CEOWORLD magazine has determined the world’s best countries for cultural heritage influence, by measuring their global influence in 9 country attributes: architecture, artistic legacy, fashion, food, music, literature, history, cultural attractions, and culturally accessible. Rather than economic, political, or military might, it’s the cultural heritage of these countries that most strongly impacts the wider world.

Italy took the prestigious number one spot, according to the CEOWORLD magazine 2021 report, while Greece and Spain placed second and third, respectively. The 2021 rankings placed India in fourth ahead of Thailand; while Portugal ranked sixth, and Japan seventh.

About Greece, the website said “the history development and culture of Greece has been a flagbearer for the whole world as a whole."

“From the Acropolis of Athens, Meteora to Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, the impressive architectural monuments make Greece a definite visit in many ways.”

To read this article in full, please visit: greekcitytimes.com

Athens will surprise you with its diversity of design. If at first glance, the city appears to lack a coherent architectural style, that’s only because it’s highly individualistic. Even the most seemingly nondescript street harbors architectural quirks from different periods. Just tilt your head skywards to see Rococo railings and Art Deco porthole windows, capstones, and gables on buildings that mark different moments in the city’s layered history. Our virtual tour of some of the finest buildings in Athens tells the story of how the modern Greek capital took shape.

1830 to 1900


Credit: Georgios Makkas

Athens is established as the capital of Greece and the modern metropolis takes shape. Drawing inspiration from ancient Greece, architects introduce neoclassical elements. Impressive public buildings dominate a landscape of low-rise, stand-alone residences with gardens.

Doric columns and a triangular pediment dwarf this school building, completed in 1876 by noted architect Panayotis Kalkos. He also designed the first Acropolis Museum, a small stone building close to the Parthenon. This building is still used as a primary school, although it sits rather incongruously among the souvenir shops in the heart of Plaka.

Building Location: 106-108 Adrianou

The 1900s


Credit: Georgios Makkas

The emphasis shifts from public buildings to private residences, as the city’s elite display their wealth in luxurious mansions with eclectic flourishes.

This stately mansion harks back to the era when Kypseli was known for its splendid residences. Classical elements are overpowered by Italianate flourishes, so it’s fitting that it housed the Casa d’Italia before the First World War. Today it’s a public school.

Building Location: 46 Kypselis & Paxon

Many of the city’s leading architects of this period studied in France, so the Gallic influence is much in evidence.

This two-story Exarchia residence in the Beaux-Arts style is stunning, with its rounded corner tower, vaulted entrances, and subtle embellishments.

Building Location: 175 Ippokratous

Architects turn back towards their Greek roots, seeking inspiration from Byzantine and folk art.

It looks like a single residence in Exarchia, but it’s actually two. A fact carefully concealed by the mix of neoclassical elements, like the pediments over the windows and neo-Baroque embellishments on the façade.

Building Location: 38A Eressou

An urban middle class emerges, giving rise to the polikatikia or Athenian apartment block. Through its architecture, Athens embraces modernity but also glances nostalgically back.

Athens’ first New York-style skyscraper, this building originally housed a cinema, theatre, and ballroom. Its sheer façade and Art Deco elements, crafted from concrete, hide some ingenious acoustic engineering. It was restored in the 1980s after a fire and currently houses one of the National Theatre’s stages. 

Building Location: 48 Panepistimiou Street

To read this article in full, please visit: thisisathens.org

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A number of neighborhoods in Athens are getting new sidewalks as part of the municipality’s efforts to improve the everyday life of residents, enhance safety and ensure better accessibility for people with disabilities.

Reconstruction and maintenance works began last month and are currently underway. Already restored are the sidewalks of several streets in the 1st and 3rd city districts, including Ious Street, part of the Trion Ierarchon Street, and Amphipoleos Street. The remaining four city districts are expected to see construction works in October.

Within the next two years, a total of 410 new sidewalks are expected to be created in Athen's seven city districts. Under the budget of 24 million euros, the two-year plan emphasizes the energy upgrade of the sidewalks, controlling high temperatures, and fighting global warming and climate change. That's exactly why restoration works include the use of new environmentally friendly materials. 

Apart from reconstruction and maintenance works, municipal crews are also widening the city’s sidewalks and planting trees in certain areas.

"It's a project that, once complete, the image of a friendly and modern city will be restored. These modern sidewalks will let Athenians walk safely in the city and actually enjoy it, something that should have been self-evident for years. Our primary concern in this process is to ensure safe access to people with disabilities, including the visually impaired.", said Kostas Bakoyiannis, mayor of Athens. 

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XpatAthens extends a warm thank you to This Is Athens and the City Of Athens for sharing news and inspiring stories about how Athens aspires to be a clean, friendly, and welcoming city to live in

Following a summer dominated by extreme weather events worldwide and an inexpressible national environmental disaster in Greece, there’s one question on everyone’s minds: Is there time to reverse the destruction humans have brought on the planet, or are we heading towards an inevitable and irreversible global climate crisis? Scientists tell us we may still have a small window of opportunity to halt global warming—not for the years ahead, where warming is all but guaranteed—but for the decades after 2050. Will humanity immediately make the courageous decisions required, knowing that its sacrifices will benefit not the planet’s current inhabitants, but the generations to come?

On Wednesday, September 29 at 18:30 (EET), the next SNF DIALOGUES event invites the public and representatives of the scientific community to a livestreamed open discussion about the future of humanity on a quickly warming planet.

Scientific data in a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, prepared by 234 scientists from 66 countries, confirm beyond any doubt that our planet is getting hotter and that human beings are the cause. The consequences of this reality are already apparent. This past summer saw the first-ever rainfall in Greenland and a temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit) in Canada. An unprecedented heatwave hit Siberia and mega-fires broke out in Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the United States while deadly floods plagued Europe and China.

Faced with a climate crisis that seems, to a large extent, unavoidable and irreversible, the challenge now is to explore how to adapt to a new reality where natural disasters occur with increasing frequency and how to take action for future generations.

British rock star Sting will celebrate his 70th birthday in Greece by giving two concerts on September 30, October 1 at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on the slopes of the Athens Acropolis.

The “My Songs Tour”, which took Sting to several cities around the world, is in support of his thirteenth solo studio album My Songs, released on 24 May 2019.

It features new renditions of previously released songs from his illustrious four-and-a-half decade career, including fan favorites “Desert Rose,” “Fields of Gold,” “Englishman in New York” and The Police mega-hits “Roxanne,” “Message in a Bottle” and “Every Breath You Take.”

His sell-out concerts at the Odeon were highlight events during the Athens and Epidaurus Festival in late summer 2018. This time, the multi-award-winning artist, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, will be accompanied by his musician son, Joe Summer, frontman of the rock band Fiction Plane.

Alongside his son, Sting will be accompanied by an electric, rock ensemble including Dominic Miller (guitar), Josh Freese (drums), Rufus Miller (guitar), Kevon Webster (keyboard), Shane Sager (harmonica) with Melissa Musique and Gene Noble (backing vocals).

Sting, born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band the Police from 1977 to 1984. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music.

With the Police, Sting became one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Solo and with The Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records.

We live in an era of great changes, an era where finding sustainable solutions means everything. Read this week's newsletter and see how Athens embraces sustainability for its people!

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This week's newsletter is dedicated to Greek Culture.
Sharing it widens the mind and spirit!

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Summer may be over, things may be returning back to normal but Athens is filled with great happenings and experiences for everyone!

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Read all about a very special summer celebration that takes place in Greece, why it's important and how its celebrated by Greeks!

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Seas the day and make the most out the ultimate Greek summer experience!

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