Church attire - Italy & Greece
 

For women, I have read about covering shoulders and knees.

Are there any places that require skirts vs pants for women?

Would a mesh/loose weave sweater over sleeveless shirts be okay? Or would it be offensive since you can see skin.

skirts are not required
shoulders and knees should be covered, and shorts don't work

I don't think anyone can advise you on the details of how tight the sweater's weave has to be. The idea is no bare shoulders, interpret that as you will, so will the
authorities.

In Greece it appears to be up to the priest and it seems to be that lots don't want woman to wear pants. I plan to go to Meteora and Patmos this year and both I plan to wear long skirts.

Hi majmaj4, I don't know about the Greek Orthodox Church but the Russian Orthodox Church does not allow women to enter their churches unless she has a skirt on. I know because a family member married a woman of the ROC and no woman invited to the wedding could wear any type of pant (dressy or otherwise). I would take a skirt with you, summer ones are so light to pack, and then you will be covered (how is that for a play on words!) for any church rules. Have a beautiful trip!

sorry, I should have limited my reply to Italy

Hi elaine, I have never been to Greece but have known people from there and the wives always have talked about how conservation is is. Personally I would pack a sleeved blouse and a longish skirt, just to be safe. Lots of others here have visited Greece so hopefully someone will be able to absolutely answer majmaj's question. My answer is just assumptions. Take care.

We just returned from Greece. At the monasteries in Meteora women were not allowed in with pants unless they covered them with a long skirt provided by the monastery.

My friend's Greek Orthodox church in Florida frowns upon slacks, so I would absolutely take a skirt or dress. Something else you might need/want to know: the Greek church only allows baptized members to take Holy Communion.

At each monastery we visited in the Meteora, there were long skirts available to pull over pants for women who didn't have skirts. There were also long skirts for sale outside several shops in the town of Kalambaka, as many tourists don't get the message that they need them until they get there.

Is a sarong good enough as a skirt? I plan to carry one in my day pack to use as picnic blanket / sun shade / skirt. I ahve one which is black so looks okay as a skirt.

Hi, majmaj!

For what this is worth: Last year in Greece, we went to Hosias Loukas, a monastery north of Athens. Having read that women must wear skirts there or be required to don a dowdy brown skirt provided by the monastery, I wore a long khaki skirt and closed-toe shoes. Most of the women there wore skirts, but a couple of women (who appeared 60ish) had on pants. (They were obviously part of a large group on pilgrimage, a group of 30 or so Eastern-European-looking women.) To be honest, no one seemed to be paying attention to what anyone wore, though perhaps if a scantily clad young woman had tried to enter, she would have been stopped. The premise seems to be that visitors must not provide a distraction for the monks, nor sully their pure meditations. And that seems reasonable, since it is their home.

I went to some churches in Athens itself, but I never troubled to wear a skirt. It was much like visiting churches in Italy (though not as interesting): I dressed in modest street clothes, that is, pants and sandals. I had no problem, but whether it would be different for a young woman, I don't know.

The biggest problem, in Greece and Italy, appears to be shorts. This last spring, in Venice, I saw someone turned away from the door of St. Mark's Basilica with loud, violent denunciations because they wore shorts. But I in my pants have never had a problem in any Italian church, not even St. Peter's.

Have a wonderful time on your trip!

The sarong sounds fine. It would just look like a skirt, right?