National language: Greek
Name in national language: Ελληνικά
State: Greece
Geographical position: 37° 44' N, 26° 50' O
Altitude: 0-1433 m
Population: 42.000 (Census 2005)
Currency: Euro
UTC difference: + 2 h (summer time + 3 h)
ETC difference: + 1 h
Surface: 468 km²
Population density: 90 Inhabitants/km²
Region: Dodecanese
Banks:
Banks are normally open from 08:00 to 14:00 Monday to Friday and closed Saturday and Sunday.
Post offices:
Post offices operate from 07:30 to 14:30 daily from Monday to Friday and closed Saturday and Sunday.
Holidays in Greece:
January 1st is New Year's Day, January 6th is Epiphany. The seas around Piraeus are blessed. A Cross is thrown into the sea and young men dive to retrieve it. Ash Monday is 41 days before Easter. Lent begins. On Ash Monday, Greeks fly kites, eat lenten food and celebrate the koulouma. March 25th is Independence Day and the Feast of the Annunciation, Military parade. Easter is Good Friday-Easter Monday. Vesper evening is on Good Friday and every church decorates an Epitaphios (bier). The Epitaphios processions, followed by people holding lit candles and chanting hymns, fill the streets of every city, town and village in the country. Anastasi (Resurrection) is celebrated with fire-works and lit candles at midnight, on the eve of Easter Day. Pascha (Easter) is on that Day Greeks traditionally eat lamb, spit-roasted on charcoal. The festivities include singing and dancing through the day. May 1st is Labour Day is. Many Flower Festivals take place all over Greece. White Monday is 50 days after Easter. August 15th is Dormition (Assumption) of The Virgin is. October 28th is rejection of the Italian ultimatum in 1940. Military parade. Christmas is December 25th -26th.