Plaka

Work is feverishly under way for Friday's opening of a much-anticipated new museum, dedicated to one of Greece's greatest poets, Nobel Laureate Odysseas Elytis (1911-1996).

The Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum (CAMU) in Athens is set for a significant architectural upgrade aimed at enhancing its visibility and community engagement.

I recently had the opportunity to take a walk around downtown Athens in the company of some foreign friends. Philhellenes to the core, they come with open hearts and open minds, full of curiosity and fascination for all the things that compose Greek reality.

Filellinon Street, located between Syntagma Square and the Plaka district, across from Zappeion and the National Garden, near Nikis Street, and with the magnificent streets of Kydathinaion and Konstantinou Tsatsou forming corners, has the potential to become Athens' model street.

In the heart of Athens, nestled within the vibrant Plaka district, lies a site that has borne witness to the ebb and flow of empires—the Roman Agora. Distinct from its more famous neighbor, the Ancient Agora, this historic marketplace is nevertheless a testament to Athens' richly layered history, where Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman influences converge.

Authorities in Kalamata, the capital of Messinia in the southwestern Peloponnese, appealed to residents and visitors on Wednesday to be frugal with their use of water, after shortages were noted across the region.

The demand of the new mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, for an increase in the fees imposed on accommodation in the capital's hotels in order to finance the increased needs for infrastructure and personnel created by the increase of tourists in the capital has triggered a confrontation with hoteliers.

Pepi Loulakaki met Bahar years ago, when she was just 12 years old and selling flowers in downtown Athens' Plaka district. Bahar would often pop into the older photographer's home to rest her weary feet from walking around the streets selling gardenias to romancing couples. They gradually became friends and started to learn each other's language.

Conferences are being canceled, bookings have slumped, deposit payments are being delayed, cancelation policies are being revised, city hotel occupancy rates are low and arrivals from abroad are dropping: These are the first signs of the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on Greek tourism, and they are expected to rise.

Divisiveness is a toxic byproduct this week in now crisis-driven Greece, following the institution of capital controls, a week-long bank holiday and a hastily called referendum viewed by many — sans the leftist Greek government — as deciding the nation’s very presence in a united Europe.