Rug weaving in Geraki, a treasure of our national cultural heritage.

The traditional local craft of rug weaving on the standing loom, of which our neighbouring Geraki is most renowned, is now officially a treasured part of our national cultural heritage.

We are delighted to report that it is one of thirteen significant cultural practices from throughout Greece that were recently inscribed into the national inventory of cultural heritage.


What is the National Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece?

According to the official website the National Inventory is the filing of the elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece in the form of an inventory. It aims to provide a valid and up-to-date picture of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece (Frequently Asked Questions). The aim pursued through the National Directory of ICH of Greece, is for the bearers of ICH (communities, groups, even individuals) to be able to share their own cultural experience with the domestic and international audience, to talk about their collective identity, to formulate proposals for the study and, above all, the safeguarding of their intangible cultural heritage.

The information related to each element of intangible cultural heritage that is inscribed on the National Inventory is depicted in the “form of the element of Intangible Cultural Heritage”, which is completed and updated on a regular basis by the community of the bearers of the element, in cooperation with the Directorate of Modern Cultural Assets and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports with the assistance of the National Scientific Committee for the Implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. (Detailed instructions for completing the Form).

According to Article 12 of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage “To ensure identification with a view to safeguarding, each State Party shall draw up, in a manner geared to its own situation, one or more inventories of the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory.” These inventories should be updated regularly and each Member State, when submitting its periodic report to the Commission (see here : for the periodic report submitted by Greece in 2015), must provide data about the national inventory/ies of intangible cultural heritage.

Up to 2018, the following elements had been inscribed on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece: 

1. The Mediterranean Diet | 2013
2. Know – how of Cultivating Mastic on the island of Chios | 2013
3. The craft of wooden shipbuilding | 2013
4. Tinian Marble Craftsmanship | 2013
5. Momoeria, New Year’s celebration in eight villages of Kozani area, West Macedonia, Greece | 2013
6. Sacred forests of the villages of Zagori and Konitsa | 2015
7. The Art of Drystone Walling | 2015
8. The Art of Chanting | 2015
9. Tsakonian Dance | 2015
10. Rebetiko | 2016
11. Shadow Theater (Karagiozis) | 2016
12. Polyphonic Singing in Epirus | 2016
13. Traditional Festival in Syrrako | 2016
14. Transhumant Livestock Farming | 2017
15. Soap making Patounis | 2017
16. The Traditional Art of Stone in Lagadia, Arcadia | 2017
17. The art of weaving and a good safeguarding practice in Asteroussia (Crete) | 2018
18. Saint Symeon’s (t’Ai-Symiou) Festival in Mesologgi | 2018
19. Collaboration and Solidarity: Rural Cooperative of Zagora in Pelion | 2018
20. The vine-culture and wine-making heritage of Santorini (Thira- Thirasia) | 2018
21. Τhe cultivation of black currant (Korinthian) in Western Peloponnese | 2018
22. Ethnobotanical knowledge and practices in Crete | 2018
23. Vlachikos Gamos in Thiva (Satirical Wedding Ritual in Thiva) |2018
24. Tranos Choros (Tranos Dance) in Vlasti (Kozani) | 2018
25. Annual memorial in Vaskina – performed in the Tsakonian Dialect | 2018
26. Stiakos Dance (Sitia- Crete) | 2018