VirtualGlobetrotting: Greece Maps & Satellite Images

VirtualGlobetrotting Live View

Eleni Menegaki's house
Alephs (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Alephs.
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The famous Greek actress and talk-show presenter lives in this house in the Athenian suburb of Melissia. Magazine Forbes once ranked her as the second most powerful woman in Greece. She started her career as a model and now hosts her show Eleni on Greek TV channel ALPHA. She was married to another network's, ANT1, program manager Giannis Latsios, with whom she has three children, but the marriage ended in divorce. Wherever she goes and whatever she does is followed by huge amounts of media coverage and paparazzi. She is one of the highest-paid TV people in the country, earning 100,000 euros a month, according to the newspaper Thema.

Lord Rothschild House
BermudaBreeze (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: BermudaBreeze.
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This is the Villa of Lord Jacob and Lady Serena Rothschild. Jacob Rothschild, is a British investment banker, philanthropist and a member of the prominent Rothschild family of bankers.

Marianna Latsis's villa
Alephs (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Alephs.
Read more...
This is Marianna Latsis's villa, located in one of the poshest Athenian suburbs, Ekali. The neighbourhood is situated in the northwestern part of the city, and it is home to many other powerful and rich people of Greece.
Marianna Latsis is the second child of Giannis (John) Spyridon Latsis and Erietta Tsoukala. Her son is Paris Latsis, the former boyfriend of Paris Hilton.
The Latsis family, with its banking and shipping empire, is the richest family in Greece today.

Vardis Vardinogiannis' House
Xeba73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Xeba73.
Vardinogiannis is a Greek oil tycoon. His family also has extensive interests in television broadcasting, publishing, shipping, sports etc. His son, Giannis, is the majority owner of Greece football club Panathinaikos. His brother, shipping tycoon Yiorgos Vardinogiannis, owns the newly-built mansion next door.

Acropolis of Athens
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
This is the Acropolis of Athens, the famous citadel overlooking the Greek capital.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima's house
Alephs (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Alephs.
This house belongs to the Dutch king Willem-Alexander and his wife, Queen Máxima.
The house was in the news because of the costly fence the royals decided to erect to protect the estate. It reportedly cost 461,000 euros to build. In order to construct it, the royals had to lease the neighbours land for a period of 30 years.
The Dutch royal couples was also criticized by the Greek media in 2009, when they put up a private harbour on the estate.

Martinos family house
According to the Greek newspaper Proto Thema, this house belongs to the powerful Martinos family.
The family includes Andreas-Ioannis Martinos, nicknamed Kikos, who was once a victim of a foiled kidnapping attempt, his father. His father, Andreas, is the youngest of three brothers. Thanassis Martinos, the owner of Eastern Mediterranean, and Dinos Martinos, the owner of Thenamaris, together control around 135 ships of a total of 14.4 milion deadweight tonnage, including tankers, dry bulk carriers, container ships, and LNG carrier newbuilds on order.
Though one of Greece's most respected shipping families, it is also one of its most invisible, and there has been no official comment on the kidnapping incident from the Martinos family. One first cousin, Georgia Martinou, daughter of Thanassis, is an MP with the governing New Democracy party.

The ghost town of Kriaritsi - actually a development project
hhgygy (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: hhgygy.
Everything is there paved roads, electricity, water, sewage, bridges - only no houses

Wreck of the Ocean Liner Mediterranean Sky
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
The original name of the Mediterranean Sky was City of York when it was built in 1952 in Newcastle, England. The Cruise liner departed London in November 1953, and maintained its service until sold to Michael A. Karageorgis, Piraeus in 1971, when she became the Mediterranean Sky. Her last voyage was in August 1996, when she sailed from Brindisi to Patras.
Due to the companies’ financial situation, the Mediterranean Sky was arrested in 1997, whilst in Patras. She remained in Patras until 1999, when she was towed to Eleusis, and laid up and was virtually abandoned. Then, in late November, 2002, she began to take on water and began to list.
In order to stop her sinking, she was towed to shallow water and was grounded. In January 2003, Mediterranean Sky keeled over on her side in Eleusus Bay. She remains there awaiting her fate.

Yiorgos Vardinogiannis' House
Xeba73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Xeba73.
Yiorgos Vardinogiannis is a Greek shipping tycoon and former owner of the Panathinaikos football club. His family also has extensive interests in oil, television broadcasting, publishing etc. His nephew, Giannis, is the new majority owner of Panathinaikos. His brother, oil tycoon Vardis Vardinogiannis, owns the mansion next door.

Parthenon on Acropolis
Dania (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Dania.
The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the maiden goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although decoration of the Parthenon continued until 432 BC.
It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece and of ancient democracy and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure.

Ships at Eleusis Bay
Hinkkanen (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Hinkkanen.
Eleusis Bay near the Port of Piraeus is the graveyard of old cruise ships and liners. Some have laid here for decades waiting for buyer or scrapping. Sadly the resolution of the ships is useless even if the land around looks fine. Link below has some fine pictures of these old ships.

Skorpios (private island of Onassis)
yikesahootie (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: yikesahootie.
Island retreat of Aristotle Onassis. Jacqueline Kennedy married Onassis here. Rumored to be for sale by Athina Onassis (August 2004).

Dimitrios Copelouzos' House
Xeba73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Xeba73.
Copelouzos is the founding Chairman of the Copelouzos Group, one of Greece's largest commercial and industrial groups with interests in construction, energy, transportation, and real estate.
His new home in the Kifisiá suburb of Athens is said to be the largest private residence in Greece.

Sunk and sinking ships
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.

Anna Vissi's house
One of the most successful Greek singers Anna Vissi lives in this house in the posh Athenian suburb of Ekali, situated in the northern part of the city.

Greek Navy 'Zubr Class' hovercraft in drydock
The Greek Navy operates four ships. Three vessels were commissioned in 2001: Kefallonia (L180) was purchased used from the Russian Navy but has been upgraded, Ithaki (L181) was completed in Ukraine, and Zakynthos (L183) was built in Russia. A fourth vessel, Kerkira, was launched in June 2004 at St Petersburg yard and was commissioned in January 2005.
The Russian designed Zubr or Project 1232.2 class (NATO reporting name Pomornik) is the world’s largest military hovercraft and serves as a Landing Craft air-cushion (or LCAC). Note that the Bora is bigger but has side walls so it is not considered a true hovercraft because some of the side structure is in the water.
Zubr is designed to sealift landing assault units (such as marines or tanks) from equipped/non-equipped vessels to non-equipped shore, as well as transport and plant mines.

Very secure compound (censored)
Not censored in GM/GE/LL only BEV.
This residential compound is very secure. Outer perimeter with guard towers, and inner double fences near the house.

Filaret Galchev's House
The cement billionaire owns this large Greek estate. As of 2014, Forbes ranks him as the 24th richest Russian, with a net worth of $6.0 billion.

Tatoi Palace
Dania (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Dania.
Tatoi, located 15 km north of Athens, was the summer palace and estate of the former Greek Royal Family, and the site of George II of the Hellenes's birth. The area is a densely wooded southeast-facing slope of Mount Parnitha, and its ancient and current official name is Decelea.

Alkiviades "Alki" David's House
Alkiviades "Alki" David is a Greek billionaire. His most famous possessions are probably Coca-Cola Hellenic, a part of his Leventis-David Group, and FilmOn, a TV streaming service. David also owns a modelling agency, a home-shopping Web site, and various other companies.

Nikolaos Goulandris's villa
This estate belongs to Nikolaos Goulandris, a relatively little known thirtysomething scion of the powerful Goulandris Greek shipping dynasty. He bought in somewhere in 2014 from Giorgos Kovas and his wife, Iro Vetopoulou-Kova, for a somewhere between €15 and €30 million, after several deals with rich Lebanese and Russians fell through. Among the possible buyers, the property gossip columns also mentioned the name of Roman Abramovich.
Giorgos Kovas and Iro Vetopolou-Kova nicknamed the house Olives and made it into one of the most recognizable estates in the wealthy Porto Cheli area. It is said that the house and the grounds have been designed in strict concordance with feng shui principles and that the gardens included various exotic species from around the world.
Nikolaos Goulandris has spent much of his life in New York and London and it is said that he bought the house to obtains closer relations with Greece. He fell in love with the area after visiting the nearby estate of Aleko Goulandris and plans to make this house his summer residence. Nikolaos Goulandris is married to a Russian woman.

Despina Vandi and Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis' house (former)
This house, in the posh Athenian suburb of Kifisia, near the Kefalari Grove, designed by the famous Greek architect Tassos Zeppos, one of the owners of the Zege Architects architecure firm, used to belong to the Greek musical superstar Despina Vandi and her footballer husband, Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis, before they put it up for sale for €4.5m. They sold the house and moved to the one in the Panorama tis Voulas neighbourhood, also featured on this website.

Spinalonga Island (former leper colony)
DonMartini (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: DonMartini.
The Spinalonga island is located in the eastern part of Crete next to the village of Elounda.
In 1579 the Venetians built a mighty fortress on the island on the ruins of an ancient acropolis. The Venetians kept control of the island even after the rest of Crete fell to the Ottomans in 1669 and it remained under their control for almost another half a century until its capitulation in 1715.
The island is also notable for being the last active leper colony from 1903 until 1957.
Today the island is unoccupied and it is one of the main tourist attractions in the area.

Thermopylae and Statue of Leonidas
tallturtle82 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: tallturtle82.
Thermopylae and King Leonidas of Sparta are linked together by the battle that took place here in 480 BC. The heavily outnumbered Greek forces led by Leonidas held the critical pass for three days against the much larger Persian army led by Xerxes. The Greeks were finally outflanked after they were betrayed by a local named Ephialtes. Leonidas realized the inevitable and dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans. Most were killed. Thermopylae has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.

Site of The Colossus of Rhodes
LancelotLink (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: LancelotLink.
This harbor is the most likely location of The Colossus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sparta
Hinkkanen (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Hinkkanen.
This is the modern town (Sparti). Of the ancient Sparta there is very little left.

Santorini
The Greek island of Santorini is what remains of a giant volcano. Remember the movie "Summer Lovers"?

Hellinikon Airport (closed)
rossxan (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: rossxan.
The former Athens airport from around 1930 until it was closed in March 2001 to Eleftherios Venizelos. It featured two terminals (east and west) and two runways (15L/33R and 15R/33L). It is now being used as an Olympic games complex.

Theatre of Dionysus
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.
The Theatre of Dionysus was a major open air theatre in ancient Greece, built at the foot of the Athenian Acropolis and forming part of the temenos of "Dionysus Eleuthereus". Dedicated to Dionysus, the god of plays and wine (among other things), the theatre could seat as many as 17,000 people, making it an ideal location for ancient Athens' biggest theatrical celebration, the Dionysia. It became the prototype for all Theatres of ancient Greece.

Korydallos Prison
Korydallos Prison Complex is the main prison of Greece, housing both maximum security men and women. Its most famous detainees are the notorious November 17 terrorist members. The prison has consistently been cited by Amnesty International as one of the worst prisons in Europe, both for its overcrowding and inhumane treatment of detainees. The Hellenic Parliament has vowed to improve conditions, but due to bureaucratic delays, little has changed.

Abandoned Military planes
nicolor (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: nicolor.
in Hellenikos Airport

Greek word EIPHNH (Peace) etched on a mountain-side
Takis (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Takis.
The Greek word EIPHNH (Peace) is pronounced Irini (all "i"s read as "ee"s)

The Bourne Identity - Scooter rental
tallturtle82 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: tallturtle82.
At the end of the movie, Jason Bourne finds Marie in Mykonos at what is presumed to be her scooter rental business. Marie bought the business with the money Bourne gave her to disappear. The movie ends with the two embracing and the camera pans out over beautiful Mykonos.

Wreck of Melody
Hinkkanen (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Hinkkanen.
This ship was originally French combi-liner "Djebel Dira" of 1948. She was sold and renamed "Phoenix" in 1970 and again sold1979 to Athens Marine Cruises, and renamed "Melody". She caught fire during repairs in 1990 and was towed out of harbour and was grounded near the island of Salamina.

Despina Vandi and Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis's house
This house in the Panorama tis Voulas section of Voula, a town in the southern part of Athens overlooking the Saronic Gulf, belongs to one of the most successful Greek football players Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis and his wife, Despina Vandi, one of the most popular singers in Greece, who is also known in the West for her single "Gia".

Elefsina Air Force Base
Hellenic Air Force base near Athens. Yellow aircraft with red tails are Canadair CL-415 water bombers.

Olympic Stadium
Takis (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Takis.
The Olympic Stadium, the centre of the Olympic Games 2004, is situated at Maroussi and it is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA). The Olympic can accommodate 72,000 spectators, and hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The Kardashians Mykonos rental villas
The Kardashians and Jenners, including Kris, Bruce, Kylie, Kendall, Brody, Brandon and his wife, Leah, Kourtney, Khloe, Kim, Mason, and baby Penelope rented these Mykonos Retreat Villas for their Greek holiday in one of the episodes of their reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Their hideaway includes three villas, Turquoise Misha, Coral and Emerald, on a on the property located in Aleomandra Bay in Mykonos. Each house has its own entrance, parking area, pool, BBQ, and guest studio and private beachfront.

Fotini Livanos's house
Fotini Carras Livanos, the widow of the shipping magnate George P. Livanos, owns this summer house in the Porto Cheli area of the Argolid.

Ancient Corinth
Drudii (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Drudii.
Corinth was an ancient Greek city located in modern-day Greece. At the time, it was one of the largest and most important cities in Ancient Greece. It had a population of 90.000 in 400 BC. However, this all ended when the Romans demolished the Greek city in 146 BC and later built their own city on the same site in 44 BC. It later became the provincial capital of Greece. Today many of the old Roman ruins can still be seen today.

Zejtinlik Serbian Cemetery
Dania (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Dania.
Also buried here are the graves of around 20,000 French, Italian and Serbian soldiers of WW 1 their national plot.

Notis Sfakianakis's House
Notis Sfakianakis is a famous Greek singer who was born in Crete.
This house was in the news for mimicking the architecture found in the famous archaeological site of Knossos.

Ships graveyard?
A haphazard group of ships that seem to be waiting for scrapping at Perama harbour near the the old liners anchored at Eleusis Bay.

Ruins of Olympia (site of the ancient Olympic Games)
DonMartini (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: DonMartini.
Olympia (Greece), site of the ancient Olympic Games, which were celebrated every four years by the Greeks. Olympia was situated in a valley in Elis, in western Pelopónnisos (Peloponnesus), through which runs the Alpheus River. It was not a town, but only a sanctuary with buildings associated with games and the worship of the gods. Olympia was a national shrine of the Greeks and contained many treasures of Greek art, such as temples, monuments, altars, theaters, statues, and votive offerings of brass and marble. The Altis, or sacred precinct, enclosed a level space about 200 m (about 660 ft) long by nearly 177 m (nearly 580 ft) broad. In this were the chief centers of religious worship, the votive buildings, and buildings associated with the administration of the games.
The most celebrated temple was the Temple of Zeus, dedicated to the father of the gods. In this temple was a statue of Zeus made of ivory and gold, the masterpiece of the Athenian sculptor Phidias (see Seven Wonders of the World). Next to the Temple of Zeus ranked the Heraeum, dedicated to Hera, the wife of Zeus. In this temple, probably the oldest Doric building known, stood the table on which were placed the garlands prepared for the victors in the games. The votive buildings included a row of 12 treasure houses and the Philippeum, a circular Ionic building dedicated by Philip II, king of Macedonia, to himself. Outside the Altis, to the east, were the Stadium and the Hippodrome, where the contests took place; on the west were the Palaestra, or wrestling school, and the Gymnasium, where all competitors were obliged to train for at least one month. The French began excavations here in 1829. German explorations of 1875-81 threw much light upon the plans of the buildings; they were resumed in 1936, 1952, and 1960-61. Many valuable objects were discovered, the most important of which was a statue of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, by Praxiteles.

Latsis Family House
This house, on Cape Kavouri, near Vougliameni, belongs to the Latsis family.

James Bond's House
BermudaBreeze (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: BermudaBreeze.
This is "Villa Sylva" which was featured in the James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only” The 10 acre estate has beach frontage and can now be rented for 2000 euros a day.

Theodoros Vardinogiannis's house
This house belonged to Theodoros Vardinogiannis, member of the famous Vardinogiannis family, son of Ioannis Vardinogiannis, businessman, shareholder of Motor Oil, financier of the OFI football club from Crete, married to Anastasia Karavela, who now lives in this villa. Anastasia and Theodoros Vardinogiannis had two sons, Nikolaos and Giannis.

Greek Naval Hovercraft
looks like the southernmost one was caught in motion pulling in.
Russian built, 57 m long for 550 tons of tonnage, hovercraft has the maximum speed of 60 knots in sea and approximately 60 km/h on earth, and is equipped with four stabilized antiaircraft missile launcher weapon systems Igla 1M (capable to hit a target running in a speed up to 360 m/s, an altitude including between 10 and 3,500m and a diagonal distance between 500 and 5,000 m) two weapon systems AK 630 of 30 mm (equipped with six rotary barrels model AO-18 of 5,000 turns a minute and the shooting up to 5,200 m) and two missile launcher MS-227 (projected specially for this equipment and characterized with a shooting distance between 200 and 10,000 m). "Apart from the tasks of coast vigilance - has declared an officer of the Greek Ministry to Vladimir Kitov of the "The Russia Journal" - it is intention of the Defense to employ hovercrafts also to check the increasing piracy in the Aegean sea by Albanians giving damages to the mercantile ships.

Kavala Aqueduct
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.

'US Embassy, Athens' by Walter Gropius
pmoore66 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: pmoore66.

F/B Kriti II - ANEK Lines
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.

Galatsi Olympic Hall
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.
The Galatsi Olympic Hall is an indoor arena in Athens, Greece. It is located in Galatsi and it was the site of Table Tennis and Rhythmic Gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics. The arena was completed in May 2004 and officially opened on July 30, 2004, shortly before the beginning of the Olympics. It has also hosted various basketball games. The arena seats 6,500.

Athens Olympic Sports Complex
TexasAndroid (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: TexasAndroid.
Location of the 2004 Olympic games
Revamped under a design produced by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava

Trinity Island
jdubble07 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jdubble07.
The 12 acre island has been owned by the family of the former Keeper of the Royal Privy Purse of the three Kings of Greece since 1958.
In 1967, The Beatles visited the island on the request of John Lennon who had the idea for the band to buy an island on which they would all live. Despite their offer to the owners, they were were not interested in a sale.
There were later rumors of the band buying a Greek island called Leslo, however, that is a wholly unsubstantiated rumor as the island of Leslo does not exist.

NATO ACE High antennas
ACE High was a NATO communications system which dates back to 1956. The system was decommissioned in the late 1980s, and its frequencies reallocated for commercial radiotelephone service. The system was designed to be an L-band troposcatter radio system, which was meant to provide long-range communication service in the form of telephone and telegraph to NATO. These two services combined produced over two hundred channels, and equipment was in place to multiplex them to contain up to 12 different calls each. There were 82 stations, located in nine different NATO countries.
The transmitters broadcast at 832.56 to 959.28MHz, and some were able to produce a transmitting power of about 10 Kilowatts.

Hagia Sophia (Thessaloniki)
neotrix (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: neotrix.
The Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki, Greece, is one of the oldest churches in that city still standing today.
Hagia Sophia is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO

Olympic Canoe / Kayak Slalom Centre
TexasAndroid (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: TexasAndroid.
Looking around Athens in GMaps and BEV, with the new BEV stuff around, I spotted a strange water structure. It's very close to the other Olympic constructs, so it could be some sort of event course from that. Or maybe just a park? Or a power plant water release system? If you spin it in BEV, most of the views, the water is turned off. But in GMaps and the West view, the water is running at full. Anyone know what this is?

Temple of Zeus the Olympian
Takis (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Takis.
A.k.a. "Columns" of Zeus the Olympian (pronounced "Stili Olympiou Dios")

Argos
Argos is a city in Greece. A settlement of great antiquity, Argos has been continuously inhabited for the past 7,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in Greece and Europe. At a strategic location on the fertile plain of Argolis, Argos was a major stronghold during the Mycenaean era. In classical times Argos was a powerful rival of Sparta for dominance over the Peloponnese, but was eventually shunned by other Greek city-states after remaining neutral during the Greco-Persian Wars.

Hersonissos Harbour
DonMartini (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: DonMartini.
In the site that the harbour of Hersonissos is built today, there was the city of ancient Hersonissos. The Roman Hersonissos had wonderful marble waterfalls. The city was first built during the Minoan times but experienced great prosperity during Roman and early Byzantine period.
Remnants of this period can be seen today in the area of Kastri, on a promontory where excavations have revealed an early Christian basilica.
The ancient city of Hersonissos was irrigated by an aqueduct, ruins of which can be found today at Xerokamares, at the village of Potamies.

Oracle of Apollo at Delphi
Delphi is perhaps best-known for the oracle at the sanctuary that became dedicated to Apollo during the classical period. It had origins in prehistoric times and the worship of Gaia. In the last quarter of the 8th century BC there is a steady increase of artifacts found at the settlement site in Delphi. Pottery and bronze work as well as tripod dedications continue in a steady stream, in comparison to Olympia. Neither the range of objects nor the presence of prestigious dedications proves that Delphi was a focus of attention for worshipers of a wide range, but the strong representation of high value goods, found in no other mainland sanctuary, certainly encourages that view.
The priestess of the oracle at Delphi was known as the Pythia. Apollo spoke through his oracle, who had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area. The sibyl or prophetess took the name Pythia and sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth. When Apollo slew Python, its body fell into this fissure, according to legend, and fumes arose from its decomposing body. Intoxicated by the vapors, the sibyl would fall into a trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. In this state she prophesied. It has been postulated that a gas came out of this opening that is known to produce violent trances, though this theory remains debatable. The oracle spoke in riddles, which were interpreted by the priests of the temple, and people consulted her on everything from important matters of public policy to personal affairs.
H.W. Parke writes that the foundation of Delphi and its oracle took place before the times of recorded history and its origins are obscure, but dating to the worship of the Great Goddess, Gaia.
The Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout the Greek world, and she was consulted before all major undertakings: wars, the founding of colonies, and so forth. She also was respected by the semi-Hellenic countries around the Greek world, such as Lydia, Caria, and even Egypt.
For a list of some of the most noted oracular pronouncements of the Pythia, go to Famous Oracular Statements from Delphi.
The Oracle benefited by the Macedonian Kings. Later it was placed under the protection of the Aetolians. After a brief period the Romans started to emerge, who even protected it from a dangerous barbarian invasion in 109 B.C. and 105 B.C. A major reorganization was initiated which was interrupted by the wars of Mithridatic Wars and Sulla who took many rich offerings from the Oracle. Barbarian invasions were the direct cause of harm, burning the Temple, which was damaged severely by the earthquake in 83 B.C. Ever since the Oracle fell in decay and the whole area in great poverty. The small population led to difficulties in finding the right people to fill the posts required. Its credibility waned due to doubtful predictions. When Nero came to Greece in 66 A.D., he took away over 500 of the best statues from Delphi to Rome. Subsequent Roman emperors from the Flavian dynasty contributed significantly towards its restoration. Hadrian offered complete autonomy. Also Plutarch was a significant factor by his presence as a chief priest. However, barbarian raids during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and removal of statues and other riches (practically looting) by Constantine the Great caused it to decay. The short reign of Julian the Apostate was not capable to improve its situation. Despite this, the Oracle existed until it was ordered to close by emperor Theodosius I in 395 AD. The site was abandoned for almost 100 years, until Christians started to settle permanently in the area and established a small town about 600 AD by the name Kastri.

Kokkalis Family House
Sokratis Kokkalis is a Greek billionaire. He owns Intracom, a company dealing in telecommunications equipment and computer and defence-system software development, and Intralot, which supplies gambling, sports betting, and transaction-processing systems.

Temple of Hephaestus
mlc1us (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mlc1us.
The Temple of Hephaestus, also known as the Hephaesteum or Hephaesteion, in central ancient Athens, Greece, is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world, but is far less well-known than its illustrious neighbour, the Parthenon.

Sunken ship in Piraeus Port
Odd place to keep a sunken ship around.
Seems like the local athorities have an ongoing problem with sunken ships.
Want to get rid of your old hulk? Take it to Piraeus and sink it!

Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium
The giant green clover painted on the seats, is the team's emblem.

Euripus Strait
yubyub41 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: yubyub41.
A strait of water seperating the island of Euboea from mainland Greece. Considered to be the narrowest strait (between two large bodies of land) in the world. (Zoom out to see how small the strait is in comparison to the island it is seperating).

Greek Air Force Base

John Angelicoussis's House
John Angelicoussis is a Greek billionaire shipowner.

2005-08-14 - Helios Flight 522 crash location
dda (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: dda.
Crash happened August 14, 2005.
The jet crashed near the coastal town of Grammatikos, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Athens and near the historic town of Marathon.

Archaeological site of Eleusis
The settlement of Eleusis was founded in ca. 2000 B.C. on the slopes of the hill, and during the Mycenaean period it developed into a large fortified settlement, mostly due to its strategic position. During this period the cult of Demeter was introduced, as the worship of a deity connected to nature and the growing of cereals. The continuity of Demeter's cult is attested until Roman times, by the erection of successive temples on the east side of the hill.
In the 8th century B.C. the sanctuary aquired a panhellenic character, and in the time of Solon, the Eleusinian Mysteries were established as one of the most important Athenian festivals. During the tyranny of Peisitratos the sanctuary and the settlement were enclosed with a massive fortification wall reinforced with towers. Splendid buildings were erected during the Classical and Roman periods, but with the spread of Christianity and especially after the invasion of the Ostrogoths, the sanctuary was abandoned.

Evangelos Mytilineos's house
This house belongs to Evangelos Mytilineos, the owner of Mytilineos Holdings, a Greek-based industrial conglomerate founded in 1990, whose companies are active in the sectors of metallurgy, energy and EPC.

The Erechtheum
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.
The Erechtheum, Greek: Έρέχθειον Erechtheion. The temple as seen today was built between 421 and 407 BCE. Its architect may have been Mnesicles, and it derived its name from a shrine dedicated to the legendary Greek hero Erichthonius. Some have suggested that it may have been built in honour of the legendary king Erechtheus, who is said to have been buried nearby. Erechtheus and Erichthonius were often syncretized. It is believed to have been a replacement for an older temple destroyed by the Persians in 480 BCE.
The need to preserve multiple adjacent sacred precincts likely explains the complex design. The main structure consists of up to four compartments, the largest being the east cella, with an Ionic portico on its east end. Other current thinking would have the entire interior at the lower level and the East porch used for access to the great altar of Athena Polias via a balcony and stair and also as a public viewing platform.

720 turned into a cafeteria
hargikas (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: hargikas.
A 720 aircraft near the village Kalavrita. How this airplane was landed here?

Propylaea
Propylaea, Propylea or Propylaia in Greek — Προπυλαια. The monumental gateway to the Acropolis, the Propylaea was built under the general direction of the Athenian leader Pericles, but Phidias was given the responsibility for planning the rebuilding the Acropolis as a whole at the conclusion of the Persian Wars. The building was designed by the architect Mnesicles. Construction began in 437 BC and was terminated in 432, when the building was still unfinished.

Mycenae ruins
Mycenae (Greek Μυκῆναι Mykēnai), is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north. From the hill on which the palace was located one can see across the Argolid to the Saronic Gulf.
In the second millennium BC Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae.

Elena Paparizou and Toni Mavridis's House (Former)
Elena Paparizou is a famous Greek singer, winner of the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest.
Toni Mavridis was her fiancé and manager from 1999 until their separation in 2011. He was also the impresario for the Swedish-Greek singing duo Antique, which stopped existing in 2003, and is also a music producer.

Case of the disappearing stadium
It is there in the older LL view but torn out in the newer BEV view.
Nikos Goumas Stadium was a multi-use stadium in Nea Filadelfia, a west suburb of Athens, Greece. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of AEK Athens FC. "Nikos Goumas" Stadium is named after an old president of the club. He contributed to the building and later to the upgrading of the ground. It was previously known as "Nea Filadelfia Stadium" or simply "AEK Stadium".
Until 1979 it had a horseshoe-like shape. It was then that the double-tiered south stand was built, making it the largest stadium in Athens at the time This stand, and particularly its lower tier known as "Skepasti" (meaning "roofed"), is the home of the AEK ultras (called "Originals"). The capacity of the stadium was over 35,000 from the construction of this new stand in 1979, until the installation of seats on all stands in 1998. The stadium's capacity was 24,729 and was built in 1930. In 1998 AEK Athens decided to install 27,729 seats and reduced stadium's capacity from 35.000 to 24.000.
It was demolished in June 2003.

Hard Rock Cafe Athens
neotrix (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: neotrix.
Hard Rock Cafe Athens opened its doors in the heart of modern Athens. Housed in a three story neo-classic building at 18 Filellinon Street, Hard Rock Cafe Athens is Greece's first Hard Rock and offers its guests great American food in an atmosphere of pure rock n' roll.

MS Sea Diamond (The ship sank on April 6, 2007)
Rene73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Rene73.

Zea marina
alva (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: alva.

Syntagma Square
Otherwise known as Constitution Square, Syntagma square is a very significant area that you will probably encounter several times during your stay in Athens. The square has a long lasting history and even today you have a good chance of finding a demonstration of some sort in or near the square.
In the square's center there are copies of statues from a Naples museum. The 100 or so trees within the square include oleanders, orange trees and cypresses. The square is a conflicting mixture of bumper to bumper cars and shoulder to shoulder people on its lower perimeter and a more serene, wider, tree shaded, central expanse; the focus of which is a brown marble fountain in the middle of the square. Its turned on most of the time. The many benches provide room to take a break in the shade. There are three metro entrances in the square.
After ten months or restoring, Syntagma square is open to the public again.

Nikos Lemos's House
Nikos Lemos is a Greek shipowner. The Lemos family has been in the ship-owning business since the 18th century.

Knossos
j_andersson (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: j_andersson.
The Minoan Palace of Knossos lies at a distance of 5 km from the town centre of Iraklion. 4000 years ago people used to live here in luxurious palaces!

Aktion National Airport (PVK)
cmike77 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: cmike77.
AKA Preveza - Aktio Air Force Base (LGPZ)

Mount Olympus

Kazantzakis Tomb
Probably the most well known Greek author of the last few centuries, Kazantzakis created one of the greatest characters in history, Zorba the Greek. This novel is essential reading for anyone who is even thinking about travelling to Crete. He also wrote The Last Temptation of Christ which bothered all sorts of people. Kazantzakis ran a close second to Albert Camus for the Nobel Prize for literature in 1951.
His tomb sits on the southern portion of the wall that surrounds Iraklio, Crete's capital, and the site has become a common spot for young couples to hang out and smooch. His inspiring epitaph, written in stone, says 'Den elpizo tipota, den fovame tipota, eimai eleftheros' which means 'I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free.'

Mon Repos
Mike1989 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Mike1989.
Mon Repos is a villa on the island of Corfu, Greece. It lies south of Corfu City in the forest of Palaiopolis.
The villa was built as a summer residence for the English Commissioner Thomas Maitland, and his Greek spouse, Corfiot Nina Palatianou, in 1828-1831, although they had to vacate the villa soon afterwards when Maitland was sent to serve in India. The villa was rarely used as a residence for the British governors. In 1833, it housed a school of fine arts, while in 1834, the park was opened to the public. Empress Elisabeth of Austria stayed in the palace in 1863. Here she fell in love with the island, where she later built the Achilleion Palace. After the union with Greece in 1864, the palace was granted to King George I of the Hellenes as a summer residence. He named the villa Mon Repos. The royal family used it as a summer residence up to the end of monarchy in 1967. The palace became derelict, but was restored in the 1990s. The villa and its gardens are the property of the Corfu municipality, now being used as an archeological museum.
Several royal births have taken place at the palace, including those of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 10 June 1921, and Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark on 10 July 1965.

Athens Tower 1
kkeps (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kkeps.
Athens Tower 1 is the tallest building in Greece. It is 103 m (338 feet) tall. Construction started in 1968 and was completed in 1971 At the time of its completion, it was the tallest building in the Balkans. It is one of the two towers of the Athens Towers complex. It has 28 floors. It is located in the district of Ampelokipi on 2 Messogeion Avenue. It is used by many companies such as Interamerican Bank and Emporiki Bank. The architect of Athens Tower is Ioannis Vikelas, who also designed the main building of the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art.

Large yacht under construction

Athens International Airport (ATH)
a.k.a. Eleftherios Venizelos Airport

Bema or speaker's platform at the Pnyx
The Bema, from the Greek: bema, “step” means a raised platform. In antiquity it was probably made of stone, but in modern times it is usually a rectangular wooden platform approached by steps.
The original use of the bema in Athens was as a tribunal from which orators addressed the citizens as well as the courts of law (see Pnyx). In Greek law courts the two parties to a dispute presented their arguments each from separate bemas

Odeon of Herodes Atticus
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure located on the south slope of the Acropolis of Athens. It was built in 161 CE by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped amphitheater wide with a three-storey stone front wall and a wooden roof, and was used as a venue for music concerts and had a capacity of 5,000.

B/S Georgios Averoff
Georgios Averoff is the world's only surviving heavily armored cruiser of the early 20th century. During the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913, she gained her greatest glory as the Hellenic Navy fleet flagship by freeing the North and Central Aegean islands, as well as the coastal cities of East Macedonia and Thrace. In 1917, she entered World War I and served on the side of the Entente. She participated in the Asia Minor Campaign (1919-1922), carrying Greek troops to and from Smyrna. She served on the Allied side during World War II, having fled to Egypt with the rest of the fleet. She led the Greek naval force when the fleet dropped anchor in the Faliron Bay, Athens on October 17, 1944, at the end of the Nazi occupation. Averoff's last voyage was to Rhodes in May 1945, to commemorate the accession of Dodecanese from Italy. She was towed to her permanent berth in Faliron Bay in 1985, where is now open as a museum.

Aircraft boneyard at 114 fighter wing air base

Chios
Chio is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres (five miles) off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages. The 11th century monastery of “Nea Moni”, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located on the island.

Lefteris Pantazis's House
Lefteris Pantazis is a famous Greek singer.

White Tower of Thessaloniki
mstoess (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: mstoess.

2004 Athens Olympics Aquatic Center
The Olympic Aquatic Centre is a complex at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, consisting of two outdoor pools and one indoor pool, that was built for the 1991 Mediterranean Games. It was refurbished and expanded for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The larger of the outdoor pools, which seats 11,500 spectators, hosted swimming and water polo events. The smaller pool, which hosted synchronized swimming, sat 5,300 fans. The indoor pool, which hosted the diving events, sat 6,200 observers.
The outdoor pool was the subject of significant controversy during the run-up to the Olympic games. A roof was planned that would have shielded the swimmers from the blazing Athens sun was later scrapped, leaving the athletes and most of the fans without shade during the events; however, during the course of the games, there were no major complaints made by the athletes regarding the facility, nor was there any mention of the lack of a roof affecting athletes' performances - in fact, many Olympic and world records were broken and/or set in this FINA-approved, world-class venue.

Achilleion (Corfu)
Rene73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Rene73.