Description
From a little-known hill to a hidden tunnel. Sofka introduces the series and herself: a British writer and one-time anthropologist, she’s an adopted Greek with a Russian name. We visit an unfamiliar hill – the Tourkovounia. Former US diplomat and archaeologist Brady Kiesling gives a sense of Athens’ geography - an urban sprawl surrounded by mountains and sea. Sofka goes down below for a taste of the remarkable riches lying underground and pays her respects to the city’s most famous skeleton. George Sachinis - a community artist and Water Board employee, leads us inside an aqueduct tunnel built by the Emperor Hadrian, which is still functioning after 2,000 years.
How high & low cultures co-exist. The financial crisis hit Athens hard, but the arts flourished - against the odds. Germany’s massive Documenta14 arts festival transferred to Athens, ambitious cultural foundations mushroomed and street arts blossomed. Sofka visits the new Niarchos cultural...
Published 08/10/21
Greek Orthodoxy and its customs. Athenians remain attached to the traditions of the Orthodox Church. Prize-winning poet American poet A.E. Stallings walks us around the First Cemetery – a beautiful sculpture park that reveals the Athenian way of death. And we visit Papios, a shop selling kollyva...
Published 07/27/21