(Athens) Several archaeological sites in Greece, including the Acropolis of Athens, closed their doors during the hottest hours of the day on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Culture, as the first severe heat wave of the year saw the thermometer rise to more than 44°C locally.
Posted at 6:40 a.m.
Updated at 10:52 a.m.
For the second day in a row, tourists could not visit the Parthenon and other ancient masterpieces atop the Acropolis between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. local time (9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern Time), it said. the Greek Ministry of Culture.
PHOTO LOUIZA VRADI, REUTERS
Tourists visit the Acropolis.
In central Athens, the thermometer climbed to 42°C in the middle of the day.
Even higher temperatures were recorded on the island of Crete (44.5°C near Chania) and on the Peloponnese peninsula (43.9°C in Kranidi), according to the meteo.gr website of the National Observatory of Athens.
The center of the country was also crushed by heat while the Greek authorities urged the population to exercise extreme caution.
“As part of protection measures against the dangers” arising from the heat, several archaeological sites in Crete, the Dodecanese (southeast), the Cyclades, the Peloponnese (southwest) are also closed during the hottest hours , according to the same source.
Other world-famous sites, such as Delphi, Olympia and Knossos, remain open without interruption, the ministry said.
Greece, a Mediterranean country accustomed to heatwaves, has been experiencing intense heat for several days which, although it has been repeated in recent years, has never occurred so early in the month of June, according to meteorologists.
Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias also warned of fire risks due to strong winds that could blow across part of Greece.
He specified that Civil Protection was in a “state of alert”.
The risk of fire will be “very high” on Friday in ten regions, including Attica which surrounds Athens, his ministry also warned.
However, temperatures should drop again from Friday.
The partial closure of the Acropolis has left some disappointed among tourists.
“I tried to look for information, fortunately there was the police who told us that it was because of the heatwave,” Massimo Martina, a visiting Italian art dealer, explained on Wednesday. “We’ll probably try to come early (tomorrow) morning and hopefully we can” get in, he added.
The Acropolis of Athens, the most visited site in Greece with nearly 4 million visitors in 2023, had already had to close its doors in July 2023 during a two-week heatwave, unprecedented in its duration.
Greece was then hit by devastating fires which destroyed 175,000 hectares.
