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 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.
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.
Photo by Ruan Richard on Unsplash
Lonely Planet’s Guide to Gay-Friendly Greece
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.
Egglipse - 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
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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