Kathimerini English
Smugglers race the winter, and Crete absorbs the rush
A total of 17 boats carrying migrants reached Crete's southern coast on Monday and Tuesday, the Greek coast guard said, mostly in the area overseen by the Ierapetra port authority. More than 500 people, most from Africa, remained at a former AGREX site...
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Gastronomos turns 20, and country's producers take a bow
Gastronomos, the magazine of the newspaper Kathimerini, marked its 20th birthday over the weekend with a towering multitiered cake, 13 awards and a chefs' table, drawing thousands of people to the courtyard and halls of Piraeus 260. The festival again...
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Rethinking marble beyond classical antiquity
Sculptor Vassilis Gerodimos works on a piece of Tinos marble in his studio. The son of a stonemason who grew up on construction sites, Gerodimos belongs to a generation of Greek sculptors redefining a medium long associated with classical antiquity....
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A quarter of teens eye influencer careers
One in four Greek teenagers wants a career tied to social media, such as becoming an influencer or digital content creator, according to a University of Athens study. The university's Laboratory of Counseling Science and Career Guidance surveyed 400...
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The long road from 1923 ends online
photograph of Palaio Faliro in 1930. The road at the bottom of the photograph is Poseidonos Avenue. Nearly a century after Greece's first organized cadastral survey, the municipalities of Kallithea and part of Palaio Faliro have been fully integrated...
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Strength of US-Greece ties reaffirmed
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Athens reaffirmed the strength of relations between Greece and the United States, with officials highlighting cooperation on defense spending, energy, migration and regional security. In meetings with...
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Late Greek lyricist's songs find new life at National Opera
`Didn't we owe her a night like this?' acclaimed singer and composer Dimitra Galani asked herself, beaming, in dressing rooms packed with people after the penultimate performance of `Even If You Leave,' a tribute to lyricist, radio producer and writer...
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Chipperfield unveils vision centered on public space
British architect David Chipperfield, selected to lead the expansion of Athens’ National Archaeological Museum, said construction could begin after design work is completed by early summer 2027. Speaking at the Athens Democracy Forum in the Greek...
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Surprise drill tests readiness across the country
Greece's armed forces conducted a surprise national exercise, codenamed `Alexandros,' across the entire country, from Evros to Crete and from Corfu to Kastellorizo. Activated by General Staff chief Dimitrios Choupis, the drill – which concluded Friday...
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Athens Forum weighs US midterms, AI and democracy
Thomas Friedman at left, Patrick Healy at center and Liz Alderman at right closed this year's Athens Democracy Forum with a wide-ranging discussion on the US midterm elections, the future of American democracy, AI and the implications for Europe,...
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Restored and returned: Nicopolis eyes UNESCO heritage list
Ancient Nicopolis, a site of exceptional historical, archaeological and cultural importance whose value extends beyond Greece’s borders, has been returned to the local community after the Culture Ministry completed major works to protect, restore,...
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Returned from war's long shadow: Sacred relics head home
Forty-eight ecclesiastical relics will return to Greece after a century in Bulgaria and will be presented Saturday at the Museum of Byzantine Culture. Seized in 1917 during World War I from the Panagia Eikosifoinissa Monastery, the Holy Precursor...
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Leak traced inside building in deadly Plaka blast
Investigators have concluded that the natural-gas leak behind the deadly explosion that destroyed a two-story building on Lysikratous Street in Plaka on Friday originated inside the structure, not in the main supply network. The blast killed six...
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An (un)orthodox gallery in a historic monastery
‘What breathes life into a gallery is temporary exhibitions,’ says Christos Kehagioglou, curator of ‘The Enigmantic World of Man,’ an exhibition of works by the celebrated late Greek painter Alekos Fassianos in the western tower of the 10th-century...
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Plaka residents flagged risks long before blast
A drone view shows an old building, partially collapsed, following an explosion in the Plaka area in central Athens on Friday. One year before the explosion on Lysikratous Street, residents of Plaka – a popular district with tourists – warned...
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Behind Greece's antiquities, stories of theft and survival
The National Archaeological Museum is unveiling the hidden histories behind some of its most celebrated antiquities, as part of European Heritage Days 2026, themed `Heritage at Risk – Revival, Resilience, Reflection,' from Friday through Sunday. A tour...
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Greece casts off a net from another era
After decades of restrictions and delays, Greece is moving to permanently ban the `vintzotrata,' a coastal dragnet, under a fisheries bill now before Parliament. The measure would remove the gear from fishing licenses and the National Fisheries...
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Ankara relies on drilling diplomacy
Turkey possesses the world's fourth-largest fleet of seabed research, seismographic and drilling vessels – and it is using it as a means to conduct foreign policy. The amassing of such a considerable fleet – 54 vessels – has not come cheap. Over the...
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Margaret Papandreou, activist, dies at 102
Margaret Chant-Papandreou, women's rights advocate, wife of a prime minister and mother of another, died early Friday in Athens, 12 days short of her 103rd birthday. She met Andreas Papandreou, himself the son of a prime minister, and then an...
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Flamingos, keeping an old appointment
Ten flamingos were spotted at the Nafplio-Nea Kios wetland in the Argolis region in southern Greece on Thursday, drawing residents and visitors who stopped to watch the birds wade through the shallow waters. The flamingos, easily identified by their...
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How a tiny invader is redrawing a Greek lagoon's shoreline
Scientists have documented a rare Mediterranean phenomenon in the Prokopos lagoon, near the Strofilia forest in northwestern Peloponnese: enormous ring-shaped reefs, some up to 15 meters wide, built by an invasive Australian marine worm. The species,...
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Athens' ancient burial ground steps into the present
The Kerameikos archaeological site, ancient Athens' most significant historical cemetery, has reopened to the public following extensive infrastructure upgrades and historical preservation works. The project introduces a new primary entrance and exit...
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A degree from Honolulu, and a trail of questions
Prosecutors on Monday upgraded charges against two doctors accused in the death of singer Giorgos Mazonakis. The 54-year-old died after suffering cardiac arrest while undergoing plasmapheresis – in which blood plasma is removed, filtered and returned...
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An (un)orthodox gallery in a historic monastery
‘What breathes life into a gallery is temporary exhibitions,’ says Christos Kehagioglou, curator of ‘The Enigmantic World of Man,’ an exhibition of works by the celebrated late Greek painter Alekos Fassianos in the western tower of the 10th-century...
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A workout for the mind, a lifeline for aging
Across seven Greek communities, older adults are gathering at `Memory Gyms,' pilot centers run by the Athens Alzheimer Association through the Healthy Mind program. Participants over 60, motivated by fears of dementia and a desire to stay mentally...
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Renewing a landscape of remembrance
The Defense Ministry has approved plans to upgrade and highlight the Monument of the Unknown Soldier and its plaza, introducing changes aimed at improving accessibility, preservation and public understanding of the site. The proposal would replace...
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Mitsotakis, Macron discuss energy link
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held talks Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Paris for the International Space Summit, with discussions focusing on energy infrastructure, regional developments and bilateral...
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A new chapter at sea: Greece, Italy sign frigate pact
The signing of a bilateral implementing arrangement in Rome on Tuesday activated Greece's acquisition of two Italian FREMM frigates, marking a significant step in a growing defense partnership between Athens and Rome. Following the meeting between...
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Books under the stars: Athens launches annual literary festival
Books, music and open-air culture have officially taken over central Athens as the 54th Athens Book Festival, which opened to the public on September 4, held its official inauguration Monday evening. The beloved literary gathering launched at Pedion...
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PM couples relief with fiscal stability
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday defended a broad package of tax cuts, wage increases and social support measures, arguing that Greece's economic progress now allows the government to return more benefits to citizens while maintaining...
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Searching for parking in a city built around cars
Parking remains the top local concern for residents of Greater Athens, according to a GPO poll, reflecting how life depends on private cars. A 2026 study by researchers at the National Technical University of Athens found that more than six in 10...
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Ancient floors, fresh clues: Mieza's hidden story
New archaeological discoveries at the Royal Gymnasium of ancient Mieza in central Macedonia in northern Greece are reshaping understanding of the monument's architecture and functions, with mosaic floors preserved in two banquet halls emerging as the...
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Erdogan threats raise tensions again
Concern is growing in Athens that relations between Greece and Turkey could be entering a new period of heightened tension following remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that directly referenced Kastellorizo and revived rhetoric recalling...
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War on traffic congestion gets air support
Police on Tuesday unveiled Traffic Commander, a new traffic-management system that combines cameras, drones, motorcycle officers and conventional traffic police in an effort to prevent congestion before it spirals into gridlock. The system operated on...
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A deal with a geopolitical footprint
A defense agreement described by both sides as strategically significant was formally signed in Tel Aviv on Monday, linking Greece and Israel through what officials said is the largest contract ever concluded between the two countries. The €3 billion...
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Reconnecting Thessaloniki: Bridging past and present
Athens-based architecture firm Apostolopoulos Tasoulis has won the competition to unify Thessaloniki's archaeological sites and historical monuments. Unanimously selected by a jury of experts and ministry officials, the winning proposal, titled...
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Hunting the mosquitoes that carry a warning
Before maps fill with red zones and new West Nile virus cases are recorded, a quieter process unfolds in university laboratories across Greece. The Medical Entomology Unit of the University of West Attica's Infectious Disease Surveillance Laboratory...
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Badminton building comes down, 22 years after Olympics
The demolition of Athens' Badminton building, damaged by fire in July, began Thursday under the Defense Ministry, reviving a long-delayed plan tied to the city's Olympic legacy. Built for the 2004 Olympic Games as a temporary facility, the structure...
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Long wait ends as Thessaloniki extends its metro east
The long-delayed expansion of Thessaloniki's metro to Kalamaria enters service on Thursday, bringing to a close what officials describe as a 13-year odyssey. The 4.78-kilometer extension adds five stations – Nomarchia, Kalamaria, Aretsou, Nea Krini and...
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The photographer who captured a Greece that was fading
Nikos Desyllas, a photographer who spent more than five decades traveling across Greece, died recently at 83, leaving behind an unusually intimate record of a country in rapid change. Born in Athens in 1943 and raised in Corfu, Desyllas began working...
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Beneath the shadow of antiquity, mountains of waste
Across parts of rural Greece, the landscapes surrounding major archaeological sites, rivers and provincial roads have quietly become dumping grounds, burdened by years of illegal waste disposal and the limited capacity of municipalities to respond. A...
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A monastery's land claims ignite a rural church war
In a remote monastery high in the mountains of Fokida in central Greece, a campaign to revive a struggling religious community spiraled into a bitter conflict over land, power and a lucrative solar-energy project. Research at the Monastery of Panagia...
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The Athens workshop turning tourists into marble carvers
In a marble workshop in Mets, an Athens neighborhood, tourists are trading sightseeing for chisels. For about a year, the Georgiou family, third-generation sculptors, has opened its workshop to visitors eager to try the fading craft of marble carving....
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From recycling centers to the courthouse
The Attica Regional Authority and ESDNA, the Intermunicipal Agency of the Attica Region, have taken their dispute with recycling company TEXAN to court, seeking 29,000 tons of recyclable material, or €6 million, its estimated value. The claim covers...
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Ancient Nicopolis prepares for its next act
The Culture Ministry is moving ahead with the restoration of the lower seating section of the ancient theater of Ancient Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, following completion of the restoration study for that part of the monument. The intervention is...
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Greek-owned ships hit as maritime risks deepen
The global shipping industry remained on high alert after a series of attacks on commercial vessels in two of the world's most strategic waterways – the Black Sea and the Strait of Hormuz – left casualties, destroyed ships and heightened concerns over...
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From Anafi to Antiparos, a quiet literary trail
On islands where newspapers often run out before the ferry even docks, small bookshops are thriving against the odds. On Anafi, a two-year-old shop called Arsenale occupies a former boathouse in the port of Agios Nikolaos, with no fulltime host as such...
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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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