Continuously voted as one of the best museum’s in the world, the Acropolis Museum in Athens is dedicated to showcasing the Parthenon and its surrounding temples. Why Athens takes us on a journey through the museum, sharing insights to the galleries and pictures to go along with it.

 

Located in the central neighbourhood of Makrigianni, the museum is framed by olive trees and propped up by concrete pillars, revealing the site’s archaeological excavation below. The remnants are of an ancient neighbourhood that once thrived, complete with a drainage system, bathhouses and mosaics.

Having visited the museum on numerous occasions, we suggest starting your journey from the top floor of the ‘Parthenon Gallery’ and making your way down from here. From this third floor, you will not only be mesmerised by the magical views, but will also get to appreciate the amount of thought the architects have placed into the museum’s design.

To read this article in full, please visit: Why Athens

Photo Credit: Why Athens

It tastes so good. You know it does. The Greek summer – wherever you’re living it – leaves you wanting more and more.

Those blue skies. That amazing sea. That soft sand.

So why stop? After all, the Greek summer doesn’t. September, October … perfect for a second serving.

Post a photo of your Greek summer experience and tag a friend back home and the two of you will automatically enter the draw to win a pair of Aegean Airlines tickets to Greece!

For more information, please visit: Discover Greece

The 17th century Ottoman monument, one of the most important historic buildings in Athens’ historic center, will operate as an exhibition venue for photography or antiquities, the head of the Athens Ephorate of Antiquities told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

The monument is located on the northern side of the ancient Roman Agora in Athens, near the Tower of the Winds and is a listed building. It was built on the ruins of a Christian basilica from the middle Byzantine period (8th-9th centuries), which was converted into a mosque. Initially it was believed its construction was completed to coincide with the visit to the city of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 1458. However more recent studies, combined with excavation data, led to its redating and its integration in the second half of the 17th century, probably between 1668-1670.

It was built according to the architectural style of “quatrefoil” or “clover-leaf-cross-in-square”, as its broad central dome is supported by four quadrangles in cruciform arrangement.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter

Photo Credit: Greek Reporter

A way of communicating that only 6 people know how to understand, BBC Travel goes behind the scenes of Greece’s disappearring whistle language. The whistle language, also known as Sfyria and only existing in a tiny village in Evia, Greece called Antia, is one of the rarest and most endangered languages in the world.

A BBC journalist meets a 45-year-old farmer named Yiannis Apostolou and delves deep into the world of the whistles. Such precise, musical notes, have been passed down from generation to generation, but when a village population disappears, so does its language.

To read the full article and watch a video of the whistle language, please visit: BBC Travel

“Athens isn’t a place to just pass through on your way to the islands,” explains CNN Travel. The popular news network embarks on a cultural and gastronomical discovery to the vibrant city of Athens and goes on to describe the Greek capital as having a “long, rich history, built on traditions of innovation, creativity and culinary ingenuity.”

With lots of old and new restaurants, sights to see, souvenirs to find, and places to stay, CNN takes us to all the spots one shouldn’t miss whilst in Athens!

To read this full article, please visit: CNN

This August 2017, Greece witnessed a spectacular full moon with a partial lunar eclipse! The video below shows the moon rise over Cape Sounion in Athens where you can see the lunar eclipse and crowds enjoying the sight!

 

Millennials in Greece trying to enter the job market come up against countless closed doors. At the same time though, they are quite innovative and proving themselves capable of charting new paths.

This kind of thinking is what resulted in the first Makerspace in Athens. It is a small, communal workspace for young professionals who do not have the funds to rent or buy their own and equips them with modern and traditional tools.

Today, items made by professionals at Athens Makerspace adorn the windows of the workshop in the eastern Athens neighborhood of Kaisariani. There are colorful plastic figures made using a 3D printer and a wooden disc with the workshop’s imprint, carved with a CNC router and inspired by the Phaistos Disc. Walking through the door of the Athens Makerspace it becomes immediately clear you’ve entered a lively, cooperative place equipped with specialized tools for each craft.

To read this article in full, please visit: Ekathimerini

Air China will start direct flights between Beijing and Athens as of September 2017, according to a press release issued recently after a meeting between State Minister Alekos Flambouraris and Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli at Maximos Mansion.

The two officials discussed the presence of Chinese companies in the coming Thessaloniki International Fair that will kick off on September 9, 2017 where China is the honoured country.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Reporter

It started when two friends began volunteering in refugee camps in Greece and realized that people needed more than just food, water, and shelter. As The Guardian reports, they wanted to study, to work for their future and to find a sense of purpose. So, the two friends, Laura Samira Naude and Esther ten Zijthoff, decided to launch Education Community Hope and Opportunity (Echo) and open a library on wheels.

Friends in London and Belgium did the fundraising and fitted out an old minibus with shelves and computer points for internet access, then drove it to Greece. The two then appealed for books in Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, French, Greek and English, slowly filling the shelves and finally opening in November 2016.

They now have about 1,300 books – including some in storage because they don’t fit into the van – and welcome an average of 115 readers a week. So far, they have loaned out 904 books.

Those who come to the library love it: children say it feels like home; a Syrian economics professor used it to translate his work into English and young Afghans keen to learn English started informal classes. Those leaving the camp have even donated their own books.

To read this article in full, please visit: The Guardian

Summer in Greece, especially August, is packed full with all kinds of travelers, thus making it more difficult to find accommodation. If you’re looking to take a last-minute holiday, check out Greece Is’ list of the best places to do so!

Located in the northeastern Aegean, Samothraki (also known as Samothrace) has some truly fairytale landscapes not normally associated with Greek islands – most notably the Fonias Gorge with its waterfalls and plunge pools that you can swim in all summer long. Walk along the gorge under lush trees accompanied by colorful dragonflies flitting about.

Roughly a four-hour drive from Athens and located near the city of Volos (which has an international airport), Pilio combines much of the best of Greece has to offer (forested mountains, fantastic beaches, stone-built villages, stories of centaurs). While it is a popular destination among Greeks and foreign visitors, the accommodation options are many in and around the numerous villages, so even in the height of summer you should be able to find a little slice of paradise.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greece Is