March 25

This lovely lady is a vintage doll wearing traditional greek costume, the kind that you will see today worn by children and adults in parades all over the country.

That's because today is a national holiday celebrating the beginning of the 1821 Greek War of Independence that led to the liberation of the country from the Ottoman Empire.

Today's parades are a wonderful sight as traditional costumes from all over Greece are pretty amazing in themselves but to see them parading down the street en masse -in bold technicolour- is a truly moving spectacle.

For more history click here or here.

For some great costumes click here, here, here, here, here or here.