Greece Adds 4 More Elements to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage

Traditional dancers dance the Thermiotikos Balos. Photo source: Culture Ministry

Four new registrations were approved this July for Greece’s National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Greek Culture Ministry, in accordance with its 2003 international agreement with UNESCO and the creation of the list.

Having worked on the nominations and collecting all relevant documentation since 2022, the ministry in Athens approved the following registrations to the index:

– The “Miroloi” of Mani, which is connected with a traditional ritual of impromptu mourning by emotionally reciting verses during funeral ceremonies. Through the practice, the women participating in the ritual known as “mirologistres” carry on with the collective oral tradition surviving time.

– “Evagelizou” is a church hymn dedicated to the Annunciation of the Holy Mother, recited at dawn of the day of the Annunciation in mid-August, by children and adults around the streets of Moudania, Proussa, and other villages in the wider area, in Asia Minor. The villagers would welcome the little “choirs”, coming out of the houses and offering them sweets and homemade liquors.

Villagers singing Evangelizou Church Hymn. Photo source: Culture Ministry

– “Thermiotikos Balos” is a traditional dance being the cornerstone of the musical and dancing heritage of the island of Kythnos, also known as Thermia, in the Aegean Sea. It is danced by couples, and it differs from other island Balos dances because of its many “turns” inviting many impromptu steps. This dance is representative not only of timelessness but also of the local community’s ability to be in synchrony with its long cultural tradition.

– “The dance of the Mechanic” is perhaps the most emotionally fortified traditional depiction of a professional caste. The dancer is invited to mimic the movement of the sponge diver who is suffering from divers’ disease, also known as decompression sickness. In spite of his condition, the diver-dancer depicts his never-ending will for life and participation in social celebrations by trying to dance. The dance of the “Mechanic” as sponge divers used to be called, is taught by the Lyceum Club of Greek Women on the island of Kalymnos, and is danced at every fair either on the island or of communities of Kalymniots of the diaspora.

Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni noted that Greece’s cultural heritage “deserves our honor and respect as it unites today’s communities with their roots, their traditions , their history and the way of life of people who created civilization in this land before us.”

The process for the enhancement of the National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage begins every January upon the announcement of the Ministry of Culture.