Athens turns into a winter wonderland after unexpected snowfall
17-February-2021

Athens woke up to a rather unusual cold morning on Tuesday. A thick sheet of white snow had covered the historic Acropolis and several ancient monuments in Athens. The rare snowfall also affected and halted COVID-19 vaccinations program in the Greek capital and also stopped public transport. A number of mountainside regions also suffered from blackouts, while parts of the main highway in the capital city were also closed.

Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis told a local TV channel that they received around 600 calls for assistance in greater Athens. "The calls mainly concerned downed trees and transporting people stuck in their vehicles to a safe place, but also to transport kidney dialysis patients to receive treatment."

He further informed that though the vaccination programs were postponed, they helped transport doctors and medical staff wherever needed. They also transported power technicians to reach difficult suburbs of the city.

WINTER WONDERLAND: Snow ?? ?? covered #Athens, #Greece as a cold front hit the country. The cold front, known as Madea, is expected to bring heavy snowfall to central, southern and eastern Greece as well as the island of Crete.

Apparently, snowfall is a common phenomenon in the mountainous regions of Greece but it is extremely rare in Athens, especially heavy snowfall like this. But, after snowfall, the city turned into a whote winterland and Acropolis, along with several other historic buildings, looked absolutely mesmerising.

The natural hillside of the Acropolis is a 13th century architecture, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The gorgeous temples here were built back in 5th century BC.