Acropolis

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One of the Hottest Landmarks Offers Private, Pricey Tours

Come April, pay up to $5.5K at Athens' Acropolis and have it all to yourself (along with a few others)

(Newser) - Fancy seeing the ancient Acropolis uncluttered by thousands of selfie-snappers? A solution is in the works, but it will set you back up to $5,500. Starting April 1, Greece plans to offer exclusive guided tours of its most powerful tourist magnet to handfuls of well-heeled visitors outside normal opening...

Cops: Man Tried to Illegally Sell 'Exceptional Work of Art' for $120K

Greek police believe 5th-century BC statue was taken from temple on or near Acropolis

(Newser) - A man has been arrested on suspicion of antiquities smuggling for trying to sell an ancient marble statue of "exceptional artwork" that once likely adorned a temple on Athens' famed Acropolis or the slopes around it, Greek authorities said Friday. Police said the fifth-century BC statue was recovered following...

10-Story Hotel Ordered to Shrink to 8 Stories

Greece cultural council sides with locals in Athens whose view was obstructed

(Newser) - It's one thing for a city to reject plans for a tall hotel near a world-famous site. It's another to do so after the hotel has been built. That's now the case in Athens, Greece, where a 10-story hotel near the Acropolis has been ordered to remove...

The Parthenon's Attic Once Held a Great Fortune
The Parthenon's Attic
Once Held a Great Fortune
researchers say

The Parthenon's Attic Once Held a Great Fortune

Researchers believe millions of coins were once stashed there

(Newser) - The Parthenon once housed a massive statue of Athena made of ivory and gold; researchers now say it was far from the only thing of value kept in the ancient temple. Though the attic of the Parthenon has long been destroyed, researchers believe it once held millions of silver coins...

The Acropolis Is Falling Apart

And Egypt's oldest pyramid is in trouble, too: activists

(Newser) - Greece's famous Parthenon could be in danger of coming down 2,500 years after it was put up at the height of the Athenian Empire. Archaeologists have discovered "instability over quite a wide area" of the Acropolis, the flat-topped rock that holds the weight of the ancient structure,...

Greece Hires Out Ancient Ruins to Raise Cash

The Acropolis, the temple of Delphi, and Parthenon going for $2,070 a day

(Newser) - Debt-stricken Greece is taking an unprecedented step and exploiting its own magnificent history to raise cash and help its crippled economy. The Guardian reports that Greece is offering up its architectural masterpieces, including the Acropolis, the temple of Delphi, and the Parthenon, as backdrops for movies, commercials, and photo shoots—...

Parthenon Gets the Museum It Deserves
 Parthenon Gets the 
 Museum It Deserves 
MUSEUM REVIEW

Parthenon Gets the Museum It Deserves

(Newser) - The Parthenon has been called the one “absolutely right” building on the planet, and it now has a fitting memorial, Christopher Hitchens writes in Vanity Fair. Hitchens is among the first to visit the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, and it does not disappoint. Artifacts, expert reproductions, and a...

Brit Museum Refuses to Lose Its Marbles

Museum refuses to sanction Elgin's deeds

(Newser) - Tension between Greek and British museum officials over ownership of the famous Elgin marbles bubbled over this week, reports the Guardian. With the New Acropolis Museum set to open in Athens, Greece is refusing to accede to British terms concerning the loan of the classical treasure. The British Museum offered...

Greek Protesters Hang Banners on Acropolis

Students call on Europe to join demonstrations tomorrow

(Newser) - Greek protesters hung two giant banners off the Acropolis today, with slogans calling for mass demonstrations across Europe tomorrow and "resistance," after days of violent protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager in Athens. A dozen protesters held the pink banners over the walls of...

Protesters Follow Olympic Torch to Acropolis

Demonstrations in Greece remain mostly peaceful

(Newser) - Olympic torchbearers made their way to the Acropolis in Greece today with the help of heavy security that kept protesters at arm's length, the AP reports. Activists have set up camp by candlelight outside the stadium—site of the first modern Olympics in 1896— to protest China's human rights record...

Snowstorm Wallops Greece
Snowstorm Wallops Greece

Snowstorm Wallops Greece

Villages stranded, schools closed, flights canceled

(Newser) - A freak snowstorm stranded as many as 200 Greek villages and halted hundreds of flights yesterday and today in Athens, reports Bloomberg. Power and water supply problems were reported across the country and civil defense authorities were on alert. Up to six inches of snow buried the Greek capital, a...

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