History

King Midas is a famous figure from Greek mythology. Anything he touched would turn to gold. Far less famous, however, is his father Gordias. Nonetheless, Gordias occupies an interesting place within the Greek legends. What do we know about...

Once believed to have hosted the Ptolemaic queen of Egypt herself, the Cleopatra Pools - also known as the Pamukkale Antique Pool - is a popular tourist attraction in modern-day Turkey. The Cleopatra Pools are located in what was once...

World famous destinations such as Mykonos and Santorini are easy to identify in photos thanks in part to their distinct architecture. Influencers love taking pictures in front of the islands' whitewashed homes and blue accents and doors. But why...

Siesta time is a sacred tradition of the Greeks, spanning back many centuries. Although modern life has had an impact on the short nap (taken in the early afternoon often after the midday meal), in the less touristy parts of...

One of the largest surviving gold nuggets found in the western hemisphere is a breathtaking nugget named The Boot of Cortez. It is an amazing piece of gold, weighing in at a massive 389.4 troy ounces. In 1989, an amateur...

The captain of Aristotle Onassis' legendary yacht "Christina O" recently broke his long self-imposed silence, speaking about the celebrities the Greek tycoon once entertained onboard. In an extensive interview with Greek daily Espresso, Giorgos Zacharias spoke about Onassis' kindness to...

Few things on this earth are as lovely as a wooden ship with its sails unfurled, sailing on the open sea; the Ancient Greek trireme ships are no exception to this rule, but of course, they were once warships...

Byzantium was one of the most important cities of the ancient world. About 1,000 years after its founding, it was chosen by Emperor Constantine the Great to serve as the new capital of the Roman Empire. He thus turned...

Pope Zachary (Zacharias in Greek and Latin) was the last ethnically Greek pope, serving as the head of the Roman Church. Zachary reigned from 741 to 752 AD during a tumultuous period of change and uncertainty in papal history. Despite...

June 3, 1941 was the day the village of Kandanos in Crete was burned to the ground and all its 180 residents were massacred by Nazi troops.

In the centuries since the deaths of antiquity's greatest generals, namely Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, it was not uncommon for the military minds of subsequent eras to be compared to these towering ancient figures. Napoleon Bonaparte, the foremost...

Mercenaries were ubiquitous across the ancient Greek world. More often than not, the citizen-soldier hoplite armies of the ancient Greek city states or the professional Macedonian armies of Philip II and Alexander the Great tend to take the limelight...

Archaeologists have discovered gold jewelry, arrowheads, and a large bronze mirror in southern Kazakhstan's Turkistan region. These items are about 2,000 years old. Experts believe these artifacts were made during the time of the Kangju state. The Kangju state ruled...

Kerameikos is the name of an Athenian demo formerly known as the potters' quarter, today the largest necropolis in Greece.

Ancient Greek gold findings in Central Asia provide concrete evidence of the existence of Greek civilization in the region. This predates the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC. Archaeological treasure from excavations of the Tillya Tepe...