The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the modern times, an extensive collection of Asian art, hosts periodic exhibitions and maintains a state-of-the-art restoration and conservation workshop. Although the museum initially housed a collection that included Islamic art, Chinese porcelain and exhibits on toys, its 2000 re-opening led to the creation of satellite museums that focused on specific collections, allowing the main museum to focus on Greek culture over the span of the country's history.

The Benaki Museum today feautures various collections of museum: 

Pireos 138:
The new Benaki Museum building is located at 138 Pireos Street, one of the central development axes of Athens. The existing building, which is organised around a central courtyard, is already being refurbished, thanks to co-funding by the Ministry of Culture and the European Union. The new building covers a total area of 8,200 m2 with underground areas of 2,800 m2 and an internal courtyard of 850 m2. The exhibition halls span 3,000 m2. There is an amphitheatre capable of seating 300, as well as areas to house the Museum services.

Greece in Benaki Museum:
The Benaki Museum of Greek Culture is housed in one of the most beautiful neoclassical-style buildings in Athens, near the National Garden and the Hellenic Parliament. It was converted into a museum in order to shelter the collections of Antonis Benakis and was donated to the Greek nation by himself and his three sisters, Alexandra, Penelope and Argine. Following its most recent refurbishment (1989–2000), the building houses a unique exhibition on Greek culture arranged diachronically from prehistory to the 20th century.

Ghika Gallery:
The building at 3 Kriezotou Street belonged to the artist Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika who donated it to the Benaki Museum during his lifetime. The original structure, commissioned by Alexander Hadjikyriakos around 1932, comprised a ground floor and five upper floors. Designed by the architect Kostas Kitsikis, a professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), it was a typical example of an interwar apartment block.

Childhood, Toys and Games:
The Benaki Toy Museum opened to the public in 2017. Its holdings, based on the collection of Maria Argyriadi that is among the most important in Europe, include toys, books, ephemera, clothing and other items associated with childhood from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Museum of Islamic Art:
The Islamic art collections of the Benaki Museum are housed in a complex of neo-classical buildings located in the historical centre of Athens, in the Kerameikos district.

Find out more about the museum's collections on Benaki.org

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens – Greece’s largest Museum, with some of the greatest collections of antiquities in the world – marks the centenary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe (1922-2022) with a rare exhibit originating from the Archaeological Museum of the Evangelical School of Smyrna. The exhibit – which will be on show through October 3, 2022, at the Museum’s Altar Hall- is titled “A marble head of a child retrieved from the ashes of Smyrna” and is part of the “The Unseen Museum”, a project that unveils to visitors selected objects hidden in the National Archaeological Museum’s storerooms.

It is worth mentioning that this is the third group of “Unseen Museum” exhibits that are on show at the National Archaeological Museum, as part of the commemorative events for the centenary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe. The previous ones were “The Flirting Bovines”, a Mycenaean amphoroid krater produced at the end of the 14th century BC, and “Gods and Heroes from Asia Minor”, namely three artifacts from Asia Minor, a bronze statuette of a resting Hercules, and two terracotta couple figures (Eros and Psyche).

Curated by Dr. Chrysanthis Tsoulis, archaeologist at the Museum’s Sculpture Collection Department, the current exhibition presents a marble head -probably of a Muse- with curly upswept hair crowning the forehead, which is believed to be a copy of a Hellenistic prototype. The intense damage discerned on its surface is due to cracks/breakages and exposure to high temperatures, which altered the once glossy skin of the marble.

More specifically, the circumstances relating to the extensive damage to the artwork are described in two documents kept in the Museum’s Administrative Archive, dated 28 August 1926, which are also on display in the showcase.

On September 4, 7, 18, 21, and October 2 (at 13.00), NAM’s archaeologists will be available to talk to visitors and present the excavations of the Greek Archaeological Department in Asia Minor (from 1919 to 1922), the establishment of archaeological museums and warehouses and the fate of the Collections in the days of the Catastrophe.

To read this article in full, please visit: greeknewsagenda.gr

The General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) has declared a 24-hour strike scheduled for Wednesday, aiming to promote public urban transportation, collective labor agreements and personnel hirings. The strike is expected to impact public transport services across the country.

During the strike, all three lines of the Metro and the tram will be out of service, while city buses will operate on a limited schedule from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The national railway will also be affected, with the managing company, Hellenic Trains, announcing changes and cancellations on their website.

Additionally, the Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation will participate in the strike, resulting in ferries and boats remaining docked nationwide for the full 24 hours.

Originally published on: ekathimerini.com

May 1st is International Labor Day and in Greece, it is called ‘Protomagia’ (literally meaning the first day of May). It is an urban holiday and people traditionally go to the countryside for picnics, fly kites, and gather wildflowers.

 

May 1st is a national holiday and this means that everything is closed, with the exception of cafes and food venues. Expect to have travel delays, demonstrations (typically peaceful), and heavy traffic! 

The custom of Protomagia has its roots in Ancient Greece - it is a celebration of spring, nature, and flowers. Flower wreaths, typically made from hand-picked wildflowers, are hung on the doors of many homes in a way of welcoming nature and all things good.

May is the last month of spring and has taken its name from the Goddess Maia - a goddess who took her name from the ancient word Maia meaning great one or mother. May, according to Greek folklore, has two meanings: good and bad, rebirth and death. The custom celebrates the final victory of the summer over winter or as the victory of life over death, which dates back to ancient times, and culminates on the first day of May. This day was also dedicated to the goddess of agriculture Dimitra (or Demeter) and her daughter Persephone who on this day emerges from the underworld and returns to Earth. Her coming to Earth from Hades marks the blooming of nature and the birth of summer. 

May 1st is International Workers' Day, also known as Labor Day in some places. It is a celebration of laborers and the working classes that is typically promoted by the international labor movement, anarchists, socialists, and communists and occurs every year on the 1st of May. The date was chosen as International Workers' Day by the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket Affair, which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886.

May Day is a national public holiday in most European countries, however, not all countries celebrate the day specifically as Labor Day. Historically, the earliest May Day celebrations are traced back to the Floralia festival, a festival dedicated to Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, that was held on April 27 during the Roman Republic era.

Civil Defense sirens will sound across the country on Tuesday October 6th in the morning. The sirens will be sounded for routine checks and to ensure that they are in good operation; the sirens are part of the large-scale military exercise called “Parmenion 2015”.

As announced, the air raid sirens will ring at 11 am, for sixty (60) seconds and will end at 11:05 with a 60-second constant intense sound. The public is to be assured that this is a routine check and there is no cause for concern.

Source: TaNea

Translated by: XpatAthens

Melanie Hawco had traveled to Greece before she met her husband and fell in love with the country. After they met, they traveled to Greece every year for four years, and finally decided to make the move permanently in 2016. Here’s their story!

I had lived in Toronto for seven years. I have my business degree and had worked in social work in Cape Breton. In Toronto, the job market just kind of geared me towards working with the adult population to teach financial literacy. But it was extremely stressful. Adrian worked at the same restaurant as my brother. That’s how we met. We both share a love of travel, so immediately we started talking about travelling the world.

We’ve been married for three years. Now we live in a little village just outside the city of Heraklion. The village has only 150 people. We’re in the mountains. The view from our balcony is unbelievable. It’s all farmland.

My daughter is turning 13 soon, so the change for her is a little more difficult. But she’s getting along great, too. In September she’s enrolled in an English-speaking school. The baby is almost two.

We own property on a mountain close to us. We have 30 acres of farmland that has lemons and walnuts and other produce on it. We just started a cooking school and in September we are going to be farmers.

We had one run of the cooking school that is out of our village. It’s really amazing. In Toronto, I hardly ever saw my husband. We worked separate hours. But here, we’re working together. Adrian is an amazing chef.

Personally, my stress level is completely lower. We’re starting up a new business and a new life so of course there is going to be stress. But when I look around I see the beauty of the place I want to be. Last night I was walking the baby and there was a wedding party in a little square in our village. I could hear the music and I was looking up at the stars.

Our daily routine involves a lot of work setting up the business. We get up, my son eats his four bowls of cereal and right now there’s a lot of shopping and preparing – getting the tables and chairs and cutlery for the cooking school. The beauty of it is, we always have our bathing suits in the car so after shopping we go to the beach and jump in the sea. We always make sure we have at least half an hour to jump in the water.

We’re paying way less rent for our house here than we paid in Toronto. We have a balcony in the back and a wood-fired oven that we’re learning to use.

I’m really excited about September. I’m not nervous at all, which I think comes when you really feel like you’re in your place and living your dream.

Article Source: The Global And Mail

More than 50,000 athletes will participate in the 34th Athens Marathon, which will be held on November 13th, 2016 following the historic route of Pheidippides, the dispatch-runner who brought Athens news of the Greek victory against the Persians at Marathon and then collapsed.

The president of the Marathon’s organising committee and SEGAS chief Kostas Panagopoulos said, “We’re happy this year to have more than 50,000 runners, but I want to tell you with great sincerity that I think we are just after halfway in relation to the goals we have set for the Athens Marathon. The goal is high. We want the Athens Marathon to be the most important cultural and sports festival in the world.”

He added, “We estimate this leaves the city an amount of around 15 million euros from which benefits not just the tourism industry, but also Athens’ daily life.”

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

The Acropolis of Athens is one of the most famous and influential landmarks in history. The naturally fortified site houses the greatest architectural influence of modern civilisation and symbolises the birthplace of democracy. While there is evidence that the Acropolis was inhabited as far back as 3,500 BC, it was Pericles, the democratic leader of Athens in the 4th century BC, who oversaw an ambitious construction program of the buildings and monuments that exist on the Acropolis today. And now, Why Athens shares the secrets of the Acropolis you may not have known until now!

The Temple of Athena Nike overlooks the entrance to the Acropolis and was constructed during Pericles’ building program in 426BC. The temple was a replacement for a 6th century BC dedication to Athena Nike which was constructed of wood but destroyed by the Persians. It survived virtually intact for 2,000 years, until 1686 when the Ottomans demolished the temple to use the marble as a fortification wall on the Propylaea. The wall was removed and the temple reconstructed to its former glory in 1834 after the Greeks regained their independence.

When the ancients first saw the rocky land mass which we know as the Acropolis, they must have been amazed by the perfection of its oval top. Measuring 350 metres long and 150 metres wide (52,500 square metres), it must be visited and walked to understand the true scale and uniqueness of the ancient site. Each year over 2 million people climb the Acropolis.

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