1. What the therina tradition is — and why Athens has more open-air cinemas than anywhere in Europe
The Greek word therina means 'of summer' — and therina sinema, summer cinemas, have been part of Athenian life since the early twentieth century. Athens' climate explains the scale of the habit: fewer than 500 hours of rain annually, summer evenings averaging 26–28°C with low humidity, and a sky between June and September clear enough to read by starlight. Showing films outdoors is not a novelty in Athens. It is the logical thing to do.
The tradition took root in the 1910s and 1920s when entrepreneurs converted rooftops, courtyards, and garden spaces into projection venues. At its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, over 600 open-air cinemas operated across Greece. Indoor multiplexes pulled attendance down through the 1990s, but the tradition held in Athens where the venues were too specific, too embedded in neighborhood life, and too visually extraordinary to replace with a standard air-conditioned box.
Today, Athens runs around 70 operating therina — more than any other European city. The cultural logic is simple: in Athens, going to the cinema in summer means sitting under an open sky with a cold drink, within sight of a 2,500-year-old monument, watching whatever happens to be on screen. The film is part of the evening. The evening is the point.
2. Cine Paris — the world's best outdoor cinema, on a Plaka rooftop since the 1920s
Cine Paris sits at 22 Kidathineon Street in the heart of Plaka. The cinema was founded in the 1920s by a Greek hairdresser who had spent years in Paris — the name is a tribute to the city that impressed him most. It originally operated as an indoor space before moving to its now-famous rooftop in the early 1960s, a decision that defined everything about what the cinema would become.
The rooftop terrace seats around 100 people on tiered rows facing a screen that, when you look up and left, frames the illuminated Parthenon at approximately the same visual weight as the movie. Time Out described it as 'the cinema with the greatest house lights in the world.' That line lands better in person: wait until the projection begins and the Acropolis lights up simultaneously at the far edge of the terrace, and the description becomes simply accurate.
Cine Paris closed for four years for renovation and reopened in 2024 under Cinobo, Greece's premium streaming and cinema platform. The renovation restored the terrazzo flooring and upgraded the technical systems to 4K without removing the venue's 1920s character. The programming covers new releases, international art cinema, and classic reissues. In 2026, Time Out named it the world's best outdoor cinema — a designation that landed on an institution that had been deserving it for decades. The bar serves beer, wine, and cocktails; order before the film begins, since service stops once projection starts.
3. Cine Thission — the 1935 cinema on Apostolou Pavlou that CNN called the world's best
Cine Thission sits on Apostolou Pavlou Street, the pedestrianized boulevard running along the base of the Acropolis hill through Thissio. The cinema opened in 1935 and has operated nearly continuously since, making it one of the oldest functioning outdoor cinemas in the world. CNN Travel named it the best movie theater on earth; the combination of a 1930s courtyard garden, open sky, and direct Acropolis sightlines makes the claim easy to understand in person.
Unlike Cine Paris, Cine Thission specializes in classic reissues — restored prints of Greek and international films from the 1950s through the 1980s. A typical week might include a Cassavetes double bill, a Tarkovsky screening, or a classic Greek noir from the black-and-white era. The programming is deliberately cinephile, which draws a specific and notably local crowd.
The physical space uses loose chairs and small tables arranged in a garden — less formal than a conventional cinema, closer to watching a film in someone's very atmospheric backyard. Trees shadow the edges of the seating. The Acropolis appears directly above and behind the screen, lit from below. It is the therina that Athenians would recommend to a friend who asked what to do on a summer evening — the crowd, the neighborhood, the 1930s courtyard, and the program all push in exactly the same direction.
4. Aigli Zappeiou — the oldest Athens cinema, in the gardens next to the Zappeion palace
Aigli Zappeiou operates within the Zappeion Gardens, the formal parkland between the Panathenaic Stadium and the National Gardens at the center of the city. The Zappeion itself is a 19th-century neoclassical exhibition hall; the gardens around it have been a leisure destination for Athenians since the 1880s.
The Aigli refreshment stand opened in 1904 as the social hub of belle époque Athens. Cinema arrived in the late 1910s, making Aigli Zappeiou the oldest continuously operating summer cinema in the city — over a century of outdoor projection in the same garden. After a 2024 renovation, it runs a 4K laser projector and Dolby 7.1 surround sound — the highest technical spec of any outdoor cinema in Athens — alongside a full restaurant (AIGLI RESTAURANT) and a bar-restaurant (AIGLI ALLDAY).
The format differs from the other therina: Aigli is a full-service hospitality venue integrated around the screen. Dinner before the film, drinks at the bar, film in the formal garden with Zappeion columns visible over the wall — the evening runs three to four hours if you want it to. It is the most polished of the four venues and the one most suited to someone who wants an event rather than just a film.
5. Cine Dexameni — Kolonaki's intimate screen above Hadrian's ancient reservoir
Cine Dexameni sits in Dexameni Square, a quiet residential plaza in Kolonaki at the lower slopes of Lycabettus Hill. The square's name — and the cinema's — comes from the reservoir constructed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD to supply water to Athens. The reservoir still exists directly below the square, sealed under the paving stones.
Cine Dexameni is the most intimate of Athens' major therina: around 80 to 100 chairs in a compact space framed by trees and neoclassical building facades. Unlike Cine Paris or Aigli, there is no Acropolis view. The atmosphere is one of neighborhood embeddedness — locals from the surrounding streets make up most of the audience, the bar is simple, and the overall feeling is closer to a garden party than a cinema. What distinguishes it is the setting: the quiet Kolonaki square, the knowledge that Hadrian's waterworks run meters below your feet, and a program that covers international art films, recent Greek cinema, and selected new releases.
6. How an Athenian open-air cinema night actually runs
Athenian therina follow a consistent rhythm. Showtime is typically 9 or 9:30 p.m. — earlier in June when dusk arrives around 9 p.m., later in August when the sky stays light until well past that. The timing is deliberate: you want the sky dark, the Acropolis lit, and the shift from ambient city light to projection to register properly.
Doors open 30–45 minutes before the film. That window is the best part — chairs fill slowly, the bar has no queue, and Athens settles into evening around you. Cine Paris and Aigli offer table service; Thission and Dexameni are order-at-the-bar. Greek therina skip trailers and commercials entirely — the film starts at the listed time, a detail that feels quietly civilized.
Tickets cost €7–€10 depending on the venue, with Aigli at the higher end and Dexameni often at €7. Weeknights in June rarely require advance booking. Cine Paris on a summer weekend benefits from buying online at cineparis.gr; Aigli hosts occasional assigned-seating events. All venues accept cash and cards.
Films screen in original language with Greek subtitles — no dubbing for English-language releases. Programs update weekly, usually Monday or Tuesday, on each cinema's website. Getting there: Cine Paris and Cine Thission are within 10 minutes' walk of Monastiraki metro (Lines 1 and 2). Aigli Zappeiou is a 15-minute walk from Syntagma Square through the National Gardens. Cine Dexameni has no close metro — a 20-minute walk from Syntagma uphill, or a short taxi.
7. Practical questions: tickets, timing, and which cinema to pick
Which open-air cinema should I pick? If you want the iconic Acropolis backdrop: Cine Paris (Plaka, world's best designation, Parthenon directly in view). If you want the most authentically Athenian experience with the best classic program: Cine Thission (Apostolou Pavlou, 1935, CNN's world best). If you want a full evening with dinner and the best sound system: Aigli Zappeiou (Zappeion Gardens, 4K laser, Dolby 7.1, 100+ years). If you want a quiet, neighborhood-scale evening in Kolonaki: Cine Dexameni.
How much do tickets cost? Expect €7–€10. Aigli is at the higher end, Thission and Dexameni at the lower. Beer at the bar runs €4–€5. Cine Paris has the most developed cocktail menu of the four venues.
What if I don't speak Greek? Not a problem at any of these venues. English-language films are shown in English with Greek subtitles. Staff speak English. The bar menus are in both languages. The experience itself requires no language: you sit under an open Athens sky and watch a film. That part translates.
Do I need to book in advance? For weeknights in June, walk-in is typically fine at all four venues. Cine Paris on a Friday or Saturday night in July or August benefits from advance purchase at cineparis.gr. Aigli occasionally hosts special events with assigned seating; check aiglizappeiou.gr for the current program. Cine Thission and Dexameni almost never require advance booking.
Keep exploring
Want to understand every neighborhood, monument, and ritual behind an Athens summer night?
TourMe turns the city's history — from Hadrian's reservoir below Dexameni Square to the 1920s hairdresser who founded Cine Paris — into short interactive stories and collectible cards, organized around the streets you're walking. Find the right therina for your evening, understand what you're looking at when the Parthenon lights up behind the screen, and collect the stories the guidebooks compress into a single line.
