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Our history
The story of the gypsies begins from India. It remains unknown what made gypsies to leave India.
Nevertheless, their exit from India led them to travel from place to place living in nomads and trying to sell their products or improving their culture through their art and their virtuosities. It is believed that gypsies started to immigrate at about 1000 a.d.
Initially, they traveled through Afghanistan, Persia, Armenia and Turkey and arrived in Europe where most of them were settled. Later, a great number of gypsies moved around America.
The settlement of gypsies in the new organized countries was not easy for them. The nomadic way of life of gypsies wasn't acceptable from the native people and that engendered the discrimination and the exclusion towards them.
Even nowadays a great amount of the population of gypsies are living under poverty in ghettos without access in health, education, employment etc.
The language
The language of Rom is called Romani or Romanes which is an Indo-European language and it is closely related with a variety of Indian dialects, particularly with Panjabi of North India.
However, Rom use the local dialect of the country they had settled in, as well.
The population
It is estimated that there are 12 million gypsies settled in Europe. At about 200.000-300.000 gypsies are registered in the municipalities of Greece.
Folkways of Greek Rom
Traditional weddings
Gypsy women are used to marry at a very young age because the sexual relationship before the wedding is not permitted. According to this they honor the good reputation of their family. The ceremony of the wedding lasts 4 days.
1st day: In both houses of the couple, the clothes of the wedding are being ornamented, so as relatives and friends visit them and have a view of the weeding clothes.
2nd day: The parents of the groom with the companion of musicians carry a decorated lamb to the house of the bride, in order to honor the ceremony and the bride as well. The lamb is cooked in a traditional way.
3rd day: Relatives and musicians are carrying the wedding dress to the house of the groom and the wedding costume to the house of the bride. The couple marries in the local church. After the end of the ceremony, relatives and friends celebrate with the couple.
4th day: The celebration continues with more close relatives and the family of the couple. At the end everyone strews flowers on the bride for her "honesty".
Family
The gypsies' families are usually consisted of many children. The bonds of the family are very strong. The respect of the parents is very important for the gypsies. They usually live many generations at the same house with the parents due to the difficult living conditions and the trouble that the newly wed couple faces in finding their own house.
Traditional jobs
Afore time: manual works, basketry, chiromancy, cartomancy.
Nowadays: street vendors, self-emplpoyed, scrap merchants.