Kathimerini English
Statesman or old-style party politician?
Antonis Samaras is a complex and undoubtedly talented politician. A man of contradictions, he has never followed the conventional path to achieve what he wanted. On the one hand, he was the quintessential product of Greece's traditional establishment....
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Designing the metropolis of tomorrow
From London, architect Petros Tsoukalas is proposing a more ambitious future for Athens, a city he sees as rich in possibilities and potential but lacking a coherent urban identity. His `Reload Athens' proposals seek to reshape public space, create...
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The watchful guardians of the beach
On the beaches of Attica, lifeguards describe a job defined as much by vigilance as by rescue. Their greatest challenge, they say, is maintaining constant concentration while scanning hundreds of swimmers to identify the one person in danger. Many...
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The philosopher who chronicled Greece's psyche dies
Stelios Ramfos, the influential Greek philosopher, writer and public intellectual who explored Greek identity, Orthodox tradition and the psychological foundations of modern society, has died at 87. Born in Athens in 1939, Ramfos studied law before...
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A Greece far from home, united by lacrosse
What seemed like an ordinary youth lacrosse final in Pennsylvania became something larger for a team of 25 players under 15, representing Greece. Surrounded by parents, grandparents and relatives waving Greek flags, the largely Greek-American squad won...
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The daily swim that breaks the quiet of home
Each morning, buses wind through working-class neighborhoods of Piraeus, collecting elderly women bound for the beach at Lagonisi. For about €8, passengers spend two hours swimming before returning home by early afternoon. The rides, filled with songs,...
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After the flames, only silence
Silence has settled over Porto Germeno after a destructive wildfire tore through the area, leaving residents surveying burned homes, blackened hillsides and a landscape covered in ash. The change is immediate on the road toward Psatha and Porto...
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French entry opens path to vital cable
A months-long round of negotiations between Athens and Paris aimed at improving the conditions for the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection project ended with an agreement signed Wednesday for the entry of French investment group Meridiam and its...
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From monastic silence to the sound of war
Mount Athos monks in front of a destroyed Russian battle tank, in the center of Kyiv. Air-raid sirens interrupted a Sunday liturgy at the Monastery of the Archangel in Kyiv as monks, clergy and worshippers received alerts on their phones warning of an...
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Ablaze across Greece
Firefighters approach towering flames on Mount Kithairon near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens. They battled wildfires across the country on Monday, with the toughest fronts in Psatha, Loumpa, Vilia and Megara in western Attica. In Ilia, a blaze in...
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Greece joins dig at Spain over migrants
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis joined 21 other European Union leaders in signing a letter to the bloc's leadership asking for a coordination of migration policies and criticizing Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's project of regularization of...
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Dozens of blazes fed by high winds
Firefighters have been stretched thin battling wildfires across Greece under very windy conditions. In the 24 hours from 6 pm Thursday to 6 pm Friday, 51 new blazes had started and firefighters were battling a total of 73 wildfires, Fire Service...
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Wildfires are aided by high winds
The wildfire on the island of Crete, in which two firefighters lost their lives Wednesday, was still burning Thursday evening, aided by high winds in the area. The high winds also make it impossible for firefighting planes and helicopters to operate....
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3 firefighters die fighting blazes
Three firefighters died Wednesday fighting wildfires on three locations across Greece, the Fire Service announced. Two of the firefighters, a 58-year-old and a 25-yearold seasonal employee, died in the largest of the wildfires, on the south coast of...
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UN chief tries for a Cyprus deal
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met Tuesday with Cypriot leaders to gauge whether they are ready to accept a renewed effort to end the island's 52-year-old division. Guterres met separately with Cypriot President Nikos...
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Five villages seek UN distinction
Five Greek rural communities are eyeing a place in UN Tourism's 300-strong network of Best Tourism Villages, which recognizes destinations that preserve cultural heritage, support local communities and promote sustainability. On the western coast of...
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Greece, Cyprus seek to turn movement into progress
Two days before UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due in Cyprus, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (l) met Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (r) in Athens on Saturday and said coordination between the two countries was `more timely than...
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Tracing a city's soul through the facades of a bygone era
The fading charm of a home built in 1930 in the northern Greek town of Katerini is pictured. A new volume documenting the old houses and neighborhoods of Katerini brings together photography and fiction to trace the city's historical path, while...
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Attica installs hundreds of cameras in safety push
The Attica regional government has completed the installation of 388 cameras designed to detect red-light violations at selected intersections across the Athens metropolitan area, a project funded through the Recovery and Resilience Facility under a...
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A new Tsipras, a new electoral map
Those who diagnosed Alexis Tsipras' intentions early on in the former leftist prime minister's rebranding campaign, were not surprised by the momentum of the new party he launched and its rapid ascent to second place in the country's party...
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They came for authenticity. Then too many arrived
On Greece's islands, a growing instinct to keep quiet is replacing the urge to share. In Sifnos, residents say traditional feasts, once centered on devotion, hospitality and modest offerings of food and wine, are being overwhelmed by visitors chasing...
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The Sahara's long reach across Europe
African dust carried from the Sahara across Europe has increased in intensity, according to a study published in Nature and involving five Greek scientists. Drawing on measurements from 103 urban and rural sites between 2012 and 2021, including Athens...
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‘Mountain of the Gods’ a candidate for UNESCO list
Greeks hope their tallest mountain, Mount Olympus, mythological home of ancient Greece’s 12 Olympian gods, will be inducted into UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a mixed cultural and natural site. Olympus rises to 2,918 meters (9,573 feet) from a base...
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More retirees are staying on the job
Greece's overhaul of rules governing employment after retirement is reshaping the labor market, creating incentives for retirees to remain economically active while generating additional revenue for the social insurance system. Since January 1, 2024,...
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Clear skies, climbing temperatures
Temperatures are set to climb across Greece in the coming days, with heat becoming increasingly noticeable nationwide. Forecast data from the National Meteorological Service indicates generally clear skies, interrupted by brief clouds during the...
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A Trojan horse returns, and the world follows
A giant 11-meter Trojan horse appeared in London's Trafalgar Square on Tuesday, days before the premiere of Christopher Nolan's `The Odyssey,' becoming the most visible symbol of a worldwide surge of interest in the filmmaker's adaptation of Homer's...
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After an explosion, a reckoning over workplace safety
A 59-year-old worker, identified as Dimitrou Nikou and believed to be Romanian, died after suffering burns over 90% of his body in a fire at a truck suspension repair shop in Aspropyrgos' industrial district of Mavri Ora. He died after four days in the...
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Marfin probe returns from archive
Police and judicial authorities reopened the arson case at the Marfin bank branch and obtained arrest warrants for three suspects after a lengthy forensic analysis prepared by the Hellenic Police Directorate of Criminal Investigations, based on...
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The garden that held an island's history
A visitor takes photos of bronze Roman emperors in Rhodes. For 75 years, the Pervola, a 2-hectare archaeological tract beside the Palace of the Grand Master in Rhodes' UNESCO-listed Medieval City, remained closed, serving as a storage yard, workshop...
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Vacation photos unlock deadly Marfin case
Sixteen years after the deadly arson attack on the Marfin Bank branch in Athens that killed three employees, Greek authorities have arrested two men and issued a warrant for a third suspect, reopening one of the country’s most high-profile unsolved...
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A musical odyssey back to Homer
Greek musician and musicologist Rosa Fragorapti discovered only upon arriving in London that a confidential recording session she had accepted was for Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming ‘Odyssey.’ Invited without a score and bound by secrecy, she spent...
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The battle to save an iconic shipwreck
In a bid to preserve one of Greece’s most recognizable tourist landmarks, authorities have launched a major project to expand the beach surrounding the wreck of the Panagiotis, a smuggling vessel that ran aground on Zakynthos in 1980 and gave Navagio...
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Greece reaches for a sharper view of earth
Greece gained new Earth-observation capabilities on Tuesday after the microsatellite Hyperion GR-1 was successfully launched and entered orbit under the National Microsatellite Program. The launch marks another step in expanding the country’s space...
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A second act for Mycenae’s Xenia
The Culture Ministry has announced the restoration and reuse of the historic Xenia tourist pavilion in Mycenae, one of the earliest buildings erected by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) in the 1950s as part of its Xenia promotion program....
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Anti-systemic tide is growing in America
A deep, anti-systemic current is gathering momentum in the United States. This time around, it isn’t flowing to the right, as was the case with Donald Trump’s election, but to the left. The signs that something of this kind was brewing were certainly...
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Strike protests inadequate port
The port of Rafina, east of Athens, was hit by a seamen’s strike, supported by local residents. The reason for the strike is the port’s notoriously poor infrastructure. The port, the gateway to many of the Cycladic islands in the Aegean Sea, has only...
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Psyttalia wastewater plant upgrade planned
Athens’ water utility EYDAP has launched the first step toward a major upgrade of Psyttalia, the country’s largest wastewater treatment plant, aiming to modernize operations, reduce pollution and improve energy efficiency. The company’s board has...
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One dead, 4 hurt in arson hits
A string of arson attacks against officials of the ruling New Democracy party in Thessaloniki early Wednesday has resulted in one death and four injuries. A woman, identified by authorities as the mother of former parliamentary candidate for New...
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Apartment building turns to rubble
Fire Service rescuers search through the rubble of a four-story apartment building that collapsed in the downtown Athens district of Petralona on Tuesday. As rescue operations wrapped up after nightfall, no human casualties were reported and everyone...
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Santorini winemakers adapt to heat and drought
In Santorini, low rainfall and searing temperatures from 2023-2025 have increased the price of grapes, slashed wine production and intensified concerns over water supply on the island – an issue blighting much of Greece as climate change makes summers...
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TIF speech to be crafted as election appeal
Pundits agree that, by the time Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis makes the trip north to deliver the keynote address at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) on September 5, he will have made up his mind on the timing of the next national...
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First modern Olympics site gets first major upgrade
(Kallimarmaro), the marble venue that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, is undergoing its first comprehensive renovation. The Hellenic Olympic Committee has launched a multiphase upgrade program that begins with the full...
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The gospel according to Nick Cave
The legendary Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds delivered a commanding two-and-a-half-hour performance at Plateia Nerou in Athens on Wednesday as part of the Release Festival, drawing on a catalog that spans 48 years. Backed by a four-member gospel choir and...
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The criticism over the government's policy on Russia and Israel
A country's foreign policy is shaped by the national interest. This is the core principle that has also guided Greece in relation to the two major conflicts of our times. Sure, there are values, traditional ties and, in some cases, even the personal...
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How architecture became part of the cure
A new hospital rising in Komotini is being embraced locally not simply as a healthcare facility but as a catalyst for change in Thrace. `For us, the new general hospital of Komotini is much more than a building. It is a vision,' said hospital...
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A Medea for the ages returns to Epidaurus
of Luigi Cherubini's `Medea' at the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus last Saturday overcame two formidable challenges: returning opera to the venue after decades of absence and reconstructing a landmark production first staged 65 years ago. The sold-out...
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Scattered houses, last guardians of old Piraeus
In a historic quarter of Piraeus, where old residential blocks descend from Kastella and Profitis Ilias toward the city's dense interior, a handful of aging houses remain as vestiges of an earlier urban landscape. At the corner of Miltiadou and...
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Paradise, gated: Notes from a Santorini shoreline
The municipality of Thira has filed a formal complaint against unauthorized construction on the shoreline at Chanas in Vlychada, on the island of Santorini, alleging violations of Greek coastal protection law. The site, home to a beach bar for more...
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Parthenon unbound after two centuries
For the first time in roughly 220 years, the western facade of the Parthenon has been returned to what the Culture Ministry described as its fullest possible form, free of external scaffolding. The milestone marks the completion of a painstaking...
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Fixed, for now: Corinth Canal reopens after slope repairs
The Corinth Canal reopened to maritime traffic Wednesday after the successful completion of the primary phase of critical slope stabilization and restoration work. The decision to resume vessel transits followed a systematic evaluation of the technical...
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A blue edge in Europe's sea rankings
Europe's latest bathing-water assessment offers reassuring news for Greece and a stark warning for Albania. According to data released by the European Environment Agency, Greece ranked second in Europe, with 97.1% of monitored bathing waters rated...
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A chorus of grief behind bars
Behind the bars of the Women's Prison of Eleonas in Thiva, 12 incarcerated women stepped onto a stage and into a public light that many had never known. Their performance, `GYNAI,' emerged from the National Theater's personal development workshop, a...
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Global beats lift the vibe at central Athens park
As summer settles into Athens, dozens of DJs are working the decks at the capital's Pedion tou Areos Park through June 28, in a free-admission festival presented through a partnership between the Attica Regional Authority and the Onassis Foundation's...
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New military drone factory marks Greece's defense push
Greece's armed forces have drawn key conclusions about the state of the country's domestic unmanned-systems sector following the national joint exercise “Doureios Ippos (Trojan Horse) 2026,” which concluded Thursday after testing unmanned aerial...
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The Garden of Heroes and the weight of remembrance
As Messolonghi marks the 200th anniversary of the Exodus of Messolonghi – a defining tragedy and act of defiance during the Greek War of Independence – a new bilingual volume published by the Messolonghi Byron Society turns fresh attention to the...
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New strategy to shield infrastructure
Greece is advancing a national plan to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure against a growing range of hybrid and cybersecurity threats, with a particular focus on energy facilities that officials regard as increasingly vulnerable amid...
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Plato’s Academy, lost in neglect
Plato’s Academy, the birthplace of ideas that helped shape Western civilization, stands today as a monument to neglect rather than learning. A visit to the archaeological site reveals graffiti scrawled even on ancient stones, makeshift shelters for...
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Fourteen years to fix a sidewalk
Fourteen years after a fire gutted Athens' beloved Attikon cinema complex on Stadiou Street, the only visible progress is a repaved sidewalk. The building, torched during anti-austerity riots on February 12, 2012, has stood charred and scaffolded ever...
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Women step forward in khaki
Seventy-two women reported for duty Thursday at the Army's Training Center for War Material in Lamia, marking the first cohort to serve voluntary military service in Greece. The recruits, ages 20 to 26, were welcomed by center officials and the Army...
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Kafka after midnight: A basement, a flashlight, a shared silence
Just before midnight on May 30, readers descended into the basement of the Monocle bookshop for an unusual encounter with Franz Kafka. Announced on social media as `Kafka Underground,' the event replaced the conventions of a book launch with a hybrid...
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Apollo's island slipping beneath the tide
Delos, the sacred island of Apollo and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is losing ground to the sea, according to findings presented at the Academy of Athens. Researchers from the academy, the National Observatory of Athens and the Ephorate of Antiquities...
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Introducing children to the toys of ancient Greece
Across European classrooms, ancient Greek toys are finding new life through Greektoys, a program created by Sofia Pavlaki (photo), her husband Luis Santos and her sister Fotini. Using 3D replicas, animation and a digital museum, the project introduces...
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What the Herod Atticus Theater hears
Researchers studying the acoustic behavior of the ancient Herod Atticus Theater in Athens will soon measure the vibrations caused by sound frequencies imperceptible to humans, as part of a broader restoration program commissioned by the Culture...
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Athens rejects Ankara sovereignty threats
Turkey escalated tensions with Greece over the eastern Aegean islands through remarks on Wednesday by Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler, who referred to the issue of their demilitarization and warned that Ankara would not remain indifferent to...
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Olive oil's health halo fuels global expansion
Six hundred sixty-two bottles of extra virgin olive oil from Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa arrived in Athens this spring for the 11th ATHENA International Olive Oil Competition, underscoring how rapidly olive cultivation is spreading beyond the...
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A season of landmark performances
The Greek National Opera's 202627 season turns toward landmark works, tracing a path from Monteverdi's `L`Orfeo' to Stravinsky's `The Rake's Progress' and Beethoven's `Missa solemnis.' Announced this week, the program balances the origins of opera with...
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Spring showers to linger
Two young women walk in front of Parliament in central Athens during a brief downpour on Saturday. After a weekend of showers and storms across many parts of Greece, the springtime weather is expected to continue into the new week, with forecasters...
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Olympiakos storms into Euroleague final
Olympiakos Olympiakos advanced to Sunday's Euroleague basketball final in Athens after defeating Fenerbahce, 79-61, in a tense Final Four semifinal defined by momentum swings and defensive pressure. The Greek side started strong at the Telekom Center...
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What a Bronze Age warrior packed for eternity
A celebrated Bronze Age warrior is coming to Athens. The National Archaeological Museum opens `The Pylos of Nestor: A Mycenaean Kingdom Revealed' on Monday, presenting the `Griffin Warrior' to Athenian audiences for the first time. Discovered in 2015...
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Honoring compassion at the edge of exile
For decades, Swiss dentist Julien Grivel traveled to Greece to voluntarily treat Hansen's disease patients at Athens' `Agia Varvara' hospital, many transferred there from Spinalonga. Last week, at 83, he received honorary Greek citizenship, calling it...
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EU prosecutor protests rushed amendment
European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kovesi has sent a letter of protest to Greek Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis over a government amendment that would accelerate the handling of criminal cases involving lawmakers while excluding delegated European...
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Jellyfish return with a bloom
As summer begins in Greece, two jellyfish populations are surging in coastal waters: the purple jellyfish, Pelagia noctiluca, and the compass jellyfish, Chrysaora hysoscella. Most sightings have been concentrated in the North Evian Gulf, where...
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Athens wants Kyiv drones off its shores
Greece is about to send a stern message to Ukraine that it should withdraw all its drones from the country's coasts. This warning does not signify a change in policy, Greek officials say; as it has since the start of the Russian invasion in February...
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University violence and a lot of hot air
The government has failed to clamp down on violence and vandalism at the country's public universities. After the fiasco with the campus police force, it passed a new law last summer for campus security. That law has obviously not been put into force,...
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Long lines at Athens courthouse after security tightening
New security measures introduced after last month's shooting inside an appeals court chamber have changed the morning routine for citizens. At the entrance of the Athens Court of First Instance, visitors now queue from 8.30 a.m. as guards enforce...
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