With temperatures on the rise, we're happy to be getting outdoors and hitting the beach! Attica is home to many lovely beaches ideal for a day trip. Large or small, organized or not, sandy or pebbly - the choices are unlimited. All you need to do is start exploring and you're sure to find well-hidden gems waiting to be discovered.

One of these hideaways is Douni Island located on the southwestern part of the peninsula. It's indeed a sight to behold. With crystal clear waters, fine sand, and picturesque coves, it feels like you're on one of the celebrated Greek islands, even though you're only 30 minutes away from the heart of Athens.

It's not an organized beach which means you have to bring your own equipment, but this only makes it dreamier. It's like a peaceful sanctuary, a haven of serenity where you're guaranteed endless moments of relaxation under the glorious Greek sun.

How To Get There 

Duni island is located near the famous beach of Agia Marina in Koropi. Once you get there, continue driving in the direction to Sounion until you reach the beach of Althea. Then, continue on foot and head to Iliopoulos beach. Just walk through the sea and ta-dah! you're on Duni Island! 

Would you like to travel to a Cycladic Island soon, but still not so confident due to the corona pandemic? Do not worry! If you’re looking to ‘travel’ from the comfort of your own living room whilst staying safe and practicing your Greek skills, we have the perfect idea for you: why not give the Greek TV series I Aithousa Tou Thronou a try?

This Greek TV series was shot in both Attica (Athens, Lagonisi, and Nea Makri) and the island of Syros, where also the Greek Language and Culture courses of the Omilo school take place. If you're interested in discovering Syros and learning Greek, then click here to learn more about Omilo's language programs in Syros. 

I Aithousa Tou Thronou (en. The Throne Room) is a Greek period drama TV series that was aired between 1998-99 and was based on a novel by the celebrated novelist and academic Tasos Athanasiadis.

It takes place on the Cycladic island of Syros in 1966, right before the Greek military junta ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. The socio-political circumstances in Greece are heating up, but at the same time, people are characterized by a certain innocence as they cannot imagine how things are going to develop; everything feels very distant but also very close. The series follows closely a group of young people, whose lives intersect and eventually get tangled up with each other’s. It examines the topics of love, life, death, God and religion, the eternal clash between good and evil, people’s wants, and social conventions.

The story is set in motion by the arrival of two very young people at the island of Syros: the first one is Loukas Delogis, the son of a powerful local family who studied in Paris and spent some time in Mount Athos afterward, also known as Agion Oros. It is a mountain and peninsula in north-eastern Greece as well as home to twenty monasteries, so Loukas tried to become a monk there but failed, so he decides to return to his homeplace. The other one is Glauki Arhontidi, a young Greek woman who lives in London and whose father became a hero during the Katochi, i.e. the German and Italian occupation of Greece during WWII where he died fighting with the Greek resistance army.

The cast includes well-known Greek actors Aris Lembesopoulos, Maria Nafpliotou, Myrto Alikaki, Alekos Syssovitis, Alekos Alexandrakis, Nikos Rizos, and many more.

You can watch the series online on various Youtube channels, but you need to search a bit for the 26 episodes You can start watching the first episode here.
  

There are no English subtitles for the time being so it would a good exercise for intermediate or advanced Greek learners

Omilo Greek Language and Culture inspires people from all over the world to learn Greek, while exploring Greece. They offer 1- and 2-week courses for adults that combine beautiful course locations, experienced teachers, and a balanced combination of Greek classes with cultural activities. All these make Omilo a place where people enjoy learning modern Greek and have fun.

Besides the courses, Omilo also creates online publications to help adults expand their language skills through Language Books and eBooks for different language levels.

 

Fountains are an oasis of coolness for Athens and a pole of attraction both for locals and visitors who want to enjoy some moments of relaxation in the capital's central neighborhoods. Inextricably linked to its history and culture, fountains are part and parcel of the city's life.

In recent years, Athen's fountains were in a state of complete abandonment as many of them stopped operating or were in a very bad condition.

In recent weeks, a major project is underway to restore the city's fountains and turn them into stunning decorative elements that will enhance and improve the city's urban landscape. 

The first step was made with the construction of the fountain in Omonia Square, which regained its former glory and gave life to Athen's center. Now, dozens of fountains located in the capital's historic neighborhoods are being renovated, repaired, and maintained in order to significantly improve the residents' quality of life. 

The municipality's specialized crews, under the coordination of Deputy Mayor of Green and Electricity, Sakis Kollatos, carry out cleaning and restoration work for the city's 34 fountains, such as repairing the sewerage and lighting systems, construction works, waterproofing, and marble restorations. The first 15 fountains have already been put into operation and in the next few days, five more are expected to be completed. 

After seven months of lockdown, FokiaNou Art Space is pleased to present a group exhibition of artists focusing on the idea of past times, i.e. pre-Covid, pre-crisis, when we all had different things on our minds. The show is a diverse kaleidoscope of works, including painting, drawing, collage, photography, video and sculpture, which while looking back, also speaks for today’s state of mind and looks forward to better times as well.

Participating artists: Lina Bebi, Sebastian Boulter, John Bicknell, Mary Cox, Irini Diadou, Sarah Ettlinger, Panagiotis Ferentinos, Christos Giannopoulos, Andromachi Giannopoulou, Chris Hawtin, Marietta Kallona, Vassiliki Kanellou, Alexandros Mavrogiannis, Foteini Poulia, Caroline Pradal, Marina Rovithi, Evi Stamou, Iliana Theodoropoulou, Panagiotis Voulgaris, Alexandros Zoulias.

Curated by Mary Cox and Panagiotis Voulgaris.

As part of its anti-graffiti campaign, the Municipality of Athens took on the initiative of delivering Ermou street back to the public free of paints and slogans. 

This big operation was conducted by the municipality's cleaning units, under the coordination of Deputy Mayor for Cleaning and Recycling, Nikos Avramidis. The specialized crews worked for more than 18 days in order to overturn the image of abandonment in an area brimming with important archaeological findings. 

After years of aesthetic vandalism, the stone-built wall of 2,300 m², located at the archaeological site of Kerameikos, is now, once again, sparkling clean. Six hundred liters of solvent and 88 tons of water were used in order to remove years of graffiti, while the specialized crews used 200 liters of special liquid to ensure the wall's protection against future vandalism.  At the same time, graffiti of aesthetic and artistic value was protected with special coverings, which act as a deterrent against any type of vandalism. 

---

XpatAthens extends a warm thank you to This Is Athens and the City Of Athens for sharing news and inspiring stories about how Athens aspires to be a clean, friendly, and welcoming city to live in.

 

Mount Penteli is one of the four ranges that cradle Athens and at 1,006 metres, is the second highest summit after Mount Parnitha. 

The mountain is world-famous for its marble which has long been prized for its purity. The marble quarries there operated from around the 6th century B.C. until the 1940s and yielded the vast bulk of the material used to build the Acropolis and the ancient city of Athens.

We’re headed for the Dionysos open-air marble museum, a reconstruction complete with crumbling miner’s shacks, tool sheds, and dramatic scree mounds, to drive home this mountain’s mighty marble legacy.

During the four hours or so we are up here, we encounter totally different landscapes; from gorgeous open panoramas and austere quarries to woodland meadows carpeted with wildflowers (and rare butterflies). There’s also a delightful trio of storybook chapels the size of Wendy houses, decorated with holy icons, and springwater taps where we top up our bottles with sweet mountain water.

It’s also about what we don’t see. As in other people. Barring a few faded red markings on rocks, Penteli is not a sign-posted route. It helps keep the crowds at bay.

After about 45 minutes, we emerge into a natural clearing backed by an imposing wall of multi-coloured marble rock. This is the climbing section of Penteli. Known as Dionysos, it’s among the most popular in Attica (wider Athens) and one of the few places in Greece where you can pit yourself against sheer marble precipices around 15-20m high.

We’re now standing at the mouth of a steep ramp-like track scattered with marble shrapnel. The path plunges like a black ski-run towards the lush foothills below. This is the platform they used to send marble blocks the size of a car down the mountain. They’d tie them up with cables; then release them slowly on ropes. 

I try (and fail) to visualise the Herculean Endeavour of shifting all those mammoth marble bricks from here to the Parthenon building site, some 25 kilometres away.

Next, we stop near the stony reconstruction of what looks like an open-air “staff canteen” built into the sloping quarry, adjacent to the old tool construction area. That’s where they would place the dynamite to break up the rock in modern times. In ancient Greece, they soaked flints in water and stuck them into holes where they would expand and break up the marble.

Many of Penteli’s quarry workers hailed from Paros island. The Parians were good workers, apparently, and had a knack with marble (the legendary Venus de Milo was sculpted from Paros marble).

The Dionysos marble museum isn’t really a museum in the strictest sense. There are no maps or organised exhibits. It’s more of an atmospheric theatre set, built atop the retired ancient quarry to represent everyday working life.

We continue up the steady incline; marble debris clinking musically underfoot, like pebbles knocking together on a shore.

To read this article in full, please visit: thisisathens.org

Photo by: Thomas Gravanis

---

Dr. Peter Metrakos is the Greek leader of a research team that uses breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve the survival rates of cancer patients. 

Based in Canada, the team of physicians are working to help patients with colorectal cancer survive this shockingly deadly disease, which currently has a five-year survival rate of just 12%.

The research team is working with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) to develop personalized medicine in the colorectal cancer field and the whole project is based on Metrakos’ 2016 research into colorectal cancer cells’ relationship to blood vessels.

The Greek doctor and his team will use liquid biopsy methods to isolate the constituent sections of a cancer patient's blood in order to figure out which ones are linked to the disease. This information will be given anonymously to MIM, a Montreal-based AI company, which will attempt to identify patterns in patients' blood.

Using the data obtained through AI, researchers should be able to create customized treatment plans for patients who would otherwise not respond to conventional therapies.

Cafes and restaurants reopened in Greece on Monday for sit-down service for the first time in nearly six months, as the country began easing coronavirus-related restrictions with a view to opening to the vital tourism industry in the summer. 

Cafes, restaurants, and bars, which had been shut to all but takeout and delivery services when lockdown-type measures were imposed in early November, reopened for outdoor seated service only. Tables are set a certain distance apart to maintain social distancing while standing customers and music aren’t allowed.

A maximum of six customers are allowed per table, while staff must carry out compulsory coronavirus home self-tests. A nightly curfew that was in force from 9 p.m. is being pushed back to 11 p.m. as of Monday, with bars, restaurants, and cafes allowed to remain open until 15 minutes before curfew.

In recent weeks, the Greek government has been gradually easing restrictions as part of the efforts being made to lay the groundwork for Greece to welcome back tourists. Tourism is a vital industry for the country, and all tourism-related businesses and services are scheduled to reopen on May 15.

To read this article in full please visit: ekathimerini.com

With Easter upon us, what a better way to celebrate it in Greece than with some great tips about the festive local traditions, recipies and a guide to some of the most beautiful churces in Athens. Learn all about them in this week's newsletter!

Before Greece won its independence in 1829, some 130 churches were recorded in Athens. Ironically, many were destroyed not by the Ottomans, but during the construction of the modern Greek capital. Churches were often used as a source of building material, much as the ancient temples had been used earlier. You’ll often see sections of columns integrated into the altar or walls.

 

Orthodox tradition often absorbs the pagan practices of antiquity too. So don't be surprised if you find far-from-saintly figures like Heracles or Hebe, the gods’ cupbearer and goddess of eternal youth, on the frieze of a 9th-century church. Here's a roundup of the most stunning churches in Athens!

---

Note from XpatAthens

If you're celebrating Easter in Greece in 2021 please be sure to read about coronavirus restrictions.

---

Agia Dynami

This 16th-century church has a history as big as its size is small. It was linked by an underground tunnel to a small gunpowder plant that supplied the Ottoman troops. When the independence revolt erupted, the munitions maker smuggled some of the gunpowder to the Greeks through the tunnel. Aside from its odd location in the belly of the former Ministry of Education (now the Electra Metropolis hotel), another unusual feature is the church’s tiny, crenellated windows

Agia Fotini
Location: 3 Ardittou, Pangrati

 

Fotini was a Samaritan prostitute who achieved sainthood by offering Christ a cup of water. This simple basilica in her honor preserves some of the original murals of the fourth-century church, which was reconstructed in the 1870s. Archaeological evidence suggests there were sanctuaries to Hekate and Pan on the site. Next to the steps leading to the church is the only preserved section of an arched bridge over the Ilissos River, constructed in 1850 on orders of Greece’s first king

Agia Irini
Location: 36 Aiolou & Athinaidos, Historic Centre

 

Built in 1847, using material from destroyed churches as well as the Acropolis, this massive church was intended to serve as the Metropolitan Cathedral. It was the site for many official events such as Othon’s coming of age, groundbreaking for the new palace, and services marking the first anniversary of the constitution. Marble columns support a balcony and deep recesses are decorated with religious scenes, including St Paul preaching to the Athenians.

To read this article in full and discover more beautiful churches please visit: thisisathens.org

Photo by: Georgios Makkas

---