Greece is to extend the opening hours of the Acropolis in Athens due to public demand, Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos announced Thursday.
The site will open from 8:00 am (0500 GMT) to 19:00 pm (1600 GMT) year-round after staffing changes prompted by a restructure of the country's public bodies.
"It's a first," said Geroulanos, who added that longer hours had been desired "for a long time."
Until now the Unesco World Heritage Site, home to the Parthenon, opened from 8:00 am to 17:00 pm from September to April and until sunset during the remainder of the year.
This meant it sometimes closed as early as 15:00 pm, to the disappointment of tourists who travel hundreds of miles to see the Acropolis, one of Greece's most visited sites which attracts about a million people each year.
AFP
