Feature: Ancient Greek gate reopens to celebrate European Heritage Days

Ietionian Gate, part of the ancient walls in the southeast port city of Piraeus, is a landmark ancient cultural site which Greece reopened to the public for free in its bid to mark the European Heritage Days.

Greece joined the celebrations of the 2016 European Heritage Days this weekend by opening for free the doors of dozens of museums and archaeological sites nationwide.

Over the past three decades the annual event highlights the cultural ties that bind Europe. Visitors participated in guided tours, workshops, concerts, theaters and other festivities in this year's Heritage Days.

In Piraeus, the spotlight fell on the Ietionian Gate, which is currently being upgraded and reopened to the public.

A music concert including songs about the plight of the refugees throughout the centuries was held on Saturday evening at the ruins of the ancient fortification, linking the present with the past.

Before popular Greek singer Dimitris Bassis got on the stage, visitors could observe the fortification techniques developed between the 5th and 3rd century BC and the course of restoration works of the ancient gate.

The aim of Saturday's concert was after all to help locals and tourists get acquainted with the ancient site. Speaking to Xinhua, Bassis said he was honored to participate in the bid.

"It is a great honor for me to take part in such an event aimed at the promotion of archaeological sites," he said, "It is very important because in Greece the most significant element we have to show is our ancient civilization."

The Ietionian Gate is the largest archaeological site of Piraeus. Twenty five centuries ago it was the port's bastion and one of the two entrances in the fortified city of Piraeus, taking its name after the mythical hero Ietion.

The site survived numerous wars and crises. In the early 20th century next to the ancient gate, towers and wall remnants, Greek refugees who had fled bloodshed in the then Asia Minor, also called the Anatolian peninsula, set up a refugee camp.

Since the 1980s the Ietionian Gate was gradually lost within an expanding industrial zone, and hence underwent a series of restoration, Anna Alexandropoulou, the archaeologist in charge of the current face lift of the gate, told Xinhua.

A first phase of restoration works ended a decade ago. Despite the debt crisis which hit Greece hard since 2009, the Region of Attica administration secured 700,000 euros (785,400 U.S. dollars) for the ongoing second phase of maintenance and upgrading works.

"The target is by September 2017 to open the site to the public on a permanent basis with all monuments fully restored and with specially designed pathways so that visitors can comprehend the significance of the site," Alexandropoulou said.

Until then, from this September until December 2016, the Ietionian Gate will be open to the public for free three days a week. Endi