Even a simple listing of the names of the local regions sounds like a table of contents for a textbook on the history of the ancient world. This state in the Balkans is called the cradle of all Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy. Each region of Greece has its own sights and memorable places, and it was here that a theater appeared and the first Olympic Games were held, exact sciences and philosophy were born.
Repeating the alphabet
In total, there are more than three hundred units in the country's administrative-territorial structure, including 7 decentralized administrations, 13 regions and 325 municipalities. The Autonomous Monastic State on the Holy Mountain has a separate and special status.
The names of each region of Greece are familiar to many travelers from the school curriculum. Attica and Ionia, Macedonia and Thrace, Thessaly and Peloponnese were repeatedly mentioned in history lessons. Active tourists, for whom a beach holiday exists only in combination with an interesting excursion program, choose the Aegean Islands or Crete as a place to spend their holidays or vacations.
On Mount Athos
The special status of the monastic republic of Athos was established in 1923, when the sovereignty of Greece over the Chalkidiki peninsula, where the monasteries are located, was legally enshrined in the Lausanne Agreement. Twenty Orthodox monasteries have existed since 1313 and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a place of pilgrimage for tens of thousands of believers. The main rule of visiting the holy mountain is very simple: women are not allowed here. For an attempt to break a centuries-old law, you can get a real prison sentence from six months to a year.
Familiar strangers
For fans of ancient attractions, the following areas of Greece are of greatest interest:
- Thessaly and Central Greece, where the capital of the country is located. It is not for nothing that Athens is called the cradle of Western civilization, and more and more travelers from Russia are striving to touch the historical sources every year. Thessalian mountains are also famous for another amazing miracle - the monasteries of Meteora, which adhered to the tops of five hundred meter cliffs like swallows' nests. Here, unlike Athos, you can come and the beautiful half of the tourist brotherhood.
- Central Macedonia and the city of Thessaloniki are not only a beach area in Greece, but also a real open-air museum. There are ten sites on the UNESCO lists, the most famous of which are the Triumphal Arch of Emperor Galerius with mosaics from the 4th century and the Church of Hagia Sophia, built at the end of the 7th century.
