Sights in Greece
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Technopolis
There’s always something on at the city’s old gasworks, the impressively restored 1862 complex of furnaces and industrial buildings. It hosts multimedia exhibitions, concerts, festivals and special events and has a pleasant café. The small Maria Callas museum is dedicated to the revered opera diva.
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King Leonidas Statue
A wander around ancient Sparta's meagre ruins bears testimony to the accuracy of Thucydides' prophecy. Head north along Paleologou to the King Leonidas statue , which stands belligerently in front of a soccer stadium. West of the stadium, signs point the way to the southern gate of the acropolis.
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Museum of Greek Popular Instruments
More than 1200 folk instruments dating from the 18th century are exhibited over three floors, with headphones for visitors to listen to the sounds of the gaida (Greek goatskin bagpipes) and Byzantine mandolins, among others. Musical performances are held in the lovely garden in summer.
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Church of Osios David
Just down from the Monastary of Vlatadon is the little 5th-century Church of Osios David , allegedly built to commemorate the secret baptism of Galerius' daughter, Theodora, while father was away. It contains well-preserved mosaics and rare 12th-century frescoes depicting the baptism of Christ.
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Temple to Demeter
About 1.5km south of Sangri is the impressive Temple to Demeter. The ruins and reconstructions are not large, but they are historically fascinating, and the hilltop location is impressive. There is a site museum with some fine reconstructions of temple features. Signs point the way from Sangri.
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Centre of Folk Art & Tradition
The 1920s mansion of folklorist Angeliki Hatzimichalis recreates the traditional pastoral life, including an old kitchen and chapel. Exhibits include regional costumes, embroideries, weaving machines, ceramic vases and family portraits. At the time of writing, it was closed for refurbishment.
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Melina Mercouri Cultural Centre
The landmark Poulopoulou hat factory hosts free photographic and cultural exhibitions. Its permanent exhibition is an impressive re-creation of an Athenian street in 1900, with houses, shops and a kafeneio (coffee house), while the basement houses the Haridimos shadow-puppet museum.
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Museum of Greek Folk Art
This fine state-owned museum has examples of folk art from 1650 to the present, including elaborate embroidery, weaving, costumes, shadow-theatre puppets and silverwork. The 1st floor has fine wall murals by renowned naive artist Theophilos Hatzimichail, and a temporary exhibition gallery.
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Frissiras Art Museum
The private Frissiras Art Museum is housed in two beautifully restored neoclassical mansions in Plaka. It showcases more than 3000 works of contemporary European painting, focusing mainly on the human figure, and hosts regular temporary exhibitions. There is a pleasant museum café.
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Cave of Antiparos
Despite previous looting of stalactites and stalagmites, the Cave of Antiparos is still awe-inspiring. It is 8km south of the port. Follow the coast road south until you reach a signed turn-off into the hills. There are tours every hour. From the port there are hourly buses to the cave.
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Museum of Religious Art
The Museum of Religious Art is housed in the former Church of Agia Ekaterini, next to Agios Minas Cathedral. It has an impressive collection of icons, frescoes and elaborate ecclesiastical vestments. The premier exhibits are the six icons painted by Mihail Damaskinos, El Greco's mentor.
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Tsalapatas Brickworks Museum
From 1926 until 1975, the Tsalapatas Rooftile & Brickworks was part of the cultural fabric of Volos. In 2006, the restored plant opened as a handsome historical museum with brick-making machinery, grinding mills and massive kilns on display, complete with museum café and shop.
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Filopappou Hill
Filopappou Hill, also called the Hill of the Muses, is identifiable to the southwest of the Acropolis by the Monument of Filopappos at its summit. The monument was built between 114 and 116 in honour of Julius Antiochus Filopappos, who was a prominent Roman consul and administrator.
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Parthenon
The Parthenon is the monument that more than any other epitomises the glory of ancient Greece. Parthenon means 'virgin's apartment'. This is the largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece, and the only one built completely (apart from its wooden roof) of Pentelic marble.
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Aquarium
If you fancy a fishy experience, the Aquarium is worth a look. The Art Deco building was built during the 1930s by the Italians as a biological research station. Visitors can view anthozoa, molluscs, crabs, echinoderms, sea turtles and specimens from up to 12 types of fish families.
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Benaki Museum
The Benaki is the must-see of Athens’ private museums, with a superb collection and a great café-restaurant on the terrace. There is also an excellent gift store with a delightful range of quality prints, jewellery, ceramics and books. It also stocks some exquisite religious icons.
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Sikelianos Museum
Fans of Greek drama should head to the intimate Sikelianos Museum in an old mansion overlooking Delphi. The small museum is dedicated to Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos and his American-born wife Eva Palmer, who together established Delphi as a modern centre for drama and the arts.
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Museum of the History of Excavations in Olympia
Next to the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games, and housed in a small historic building, the Museum of the History of Excavations in Olympia will appeal more to archaeology and history buffs. It displays items relating to the site's German excavations in the 19th century.
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Jewish Museum
This museum traces the history of the Jewish community in Greece from the 3rd century BC, with an impressive collection of religious and historical artefacts, documents, folk art and costumes. Nearly 90% of Greece’s Jews, most from Thessaloniki, were killed during the Holocaust.
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Zappeio Gardens & Palace
Men still gather to play backgammon in the leafy gardens surrounding the majestic Zappeio palace, built in the 1870s by the wealthy Greek-Romanian benefactor Konstantinos Zappas. The palace courtyard is stunning and there’s a peaceful café and the historic Aigli cinema nearby.
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Historical Museum of the Olympic Games
Only real Olympic devotees will enjoy the rather uninspired Historical Museum of the Olympic Games . It houses a collection of commemorative stamps and literature, mostly in French. It's two blocks west of Praxitelous Kondyli, opposite the junction of Agerinai and Kosmopoulou.
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Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki
The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki traces Jewish history in Thessaloniki from 140 BC to the Spanish arrivals in 1492 and until WWII through well-presented displays and photos. The museum houses remains from Thessaloniki's large Jewish cemetery, vandalised in 1942 by the Nazis.
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Epigraphical Museum
This ‘library of stones’ houses an important collection of Greek inscriptions detailing official records, including lists of war dead, tribute lists showing annual payments by Athens’ allies, and the decree ordering the evacuation of Athens before the 480 BC Persian invasion.
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Church of Agios Titos
The Church of Agios Titos was constructed after the liberation of the Crete in AD 961 and was converted to a Catholic church and then a mosque. Twice rebuilt after being destroyed by the big fire in 1554 and then the 1856 earthquake, it has been an Orthodox Church since 1925.
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Numismatic Museum
Even if you have scant interest in its fine coin collection, this exemplary neoclassical building has some beautiful frescoes and mosaic floors and a shady café in the garden. It was once the home of renowned archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who excavated Troy and Mycenae.
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