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 blo

Seventh episode: Birth and death the Athenian way

Jul 27th, 2021 30m 34s

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 o

Sixth episode: Songs and poems

Jul 13th, 2021 32m 57s

From popular songs to great poets. Sofka meets Lysandros Falireas, founder of the fusion band Imam Baildi. They unpack how the Asia Minor refugees of 1922 established rembetika (or ‘Greek blues’) in Athens. The celebrated singer Elly Paspala d

Fifth episode: Taking to the streets

Jun 29th, 2021 27m 32s

From ancient philosophers and open-air cinema to protest marches and street dogs. Athenians have always lived much of their lives outdoors. Writer and journalist Bruce Clark gives the long view back to Socrates, and we drop by the former gaswor

Fourth episode: Feasting and fasting

Jun 15th, 2021 26m 54s

From Farmers’ markets to kite-flying picnics. Athenians love their weekly street markets and chef and food writer Carolina Doriti takes Sofka around one to discuss Athenian culinary habits. Seasonal cooking, the monastery tradition and a recent

Third episode: A city of villages

Jun 1st, 2021 30m 23s

Athens as a collection of villagers, refugees and outsiders. Few Athenians are so-called ‘True Athenians.’ Author and journalist Diane Shugart walks Sofka around the changing neighbourhood of Pangrati to discuss this, the ‘15-minute city’ and w

First Episode: Up above and down below

May 18th, 2021 31m 14s

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

Second Episode: From dreams to demolition

May 18th, 2021 31m 49s

From Bavarian grand plans to “part-exchange” building schemes. When Greece became an independent nation state in the 1830s, King Otto arrived with his Bavarian entourage. They introduced beer… and planned a new Athens inspired by ancient aesthe

Trailer

May 12th, 2021 4m 7s

Writer Sofka Zinovieff explores Athens in a quest to understand this complex, seductive city. She visits unusual places and meets Athenians, native and adopted: from singers, poets and graffiti writers to architects, journalists and chefs.

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