Although it is neither the oldest nor the only open-air cinema with a view of the Acropolis as the website proudly proclaims (Cine Vox was built in 1920, and Cine Paris claims the same view), Cine Thiseio is certainly one of the best of its kind and justifyingly hung up on tradition.

 

Owner Thomas Maniakis doesn’t need to change a thing: with the walls hiding under a thick blanket of fairy-tale ivy, the screen big and bright (just like the moon) and the chairs on the right side of uncomfortable to stop you from falling asleep, Cine Thisio is a real throwback to the 1950s but with none of the usual hitches. Built right on Apostolou Pavlou, it screens every film at full volume and, no matter how hot it gets, this humble little theatre always seems to invite a breeze.

 

Throughout the winter, Maniakis had issued an open invitation to graffiti artists to come tag his wall (he even stuck his number in the programme box promising to pay for the spray cans), but no one indulged him. The doodles that make regular appearances instead are diligently painted over until next summer or until the next rampant teenager comes along.

 

As for the crowds, they are a balanced mixed of aged and youthful though both are appreciative of the homemade sour cherry cooler, the sweet preserves and the tsipouro-cum-fish roe combo for those alcoholically inclined. The film repertoire strongly veers towards the classic.