Greece Culture and People

Some of the world's greatest thinkers were Greek: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Greek philosophy provides the underpinnings for most of Western higher thought, including politics, ethics and metaphysics. Many important contributions to European civilization was the attempt to give rational explanations for physical phenomena, and to provide a rationale for religious teachings and practices. Plato and Aristotle wrote about the importance of music in society and were great supporters of music education in the schools of their time.

Crete became part of the Ottoman Empire on September 6, 1669. From 1820 on, the Greeks of the Island began frequent revolts and struggled to win the island for Greece. From the time the "Cretan Problem" began, local Greeks as well as Greek militias supported by Greece proper used every means and opportunity, sometimes tragic, to abolish Ottoman rule on the island and eliminate the presence of the Turks. This resulted in the eventual annex of the island to Greece in 1913, and the later expulsion of the island’s 120,000-strong Turkish population. Because of these events, the Turks who emigrated and settled mainly along the shores of the Aegean and Mediterranean are known as Giritli (Cretans). Some families still speak the Cretan dialect of Greek.

Rarely is a social event conducted outside of a meal in Greece. Food is a central element in most family gatherings. And, Cretans have a particular flair for preparing fresh, healthy foods gathered from the vast countryside such as olives, green vegetables, herbs and many other products found in great abundance. During their history of many centuries, it is obvious that Greeks based their diet on those products - with cooking recipes preserved to today. But, that doesn't mean that fermented beverages were overlooked. Grape-gathering, wine-making and tsikoudia-making are activities enjoyed in the autumn every year. Wine-making involves crushing the grapes in special stone constructions called "patitiria." This is done by several people taking turns, walking or running in place on top of the grapes. Tsikoudia or "raki" is a strong local drink made from the remains in the patitiria, after most of the grape juice has been removed. This is allowed to ferment, and then is distilled. Traditional methods and machinery are still used. Raki is shared at most social gatherings.