Fun for your 2024 travels
The New Year holds new experiences and surprises for us all. Here’s our pick of places worth visiting and events you’ll enjoy attending in Greece in 2024.
Cultural Treasures
The new Maria Callas Museum is a great cultural asset to the Greek capital, and the only museum in the world dedicated to the world-famous 20th century prima donna, a.k.a. La Divina. Visit the beautiful renovated neoclassical building, which houses the museum at 44, Mitropoleos St., near Syntagma Square in Athens. You will explore various aspects of her personality and career as an opera singer via audio visual means. It is best to start the tour from the second floor where the Norma, Tosca and La Traviata rooms are, while a fourth room is dedicated to her teaching period at the Julliard School in New York. Next, go down one level to see exhibits dating to various stages of her cosmopolitan life and career from her birth to her death, and the influential people close to her, and her teachers and mentors. There is a Shop and a Café on the ground floor if you’re interested in a souvenir or need a refreshment. This experience will no doubt be music to your ears!
Next, we’ll take you on a trip to the Greek north. The new Polycentric Museum of Aigai is located in Vergina, Macedonia, at a distance of 8 km southeast from Veria Town (or 73 km west of Thessaloniki City). Visit the Central Museum Building and the archaeological park (a UNESCO site) which includes the Ancient Theatre, the Palace of Aigai (the first capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia), and the Royal Tombs. The most notable one is that of King Philip II, father to Alexander the Great. See also the nearby 16th century Church of Saint Demetrius Palatitsion, whose impressive interior walls and columns are covered entirely by murals.
Nature wonders
The nature fans among you will appreciate our next suggestion. Visit Kokkinopilos, an unusual site of great beauty located in Preveza in the Epirus region in western Greece. This is a chain of low hills, each about 100 to 150m high, with an impressive red color that is broken here and there by green bushes and trees. This ancient depression area includes hills with gentle slopes and gullies of great geological importance, and archaeological value that dates to the Old Stone Age. The soil is red clay rich in iron oxides, and you will see it wearing its most vivid hues in spring and summer, under the bright sunlight. So, plan your trip in the area and don’t forget your hiking gear!
A fantastic summer event is scheduled for Thessaloniki City: Europride 2024, from 21-29 June. There will be film screenings, conferences, and art exhibitions related to LGBTQI history and culture, as this year the city will be the Europride host for Southeast Europe. The venues will be the city dock area A and the International Exhibition Centre. On the last day, the Europride Parade will take place in the city center, and the White Tower will be lit up in the rainbow colors of the Pride festival.
