Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
privately-built small chapels dot the countryside, while the tiny roadside
iconostases
(chapels) are either shrines to road accidents victims or dedications to saints.
During consecutive foreign occupations the Church and was the principal upholder of
Greek culture, language and traditions, and the church still exerts significant social, polit-
ical and economic influence, though recent scandals have taken their toll.
SPORTING PASSIONS
If the streets are quiet, you can't get a taxi or you hear a mighty roar coming from
nearby cafes, chances are there's a football (soccer) game underway. Greece's
most popular spectator sport inspires local passions and often unedifying fan hoo-
liganism.
Football's first division is dominated by the big clubs: Olympiakos of Piraeus and
arch rivals Panathinaikos of Athens, along with AEK Athens and Thessaloniki's
PAOK.
While the top clubs have won European championships, Greece has remained in
the shadow of Europe's soccer heavyweights since its 2004 European Cup win.
Greece is also one of the powerhouses of European basketball. Panathinaikos
has won six Euroleague championships, while Olypiakos claimed its third title in
2013. Nigerian-born Greek basketballer Giannis Antetokounmpo became the
poster boy for Greece's immigrants in 2013, when he was picked for the Milwaukee
Bucks in the NBA draft (having had his Greek citizenship fast-tracked).
