. >> reporter: in piraeus, greece's main port city, the churches are filled to bursting point as orthodox christians maintain traditions handed down the generations. here, sundays are for devotions to the saints, not for worshipping at the altar of profit. piraeus' bishop has condemned sunday shopping as an act of war with the church, but in saint evangalistra's father yiorgios yiorgakopoulos is more measured. >> ( translated ): we are of the opinion from a religious point of view that the sixth day of the week is provided to man for communication with god but also that attempts are being made to get rid of what we know as normal life. to try and turn us into robots and machines by making all the days the same, every day a working day-- all days without meaning. >> reporter: and this is the heart of piraeus' shopping district on a sunday morning. everything is firmly shuttered. but the international monetary fund believes it's time for this particular trade barrier to be lifted. >> liberalizing the trade market will allow for small and medium enterprises to get an advantage in the market