XpatAthens

XpatAthens

Nestled in the heart of Psirri, Athens’ most vibrant and eclectic neighborhood, Mona Athens redefines the boutique hotel experience. Housed in a restored 1950s industrial factory, Mona blends raw luxury with artistic expression, offering versatile event spaces, a members-only rooftop, and a speakeasy underground venue—all designed for unforgettable experiences.


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A Space for Every Occasion

Mona is more than just a venue—it’s an immersive setting for creativity, celebration, and collaboration. Whether you’re looking for an intimate space for a private dinner, a dynamic setting for a corporate event, or a stylish backdrop for a fashion photoshoot, Mona’s multi-functional spaces offer endless possibilities.

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The Living Room – A stunning multi-level space with high ceilings, industrial details, and curated design pieces—perfect for meetings, creative workshops, and intimate gatherings.
 
The Rooftop – An exclusive terrace with breathtaking views of the Acropolis, offering an elegant setting for private dining, cocktail parties, and social events under the Athenian sky.
 
The Underground – A hidden speakeasy-style venue for music gigs, exhibitions, and late-night celebrations, where creativity and culture collide.
 
Boutique Rooms & Artistic Showrooms – Mona’s 20 characterful rooms and gallery-like interiors provide an inspiring setting for brand activations, pop-ups, and curated events.

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An Experience Beyond Hospitality

Mona Athens is part of the House of Shila, a creative collective that curates one-of-a-kind spaces and experiences. Every corner of Mona is designed to inspire, from its custom-crafted interiors and handpicked artworks to its collaborations with renowned chefs, designers, and musicians.

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Host Your Event at Mona Athens

Located just minutes from Monastiraki Square, Mona offers seamless access to the city's cultural landmarks, thriving art scene, and buzzing nightlife, making it the ideal destination for visionaries, travelers, and event organizers alike.

Mona Athens offers tailor-made options for:

✔ Private Dinners & Celebrations
✔ Corporate Meetings & Creative Workshops
✔ Pop-Up Shops & Brand Showcases
✔ Fashion Shoots, Film & Video Productions
✔ Art Exhibitions & Cultural Events

📩 For bookings & inquiries, contact: events@mona-athens.com





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Wednesday, 18 February 2015 14:00

Delphi

Delphi is one of the most important archaeological sites of Greece. Accordingly, it is featured in the itinerary of every traveler who is attracted to the oracle that influenced affairs around the Mediterranean for over a thousand years. It was a place of immense religious and political influence in ancient times, prompting private people as well as governments from Greece and abroad to seek it's consultation before undertaking any major personal or public initiatives.

 

Today, it is a well preserved and respected archaeological site that affords splendid views of both the cultural and physical landscapes of Greece.

History

Archaeologist have found evidence that the site of Delphi was inhabited as far back as the Neolithic era, and that by the end of the Mycenaean period (1600-1100 BCE) it had become an important religious and political center of influence. While the function of the oracle during prehistory is obscured by the lack of records, the importance of Delphi during historical times is well documented by a plethora of ancient writers and the rich archeological finds of the site.

Delphi was considered by the ancients to be the center (Omphalos = navel) of the world, and the oracle of Delphi was a religious center, most famous for its accurate predictions of the future. The oracles were given by Pythia, the priestess who muttered incomprehensible sounds in a state of trance, which in turn were translated in comprehensible language and give to those who made the pilgrimage in search of answers.

Common folk, generals, and kings alike, consulted the oracle of Delphi on matters of importance. Matters of importance ranged from mundane every-day family disputes, to the decision of a state to go to war with another, or to establish a colony. The reputation of Delphi crossed cultural boundaries, and throughout history it held amicable neutrality with its oracles. At the same time, the oracles of Pythia were notoriously ambiguous, and could be interpreted several different ways.

The sanctuary of Delphi spans with its influence the entire gamut of ancient Greek history as we know it. During the Mycenaean era between 1600 and 1100 BCE, Delphi was a place of worship of the Mother Earth deity (Ge), before it was converted to the place of worship of Apollo as the god of light, harmony and order at the end of the 11th c. BCE. Its influence grew over the next few centuries, and by the 8th c. BCE the oracle of Delphi had acquired international fame for its accurate predictions of the future.

Throughout ancient times entire communities placed their fate in the words of Pythia, and endless emissaries and worshipers flocked to the sanctuary with gifts and offerings in hoping for a favorable oracle. As a result, the sanctuary was teeming with valuable goods, and affluent states built and maintained elaborate treasuries to shelter the wealth. The treasuries of the Athenians and the one dedicated by the Syphnians are still well preserved on the site, and admired for their beautiful sculptural decoration.

The Pythian Games

As a place of pilgrimage, Delphi evolved to be hosting a conglomerate of cultural activities, ranging from poetry reading and theatrical plays, to athletic events similar to the Olympics, called the Pythian Games.

The Pythian Games took place every four years to honor Apollo, and hosted poetry and music competitions besides the staple of athletic events. It is believed that the games were first organized sometime in the 11th c. BCE, and included only musical contests, but by the 6th c. BCE, the games grew to include athletic events. The games ceased to take place in the 4th c. CE, but there was a small revival in the beginning of the 20th c. CE, when the Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos organized the Pythian games at Delphi once again.

The sanctuary remained an important place of worship during the Hellenistic and Roman eras, and it suffered several invasions and looting until it gradually lost its influence with the rise of Christianity.

Delphi Archaeological Site

Today, Delphi is one of the most attractive archaeological sites of Greece. Its rich grounds and museum represent classical antiquity with such clarity even the uninitiated visitor can grasp. Its importance as an archaeological site, coupled with its location at an idyllic landscape makes it one of the most visited sites of Greece.

Highligits of the archaeological site of Delphi include the Temple of Apollo, the Tholos, the theater, the stadium, and the treasuries of the Athenians and the Syphnias.
The temple of Apollo appears in ruinous state in the center of the sanctuary. Only a few of its Doric columns remain standing, but its imposing foundations are a visible reminder of the Temple’s splendor in ancient times. The present ruins of the temple date back to the 4th c. BCE.

The Tholos must be one of the most-photographed monuments of Greece, and it has become the trademark image that represents Delphi in many people’s minds.
It was a beautiful circular building at the center of the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia. It was built between 380 and 360 BCE, and only three of its original twenty Doric columns remain standing today.

Source: Greeklandscapes.com

Eat it straight or use it to enhance a dish, but learn how to cook with Greek yogurt properly! While we love it straight from under the parchment, cooking with Greek yogurt is another way to incorporate it into your diet. To avoid congealey failure and maximize delicious success, follow these tips.

Don'ts:

• Don't expect it to act just like regular yogurt - chiefly, don't bake with it unless it's thinned out and don't heat it quickly or the concentrated milk proteins will separate from the remainder of the whey, never to unite again. Temper it before adding it to a warm dish, and only then, right at the end.
• Don't try to make it before you've mastered regular yogurt, straining three times requires more effort and planning than you might think. Cool tip: big coffee filters.


Do's:

• Do substitute Greek yogurt for buttermilk or heavy cream, two things you might not readily have in your fridge (who has buttermilk in their fridge?) Just water it down slightly to match the consistency.
• Do put it in your ice cream maker, it freezes faster and creamier than regular yogurt. Plus the healthy bacteria will even survive a freezing!

 

To read more, please visit foodrepublic.com

Author: Jess Kapadia

What would happen if Germany was poor and Greece was rich? How would the Greek Cabinet deal with the request for a 100 Billion Euro request? This short film is set in Athens in 2019 using famous names from the looooong history of Greece (Alcibiades, Mercouri, Leonidas, Venizelos), this satirical film is a must.

 

It is also the second film in this series, the first will be released in March (yes we are playing the reverse).

By Billy Cotsis

 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015 18:20

7 Cool Things To See And Do In Athens

With the Greek capital in the spotlight, crisis and possible #Grexit and all, it’s still safe to travel to this ancient beauty, and right now the nation’s always hospitable people will be more pleased than ever to pour you a glass of raki and welcome you to their capital.

#1 Gypsy Market
Athens has its share of markets with Monastiraki’s Sunday market being the most central and popular. A more “hidden” market taking place at the same time is the Gypsy Market just a few kilometers away. It’s where locals, who love the neat and valuable things that can be found in amongst the downright rubbish, head to and find themselves bargaining for it all with gypsy peddlers. The market is spread out on tables and blankets in an open-air area surrounded by the walls of an abandoned warehouse. Please note, the gypsies don’t like their pictures taken so watch where you aim your camera.
 94 Iera Odos, Sunday from 7:00 – 16:00.

#2 Strefi Hill
In the shadow of its sister hills of the city, including the Acropolis, is Strefi Hill. Located right in the funky, anarchist/hipster/alternative  neighborhood called Exarcheia, you can hike up to the top for a 360 panoramic degree view of all of Athens and a super view of the Acropolis and beyond to the Athenian Riviera. Stay clear at night since some areas are frequented by drug addicts who love a dark and secluded path. However, in the light of day into sunset — it’s very safe. You’ll find locals jogging, kids playing at the basketball court at the foot of the hill, dog walkers and young Greek lovers who stop to adore a view of their city that they know most tourists don’t know anything about.

#3 Freeday Friday Bike Ride
Athens is great for lots of outdoor activities and riding your bicycle… isn’t one of them.  That’s what makes  Freeday so cool. With the lack of biking infrastructure, Athenians have found a way to spread the word that the bicycle is an alternative, environmentally conscious and budget friendly way to get around the capital. They’re doing that by temporarily stopping traffic on a Friday night, with assistance from local police and volunteers, on what would be some of the most crowded streets in the city. The event has grown to attract up to a thousand people, including families, kids with all kinds of bicycles. Rent a bike from Athens By Bike or Funky Ride. Freeday riders meet every Friday night at 21:30, Thiseo Square outside of the Thiseo Metro. Lasts four hours.

#4 Romantso
A printing plant in the 1960s for the popular romance story magazine Romantso, this historic building is now an innovative and cultural hub in the city center. By day, Romantso is the home to innovative start-ups who rent out creative work spaces known as “incubators”.  By night, it’s a hub for rock concerts, indie film screenings, theatre performances and art exhibitions. You can also go for a drink in its post-industrial minimalist bar. Oh, and there’s a yoga class weaved into the day and night schedule too. Check out what’s new on their website at: www.romantso.gr

#5 Faros Psychico
In an area called Faros Psychico, outside of the city center, you can find a little street of café-bars that locals love to go to and travelers rarely frequent. Faros refers to a locally known intersection off of the main road of a leafy Athenian suburb called Neo Psychico located a few kilometers outside of the downtown limits. Choose a place to quaff a coffee and sit back and people watch like a true Greek. The coffee sipping crowd morphs into the well-heeled nighttime crowd on the weekends.That’s when you can frequent the same places to sip a pretty cocktail and people watch like the Greek people do. Head to tiny but elegant Ombra for prosecco and Gaspar Food n Mood is popular for both coffee and cocktails.
 Dimitris Vasilieou Street in Faros, Neo Psychico.

To read more, please visit: Urban Travel Blog
By Marissa Tejada
Tuesday, 29 November 2016 07:00

Greece Remains The Leading Ship-Owning Country

Greek shipowners have retained their role as top players in world shipping according to a special review recently published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Despite the challenges faced by the Hellenic ship owning community, Greece has continued to strengthen its position as the largest ship owning nation in recent years.

Addressing an event marking the 100th anniversary of the Union of Greek Shipowners in Athens this November 2016, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, noted that while Greece’s population is only 0.15 per cent of the world population, Greeks control 25 per cent of the world’s total merchant fleet. These numbers are of huge significance not only for the Greek but for the European economy as well, in terms of competitiveness.

Traditionally, shipping gives an important boost to the Greek economy, with opportunities to generate income and employmentas well as promote foreign trade. One prominent trend giving hope and optimism for the future is the high quality of maritime studies in Greece, in combination with the potential of Greek shipping and the high standard of Greek shipping personnell.

To read this article in full, please visit: Greek News Agenda
Tuesday, 18 December 2018 07:00

Greek Superfoods

Greece is known for its healthy diet, with some everyday staples dating back to ancient times. From honey to mastic gum, Greece Is gives us all the details about the best Greek superfoods and how they are used today!

Messolongi Avgotaracho

Among the most flavorful Greek superfoods, Avgotaracho (bottarga) is also referred to as the “Greek Caviar”. Avgotaracho is made from cured grey mullet (kefalos, in Greek) fish roe which is encased in a coat of natural beeswax, which lets it to keep for several months. Avgotaracho is a protected designation of origin (PDO) product, and is produced in Kleisova and Bouka, the lagoons of the Messolongi-Etoliko area.
 
Avgotaracho contains great amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, protein, iron, calcium, selenium, and zinc and has been considered a fine delicacy since the ancient times.
 
Sage
 
Its official botanical name is in fact Salvia officinalis, which is partly derived from the Latin verb salvare, meaning “save,” and alludes to its therapeutic properties. The ancient Greeks used its fresh leaves to treat wounds and snake bites, and as a drink to enhance female fertility. As a beverage, sage-infused “Greek tea,” as the French call it, or “Greek sprout” for the Chinese, remains popular to this day, either on its own or combined with other aromatic herbs.
 
Honey

Greece has a beekeeping heritage that goes back thousands of years, in fact excavations at Phaistos revealed ceramic beehives dating back to the Minoan era. Containing more than 180 nutrients, honey is a food of high nutritional value let alone delicious taste; it is a great source of carbohydrates, antioxidants, B-complex vitamins, trace elements and minerals which contribute to everything from bone strength to a healthy metabolism.

Due to the great biodiversity of Greece–1,300 endemic plants and an exceptional variety of flowers, herbs and trees– Greek honey is exquisite in flavour, aroma and density and is considered among the best in the world.
 
Anthotyro Cheese
 
According to mythology, the art of cheese-making was gifted to Greeks by the Olympian gods through Aristeas, son of Apollo. There are references to cheese products in the writings of Aristotle and in the comedies of Aristophanes, while Homer famously referred to them in the Odyssey as well.

Soft, white, and rind-less, anthotyro is made in most Greek regions with whey and sheep’s or goat’s milk, or a combination of the two. Anthotyro cheese is lightly salted and combines a delicious flavor with high nutritional value, providing the same nutrients as other dairy products but with less fat, and just 200 calories/100g.
 
 
To read this article in full, please visit: Greece Is
Dimitris Psaltis is a professor of Astronomy and Physics at the University of Arizona, with his research focusing on testing the theory of general relativity in the strong-field regime. Dimitris Psaltis was born in the town of Serres in 1970, and since a very young age, he knew his professional destination. His father bought him science books to urge him to love reading, and reading about rockets and Physics, made him want to go to study in the US.
 
In 2019 Dimitris Psaltis, played an important part in capturing the first photo of a black hole in human history. This great achievement will be awarded the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in California in November.
 
The $ 3 million Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics will be equally shared by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (EHT). Under Psaltis' guidance and with the help of supercomputers and leading graphics processors the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration announced on April 10 that they had captured the first photograph of the black hole.

To read this article in full, please visit: ellines.com
Developed by the Region of Attica in cooperation with EDSNA.GR, the Green City is a recycling program that offers citizens the opportunity to recycle and win, while supporting the country's transition to a circular economy. More specifically, recycling in all municipalities of the Attica Region earns you points that you can use at companies that participate in the program and bear the Green City logo. 

The process is very simple and can be completed in the following 5 steps: 

Step 1: You arrive at the Mobile Green Point having in your possession the materials you wish to recycle, either separated by item in different bags, or the materials will be segregated on-site with the staff's assistance. 

Step 2: You Register/Identify and receive your personal recycling card. (You can complete the registration/identification process here.)

Step 3: You hand over both the recycling card and the recyclable materials to the staff.

Step 4: The staff scans the card and weighs the materials. The appropriate points are transferred to your account, depending on the type and weight of the materials you recycled.

Step 5: The process is completed with the staff discarding the materials in the appropriate containers and you can see the renewal of your points.

The following items can be recycled: 
  • PET class plastics
  • Glass
  • Mixed Plastics
  • Batteries
  • Aluminum
  • Edible Oils & Fats
  • Ferrous Metals
  • Electronic & Electrical Equipment
  • Paper / Cardboard
  • Clothes
It is essential that the materials are empty of any content. Ideally, they should be rinsed, so that there are no food remains, liquids, etc. Edible oils and fats should be transported in plastic bottles/containers and then disposed of in special containers (barrels).

If you wish to participate in the program, you can download The Greencity application, available on Google Play and App Store, in order to:

- become a member
- be informed about when there will be a Mobile Green Point in your Municipality 
- see the points you have collected 
- learn about offers and discounts you can redeem

For more information please visit: thegreencity.gr
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