Grand Hyatt Athens

One of Greece’s most prolific and ground-breaking cultural venues, the Onassis Stegi is a platform for emerging local talent, as well as cultivating international collaborations that challenge the boundaries between art and science, gender and technology. This modern cultural landmark covers an entire block of Syngrou Avenue. Architecture Studio’s bold design is a glass cube cloaked in rows of white marble that glow at night. Known locally as Stegi (Roof), the building hosts theatre, dance, and musical performances by Greek and leading international artists, as well as boundary-pushing exhibitions that often extend off-site. The top-floor bar and restaurant, Hytra, is a destination in its own right.

The 14,000 square-metre glass and concrete landmark, designed by the architect Bernard Tschumi, was completed in 2009. Beyond the obvious reason that it houses the treasures of the Acropolis, the museum has also consistently figured on lists of the world’s top 10 museums, both for its contents and its design. The Parthenon Gallery on the top floor is ingeniously designed to recreate the magnificent temple’s frieze, using cast copies of sections currently in the British Museum and other collections.

The National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST) began its operation in 2000. Its permanent home is the former Fix brewery on Syngrou Ave., the reconstruction of which was completed in 2014. The building occupies 18.142 sqm. on a 3.123 sqm surface. The Museum’s constantly growing collection is formed around a very important nucleus of works by Greek and international artists.

The main building was completed in 1980. Temporary exhibitions are held in the Stathatos Mansion, a neoclassical residence with a porticoed entrance, roof statuary and atrium. A glass-topped internal walkway connects the two wings. Established in 1986 to house the private collection of the Goulandris shipping family, it focuses on ancient cultures of the Aegean, especially that of the Cyclades during the 3rd millennium BC. The most prized exhibits are the Cycladic figurines. These idols—from the schematic, spade-shaped Early Cycladic (c3200 BC) figurine to the precisely defined 1.40-metre tall female statue from Keros (c2800-2300 BC)—comprise the core of the collection.

The original building dates from 1860. Additional wings were added in 1930 and the 1990s. The Benaki Museum offers an ideal overview of Greek culture for the visitor in Athens with just a few hours, but has enough depth to be equally rewarding for the connoisseur. Two 18th-century parlours from northern Greece, complete with carved wood panelling and gold trim ceilings.

Construction began in 2012. The complex was completed in 2016. The SNFCC is a US$860 million gift from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to the Greek state. Designed by decorated architect Renzo Piano as a cultural and recreational hub, it provides a state-of-the-art HQ for the Greek National Opera and National Library of Greece, set within a landscaped park peppered with playgrounds, as well as a 400-metre seawater canal. This civic-minded landmark hosts an incredible line-up of free events all year—from concerts, theatre, movies and festivals to sporting activities, chess and gardening clubs. The SNFCC is the largest cultural/educational project ever undertaken in Greece. A monument to sustainability, it’s also the first European public structure on this scale to earn LEED Platinum certification.

Construction began in 1866 to a design by Ludwig Lange and was completed in 1889 by Ernst Ziller. It’s one of the world’s top collections of Greek antiquities and certainly the richest, with the 11,000 items on permanent display comprising just half of the museum’s holdings. There is so much not to miss that this truly depends on your interests. The ‘Mask of Agamemnon’, the Santorini frescoes, the bronze Zeus or Poseidon and the ‘Jockey of Artemision’ are among the most popular exhibits.