The Greek Ministry of Culture is expected to submit the final nomination file for the inscription of the island of Spinalonga on the UNESCO World Heritage List, at the end of the month.

 

“It will be Crete’s first monument to be included on the World Heritage List of UNESCO,” Culture Ministry Secretary General Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki said.

 

After the Palace of Knossos, Spinalonga is the most visited archaeological site in Crete and the 6^th in Greece. The small islet attracts countless visitors every year due to its unique architecture and historical importance. Spinalonga features a well-preserved 16^th century Venetian defense fortification.

 

The Region of Crete has managed to secure 900,000 euros in EU funding in order to complete the 3^rd phase of restoration which includes maintenance works on its fortification and buildings.

 

It is worth noting that from the early 20th century up until 1957, Spinalonga was used as a leper colony, while the last inhabitant left the island in 1962. The tiny island became famous as the setting of ‘The Island’ a best-selling novel by Victoria Hislop.

 

 

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Four years after her first concert in Greece, the true rock star Beth Hart returns to Athens in June 2019 for one big blues rock concert at the Theatro Vrachon “Melina Mercouri”.

Beth Hart, the singer and composer with the raw voice, the dynamic stage presence, the sold out concerts in America, Asia, Australia and Europe, the successful albums and the collaborations with huge names of the music industry is having one of the best moments in her career so far.

In the last three years, Beth Hart has released two personal albums and one more “Black Coffee” (January 2018), with song covers, in which she sings on the side of Joe Bonamassa. She recently released, also in Greece, her new double album “Beth Hart live at The Royal Albert Hall”.

For more than two decades, Beth Hart has been driving her audience crazy. Known for her passion, she rocks the stage with her soul and never fails to amaze with her vocal abilities and her endless energy. In her longstanding career she counts numerous awards such as three Blues Music Awards (two Female Blues Artist awards and one as Instrumentalist – Vocals). She has been a Grammy nominee while guitar-legends such as Jeff Beck, Slash, Joe Bonamassa and Buddy Guy have shared the stage with her and have also collaborated in the studio.

The power-duo The Big Nose Attack will be opening Beth Hart's concert at the Vrachon Theater. Known for their distinct sound, a combination of blues and their own untamed rock elements of the '70s, counting numerous shows and having taken part in big festivals in Greece as well as abroad, The Big Nose Attack will rock the stage of the Vrachon Theater!

The explosive Beth Hart puts Greece on the map of her world tour in 2019 and sets the date for the 27^th June at the Theatro Vrachon “Melina Mercouri”! A true blues rock concert we definitely wouldn’t miss!

Four to 20 hours by sea. This is the length of the journey that is required, in some cases, for a simple medical examination. This is a reality faced by thousands of Greek people living on remote islands and hard to access regions of the country. The minimal health infrastructure and lack of medical specialists in close proximity compel them to make long journeys to get the appropriate medical care.

 

The question was simple, could a hospital travel to the country’s most remote areas, enabling the locals to access to a wide variety of medical services? Even though, at first, the idea seemed impossible to implement, the Mobile Medical Units (MMU) program was created in 2014 at the initiative of and with the exclusive support of the SNF. The program is implemented by the NGO Regeneration & Progress in collaboration with Health Units S.A., under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

 

Once a month a group of physicians, qualified nurses, and technical staff leave their families and put their personal obligations behind in order to provide their services and to ensure that more people have free access to comprehensive health services.

 

Since the program was created in 2014, 39 missions have taken place in areas such as Kastelorizo, Kasos, Tilos, Agios Efstratios, Agrafa, Anafi, and Schinoussa. More than 13.600 patients have been examined and 23,968 medical tests have taken place.

 

Watch this inspiring video about the significance of giving back to the community and working selflessly for the common good.

Who is on the other end of the internet and what are the processes between us when communicating online?" Asking this question, Daniel Wetzel, founding member of the internationally acclaimed Rimini Protokoll, sets up an interactive installation for the peers of YouTube; for those who use messengers despite the age restriction; for the upcoming generation of digital natives.

The magic of Christmas comes to the Greek National Theatre as the Marika Kotopouli Stage at the Rex Theatre extends a festive embrace to the whole family. Share in all the joy and excitement of Yuletide in a thrilling musical version of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol by the dynamic young director Giannis Moschos, who invites us into the world of dreams and the imagination, revealing the true meaning of Christmas!

Dickens’s most famous creation, Ebenezer Scrooge, is the most iconic miser in modern Western culture, and his trials and tribulations are brought to life on the stage of the Rex Theatre in a unique spectacle that will capture the hearts of young and old alike – especially those who are still able to see the world through the innocent eyes of a child.

Scrooge believes in discipline and hard work and disapproves of Christmas. But this year he has to re-evaluate his life and the people around him when forced to confront his past, present and future by three ghostly apparitions.  Will the hard-hearted Scrooge be moved by the holiday spirit? And if he is, then who can possibly resist it?

Events dates and times:

Wednesday to Saturday 8.30pm 
Sunday 7pm

*With English surtitles

'The Favourite', a film directed by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, led the nominations for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards last week, with 12 nods for the costume drama that has already won its leading actress Olivia Colman critical acclaim and several prizes.

 

The comedy sees Colman play Britain’s 18th-century Queen Anne as a frail and insecure royal, easily influenced by her close friend Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, portrayed by Oscar winner Rachel Weisz. When maid Abigail arrives, the relationship is tested as both women fight for the queen’s affection.

 

'The Favourite' will compete for Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay - and in the Director category for Yorgos Lanthimos - at the BAFTA awards next month.

Article Source: Reuters

Each year the editors of Condé Nast Traveler magazine pick their favorite hotels and resorts of all time! The so-called Gold List spans six continents and 36 countries and is considered to be one of the travel industry's most elite accolades. In fact, the hotels on the list are exceptional, classic, and simply brilliant. They are the sort of hotel that will instantly make you daydream of an unforgettable vacation.

 

The only Greek hotel to make it on the 2019 Gold List is the famous Perivolas Hotel in Santorini. The hotel’s story began in 1969 when Manos Psychas and his wife bought a piece of cliff with cave dwellings and stables in the Perivolas area of the cliff top village of Oia. Faithful to the tradition of the island's unique architecture, the couple restored a group of 300-year-old caves that were once the homes of local fishermen and farmers. With the help local craftsmen, this historical setting was gradually transformed into a luxurious retreat of 20 very unique suites.

‘There are plenty of hotels on Santorini with giddying views—the most desirable places to stay teeter on the rim of a 300-meter cliff that plunges into the flooded volcanic caldera. But none have the spare, ethereal bone structure of Perivolas. Rooms are sculpted from brushed concrete, pressed into arched doorways and barreled ceilings with the builders’ bare hands. Bright hits of pink and purple—a sprig of bougainvillea, a heap of floor cushions—bring the cool white interiors and black volcanic walls into sharper focus. This fierce purity defines every detail at Perivolas, a family dream that materialized in the early 1980s and is still run with great passion and precision by the Psychas clan. The line-up here is scant but special: a hushed restaurant beside a pool almost indistinguishable from the blue horizon, where the chef cures, smokes, and ferments local ingredients into artful yet unfussy dishes; and a small, soulful spa streaming with natural light. It takes confidence to leave so much out of a five-star hotel, but Perivolas defines luxury differently than most hotels on the island—or anywhere else for that matter. One of the things that draws devotees back season after season is the fact that time seems to stand still here. Sure, discreet additions might appear, such as the purpose-built gym, lap pool, and yoga studio last year. But while the rest of Santorini is engaged in an unseemly scrum for more tourist dollars, life at Perivolas remains blissfully unhurried, unflashy and yes, unspoiled.’

 

To read the Gold List in full, please visit: Condé Nast Traveler

Photo Credit: Perivolas Hotel

Living in country that’s less than 250 years old, it’s understandable that some Americans decided to import a little extra history from abroad. There is a faux-Venice in Las Vegas, a Stonehenge II in Texas, and a replica of the Athens Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

Tennessee’s full-scale replica of the Parthenon was created in 1897 for the Centennial Exposition in Tennessee. The recreated ‘Parthenon’ served as the exposition’s art gallery and intended to amplify the city’s self-declared reputation as the ‘Athens of the South.’

 

Even though the Nashville ‘Parthenon’ was intended to be a temporary structure, by the time the fair ended, the unique structure had grown on the local population. Over the years the building underwent major restorations and still stands proud amidst a large public park.

 

Finally, in 1990 a 42-foot-tall replica of the statue of Athena was unveiled. While the replica appears opulent, concessions were made: The original was coated in over 2,400 pounds of gold leaf, whereas Nashville’s version boasts just eight pounds.

 

Despite intricate attention to detail, there are some major differences between the original Parthenon and the one in Tennessee. The Athens Parthenon, the most prominent landmark in Athens, is built on a hill and can only be approached from behind; the replica in Nashville is situated in a park and can be entered from the side or front. Also, each structure’s building materials differ significantly; the original was built from gleaming marble while the Nashville version is made of concrete.

 

Compared to the ancient ruins in Greece, the Nashville ‘Parthenon’ boasts a major historical detail: color. Along with other parts of the building, the massive Athena statue is painted in bright colors. It’s a bit odd-looking by contemporary standards, given that people are used to the inaccurate notion that ancient buildings and statues were dominated by a simple, unadorned white marble aesthetic. In fact, the ancient Greeks painted all of their statues and seeing them painted in bright colors is actually more historically accurate.

A new chapter has begun for the National Library of Greece (NLG), as it has opened its doors to the public in its new premises at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC).

 

The library's collection, which includes 5.400 manuscripts dating from the 9th to the 19th century, is one of the most extensive in the world. Among others it includes old maps, rare prototypes, engravings, and historical documents that constitute a valuable testament to Greek civilisation and culture.

 

Researchers, students, and the general public will have free access to collections of thousands of journals and manuscripts, while they will also be able to borrow works of literature and essays through the Library’s Lending Department. On Monday, January 14 the general public will gain access to all the collections of the research library, while on the same day the historical Vallianos building, in the center of Athens, is expected to reopen as a newspaper reading room and the main information portal of the National Library of Greece.

 

It is worth noting that the historic transition of NLG to the SNFCC was made possible through an exclusive grant of €5 million from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, covering the development of the NLG’s collection, the creation of the Library’s digital services, the development of the Library’s Public Section, an audience development campaign, staff training, and more.

 

Article Source: National Library of Greece

Photo Credit: @NLG_NikosKaranikolas

FokiaNou Art Space is pleased to present a group exhibition of artists who focus on the minute details of Athens to produce a wide array of interpretation in the form of paintings, photography, sculpture, mixed-media work and video. Works were selected by curators Mary Cox and Panagiotis Voulgaris from an open call conducted in the fall of 2018.

The participating artists are: Lilia Agathou, Sebastian Boulter, Mary Cox, Susan Daboll, Vasilis Galanis, Alexandros Garnavos, Athina Kanellopoulou, Katerina Katsifaraki, Georgia Kyriakidou, Ilia Machaira, Dimitra Maltabe, Katerina Moniaki, Poppy Panopoulou, Alegia Papageorgiou, Eleftheria Rapanaki, Fiona Spathopoulou, Evi Stamou, Iliana Theodoropoulou and Kiveli Zachariou.

On Saturday, 26 January at 18.30 there will be an artist talk, with artists making a brief presentation of their work, and discussion to follow.

FokiaNou Art Space is an artist-run project space in the intimacy of a small apartment in an old building in the center of Athens. The apartment has been transformed into an open space that encourages collaborative creative efforts between Greek and foreign artists, thereby promoting and supporting the local art community. The space hosts exhibitions, workshops and projects under the direction of two artists, Mary Cox and Panagiotis.

Opening: Wednesday, 16 January 2019, 18.00
Duration: 16 January – 2 February 2019. Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday 17.00 - 20.00.
Artist Talk: Saturday, 26 January, 18.30