2nd millennium

Tracing the history of the Greek capital Athens, we can see not only the sacred rock of the classical Acropolis but a mixture of the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman eras.

Even though Greece was under Ottoman rule for almost four centuries, few remains of that period are visible now.

The news portal of "Jutarnji list" reports on this.

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was unable to hold Christmas Eve Mass for the first time in more than 200 years after a fire ravaged its structure in April.

With heavy hearts, French Catholics instead gathered at the nearby church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, a few hundred meters away, for a service celebrated by the cathedral's rector Patrick Chauvet.

For the first time in more than two centuries, there will be no Christmas service at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

The cathedral suffered a severe fire in April this year. Eight months later, repair works at one of the most famous Christian temples continues.

Kolyo Karamfilov's "The Invisible" work at the National Palace of Culture. The exhibition presents works from private collections as well as works not shown so far. The official opening is tonight and can be seen tomorrow by visitors.

The entrance is free.

Later this year the site in Hungary which includes the tomb of a revered Ottoman sultan will be turned into an open-air museum, according to a Turkish official.

İshak Paşa Palace, one of the most distinguished examples of the 18th century Ottoman architecture in eastern Turkey, attracts tourists' attention while shedding light on history.

Iranian artist Ahad Saadi's exhibition titled 'Azarnegari' has opened at Süzer Plaza in Istanbul.
The exhibition is a first in the world and consists of the works created with Azarnegari, which is a technique of drawing with fire.
The revenues of the exhibition, which will run through March 24, will be donated to the Association of Cancer-Free Life. 

Fifty years after Italy's Matera was a national embarrassment because of its extreme poverty, the city is rescuing its dignity, baroque palaces and cave churches to become a European Capital of Culture.

Erkuter Leblebici, a 79-year-old academic who retired from Ege University's Botanical Garden and Herbarium Research and Application Center, has tattoos of the plant species he has discovered throughout his career and gained to literature inked on his arm.