Diverse Communities in Greece

Diverse Communities in Greece

Fulbright Greece has compiled a listing of diverse communities in Greece. It is impossible to provide an exhaustive list that will attend to everybody’s needs, but we invite you to contact Fulbright staff members for additional requests, suggestions, and amendments.

Religion

The official religion in Greece is Christian (Eastern Orthodox), and about 90% of the population belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church. However, the country has a rich past in which many religious denominations mingled, as reflected in the variety of active communities. A selection of contacts can be found below:

PROTESTANT CHURCH

First Greek Evangelical Church
Leoforos Vasilisis Amalias 50, Athina 10558, T +30 210 3231079

St. Andrews International Church
Sina 66, Athens 10672, T +30 210 6985070

Greek Evangelical Church
Paleon Patron Germanou 37, Thessaloniki 54622, T +30 2310 273760

ANGLICAN CHURCH

St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Athens
27 Philellinon Street, Athens 10557, T +30 210 72 14 906

CATHOLIC CHURCH

The Catholic Church in Greece

The Catholic Cathedral of Saint Dionysius Areopagite in Athens
24 Panepistimiou Street, Athens 10672, T +30 210 3623603

Catholic Parish Saint John the Baptist
Papanastasiou 11, Psychico, Athens 15452, T +30 210 6711410

Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Thessaloniki
Fragkon 19, Thessaloniki 54625, T +30 2310 539550

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
Agiou Ioannou, Thira 84700 (Santorini), T +30 2286 025360

SYNAGOGUES

Chabad of Greece
This website provides a list of active synagogues in Greece

MOSQUES

The Muslim population forms a recognized religious minority, primarily based in the northeastern part of Greece, in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. A small community of Grecophone Cretan Muslims still resides on the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes and Kos. These are the locations where you may find active services, such as the Yeni and Eski Mosques in Komotini, the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Rhodes, and the Gazi Hassan Pasha Mosque in Kos. In Athens, the Votanikos or Athens New Mosque opened in November 2020.

List of Mosques

LGBT+

Greece is the birthplace of Eros and of the poet Sappho. Members of the Greek LGBT+ community frequently appear on mainstream television and several celebrities have self-identified as members. LGBT+ communities in the larger cities of Athens and Thessaloniki have become quite vocal and active.

Diversity XIII Photo by Ruan Richard on Unsplash

Lonely Planet’s Guide to Gay-Friendly Greece

Athens Pride 

Thessaloniki Pride

Athens LGBTQ Youth Community

This is Athens: LGBT+ Culture

Queer Ink: A queer publishing initiative

Athens Museum of Queer Arts: A meeting point for researchers, activists, and performers

Women’s empowerment/Gender equality organizations

Women on Top - organization for the professional empowerment of women and for equality at the workplace

Women Act – empowering women in leadership

Lean In Circles-Hellas – gender equality

MExoxo - Women's and Girls Education

DIOTIMA - The Centre for Research on Women’s Issues

Minorities

The Greek population is quite homogenous. During the last two centuries, Greece has been primarily a land of emigration. Foreigners are generally welcome, but the recent and sudden influx of immigrants has sometimes led to resentment.

Due to the homogeneity of Greece, there are no big communities that represent diverse ethnic groups, except for immigrants and refugees. People from Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia are concentrated around Omonia and Patission, especially Plateia Victorias. There are numerous expatriate groups on Facebook and a growing Chinatown near Syntagma, as well as a Filipino community in Ambelokipi.

Diversity XIEgglipse - Egg shells as a skin, design project by Caroline Cotto, photo by Biel Garcia Belmonte for Design Museum Gent 'Kleureyck. Van Eyck’s Colours in Design'

Integration/Migration/Refugees

United African Women Organization in Athens 

African Culture Blog

Avato - The ‘African’ Village in Northern Greece

Generation 2.0 for Rights, Equality & Diversity

Melissa Women Network for migrant and refugee women in Greece

Arsis - Social Support of Youth

Solidarity Now - NGO committed to improving vulnerable people’s lives

Human Rights 360 - human rights movement

Watch U.S. Fulbright English Teaching Fellow and African American first-generation student Breiana Pledger talks about her Fulbright experience in Greece

Fulbright diversity communities

While in Greece or anywhere else in the world, you can be part of one of the many Fulbright community diversity initiatives:

Fulbright Prism international NGO empowering LGBTQ Fulbrighters

Fulbright Noir for black Fulbright grantees and alumni

Fulbright Lotus a platform for Fulbrighters in the Asian diaspora

Fulbright Latinx for Latinx Fulbright grantees and alumni

Fulbright Salam for Muslim Fulbrighters

Fulbright Shalom for Jewish Fulbrighter (through Fulbrighter Network)

Fulbridge build bridges and increase understanding between countries and cohorts
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