Next year is going to be a big year for Greece, from new museum openings to big anniversaries of people and places. Here’s 10 reasons why you should visit, according to the new Greek Tourism organisation MARKETING GREECE.
1. The National Museum of Contemporary Art opens in Athens in the spring. After 13 years of development, it will open its doors to the public at the former site of the legendary Athenian brewery Fix.
2. British Airways launches its first ever flights to the Greek islands. Beginning next May, the airline will start serving the island of Mykonos and Santorini with direct flights from London Heathrow.
3. Zorba the Greek, one of the most recognisable symbols of Greece, turns 50. If you want to recreate the famous syrtaki dance scene of the Oscar-winning film (originally released in 1964), head to Stavros beach outside Chania, Crete.
4. The Ionian Islands, previously under British rule, will be officially part of Greece for 150 years. Evidence of the previous British (and earlier French) administration can be seen all over the main towns of Corfu, Zante, Kefalonia and the other islands off the western coast of Greece.
5. Thessaloniki, the city that never sleeps, will become the European Youth Capital in 2014, an appropriate title for Greece’s biggest – and most famous – student town. Aristotle University has more than 80,000 students, more than any other academic institution in the country.
6. The new Acropolis Museum, recently chosen as one of the top three museums in the world, celebrates its fifth anniversary. It features nearly 4,000 objects on display, while the Parthenon hall has the same orientation with the world famous temple on the Acropolis hill.
7. Hollywood revisits ancient Greek history. The long-awaited sequel 300: Rise of an Empire will premiere in March, while two movies are currently in development inspired by the adventures of mythical hero Hercules, both due to hit our screens later in 2014.
8. The Olympic Games ‘returned home’ a decade ago. Hailed as ‘unforgettable, dream games’, they left Athens with significantly improved infrastructure, including a new airport, metro network, ring road and a pedestrianised archaeological promenade that changed the look of the city centre.
9. Crete-born Eleftherios Venizelos, one of the most prominent and charismatic politicians of modern Greece, was born 150 years ago, in 1864. The Greek capital airport is named after him, while his former house in Athens is currently the residence of the British ambassador in Greece.
10. Greece takes over the EU presidency in January 2014. For economic and symbolic reasons, the budget of the Greek presidency has been described as ‘Spartan’, representing the frugal ideology of the Spartans in ancient Greece.
