(Athens) “We are a little disappointed because you come especially for this and it is closed,” regrets Christelle Lasser, a Belgian tourist, in front of the ticket office of the famous Acropolis of Athens, inaccessible on Wednesday for several hours due to a new heatwave in Greece.
In the still long queue, faces are dejected at the announcement of the closure decreed by the Ministry of Culture, between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. local time (9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern time).
“But we don’t want to faint!” reasons the fifty-year-old.
Her daughter Mia, 14, wanted to see “in real life” this site straight out of her history lessons. To admire it, “there’s always YouTube”, her mother consoles her.
The mercury was expected to rise to 43 degrees in some regions, and 40 degrees in Attica, where Athens is located, with a very high risk of fires, the Civil Protection warned.
In some areas, temperatures exceed 40°C for the 10e consecutive day.
Diana Bittai, a 49-year-old Brazilian, sits in the shade to sip a soda while she recovers.
Like the others, she will have to wait a little while to see the Parthenon and other “treasures” dating from the 5th century BC. The visit is charged with emotion for this vacationer who came with her sister to fulfill “the dream” of their mother, who recently died.
Despite this, “I think they are right (to close), it is too hot,” she agrees, her face crimson.
“Boiling heat”
“It’s boiling hot,” agrees Lucy Johnson, 25.
“I’m not used to this in the UK. It usually rains,” jokes the tourist, who has just got off a cruise ship in Piraeus, the large port near the capital.
The peak of this heatwave is expected on Wednesday and Thursday, according to meteorologists.
The heat is tiring, but for the UNESCO World Heritage site, it was “now or never,” said the young woman who was only there for the day.
The iconic ancient monument had already had to close to the public for two days in a row during the hottest hours in mid-June when Greece suffered a particularly early heatwave.
The site recorded record attendance last year with some 4 million visitors.
Despite the announced closure, many holidaymakers braved the heat.
They wait in the full sun, and only a light breeze prevents them from overheating. The most exhausted seek shade near the olive trees, their faces shiny.
To prevent any accidents, the Greek Red Cross distributed 5,000 bottles of cold water within two hours.
“Can I give you some information? […] to protect you in these difficult days?” said one of the NGO volunteers, handing a leaflet to a passerby.
“Each year is worse than the previous one, and the heat waves are more intense and stronger,” explains Vassiliki Dalla, a Red Cross nurse who is used to this kind of preventive action.
“People may come from countries that have never had these kinds of temperatures,” she adds. “Sometimes they overestimate their strength.”
To reach the Sacred Rock, you have to take a short but steep path, which can be difficult in very hot weather.
” Unique in the world ”
Some came prepared, hat, bottle of water and sunscreen. Others, a little less.
Carlos Perez, 53, is bareheaded despite the 33 degrees of mid-morning heat. He passes a bottle of cold water over the back of his neck to try to relieve himself, next to his wife, who is wearing a cap.
“She’s the typical woman, I’m the typical man. I didn’t do anything, she planned everything,” he comments.
The couple from Barcelona did not hesitate for a second to come to the Acropolis, heatwave or not. “It is something unique in the world. If you come here, you have to visit it.”
Unable to get any closer, latecomers take photos of themselves in front of the closed gates. And the site returns to an unusual calm, the hubbub of the crowd giving way to the song of the cicadas.