Thiseio

The Association for the Research of Ancient-Greek and Byzantine Technology and the Museum Herakleidon present "Eureka: Science, Art and Technology of the Ancient Greeks," which includes the Automaton and the Antikythera Mechanism, two great inventions of that era. The exhibition takes places in both of the museum's buildings, which are walking distance from one another.

The Herakleidon Museum presents "Salty Fields," a joint exhibition by Aggeliki Loi and Dimitra Skandali comprised of installations, constructions, drawings and mixed-media works inspired by research on sea vegetation such as seaweed and seagrass and their importance in the environment. The show is part of a series of events on marine biology that includes lectures, presentations, etc.

The Bernier/Eliades contemporary art gallery in the downtown Athens neighborhood of Thiseio is hosting an exhibition of watercolors by Athens-based Italian artist Paolo Colombo. Colombo worked with some of the pioneers of the Arte Povera movement in Torino during his youth.

The Athens Open-Air Film Festival is launching its Xmas edition this year as part of the Christmas in Athens program coordinated by the Greek capital's municipal authority. On the last weekend of December, viewers are invited to snuggle up under blankets and watch classic family movies on a big screen in the open air with a view of the Acropolis in the background.

The Visitor Center of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) is hosting an exhibition of sundials designed by sculptor Andreas Galanakis through the end of the year. Functional and precise, these elegant timepieces can be viewed in the open air on the Hill of the Nymphs every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening.

The National Observatory of Athens is conducting tours in English, offering the public the opportunity to explore the night sky from the Hill of the Nymphs, opposite the Acropolis, through the 8-meter dome of the Doridis telescope. The refracting telescope was built by the French company P.F. Gautier in 1902 and is housed in a building designed by Ernst Ziller.

A 1.55-million-euro project by the Region of Attica will highlight and upgrade the facilities of the National Observatory of Athens on the Hill of the Nymphs, in the Thissio neighbourhood of central Athens, state-run news agency ANA-MPA reported on Thursday.

The City of Athens is reportedly on the brink of ordering the demolition of nine abandoned dilapidated buildings deemed to be dangerous. 

The decision is expected in the wake of the collapse of two buildings over the last three days - one in Gazi on Sunday which crushed two adjacent cars and another on Tuesday in a part of Thiseio popular with tourists. 

The financial gloom has given way, albeit temporarily, to a festive atmosphere in the Greek capital, and city residents and visitors were treated on Saturday to a performance of Christmas music by the City of Athens Philharmonic orchestra in central Asomaton Square in the Thiseio district.

Pioneering electronica composer K. Bhta will be presenting a special program of soundscapes inspired by the forces of the universe to celebrate the Winter Solstice at the National Observatory on the Hill of the Nymphs, in a concert organized by the City of Athens on Friday, December 21. Admission to the event is free of charge, with priority coupons that will be distributed from 11 a.m.