The Cathedral has a number of names including the Holy Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary. It’s the principal Greek Orthodox church in Athens and is the seat of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece. Building began on Christmas Day in 1842 using marble from 72 demolished churches.
On my last full day in Athens I decided that it was about time that I explored some of the city’s churches. My first of these was Agia Dynami partly because it was nestled under the Electra Metropolis Hotel and I could see it from my hotel balcony. The Greek Church leased the property to the hotel franchise in 2016.
After I’d visited the Benaki Museum I headed practically round the corner in order to go to the Museum of Cycladic Art. Cycladic refers to the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea and the culture dates from roughly 3200 BCE to 1050 BCE. The collection was brought together by Nicholas Goulandris, a shipping magnate and his wife Dolly. It is one of the most complete collections of Cycladic art in the world.
The Benaki Museum started as the private collection of Antonis Benakis, a wealthy cotton merchant, and is housed in the family’s original neoclassical home. Antonis and his three sisters donated it to Greece in 1930. The museum contains thousands of exhibits tracing Greek culture from the prehistoric to the modern age.
After the Acropolis I would put the Panathenaic Stadium as my favourite site in Athens. I deliberately planned my visit for early in the morning to beat the heat (there is no shade) and apparently the crowds because it wasn’t at all busy while I was there, but a queue was starting to build up as I was leaving. An adult ticket cost €10 and included a very good audio guide that came in the form of an old style mobile phone. Note that you can only buy admission tickets in person from the entrance booth.
Kerameikos hadn’t been on my radar when I was researching things I might like to do in Athens but my hotel provided a handy map and list of things to do in the area that recommended the site so I decided to check it out and was very glad I did.
The Acropolis Museum is an easy walk downhill from the Acropolis and it makes sense to do one after the other if you have the time. During the summer season (1 April – 31 October) tickets cost €15 and can be bought in advance but as I didn’t know how long I was going to be at the Acropolis I settled for buying when I was there. Do note that your bag goes through an x-ray scanner at the entrance and large bags will have to be placed in the cloakroom.
Last May, partly as a birthday present to myself, I spent a week in Athens. It was my first trip abroad since 2018 and I had a fabulous time with everything going well (aside from almost missing my connecting flight home due to delays with my first flight). My reason for picking Athens was of course the Parthenon which was absolutely worth the trip but as you’ll see in future posts there’s plenty of other sites to enjoy across the city.
This post goes through all the random statues, streets and buildings that don’t quite amount to enough for their own posts. To start with, we have this statue of the world’s only consulting detective. Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh. That building is no longer there but nearby to where it stood is this quite nicely done statue of his creation. The statue was sculpted by Gerald Ogilvie Laing and was moved to its new home on the traffic island here in 2023 after being taken from its original position for renovation.
Home to the devolved Scottish Parliament, the building was formally opened by Elizabeth II in 2004 after building commenced in 1999. It’s been a controversial building since the very start – I can remember the seemingly endless pieces about it in the news at the time – everything from the location, architect and most significantly the design was a hot topic of debate. It was over three years late and estimated to cost a truly staggering £414 million, just a bit out from its £10-40 million estimate! You can go on free tours of the building, the work of government permitting, but I just paid a flying visit here on my way back up the Royal Mile from visiting Holyrood Palace.
Louise Jayne's Blog 