The Significance of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH): Greece’s 4 New Additions to its ICH

Post updated: 14 August 2026

As an expat living in Greece, you may first encounter the country’s cultural heritage through its archaeological sites, museums and history. The Acropolis of Athens, Delphi, the Palace of Knossos and the National Archaeological Museum preserve buildings and objects from earlier periods of Greek history. They are examples of tangible cultural heritage, which has a physical form.

Cultural heritage also includes practices and knowledge that depend on people for their continuation. Songs, dances, religious customs, village festivals and craft skills are learned and passed from one generation to the next. UNESCO describes these living traditions as Intangible Cultural Heritage, or ICH. Its definition covers oral traditions, performing arts, rituals, festive events, knowledge concerning nature and the skills used in traditional crafts.

UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003. It entered into force in April 2006, and Greece ratified it in January 2007. Safeguarding can include documenting and researching a practice and supporting its transmission to future generations.

Greece created its National Inventory under the Convention. Applications are prepared with the communities, groups and individuals associated with each tradition. An entry records where the tradition is found, who practises it, how it is passed on and any threats to its continuation.

Four traditions entered the National Inventory in 2024

On 3 July 2024, the Ministry of Culture announced four additions to Greece’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage: the Maniot lament, Evangelizou, the Thermiotikos Ballos and the Dance of the Mechanic.

Maniatiko Moiroloi

Maniatiko Moiroloi (Μανιάτικο Μοιρολόι) is an improvised sung lament used in the mourning rites of Mani. It is performed mainly by women known as moirologistres. The words refer to the person who has died and may also record family events and local history.

Evangelizou

Evangelizou (Ευαγγελίζου) is a hymn for the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March. In Mudanya in Asia Minor and nearby villages, groups of children or adults sang it in the streets at dawn. Residents offered them sweets, usually loukoumi, or homemade liqueurs. Refugees from Mudanya brought the custom to Greece, and it is still observed in Nea Moudania, Halkidiki.

Thermiotikos Ballos

The Thermiotikos Ballos (Θερμιώτικος Μπάλος) is a paired dance from Kythnos, also known as Thermia. It differs from other island forms of the ballos in its turns, known as voltes, and the freedom given to dancers to improvise.

The Dance of the Mechanic

The Dance of the Mechanic (Ο Χορός του Μηχανικού) comes from Kalymnos and its sponge-diving history. The dancer imitates the unsteady movements of a diver affected by decompression sickness. The condition caused disability and death before divers understood and followed safe decompression procedures. The Lyceum Club of Greek Women of Kalymnos teaches the dance, which is performed on the island and by Kalymnian communities abroad.

Other Examples from Greece’s National Inventory

The four additions sit alongside many traditions already recorded in Greece’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. As of August 2026, the inventory contains 189 registered elements. The total may increase as further traditions complete the registration process.

The inventory covers festivals, dances, oral traditions, religious customs, agricultural knowledge, foodways and traditional crafts. The 19 examples below offer a view of its range. Elements also recognised by UNESCO appear in the following section.

• The Panigiria of Ikaria (Τα Πανηγύρια της Ικαρίας) | 2022
• The craft of wooden shipbuilding | 2013
• Sacred forests of the villages of Zagori and Konitsa | 2015
• Tsakonian Dance | 2015
• Shadow Theater (Karagiozis) | 2016
• Polyphonic Singing in Epirus | 2016
• Soap making Patounis | 2017
• The Traditional Art of Stone in Lagadia, Arcadia | 2017
• The art of weaving and a good safeguarding practice in Asteroussia (Crete) | 2018
• Saint Symeon’s (t’Ai-Symiou) Festival in Mesologgi | 2018
• Collaboration and Solidarity: Rural Cooperative of Zagora in Pelion | 2018
• The vine-culture and wine-making heritage of Santorini (Thira- Thirasia) | 2018
• The cultivation of black currant (Korinthian) in Western Peloponnese | 2018
• Ethnobotanical knowledge and practices in Crete | 2018
• Vlachikos Gamos in Thiva (Satirical Wedding Ritual in Thiva) | 2018
• Annual memorial in Vaskina – performed in the Tsakonian Dialect | 2018
• Stiakos Dance (Sitia- Crete) | 2018
• The custom of Ai-Gioris in Nestani in Arcadia | 2019
• “Genitsaroi kai Mpoules” tis Naousas (Carnival season custom) | 2020

The Ministry adds and updates records, so the official National Inventory should be consulted for the complete list.

Greek Intangible Cultural Heritage recognised by UNESCO

The following elements of Greece’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage are also recognised by UNESCO.

• Mediterranean diet | 2013
• Know-how of cultivating mastic on the island of Chios | 2014
• Tinian marble craftsmanship | 2015
• Momoeria, New Year’s celebration in eight villages of the Kozani area | 2016
• Rebetiko | 2017
• Art of dry-stone construction, knowledge and techniques | 2018, multinational inscription expanded in 2024
• Byzantine chant | 2019
• Polyphonic Caravan, researching, safeguarding and promoting the Epirus polyphonic song | 2020
• Dekapentavgoustos festivities in Vlasti and Syrrako | 2022
• Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock | 2023
• Messosporitissa Festivity, Feast of Our Lady at the Ancient Ruins of Eleusis | 2024

All 11 entries are collected on UNESCO’s official Greece profile.

Why recognition matters

Recognition by Greece’s National Inventory and UNESCO supports traditions that depend on people for their continuation. Songs, dances, festivals, rituals and craft skills survive when they are practised, taught and adapted by the communities that inherited them. Recording their history and meaning helps younger generations understand what they are receiving and why it deserves their care.

National and international recognition can also bring a local tradition to wider attention. A practice once known mainly within a village, island or region becomes accessible to researchers, educators and interested visitors elsewhere. This visibility should remain grounded in respect for the people who sustain it. Their participation, knowledge and right to shape the tradition are central to its future.

For those living in Greece, intangible heritage offers a way to understand the country through the customs people continue to observe. Attending a panigiri, hearing a regional song or watching a traditional dance carries greater meaning when its history and place within the community are understood.

Sources

• UNESCO: 2003 Convention
• UNESCO: Convention dates and ratifications
• UNESCO: What is Intangible Cultural Heritage?
• Greek Ministry of Culture: National Inventory
• Greek Ministry of Culture: Panigiria of Ikaria
• ERT News, citing the Ministry of Culture: four additions announced on 3 July 2024
• UNESCO: Dekapentavgoustos festivities in Vlasti and Syrrako
• Greek Ministry of Culture: Messosporitissa