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France 24
France 24
Politics
FRANCE 24

Summer festival revives worship of Ancient Greek deities at Mount Olympus

Reenactors dressed as ancient Greeks perform a ritual at the foothills of Mount Olympus as part of the four-day Promitheia Festival
Reenactors dressed as ancient Greeks perform a ritual at the foothills of Mount Olympus as part of the four-day Promitheia Festival. © Sakis Mitrolidis, AFP

As drums echo beneath Mount Olympus and torch-bearing worshippers sing hymns to Zeus, an ancient tradition comes alive each summer in northern Greece. For more than three decades, followers of the country's pre-Christian gods have gathered for the Prometheia Festival, reviving rituals rooted in antiquity while celebrating what they see as Greece's enduring cultural and spiritual heritage.

A man beats a drum while behind him women dressed in white slowly advance, holding torches and singing hymns to Zeus.

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