The Bagpipe Society

The Gaida in Greece

Map 1: 1)Thessaloniki, 2) Alexandroupolis (Evros), 3) Athens, 4)Andros (Cyclades), 5) Meteora, 6) Holy Mountain, 7) Heraklion (Crete).

Fall 1992. I was 17 and walking down the central square of Thessaloniki (map 1: 1), the second largest city after the capital of Greece Athens (map 1: 2). I was going to my Sunday math class as I was preparing for my university entrance exams, and my days were rather dull studying hard, as was that windy autumn day. While reaching my final destination, I had my first ear- contact with a sound which would haunt me from that day on for several years. There, in the centre of the square, was an old person playing, what I believed to be at that time, a bagpipe. In my little musical universe, bagpipes existed only in Scotland, so this experience was stored as my first real encounter with a Scottish bagpipe. I did not know much, back then, growing up in the grey urban environment of Thessaloniki.

...

Member only article

Members have exclusive access to the most recent two years of articles, and can download PDFs of Chanter editions. To read the whole of this article, please join the Bagpipe Society or sign in.