The Acropolis in Athens will be closed to the public on Wednesday during the hottest hours of the day, for the second time in just over a month, due to a new heat wave in Greece, the Ministry of Culture of this country announced, AFP informs.
The Acropolis of Athens will partially close due to extreme weather conditions PHOTO history.com
“Due to the (weather) forecast of high temperatures, Acropolis site must close between 12:00 – 17:00 local time (09:00 GMT – 14:00 GMT)“, indicates a short ministerial statement.
According to the meteorological service EMY, the mercury in thermometers will rise to over 43 degrees Celsius in some areas of mainland Greece, especially in the center and south of the country.
In Attica, the region around Athens, mid-day temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius, according to the same source.
An iconic ancient monument and the most visited site in Greece, the Acropolis in Athens has already been closed to the public for two days in a row during the hottest hours since mid-June, when Greece experienced a particularly early heat wave.
A Mediterranean country accustomed to heatwaves, Greece recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in several regions on Tuesday for the ninth consecutive day, according to meteo.gr, the website of the National Observatory in Athens.
This heat wave is expected to reach its peak on Wednesday and Thursday, according to meteorologists.
Civil protection warned on Wednesday about a “very high risk” of fires in several regions of the country, including Attica.
The Acropolis site, which mainly houses the Parthenon, the temple of the ancient goddess Athena, dating from the 5th century BC, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is one of the most visited monuments in the world. Last year it received a record number of 4 million visitors, an increase of over 31% compared to the previous year.
Between January and the end of March, compared to the same period in 2023, the number of visitors increased again by more than 50%, according to the Elstat National Statistics Office.
The number of visitors is constantly increasing, especially thanks to tourists on board cruise ships that call at Piraeus, the large port near the capital.
