The trial set inside a high security prison in Athens is expected to last for months.
The trial will see party leader Nikos Michaloliakos and 68 others, including lawmakers and police officers, face a panel of three judges.
Most face charges of membership of a criminal organization, while others are accused of murder, conspiracy to murder, possession of weapons and racist violence, and face sentences of up to 20 years if convicted.
The investigation took 15 month. Now state prosecutors will try to prove that the openly xenophobic formation operated as a criminal organization under a military-style leadership that allegedly encouraged the beating and killing of migrants and political opponents.
Golden Dawn has rejected all the accusations as politically biased.
