Old Christian Church, Greece. Greek holy places

For more than three hundred years after the Resurrection of Christ, the Church struggled to survive in the conditions of persecution that periodically arose in the territory of the Roman Empire. In some cases, persecution (especially those that were organized by the emperors Domitian, Licinius, Adrian, Diocletian, and Maximian) led to the widespread destruction of Christian communities.

With only one mention of Greece, many associations emerge in the head of every person about great philosophers, discoveries, words that have penetrated into all the languages of the world, myths and ancient Greek gods familiar to everyone from school.

The Greeks are known not only for their vitality, but also for their deep faith and respect for traditions. They call themselves the descendants of the great Byzantine culture, most of them profess Orthodoxy. More than 90 percent of indigenous people recognize themselves Orthodox Christians.

The Greek Constitution calls Christianity the state religion, while leaving the right to choose religion to the citizens themselves, excluding the possibility of conducting missionary activity. Representatives of different faiths peacefully coexist with each other. Much of the Muslims are concentrated in Rhodes, Catholics are often found on the Aegean islands, there are Protestants, Jews and those who continue the faith of the ancient Greeks to the gods of Olympus.

For the most part, the primacy of Zeus, the supreme Deity, was recognized by the Greeks until the first century AD. The foundations of the Christian faith were laid from apostolic times. The sermons of the Apostle Paul converted many Greeks to Orthodoxy, then communities of Christians began to be actively created.

By the beginning of the fifth century, Greece became part of the patriarchy of Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire, a period of enlightenment marked by the activities of the founders of the Slavic alphabet Cyril and Methodius and St. Gregory Palamas. Then came a period of hardship when the Greek lands were ruled by the Turks.

After the Ottoman sultans seized power, for four hundred years the Christians were subjected to the most severe persecutions. Then it was the church that helped preserve the language and traditions of Greece. Monks organized secret schools, where students were taught at night. It was only in the 19th century that they managed to free themselves from the yoke; at the same time, the Greek Church gained independence.

The Greeks are very religious, so the temples and monasteries are found in large cities and cozy villages. They merge into a single architectural ensemble, rising from the Earth with white-stone or brick walls, resting against the gold of crosses and the glitter of domes in a bottomless, blue sky. European vacation packages and deals.

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