Melbourne Museum’s new exhibition ‘Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys’ will be opening on Saturday, April 23.

Melburnians will be able to dive into the trade, spirituality, art, ideas, and culture of ancient Greece in an Australian-first exhibition that brings precious artifacts from Greece exclusively to the Melbourne Museum.

Melbourne famously has the third largest Greek population of any city in the world after Athens and Thessaloniki, and Open Horizons: Ancient Greek Journeys is set to set to engage Melbourne’s Greek community, in addition to the wider Victorian population, in just how crucial ancient Greece has been to humanity’s development.

Melbourne Museum and Greece’s National Archaeological Museum have collaborated on the exhibition, which will take attendees on a journey through the golden age of Greek politics and philosophy, through to the present day. It offers a telling reminder that Greece continues to influence culture, politics, and sport on a wide scale, despite the nation’s population of approximately 10 million people, despite the nation’s deeply troubled economy and position at the forefront of Europe’s struggle with the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis.

Open Horizons will showcase 44 treasures from the Early Bronze age through to the Roman period. Highlights include a 2,500-year-old marble sphinx depicting a female head with the body of a winged lion and a collection of artifacts depicting Heracles, the greatest of all Greek heroes.

“We are excited to be collaborating with the National Archaeological Museum to bring some of the most remarkable artifacts direct from Athens for audiences in Melbourne to enjoy,” Museums Victoria CEO Lynley Crosswell said. 

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

Main image: @melbournemuseum

"Oloi Mazi Borume" together with 41 Municipalities of Attica, organizes an event of collecting literary and historical books.

The purpose of this event is to create or strengthen libraries that operate in each Municipality, in the form of a social library, such as libraries in KAPI or wherever books need to be collected.

The action will take place on Saturday 26th February, from 10:00 to 14:00.

Bring life back to the books you read and loved.

Give them away!

The full list of the municipalities can be found in Greek HERE! 

The Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT) launched a new advertising campaign, touting Greece’s attractions as a city break destination. Coining the word “Greekend,” the campaign encourages people to “end your week like a Greek.”

In its new spot, EOT promotes Athens and Thessaloniki as ideal destinations for travelers looking for a weekend break, stressing the prevailing good weather conditions and easy flight connections. It showcases the offerings tourists can enjoy in Greece’s big cities including the coffee culture, local cuisine, art galleries, shopping destinations, and entertainment venues.

“The Tourism Ministry and EOT are launching the City Break campaign, inviting visitors to discover the well-known and hidden corner of Greek cities,” said Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias.

“Hotels in our cities, particularly Athens and Thessaloniki, have suffered due to the pandemic. This campaign is the first in a series of initiatives we will carry out, inviting visitors to safely enjoy an authentic Greek weekend in our largest cities,” he added.

“The pandemic has negatively impacted urban tourism. In many cases, disproportionately to our other tourist destinations,” said EOT General Secretary Dimitris Fragkakis, adding that “the Greekend campaign seeks to promote a complete tourist product, one that is equal to other established European weekend destinations.”

The new campaign is scheduled to initially run for two months in 10 countries including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, and Israel.

Originally published on: ekathimerini.com

 

The Greek Tourism Ministry announced that direct flights from Canada to Athens will begin on April 2.

The announcement followed a meeting between Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Canada’s Ambassador to Greece Mark Allen at the ministry in Athens.

According to the tourism ministry, Canada’s direct flights to the Greek capital will be carried out for the first time until the end of November, as opposed to previous years when they usually stopped in October.

Minister Kikilias welcomed the development, which he said, combined with the recent lifting of the Covid-19 test requirement for fully vaccinated travelers from Canada, is expected to attract more visitors from the Canadian market.

On his part, Ambassador Allen informed the Greek minister of Tourism that Canada was adjusting its Travel Health Notice from a Level 3 to a Level 2, meaning that the government will no longer recommend that Canadians avoid travel for non-essential purposes.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Government of Canada will begin a phased easing of travel restrictions as of February 28.

Originally published on: news.gtp.gr

Afrogreco Music Entertainment artistically curates a series of live musical performances in the atmospheric foyer of the historic Jenny Karezi Theater.

On the day of “Tsiknopempti” 24 February the talented Jerome Kaluta steps on the stage of the foyer,where with the accompaniment of guitar, piano and percussion he will present a set of favorite Afro-Funk, RnB and Soul covers as well as songs from his album, Afrogreco as well as passages from more traditional ethnic sounds.

Lipsi, a tiny Greek island in the Dodecanese archipelago, ranks as one of the top 10 alternative travel destinations in the world for 2022, according to Girovagate.com, one of Italy’s largest travel blogs. It. also noted Aspronissi, which has one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Greece, as one of its recommendations for tourists to visit when on Lipsi.-

 

 

What you need to know about Lipsi

There is no direct daily ferry or air connection to the island via mainland Greece, so the options to get there would include a ferry trip from other Dodecanese islands. The Greek islands providing connections to this island paradise are Leros. Patmos, Rhodes, Kalymnos, and Kos.

Lipsi is not just one island, but actually a cluster of islets located in southeastern Aegean. The collective name comes from the largest island of all, Lipsi, which is formed by landmasses joined by a narrow isthmus. Low hills and valleys, as well as a rocky coastline and several bays, are part of the landscape of Lipsi.

Cars and roads are not common on the island; therefore most of the action takes place along the pedestrian seafront promenade. A small fishing port and several must-visit tavernas can also be found, as well. In the town, Chorio, one can taste the famous island octopus dishes in one of the many ouzeries or fish restaurants there. At night, these venues turn into meeting places where people can to go for a drink and live music.

Being a small island, it is quite easy to move around by bike or even by foot on Lipsi. Despite its size, however, there are many churches and monasteries on the island. Locals even say that it’s possible that every family on Lipsi could have a chapel of their very own.

Sights on the Greek island of Lipsi

Koimisis tis Theokou, an austere Byzantine church dating back to the 7th or 8th century AD, is home to an icon of the Virgin Mary holding a crucified Jesus. The church is on the bay that dominates the port, surrounded by a lush landscape with natural springs.

The Archaeological Collection of Lipsi, in the main village, showcases clay artifacts and ancient inscriptions from the Classical, Hellenistic and Christian periods.

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

Is Athens planned? What is being planned in Athens? What are the priorities? What are the explicit goals? Is there a “vision for Athens” today?

Co-organized by the Schwarz Foundation and the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

This is the first in a series of events on the city of Athens, featuring Greek and foreign experts. This forum fosters the exchange of views aiming to inform but also reflect on what is currently planned and implemented in Athens. Is there a clear set of priorities and a strategy for the urban form, organization, and program for the city of Athens over the next 10-20 years? Is it related to the most recent Athens Regulatory Plan, and is the plan itself being refined by individual studies, in line with all emerging data? Finally, to ask a question that has already been raised multiple times: is there a coherent concept, a “vision for Athens” as an urban and economic entity/capital of the South-Eastern Mediterranean?

Today, Athens features limited green spaces and low building density. The city is characterized by urban sprawl, while the Regulatory Plan and the most authoritative theoretical approaches for European cities adopt the idea of the compact city. The use of private cars is high and the development of the subway network is still limited. The 2004 Olympic Games upgraded the urban environment, especially the transport network. However, the decade-long economic crisis starting in 2010 has restrained economic growth and exacerbated problems of urban development and social cohesion. Other issues, such as the redevelopment of Athens’ downtown, the renewal of building stock, the management and new uses of the city’s seafront area, and the creation of the “new city” of Elliniko and its relationship with the existing urban system, can be crucial to the future of the urban complex.

Athens Meetings 2022 take place during a period of significant changes and transformations and seek to encourage public discourse and debate about the management of the complex challenges of the city of Athens. The ultimate goal cannot be anything other than the improvement of the quality of daily life and the well-being of the residents through a healthy, creative and sustainable urban environment.