The thieves made off with an estimated €30,000–€40,000 in cash and jewelry The homeowner, a well-known figure in business circles, discovered the theft upon returning from a holiday. The burglars reportedly gained entry by breaking a window before ransacking the property. Their primary target was a safe containing cash and jewelry Despite the villa being equipped with private security and an active alarm system the intruders managed to execute their plan Police reports indicate the burglars dismantled the safe which housed approximately €50,000 in cash and high-value items including jewelry worth an estimated €1 million Footage from a neighbouring property’s security cameras shows the suspects carrying the safe to a vehicle before fleeing the scene Greek police (ELAS) have launched a thorough investigation, collecting DNA samples and analysing security footage from the scene. The captured footage is expected to play a critical role in identifying the perpetrators. Authorities are also examining the possibility of insider information contributing to the crime, given the villa‘s heightened security measures The incident has highlighted concerns about rising high-profile burglaries in the country and prompted calls for increased vigilance in affluent areas the Children’s Play Garden of Filothei in northern Athens one of influential architect and painter Dimitris Pikionis’ (1887-1968) most poetic works but for adventure – where winding paths led to waterfalls only to grind to a halt when the contractor abandoned the project promising to resurrect the space with the reverence it deserves “We are talking about an entirely handcrafted work by Dimitris Pikionis with no underlying study to rely on,” says Mayor Charalampos Bonatsos “The intervention we are called to undertake resembles an archaeological excavation rather than the restoration of a conventional playground.” Unlike conventional playgrounds is an act of archaeology – unearthing hidden terraces But there’s a catch: The reborn garden will be more museum than playground not to touch – an exquisite paradox in the ever-evolving balance between preservation and play Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox A Filothei house by Kallos Turin is an Athens residence rising to the occasion on an angled plot came about thanks to private collection curator and adviser Emily Tsingou a common friend and collaborator of both the architect and the client who has an extensive contemporary African and African American art collection Then it turned out this wasn’t the only connection between them as it soon came to light that Kallos Turin co-founder Stephania Kallos’ grandfather had been in business with the client’s grandfather for about 40 years in South Africa and the project started to feel like a pairing that was meant to be.  Kallos and practice co-founder Abby Turin found themselves trying to decipher the Greek planning codes with the help of Moustroufis Architects who acted as the local practice for the duration of the build it looked like their design ambitions were in danger of being thwarted by the planning regulations ‘were made to push you to almost a block shape,’ says Kallos with the main street and entrance at its base The architects pushed the house up the hill towards the rear end of the plot leaving enough space for a courtyard garden with views of the mountain and nature reserve at the back The property’s volume was designed to occupy the entire buildable area ‘the confines made us be quite efficient,’ says Turin It’s a rigorously controlled floorplan.’ we also chose to press back against the rigidity of its shape introducing curves into the volume specifically along the paths of travel,’ Turin continues The team also worked with Athens practice Doxiadis+ who created the outdoor planting and landscaping ‘We wanted to make sure the garden would act as a foil to the concrete form so that there was a dynamic interplay between the density and rigidity of concrete and the looseness of the garden.’ Designed as an organic the landscaped plot has now grown into a veritable wildflower meadow.  as well as a place to house the client’s art collection which has been put together over many years ‘The magical thing about concrete is that it has texture and a tactile quality,’ says Kallos ‘It’s a hard material but with depth and even some luminosity to explore its qualities in relation to the gallery walls.’ It was also conceived as a space for entertaining as displayed by the house’s meticulously planned kitchen which takes pride of place overlooking some of the property’s best views over the Athens skyline The circulation across all four floors and the house’s 1,100 sq m footprint was key in the internal arrangement A curvilinear path leads from the garden entrance to the front door and then progresses through the house via a curved concrete stairway The ground level houses the main bedroom suite while the first floor houses the main living space and kitchen An external staircase mirrors the geometry of the interior one and takes visitors up to the roof terrace and pool (the perfect spot for al fresco dining using the on-site Argentinian-style barbecue) escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox This is a generous house that feels warm and inviting thanks to the architects’ clever use of curves and ceiling heights (‘our subtle rebellion against the box,’ jokes Turin) A selection of Greek and imported marbles line areas of the house contrasting beautifully with the exposed concrete the house was also designed to include niches and walls where a variety of non-specific paintings or sculptures can sit It is a carefully orchestrated piece of architecture that works hard for its size ‘The client said they wanted something outside the box,’ say the architects with a smile kallosturin.com Video by Ronny Skevis, ronnyskevis.com Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper* She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006 visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas Ellie has also taken part in judging panels such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022) Metropolitan Ioannis of Thermopylae and Bishop Symeon of Thespies the Protesyncellus of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens participated in a festive joint celebration of the Divine Liturgy Protopresbyter Thomas Synodinos and a host of priests of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens It should be noted that many believers from every corner of Athens flocked to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens The Liturgy was followed by the procession of the icon and the larnax of Saint Filothei from the Metropolitan Cathedral to the house of the Saint and her Monastery in Plaka the Patriarchate of Jerusalem solemnly celebrated the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women... Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Theotokos.. it was announced that two Roman Catholic institutions in Bavaria have decided to jointly.. A car once used by Pope Francis during his 2014 visit to Bethlehem is being transformed into a mobile.. the Monastery of Saint Vlash in Albania hosted a festal Divine Liturgy on the.. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece presided over the festal Great Vespers at the historic.. (function() { window.mc4wp = window.mc4wp || { listeners: [] cb) { window.mc4wp.listeners.push( { event : evt callback: cb } ); } } }})(); © 2023 OrthodoxTimes.com - All rights reserved Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website These cookies do not store any personal information Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website Home - Articles - Ekaterini Stefanidou Headlines Filothei Women Gala in Athens Leading the pack is former Olympic champion Ekaterini Stefanidou who will take center stage in the pole vault competition facing formidable opponents Eleni-Klaoudia Polak and Italy’s Elisa Molinarolo The high jump event will witness a captivating clash between Serbian jumpers Angelina Topic and Tatiana Gousin Milica Gardasevic of Serbia will test her mettle against the experienced Alina Rotaru-Kottmann Excitement continues in the high hurdles event who will face stiff competition from Romania’s Anamaria Nesteriuc and Slovakia’s Viktoria Forster The 100m sprint will be led by Swiss sprinter Salome Kora The Filothei Women Gala promises to be a thrilling athletic spectacle, as these exceptional athletes push the boundaries of their disciplines in pursuit of victory. ALSO READ: Fred Kerley Headlines Star-Studded Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Yokohama and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Low-profile Greek shipowners have emerged as active buyers in the secondhand dry bulk market primarily opting for modern and middle-aged tonnage One such example is Attica-based Adelfia Navigation The Greek shipping company has emerged as the new owner of CMB Permeke Equasis lists Adelfia Navigation as owning four bulk carriers with the latest addition being the youngest in its fleet a five-year-old Kamsarmax vessel is currently valued at around US$32.5M a 6% decrease from the same period last year Allied Shipbroking reports the value of five-year-old Panamax vessels has corrected by approximately 16% over the past six months Seaspire Maritime appears to be the new owner of Unity North Shipbroking firms initially reported the deal earlier this year estimating the price at around US$16.0-16.5M Seaspire has shown a preference for Japanese-built tonnage as all its vessels were constructed in Japanese shipyards Load Line Marine has been linked to the acquisition of two 2012-built vessels with a combined estimated cost of nearly US$20.0M These acquisitions will expand Load Line Marine’s fleet to 19 bulk carriers the Greek owner has remained very active in the sale and purchase market completing six acquisition deals in 2024 alone Handysize values have decreased by 4% to 17% across all age groups over the past six months According to Petrofin Research a Greece-based firm specialising in Greek shipping data 83 owners controlled a combined fleet of 3,617 vessels totaling 376.6M dwt which represents 79% of the Greek-owned fleet the number of Greek shipping entities with fleets of 25 or more vessels increased to 57 These companies now control 67% of the Greek-owned fleet the number of owners with fleets of 16-24 vessels rose to 40 marking a 11% year-on-year increase in deadweight tonnage Their market share currently stands at 11% the number of smaller and mid-sized owners has decreased There are now 302 companies controlling 1-4 vessels These smaller owners now account for just 5% of the total fleet Riviera’s Bulk Carrier Webinar Week will be held from the week commencing 8 April 2025. Click here to register for this free-to-attend event Greek film director and producer Maria Hatzimichali-Papaliou has released to view online two documentaries relating to Greek history as part of the 200 years of Greek independence celebrations The first film which is freely available to view on Youtube is “Tourkokratia” an episode from her documentary series “You Are Not Alone” Ms Papaliou said the film which is showing on the YouTube channel of the Municipality of Physico-Filothei is in Greek and will be available for “a few more days” “The film brings to life the people and events that led to the successful Greek War of Independence that broke out in 1821,” the director said Filming for the series took place in Greece READ MORE: A second ARIA nomination for Greek Australian director Nick Kozakis entitled “Philothei the Athenian – the revolution of a Greek woman” is available in Greek and French through Vimeo for a fee of A5.86 It recounts the story of a 16th Century Athenian woman “(It is) the story of an exceptional figure who lived in Athens in the 16th century… She was a revolutionary well before the Greek War of Independence,” said Ms Papaliou Philothei the Athenian saint who defied Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to free slaves using her own money She set up the first school for women in Greece and Europe for Christians and those of other religions She prepared them to live on their own resources offering professional training to over 2,000 apprentices St Philotei also set up a refuge for women threatened with stoning and helped them to escape through the ancient tunnels beneath the city to reach the islands She also founded a hospital that offered free treatment to Greeks The film has been well received at festivals where it has been screened ♦ Click on this “Tourkokratia” link on YouTube to view the documentary This film is available for a limited number of days To see “Philothei the Athenian – the revolution of a Greek woman” for a fee of $5.86, click here to view the film in Greek; here to see the film in English; or here to see the film in French Bishop Filotheos of Oreoi performed the Holy Eucharist at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens where the relic of Saint Filothei is kept The relics and the holy icon of Saint Filothei were carried in procession accompanied by the Air Force units and the Athens Marching Band An invocation prayer was held outside the home of Saint Filothei and at the seat of the Holy Archdiocese Archbishop Ieronymos paid his respects to the relics of Saint Filothei and wished everyone happiness and “the grace of the saint to strengthen us.” controlled by the Tattos and Sigalas families It currently owns four supramaxes according to VesselsValue the last vessel added to its fleet being the 2010-built Agia Filothei via a bank sale in December 2016 Don't have an account? A Greek villa in the upscale Athens suburb of Filothei House Symbiosis is home for two sibling families This new Greek villa sits on a square corner site in a suburb of Athens House Symbiosis is designed to contain two separate residences occupied by two siblings and their families with a floorplan that curves across the centre of the plot The brief was to keep the families close without compromising privacy so each residence can be treated as entirely self-contained The entire structure is enveloped in a fragmented white carapace balconies and loggias that evoke the superstructure of a superyacht These insets and frames are all part of what the architects describe as ‘navigating the delicate equilibrium between privacy and socialization for two families that want to spend more time together while still maintaining their own private space.’ Although it makes for a striking piece of streetscape the design was shaped by the internal circulation Twin staircases link the bedrooms on the first floor with the twin reception and kitchen rooms - one on the second floor Both sets of three bedrooms share a common staircase which also acts as a central focus for the plan angular forms and more explicit geometric shapes are everywhere from the specified furniture to the curved glazed wall on the second floor living space The residences effectively slot together like two pieces of a puzzle with the garden and swimming pool allocated to the lower residence and a roof terrace given to the upper residence Both share the parking and basement storage area The ribbon-like façade also forms a motif that shapes the boundary wall and the rooftop terrace area uniting the entire structure with a consistent aesthetic that further blends the multi-family nature of the house The architects point out that 75% of the site is effectively planted thanks to the green roof and surrounding gardens while the building also has geothermal heating and cooling ‘House Symbiosis creates an architectural game between motion and rest,’ the architects write ‘The dynamic horizontal and angled lines give the impression of a building that is heading in two opposite directions.’ DirectionArchitects.com Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999 covering everything from architecture and transport design to books He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast The Municipality of Filothei-Psychiko in northern Athens is Greece’s first suburb to attempt to stop the increase in the height of buildings in its area The municipal council voted unanimously a few days ago to ban the use of the “bonus” height and extra square meters given under certain conditions by the new building regulations on the grounds that it alters the area’s residential character there has been an explosion of building construction in our municipality with owners taking advantage of general provisions of the new building regulation proceeding to increase the height and the building factor,” Filothei-Psychiko Mayor Dimitris Galanis when we stopped being served by the building service of Agia Paraskevi and started operating our own building service at least 100 building permits were issued that made use of these provisions we challenged before the Council of State.” Kostas Litsas is a fourth-generation breeder and third-generation butcher who introduced his customers to the secrets of quality meat eating and premium cuts of beef while sharing useful tips on cooking methods, especially now that Easter is approaching From the small stable in Kalamos to raising calves in France From father to son, the Litsas family’s livestock breeding knowledge has been passed down experientially – for years now – with the first chapter of their history written in a small stable in their place of origin, in Kalamos. Kostas’ great-grandfather first cared for his few goats, sheep and lambs “decided to take his father’s venture one step further So he opened a shop to sell his meats to locals In the mid-60s, the increased needs led to the relocation of the stable to a larger area, which was gradually strengthened by the addition of calves, the milking parlour and the cheese factory (and years later while my grandfather’s two sons had already taken over the reins of the business for good continuing their common path until my father went down the path of Local Government and was elected in 2006 as the first mayor of Kalamos… And the last because it was merged with the municipality of Oropos,” he said he had managed to ensure that his only son Kostas decided to build his animal husbandry unit staying in Kalamos but opening his own butcher shop in Filothei I saw that people were asking for a lot of veal so I decided to fill my stable exclusively with veal I started with 24 calves and have now reached 400 creating the only vertically integrated meat unit in Greece—until now from the moment of conception (the semen comes from France and these calves carry in their DNA elements from 7 different breeds) and their birth until their growth and slaughter everything as pure as the previous generations taught me,” Kostas added The ties with Nevrokopi and the trips around Greece to select breeders With these calves and with some more that he procures from Nevrokopi Vassilis (the calves are bred there and end up exclusively at the slaughterhouse of Kostas) he fills his refrigerators in his store every day in Filothei and supplies two taverns: To “Zaki” in Kapandriti and Karantanos in Kalamos As for the rest of the meats, he also gets lambs from Mr Giorgos (a local breeder in Karystos with whom his grandfather also worked), conventionally raised chickens from Angelakis, organically raised chickens from Biogreco in Sparta, and free-range pasture chickens from Manzio in Ioannina as well as imported Black Angus from America and Wague from Japan “I also have 25 hens in Kapandriti but don’t buy their meat I have them so that I collect their eggs every morning and give them to my daughters or clients with small children,” he told me he is thinking of adding sheep to his stable “most people” don’t let him do it because they think I will have a lot of losses and that I will be broken into a thousand and two pieces to catch up with them all and drives his trucks to Nevrokopi twice a month to load the calves from his second stable with Vassilis preparations at Kostas’ stable and butcher shop start early “I bring my lambs from Karystos on time” I remember the lambs in the Kalamos shop; they left whole with their spit.” the residents in these neighbourhoods especially love barbecues because of their spacious yards they go out and grill in their garden,” Kostas clarified “On the other hand, no matter how we do it, Easter without a rooster and kontosouvli can not be done Others get our ready-made skewers (they are marinated either with dark beer and honey or chicken skewers with lemon and mustard or spicy Tex-Mex sauces) There is no shortage of those who prefer our various preparations when the restrictive measures to protect against the coronavirus were already in force a queue of people about 300 metres long had formed outside the store “Not only did I not let anyone leave without meat but just before I closed and while I was starting to roll down the shutters a little girl with her dad asked me for the last lamb I had in my refrigerator feeling satisfied that I was able to serve everyone,” Kostas said Loukia Chrysovitsanou is a columnist for Cantina. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos READ MORE: Gogges: Learn the art of handmade Peloponnesian pasta while the mayor stated that there should be good cooperation between the Local Government and the Church the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education The largest residential development project that has ever been carried out in the Municipality of Filothei-Psychiko in northern Athens is designed by businessman Yiannis Papalekas Having recently acquired a series of properties in the area and installed the offices of his companies in a building in Neo Psychiko he has succeeded in purchasing the last large free space in the area This is the estate known to the residents of Psychiko as Fistikies Although commercial activities are allowed on this street and it is where most of Psychiko’s shops are located Kathimerini understands the businessman has decided to proceed with a purely residential development by building dozens of apartments of a particular architecture design The demand for residences in the Municipality of Filothei-Psychiko is particularly strong and the supply very limited have recently tended to approach or even exceed 10,000 euros per sq.m Given that the building factor in the area is one (1) this means that it can potentially build up to 8,000 sq.m. which is indicated to correspond to 40 apartments of 200 sq.m Although an application for the issuance of building permits has not yet been submitted due to some pending issues expected to be resolved in the near future the first architectural plans have already been made and foresee very large apartments on the upper floors as well as some smaller ones on lower levels a multi-story underground parking lot is planned while care will be taken to minimize the impact of the development on the environment and the area’s traffic “It is an ambitious project due to its size but it promises significant capital gains,” say realty sources specializing in the area The Papalekas-interest companies acquired the estate from members of the Alexiou family allegedly connected to the family who sold 30,000 sq.m with an airstrip in Porto Heli to an Irish investor Filothei-Maria Vardi says that half her life has gone following the death of legendary Greek singer Antonis Vardis Though the couple got married two years ago He wasn’t just the amazing father to his children He wasn’t just more or less the person we all know,” she says “He was really a person full of feeling Do you know that he couldn’t stand seeing someone suffer Do you know what it means to stop and talk to vulnerable people It’s not easy meeting people like that nowadays She says that the family hoped that the great singer would emerge victorious from his battle with cancer until the last moment and she reveals that she kept a diary while he was in hospital Snapshots from their life together – Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr as has happened in several areas of Attica recently The crypt of Agia Filothei was accidentally discovered in 1934 during the process of mining the redstone intended for the building of houses in the area At that time it was still in the form of a cave but it was slowly transformed into the present-day chapel that we all know today This crypt was the reason why the then settlement of New Alexandria was renamed Philothei See Also: Lefteris Lazarou: The Michelin star I got is of particular importance because I only cook fish The metochi of Kalogreza was located near Kapodistriou Street (opposite the present-day Tennis Philotheis) and was founded by Saint Philothei herself on an estate she owned dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin Mary and located at the other end of Krypt