Welcome to the Digital Greek-American Cultural Center of Western Pennsylvania
What is Greece?
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When asked “what is Greece”, most Greek-Americans tend to describe a geographic region favored by tourists, sun-seekers, seafarers, and gastronomists. Others describe a culture of music and dance that evolved inside a tapestry of folk sounds and rhythms. Some will pursue the question with a referral to Greece’s ancient past and contribution to humankind as the cradle of democracy and as the vehicle of transmission of Christianity and Hellenistic culture.
Greece is this, and much more. It is a mosaic fashioned and finely-crafted over 3 millenia of human experience. A mosaic that rose from the azure Mediterranean and Aegean Sea always made more better and more perfect by the winds and the waves that over the centuries challenged it and the people that enriched the land and sea and were themselves enriched by the experiences.
Today, Greece is a kaleidoscope of many religions and cultures. Greece was always a crossroads of cultures and civilizations. What enabled the fashioning of a multicultural kaleidoscope was and remains one of the central and defining virtues of the Greek people; ***philoxenia***. Reaching out and becoming a friend of strangers, local and from far away lands.
This ***philoxenia*** defined our ancestors who immigrated to America, and to Western Pennsylvania. In spite of the harsh conditions, Greek immigrants never forgot the virtue of philoxenia. Greek immigrants valued that, among the many, we are all one - with common objectives to make our family, our community, our region a better place for all.
The aspiration to tell our story, our contributions, and to offer our ***philoxenia*** to our sister communities in Western Pennsylvania underlies the rationale to create and keep alive this Living Digital Cultural Center.
Let us welcome you inside our families and our history and then, let us take you on a journey…
Greece is this, and much more. It is a mosaic fashioned and finely-crafted over 3 millenia of human experience. A mosaic that rose from the azure Mediterranean and Aegean Sea always made more better and more perfect by the winds and the waves that over the centuries challenged it and the people that enriched the land and sea and were themselves enriched by the experiences.
Today, Greece is a kaleidoscope of many religions and cultures. Greece was always a crossroads of cultures and civilizations. What enabled the fashioning of a multicultural kaleidoscope was and remains one of the central and defining virtues of the Greek people; ***philoxenia***. Reaching out and becoming a friend of strangers, local and from far away lands.
This ***philoxenia*** defined our ancestors who immigrated to America, and to Western Pennsylvania. In spite of the harsh conditions, Greek immigrants never forgot the virtue of philoxenia. Greek immigrants valued that, among the many, we are all one - with common objectives to make our family, our community, our region a better place for all.
The aspiration to tell our story, our contributions, and to offer our ***philoxenia*** to our sister communities in Western Pennsylvania underlies the rationale to create and keep alive this Living Digital Cultural Center.
Let us welcome you inside our families and our history and then, let us take you on a journey…
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Greek Gastronomy
The food and drink of Greece - from the traditional to the modern. Learn how to make traditional Greek meals
Greek Media and Entertainment
Access online mainstream Greek news media (TV and radio, newspapers and magazines) as well as classic and modern film and entertainment TV series
Greece for Children
A library of resources aimed at teaching the history and culture of Greece to children
The Greek Nationality Room at the University of Pittsburgh
Its history, events, and distinguished persons who visited
The Greek Quiz: Take the Online Challenge
A fun game to test your knowledge about Greece's past and present
