The Byzantium
in Athens
At a glance
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Duration: approximately 2 hours.
Set with a guide, and a vehicle with its driver.
The itinerary includes:
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A tour of the Byzantine Monastery of Kesariani.
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Optional G&I twist: A food-tasting session by the forest (+ 1 hour).
Ideal for:
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Travellers who are nature-lovers and who would love to briefly escape the busy urban centre of Athens.
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Travellers who are interested in the relatively unknown, but fascinating, Byzantine period of Greek history, and its unique art and architecture.
In depth
When Athens was declared the capital of Greece in the early-19th century, a conscious decision was taken to cast an exclusive spotlight to the city’s glorious classical past, often at the expense of its many other past ‘lives’. With the Acropolis as its beating heart, a bustling metropolis rapidly began forming, colourful and lively, but also sprawling, erasing not only a lot of the city’s medieval profile, but the tranquil forests and sheep pastures and went along with it.
At the edge of the metropolis, however, a piece of medieval Athens is still alive in all of its mystical beauty, surrounded by a lush forest and hidden from common view thanks to its 'guardian', towering cypress trees. With a history of more than a millennium, the monastery of Kesariani is an excellent example of Byzantine art and architecture, and our favourite setting to explore the often overlooked, but nonetheless fascinating Byzantine and Christian history of Greece.
As an added option, we could think of no better way to compliment this particular excursion, than hosting for you a picnic like no other: honey, yogurt, dried fruit, and a selection of other delicacies, hand-picked by us and inspired by the foodstuff that the monks were producing in the same monastery centuries ago, to be enjoyed over a breathtaking vista of Athens.