also spelled Ikaria (Greek: Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. It derived its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who fell into the sea nearby. Administratively t…
Macedonia (/ˌmæsɨˈdoʊniə/ MASS-ə-DOH-nee-ə; Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía [makeðoˈnia]) is a geographic and historical region of Greece in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region, dominated by mountains in …
Zakynthos (Greek: Ζάκυνθος [ˈzacinθos]) or Zante (/ˈzɑːnti, -teɪ, ˈzæn-/; from Venetian) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Zakynthos is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and its …
Kos or Cos (Greek: Κως) is a Greek island of the group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. The island measures 40 by 8 kilometres (25 by 5 miles), and is 4 km (2 miles) from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey, and the ancient region of Caria…
The Cyclades (/ˈsɪklədiːz/; Greek: Κυκλάδες, [cikˈlaðes]) are a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archip…