Athens neighborhood gets a beloved cultural landmark back, now as a theater

The Petit Palais cinema in the hip downtown Athens district of Pangrati will be reopening its doors to the public in October after undergoing a transformation into a theater.

From 1962 when it was inaugurated until 2019 when it folded under the impact of the financial meltdown, skyrocketing rents and the Covid pandemic - crises that brought many of the capital's movie theaters to their knees - the Petit Palais was a film buff's reference point in one of Athens' most popular neighborhoods, playing a high-quality roster of Greek and international productions, as well as cutting-edge work shunned by conventional outlets, including the first-ever public screening in Greece of Yorgos Lanthimos' controversial "Dogtooth."

"Petit Palais' new incarnation as a theater is a response to the local community's demand that the space retain its cultural character and remain...