Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DIALECTS AND MINORITY LANGUAGES
Ancient
dialects
survive in many remote areas of Greece, some quite incomprehensible to
outsiders. The dialect of Sfákia in Crete is one such; Tsakónika of the east-central Peloponnese
is another, while the dialect of the Sarakatsáni shepherds is apparently the oldest, related to
the language of the Dorian settlers.
The language of the Sarakatsáni's traditional rivals, the
Vlachs
, is not Greek at all, but
derived from early Latin, with strong a
nities to Romanian. In the regions bordering the
Republic of Macedonia and southwestern Bulgaria, you can still hear
Slavic Macedonian
spoken, while small numbers of Sephardic Jews in the north speak
Ladino
, a medieval
form of Spanish. Until a few decades ago
Arvanítika
- a dialect of medieval Albanian
- was the first language of many villages of inland Attica, southern Évvia, northern Ándhros,
and much of the Argo-Saronic; lately the clock has been turned back, so to speak, as
throngs of Albanian immigrants circulate in Athens and other parts of the country. In
Thrace there is a substantial
Turkish-speaking
population, as well as some speakers of
Pomak
(a derivative of Bulgarian with a large Greco-Turkish vocabulary), while Gypsies
countrywide speak Romany.
Geometric period
Post-Mycenaean Iron Age era named
for its pottery style; starts in the early eleventh century
BC with the arrival of Dorian peoples. By the eighth
century BC, with development of representational
styles, the
Archaic period
begins.
Hammam
Domed “Turkish” bath, found on Rhodes and
certain northeast Aegean islands.
Hellenistic period
The last and most unified “Greek
empire”, created in the wake of Alexander the Great's
Macedonian empire and finally collapsing with the fall
of Corinth to the Romans in 146 BC.
Heroön
Shrine or sanctuary-tomb, usually of a demigod
or mortal; war memorials in modern Greece.
Hóra
Main town of an island or region; literally it means
“the place”. A hóra is often known by the same name
as the island.
Ierón
The sanctuary between the altar screen and the
apse of a church, reserved for priestly activities.
Ikonostási
Wood or masonry screen between the nave
of a church and the altar, supporting at least three
icons.
Ionic
Elaborate, decorative development of the older
Doric
order; Ionic temple columns are slimmer, with
deeper “fluted” edges, spiral-shaped capitals and
ornamental bases.
Kafenío
Coffee house or café.
Kaïki
(plural
kaïkia
) Caique, or medium-sized boat,
traditionally wooden and used for transporting cargo
and passengers; now refers mainly to island excursion
boats.
Kalderími
A cobbled mule-track or footpath.
Kámbos
Fertile agricultural plain, usually near a river
mouth.
Kantína
Shack, caravan or even a disused bus on the
beach, serving drinks and perhaps sandwiches or
quick snacks.
Capital
The flared top, often ornamented, of a column.
Cavea
Seating curve of an ancient theatre.
Cella
Sacred room of a temple, housing the cult image.
Classical period
From the end of the Persian Wars in
480 BC until the unification of Greece under Philip II of
Macedon (338 BC).
Conch
Concave semi-dome surmounting a church apse,
often frescoed.
Corinthian
Decorative columns, festooned with
acanthus florettes; any temple built in this order.
Dhimarhío
Town hall.
Dhomátia
Rooms for rent in purpose-built block,
without staffed reception.
Dorian
Northern civilization that displaced and
succeeded the Mycenaeans and Minoans through most
of Greece around 1100 BC.
Doric
Minimalist, unadorned columns, dating from the
Dorian period; any temple built in this order.
Drum
Cylindrical or faceted vertical section, usually
pierced by an even number of narrow windows,
upholding a church cupola.
Entablature
The horizontal linking structure atop the
columns of an ancient temple; same as
architrave
.
Eparhía
Subdivision of a modern province, analogous
to a county.
Exedra
Display niche for statuary.
Exonarthex
The outer vestibule or entrance hall of a
church, when a true
narthex
is present.
Forum
Market and meeting place of a Roman-era city.
Frieze
Band of sculptures around a temple. Doric friezes
consist of various tableaux of figures (
metopes
)
interspersed with grooved panels (
triglyphs
); Ionic
ones have continuous bands of figures.
Froúrio
Medieval citadel; nowadays, can mean a modern
military headquarters.
Garsoniéra/es
Studio villa/s, self-catering apartment/s.