Free Republic

Researchers have uncovered unique graffiti on Barako Hill near Vari, Attica that may indicate there once stood a massive ancient Greek temple or structure on Athen's famous Acropolis that has since been lost to history.According to a new study published in the American Journal of Archaeology, this ancient drawing, attributed to a shepherd named Mikon, depicts a building identified as "the Hekatompedon," a term historically associated with large temples...The graffito (a term sometimes used to describe a singular piece of graffiti) was found among over 2,000 ancient engravings on marble outcrops in the hills north and east of Vari. These...

A new mobile phone app will enable visitors to view the Acropolis in Athens in all the grandeur it would have appeared in during the 5th century BC. The new app uses cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality technology, together with artificial intelligence and 5G to recreate the form of the Acropolis in its heyday. In addition, an artificial intelligence assistant will be able to answer questions about the site. The most iconic portions of the Acropolis, together with some prominent exhibits at the Acropolis museum will now be accessible as a virtual digital representation, allowing visitors to compare the ancient...

Pet owners who love to travel, as well those that live in Greece, will soon have a lot more places to take their beloved animal companions. This week, the country’s Culture Ministry announced that pets will soon be allowed into more than 120 archaeological sites—but not some of the most popular locations for tourists. The policy change was unanimously approved by Greece’s Central Archaeological Council. But pet owners shouldn’t rush to make plans, as the organization did not specify an implementation date for the new regulations. Pets still won’t be allowed at popular sites like the Acropolis in Athens, Knossos...

Heavy snowfall blanketed the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens, caused power cuts and halted COVID-19 vaccinations in the Greek capital on Tuesday as the weather brought many services across the country to a standstill. Greek media reported that three deaths in separate parts of the country were linked with the bad weather. State ERT TV said two elderly men with breathing problems died after their mechanical respiratory aids stopped working due to power cuts, and a farmer on the island of Crete was found dead in a snow-covered area near his sheepfold. While western Europe got some respite...

"I knew that scholars didn't really understand why it's called the Parthenon," says Utrecht University archaeologist Janric van Rookhuijzen, "so I started looking into a giant puzzle of ancient texts, inscriptions, and archaeological remains." His surprising, perhaps even heretical, theory suggests that "Parthenon" may not have originally referred to the structure we know today -- which is sometimes called the Great Temple of Athena -- but to part of an altogether different temple on the Acropolis. For van Rookhuijzen, the crux of the issue lies in the meaning of the Greek word parthenon -- "a room for virgins or unwed...

Athens — “I’m very sorry sir, but I can confirm that your hotel in Athens no longer exists.” We were due to fly to Athens in a few hours, and the manager of our hotel on the Greek island of Santorini was apologetic. “It’s not uncommon these days,” he continued, shaking his head; “between high debts and the bleak economic future, many hotels are just shutting down. This is Greece today.”So it wasn’t an e-mail scam or a bad joke — my first guess on receiving an e-mail from Priceline informing us that our Athens hotel had “closed forever.” That seemingly...

Lights, camera, Acropolis! Officials in cash-strapped Greece approved a cheaper pricing plan meant to lure film crews and photographers to its historic attractions — including the home of the Parthenon. The Greek culture ministry slashed the cost of a one-day film shoot at the Acropolis by more than half, from more than $5,000 a day to about $2,050. The rate for photographers was cut by roughly one-third, from $385 a day to $256. The reduced rates come with a plan to speed up approval of the permits.

ATHENS — Available for rent: The Acropolis. In a move bound to leave many Greeks and scholars aghast, Greece's culture ministry said Tuesday it will open up some of the debt-stricken country's most-cherished archaeological sites to advertising firms and other ventures. The ministry says the move is a common-sense way of helping "facilitate" access to the country's ancient Greek ruins, and money generated would fund the upkeep and monitoring of sites. The first site to be opened would be the Acropolis. Archaeologists, however, have for decades slammed such an initiative as sacrilege. The culture ministry said any renting of ancient...

Greek archaeologists on Friday said they had discovered five long-lost friezes from the 2,500-year-old Parthenon in the walls of the ancient Acropolis. The friezes, which had been taken away to be used as building materials for the ancient Acropolis which at one point served as a fortress, were located along its southern walls by a weather balloon camera, officials at the Culture Ministry said. The fragments were detected by air during a vertical scan of the walls of the Acropolis by the Culture Ministry, where a total of 2,250 photographs were taken. The Parthenon has suffered extensive damage over the...

ATHENS, Greece – Greece opens its long-anticipated new Acropolis Museum Saturday, boosting its decades-old campaign for the return of 2,500-year-old sculptures removed from the ancient citadel by a 19th century British diplomat.

LONDON (Reuters) - Only one of the ancient wonders of the world still survives -- now history lovers are being invited to choose a new list of seven. Among 21 locations shortlisted for the worldwide vote is Stonehenge, the only British landmark selected. The 5,000-year-old stones on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, will be up against sites including the Acropolis in Athens; the Statue of Liberty in New York; and the last remaining original wonder, the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo.