GREECE IS | ATHENS | WINTER 2016-2017

greece is experience culture, gastronomy & more

AT H EN S

F I R S T e d iti o n

ISSN: 2459-041X

WINTER 2016 - 2017

12- 34

35-79

81-142

WELCOME

DIS COVE R

EX PL ORE

143-159 TASTE

The capital’s newest spots and exciting cultural events bring a vibrant note to what is becoming an exciting city-break destination.

To unravel twenty-six centuries of history, start with the essentials, save time for hidden gems and see how the past is made anew.

Seek out the soul of the city in its buildings and resurgent art scene; borrow local knowledge to dig deeper into the everyday.

From savoring molecular cuisine to socializing in classic tavernas, and with award-winning bars to boot, Athens is for going out.

© dimitris vlaikos

WE LCOME

Signs of Spring

BY GIORGOS TSIROS e d i t o r - I N - C H IE F , G REE C E I S

As far as confidence-boosting compliments go, the words of US President Barack Obama during his recent visit to Athens were as good as it gets: “I was determined, on my last trip, to come to Greece – partly because I’ve heard about the legendary hospitality of the Greek people, your philoxenia. Partly because I had to see the Acropolis and the Parthenon. But also because I came here with gratitude for all that Greece – ‘this small, great world’ – has given to humanity through the ages.”

Coming from the charismatic leader of the free world in the context of a speech on global challenges, human values, freedom and democracy, this tribute to Greece’s historical significance has moved hearts and inspired minds in a country struggling to overcome a crippling crisis. The timing couldn’t be better either: Greece has seen international visitor arrivals breaking new records, while Athens’ stock as a first-rate citybreak destination is on the rise.

At last, signs of hope are evident all around the city: the Renzo Piano-designed Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center is now open to the public; the huge urban rejuvenation project at the former airport in Elliniko has been green-lighted after two decades in limbo; the much-awaited National Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting its first-ever exhibition; and 2017

will, for the first time, see the world’s most important contemporary art festival, Documenta, being cohosted

by Athens. In addition, the city has recently welcomed both new and exciting spots to eat, drink and enjoy the good life and five-star hotels such as the Electra Metropolis Athens (in an impressively renovated building that once housed the Ministry of Education) and the Wyndham Grand Athens, the first Athenian venture from the world’s largest hotel developer.

As far as we – the Greece Is team – are concerned, in this new Athens issue, we delve further and deeper into the attractions and experiences our city has to offer. We take you on a tour of major archaeological sites spread around the metropolitan area, including the legendary Eleusis (present-day Elefsina), which has just been named European Capital of Culture for 2021; we present a broad range of activities for night and day, from group cycling to treasure-hunting at the flea market of Monastiraki; we dine in both upmarket restaurants and century-old tavernas, and explore the exciting bar scene. In the process, we get to know our city a little better as well; it may not be London, Paris or even Berlin, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s Athens. It’s unique. And it holds many aces up its sleeve for those lucky enough to spend a couple of days here, enjoying its mild climate and soaking it all in.

Enjoying a sunny winter’s day on Philopappou Hill.

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CONTENTS Greece Is - Athens, Winter 2016-2017 Issue, First Edition

welcome 12. What’s On. The season’s cultural

50. 18 Centuries in Two Hours. The

126. The Creative Ec0-System. Athens

Byzantine & Christian Museum experience.

may not be the “new Berlin” just yet, but its

calendar.

62. Ancient Wonders in the Attic

contemporary art scene is booming.

18. In Pictures. Athens welcomes the

Countryside. From famous battlefields to

US President, the Supermoon and a new

serene rural sanctuaries.

cultural landmark.

26. Talk of the Town. New openings spicing up the Athenian city break.

TASTE 144. The Taverna: An Institution. Their

EXPLORE 82. Where We Live. A brief history of

food is simple, their wine mostly cheap, but

the polykatoikia, the Athenian apartment

fascinating story to tell.

these humble, traditional eateries have a

DISCOVER 36. Athena’s Feathered Friend. The

building.

150. Narrowing Down the Food Scene.

96. The Cool Guide. Our latest

A connoisseur’s top choices for eating out.

Owl, an ancient symbol of the city.

compilation of interesting things to see and

154. A 21-Bar Salute to Athens. Our top

38. On the Trail of History. Must-see

do in the downtown area.

choices for a perfect night out in the city.

sites and museums at a glance.

118. Treasure Hunting. An expert’s

42. In the Craftsmen’s Lair. A visit to

essential guide to the Athenian antique

the Acropolis Museum’s state-of-the-art

market.

souvenir production facilities.

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greece is - athens winter 2016 - 2017 issue, first edition Published by: Exerevnitis - Explorer SA, Ethnarchou Makariou & 2 Falireos St, Athens, 18547, Greece ISSN: 2459-041X Editor-in-chief: Giorgos Tsiros (editor@greece-is.com) Commercial director: Natasha Bouterakou (sales@greece-is.com) Creative director: Thodoris Lalangas / www.youandi.gr Creative consultant: Costas Coutayar Deputy editor: Natasha Blatsiou Art director: Ria Staveri Layout: Asimina Mitrothanasi Editorial consultants: Dimitris Tsoumplekas, Vassilis Minakakis Translations/Editing: Don Domonkos, George Kolyvas, John Leonard, Damian Mac Con Uladh, Stephen Stafford, Danae Seemann, Christine Sturmey Proof-reading: Don Domonkos Photo editors: Maria Konstantopoulou, Marika Tsouderou Photoshop: Christos Maritsas, Michalis Tzannetakis, Stelios Vazourakis Advertising: Sophia Tsepa (stsepa@kathimerini.gr) Advertising department: Tel. (+30) 210.480.82.27 Head of public relations: Lefki Vardikou GREECE IS - ATHENS is a yearly publication, distributed free of charge.

Contact us: welcome@greece-is.com It is illegal to reproduce any part of this publication without the written permission of the publisher.

ON THE C OVER Š The Owl, a symbol of Athens: Original artwork by Red Creative.

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© Kahlil Joseph

Bernier/Eliades Gallery

Benaki Museum

AGENDA

WHAT’S ON A variety of exhibitions, shows and other cultural events guarantee that this is going to be a “hot” winter.

BY xenia georgiadou

Short Films Τo 5/1/2017

“I encourage you to let that piece wash over you. I watched it three times in a row, and when it was done I felt like I needed to swim to the surface for air,” commented Helen Molesworth, Chief Curator of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) on the work of award-winning filmmaker and artist Kahlil Joseph. Boasting collaborations with music and fashion industry greats – Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Seu Jorge and Kenzo, to name a few – the artist continues to expand his experimental 12

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horizons. The Bernier/Eliades Gallery is showcasing three films that illustrate how the artist smashes the boundaries between different genres.

• www.bernier-eliades.gr

Osipova, Sergei Polunin & Guests,” at the Pallas Theater, consists of three modern dance pieces by choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant and Arthur Pita.

• www.lavris.gr

graphed by Irek Mukhamedov and conducted by Elias Voudouris and Zoe Zeniodi.

• www.nationalopera.gr

ballet classic

How important was music in the Cycladic islands in the early Bronze Age? Could the islanders build ships?

What were their burial rites and what games did the children play? The exhibition “Cycladic Society 5,000 Years Ago” at the Museum of Cycladic Art aims to answer these and many more questions with displays that indicate how

Life in the cyclades From early December to 31/3/2017

dance duo 1-3/12

Two of the world’s greatest dancers right now – Natalia Osipova, a star of the Russian school renowned for her interpretation of leading repertory roles, and Sergei Polunin, the youngest principal in the history of the Royal Ballet ­– join their formidable forces in a joint performance. “Natalia

16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30 & 31/12

The Greek National Opera celebrates Christmas with “Giselle”, the romantic ballet about innocent young love whose title role is considered among the most challenging in the classical ballet repertory. Adolphe Adam’s music is choreo-

© Giannis Vastardis

National Museum of Contemporary Art

Hellenic Motor Museum

National Archaeological Museum

© Eleftherios A. Galanopoulos/ National Archaeological Museum

Pallas Theatre

the people of the Aegean archipelago lived in prehistoric times, how they spent their days, and how and what they worshiped. The show brings together 200 exhibits from the museum’s permanent collection, as well as antiquities from the National Archaeological Museum, the Paul and Alexandra Kanellopoulos Museum, and the archaeological museums of Naxos, Apeiranthos, Syros and Paros. • www.cycladic.gr

Vinyl Bonanza 9-11/12

“Vinyl is Back Vol. 9” at the Hellenic Motorcar Museum

draws fans with a large collection of vinyl records representing a breadth of musical genres, including both old and new releases as well as collectibles, musical instruments, classic turntables, music publications, band posters, DJ sets and raffles. Free admission.

• www.vinylisback.gr

Jammin’ Roy Ayers 10/12

Globally popular American R&B and jazz legend Roy Ayers returns to Athens after four years for a single gig at Gazarte, featuring the kind of jazz, soul, funk and R&B sounds that have

wooed generations of music fans. • www.gazarte.gr

super huppert 20-22/12

Inspired by his muse Isabelle Huppert, Polish maverick director Krzysztof Warlikowski presents “Phaedra(s)”, a project based on different texts referencing ancient mythology, pop culture, philosophy and modern politics.

Drawing on extracts from Euripides, Seneca, Sarah Kane, J.M. Coetzee and Wajdi Mouawad, the acclaimed French actress transforms into the goddess Aphrodite, the mythical queen PhaeG R E E C E IS

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dra, a sacred prostitute and a lovelorn self-destructive fury. Please note that the show contains very explicit scenes. In French with Greek surtitles.

• www.sgt.gr

Opy Zouni’s Landscapes From 22/12 to 26/2/2017

There was a time when the late Greek artist felt she was too avant-garde to hold a solo show in Greece, but her abstract geometric art soon opened doors around the world, establishing her as one of the country’s foremost post-war creators.

“Opy Zouni: Order in Chaos” at the Benaki Muse-

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AGENDA

State Orchestra will be conducted by Miltos Logiadis.

• www.megaron.gr

Back to the 80s From 25/1 to 12/3/2017 snfcc

AN ARTISTIC FRIENDSHIP To 18/12/2017

“Yannis Moralis - Christos Kapralos: Friendship in Life and Art,” on show at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, focuses on the careers of two influential artists whose reputation traveled beyond Greek borders, while underlining their close personal friendship. The exhibition juxtaposes 18 bronze sculptures by Kapralos with 50 works by Moralis in order to highlight how each artist projected the ideals of ancient Greece through a modern perspective.

• www.snfcc.org

Museum of Islamic Art

Philosophical Debate To 29/1/2017

Italian Opera 30/12

The Athens Concert Hall’s festive gala “Tutto Verdi,” featuring arias and duets from the Italian composer’s most popular operas, signals the start of events paying homage to the great Greek soprano Maria Callas, as 2017 will mark 40 years since her death.

Performing in the show are Cellia Costea and Dimitris Platanias, while the Athens 14

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Gazarte

Bottles of forgotten shampoo brands, loud jackets with huge shoulder pads, posters of the Greek national basketball team raising its first European Cup, Walkmans, tacky decorative items, doilies, political party flags, encyclopedias, postcards and teen magazines comprise a fun look at one of the misunderstood decades in Greek history.

The exhibition “GR80s” at the Technopolis arts complex brings together 4,000 displays that shed light on the dominant esthetics in Greek homes and in public life of that controversial era.

• www.technopolis-athens. com

Greek National Opera

Byzantine Museum

The exhibition “Flying Over the Abyss” at the Athens Conservatory focuses on Nikos Kazantzakis’ “The Saviors of God-Spiritual Exercises” by encouraging a dialogue between the work of the great Greek writer and contemporary art. The Saviors’ manuscript is juxtaposed with 34 pieces by Greek and foreign avant-garde artists – including Marina Abramovic, Alexis Akrithakis, Matthew Barney, Louise Bourgeois, Vlassis Caniaris, Stavros Gasparatos, Gilbert & George, Mike Kelley, Martin Kippenberger, Costas Tso-

© Nikos Mylonas, Stefanos Kyriakopoulos, Yannis Moralis, Dialogue, 1974. inv. noΠ.5111

um-Pireos Street Annex is a retrospective covering her years as a student of painting, ceramics and photography in Cairo – where she was born – through her pivotal relationship with art collector and gallery owner Alexander Iolas to her evolution into a world-class artist and the final period of her life.

• www.benaki.gr

AGENDA

clis, Sherrie Levine, Bruce Nauman and Gary Webb – illustrating man’s journey from the trauma of birth, through the struggle of life to the moment of death.

• www.neon.org.gr

presents pieces from his last two trips to India and comprises handmade postcards, photographs that the artist has tweaked, hand-painted black-and-white photocopies, CDs, DVDs, jewelry, poems and souvenirs, all accompanied by the artist’s fascinating notes of his impressions and thoughts.

• www.benaki.gr

antwerp to athens To 29/1/2017

The Czars’ Collections

Athens Conservatoire

Maritime Achievements To 28/5/2017

Onassis Cultural Centre

Museum of Cycladic Art

To 26/2/2017

“The State Hermitage Museum: Gateway to History” at the Byzantine Museum presents archaeological relics, sculptures, objets d’art and paintings from Russia’s greatest museum.

A selection of splendid pieces allows visitors a glimpse into the esthetics and way of life of the Russian court from the late 17th to the early 20th century.

• www.byzantinemuseum.gr

All About the Journey To 10/2017

Herakleidon Museum

Pilgrimage to India To 12/3/2017

“PostGods” at the Museum of Islamic Art focuses on the notions of travel and wandering that is so prevalent in the more recent work of Alexandros Georgiou. The exhibition 16

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“Voyage” is a record of achievements in shipbuilding and in maritime travel and technology in the Aegean and the broader Mediterranean from prehistoric to modern times. With 40 handmade wooden models of Greek ships from antiquity to the Greek War of Independence and into the early 20th century – constructed in incredible detail by engineer and model shipbuilder Dimitris Marras – the show casts new light on the ageold relationship that Greeks have with the sea.

• www.herakleidon-art.gr

The Athens Concert Hall

Technopolis

The National Archaeological Museum is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a series of special events, the flagship of which is the exhibition “Odysseys”, inspired by Homer’s epic.

The 190 displays highlight man’s constant need to explore new lands, amass knowledge, exchange ideas and commodities, build organized societies and battle mortality by creating lasting works of art.

• www.namuseum.gr

© N.P. GOULANDRI COLLECTION, No 308./George Fafalis, Stathis Logothetis

The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) has opened the doors of its new premises with the exhibition “Urgent Conversations: Athens-Antwerp.”

More than 70 pieces from the Greek museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp are set sideby-side to trigger a discussion on 22 separate themes or, as the curators like to call them, notions.

• www.emst.gr

IN PICTURES

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THE NEW LANDMARK

© YIORGIS YEROLYMBOS

Named after its patron – a titan of Greek shipping – and designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, the brand-new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center is the most important urban development project in post-Olympic Athens. Soon to house the Greek National Opera and the Greek National Library in state-of-the-art facilities, the impressive, transparent structure aspires to set a new benchmark for public space in Greece. Everyone is welcome, from students, scholars and fans of the arts, to regular folk who just want to spend a leisurely day in its 210,000 sq.m. park, which includes the building’s bioclimatic roof, offering great views of the city and the sea. One of the center’s most impressive features is the 400m canal, ideal for sailing and rowing.

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IN PICTURE S

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AN AMERICAN FRIEND

Š AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

The first encounter with Acropolis and its timeless treasures is a humbling experience for all visitors, and Barack Obama was no exception. During his tour of the Acropolis Museum, the outgoing US president marveled at the beauty of the statues, studied the inscriptions and discussed the art, history and politics of ancient Greece with Professor Dimitris Pandermalis, the museum director, promising to return for a more leisurely visit with his wife and daughters. One of the exhibits that caught his eye is the Calf-bearer and the inscription carved on its base, which tells us that this famous sculpture was dedicated by Rhombos, son of Palos, presumably a well-to-do Athenian who could afford such an expensive tribute.

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IN PICTURE S

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SUPERMOON OVER THE ACROPOLIS

© REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

January 12, February 11 and March 12 are your next three chances to catch the Acropolis’ Propylaia illuminated by the full moon, but for a spectacle as grand as the one shown in this November 15 photo, you’ll have to wait a bit longer: The moon was the closest it’s been to the Earth since January 26, 1948, while the next scintillating supermoon isn’t expected until November 25, 2034. In these social media-crazy times, even rare cosmic phenomena can appear somewhat banal by oversharing, but we couldn’t resist the temptation of capturing the moment anyway.

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The Historical Archive of National Bank of Greece A longstanding partner of the community

a dv e r to r i a l

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he Historical Archive of National Bank of Greece (NBG) is located in a unique historical structure known as the Diomedes Building, at 146 Tritis Septemvriou Street. This area of Athens has been subject to urban decay in recent decades, but the elegantly restored Diomedes Building stands as a proud and optimistic reminder of the neighborhood’s heyday.

Ever since NBG was first established in 1841, it took special pains to preserve and store every kind of bank document, as well as its equipment and other assets, both for practical and historical – and sometimes sentimental – reasons.

The NBG’s first organization chart, prepared in 1842, designates the head of incoming/outgoing documents as the person responsible for keeping the institution’s records. In 1894, a General Records index was published for the first time.

By order of NBG governor Ioannis Drosopoulos, dated 20 July 1938, an effort was made to distinguish those records, or archival materials, that were of significance for the writing of a history of the first 100 years of the bank. However, the outbreak of the Second World War and foreign occupation meant that this ambitious project had to be shelved.

The Historical Archive was formally established in 1962 under the management of Dimitrios Helmis, under an order issued on 19 October.

However, shortly afterwards the military dictatorship of 1967–74 led to the suspension of its operations until further notice.

It was not until 1977 that the then governor of NBG, Professor Angelos Angelopoulos, reinstated the operations of the Historical Archive, recognizing the significant role that it should play in safekeeping the recording the bank’s history as well as the economic history of the Greek state, with which the bank has been so closely associated since its establishment.

The contribution of the NBG Historical Archive to promoting and fostering scientific research includes the presentation of important and specific perspectives on the social, cultural and political developments and activities of the country by means of its diverse archival, historical, research, publishing and educational activities.

In addition, the application of innovative

1. The façade of the Historical Archive Building.

2. Printing machines and security printing processes on display at the exhibition 3. View of the exhibition The history of National Bank of Greece as reflected in its archives and collections.

4. The NBG’s oldest safe box.

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technologies for the archiving, safekeeping and showcasing of the Historical Archive’s documents ensures their proper management.

The Historical Archive not only holds the archival material generated by the NBG itself, but also records and collects items from other companies that, for one reason or another, have come into its possession over the years and are considered to comprise an important part of the country’s cultural heritage.

Despite the adverse circumstances of our time, the NBG Historical Archive is making the most of the limited economic resources at its disposal,

working tirelessly and undertaking initiatives such as the organization of exhibitions and hosting of artistic events run by key social bodies such as the KETHEA rehabilitation center.

It is open not only to scholars of related scientific and academic fields, but also to the wider public. It also organizes educational programs, is engaged in publishing and offers knowhow to visitors and researchers as well as learning and training opportunities to school pupils and university students.

The NBG Historical Archive’s stateof-the-art equipment and cutting-edge infrastructure, coupled with a broad spectrum of specialized activities

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ranging from archiving to conservation, and from microfilming to digitization, all combine to make it an exemplary organization that is in step with current developments and serves the community in which it operates.

Electra METROPOLIS ATHENS

new arrival s

TALK OF THE TOWN Athens’ stock as a city-break destination is on the rise, with new ideas and investments at the forefront of its image makeover.

Aiolou 68 BY nena dimitriou & Maria Kor achai

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Electra METROPOLIS ATHENS

Borsalino

Drupes & Drips

hang your hat here

a taste of italy

Inpired by the style and atmosphere of the Alain Delon film of the same name, Borsalino was created by four men who are all about style (and fedoras). Here, the day starts early with high-quality coffee. When you start feeling hungry, try the razor clams fried with salami from Lefkada and served in a sherry sauce, or the churros with truffle and parmesan; you can accompany the latter with a fortified wine. If you’re into cocktails, make sure you try one of the three seasonal drinks. In winter, they’re made with fragrant oranges from the Peloponnese.

Fans of Takis Bakery near the Acropolis just got a whole new range of options, with a new Italian espresseria and a juice bar. Pick up a freshly made fruit juice, or choose a “pedigree” coffee prepared by expert baristas. At lunchtime, the small space becomes a cicchetteria, so you can try hams and cheeses from abroad or from smallscale Greek producers. There are no tables, so sit at the bar and have a glass of wine, spritz, prosecco or potent Greek tsikoudia with your nibbles.

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20 Zitrou, Koukaki Tel. (+30) 210.923.0052

59 Kolokotroni, Syntagma Tel. (+30) 210.323.2222

© NIKOS DANIILIDIS, DIMITRIS VLAIKOS

Borsalino

Drupes & Drips

Electra METROPOLIS ATHENS

New hotel, ancient views In the hands of interior designer - architect Maria Katsarou-Vafiadis, of the London-based MKV firm, a 1960s office building, formerly home to the Ministry of Education, has been transformed into a stylish five-star hotel, oozing Athenian retro-chic coolness. Highlights start right from the entrance canopy, where you will see the refurbished post-Byzantine Church of Aghia Dynami, to the impressive lobby atrium, featuring a gigantic artwork by famous Greek artist Alekos Fassianos, all the way up to the roof garden and pool, which offers the most breathtaking 360-degree view to enjoy while sipping a cocktail or dining. Check out the cute ground-level bistro as well, where remnants of the ancient city can be seen through glass floors, proving that, wherever you dig in Athens, there is always something ancient to be found.

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15 Mitropoleos, Tel. (+30) 214.100.6200 G R E E C E IS

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new arrival s

Ergon Athens

great greek goodies The successful “deli and cuisine” concept that started in Thessaloniki five years ago has finally reached Athens, after stopovers in London, Brussels and Miami first. You’ll love the small jars of tasty delights, some containing hard-to-find traditional recipes, as well as staples such as spicy trahana, feta paste and taramosalata (fish roe dip). There’s a seating area for lunch and dinner serving delicious Greek meze, including stuffed vine leaves; split-pea fava paste with cured syglino pork; little cheese and pastourma pies; and smoked mackerel with roast potatoes – all best paired with a glass of ouzo from Lesvos or Chios.

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26 Mitropoleos, Syntagma Tel. (+30) 210.331.5547

Estrella Little Tree Books & Coffee

Your next #instafood shot The New York Times list of “52 places to go in 2016” includes the Estrella brunch house in Thessaloniki, renowned for the bougatsan – a croissant stuffed with bougatsa cream – which has gone viral on social media.

A branch of Estrella has opened in Athens, in a 1935 art deco building.

The chef is building on the success of the original by doing weird and wonderful things with food to wow both your Instagram followers and your palate. Among the 50 different dishes, you’ll find pizza made with the same dough used in Thessaloniki’s famous koulouri (sesame ring) or omelet with black truffle from Halkidiki. The Christmas menu includes red velvet pancakes with cheesecake cream, red fruits and homemade marmalade. The bar also mixes up cocktails to complement the food.

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24a Romvis, Syntagma Tel. (+30) 210.321.8000

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Ergon Athens

Estrella

Los Loros

SOUTH AMERICAN STREET EATS Venezuela and Colombia have joined forces in a colorful cramped kitchen in the ethnic heart of Syntagma Square.

The food is served either to go or to be snaffled down at the counters outside.

The stars on the menu are the delightfully greasy and gluten-free arepas and empanadas, with our favorite fillings being the crispy-skinned pork and the vegetarian options such as the corn flatbread with tuna salad, egg, corn, cucumber and lime, or the black-bean patty with quinoa, citrusy quasacaca and spicy sauce. The meals come with Colombian soda pops or with Venezuelan rum, and you can top your meal off with a cigar.

© CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU, DANAI ISARIS

Los Loros

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14 Xenofontos & Nikis, Syntagma Tel. (+30) 210.324.3232

Madr as

the way of tea Little Tree Books & Coffee

A COZY CORNER NEXT TO THE ACROPOLIS A group of friends, including an architect, an interior designer, a literature major, an artist and a cook created this café, which offers exactly what its name suggests: coffee and good reads on the less touristy side of the area around the Acropolis, in a lovely, sunkissed space. It has a small collection of English-language poetry, literature, children’s books and coffee-table books on Greece. Inspirational quotes and the dessert menu for the day grace the blackboards on the walls. Try the lemon tart, the warm chocolate pie or the savory tart with cured apaki pork and chard.

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This wonderful teashop, which first opened in the port city of Piraeus in 1975, has now set up shop in central Athens as well, in a relaxing venue that sparkles with white marble and hundreds of metal tins containing more than 400 varieties of tea imported directly from Ceylon, China, India and Vietnam. Try the fine jasmine pearls, the Chinese oolong, the discreet Darjeeling from selected plantations, the ancient healing Pu Erh tea or any of the many Greek herbal teas they serve.

Relax and enjoy the whole tea ritual, or grab one of the 20 takeaway options priced from just one euro per cup.

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7 Voulis, Syntagma Tel. (+30) 210.324.2777

2 Kavalloti, Koukaki Tel. (+30) 210.924.3762

Madras

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new arrival s

Magic Bus

Nova Gea

Magic Bus

NovaGea

HOP on board for a night out

juiced, the healthy way

The owners’ philosophy is that a night out should be a journey. Magic Bus, an emerging hot spot in Pangrati, is a good reason to visit this part of Athens. The interior design includes retro objects, a long bar dressed in vintage ceramic tiles and an installation resembling a bus stop. The signature drink here is a sweet blend of rums and tropical fruits, garnished with jellybeans and marshmallows. There are live music nights, while the regular DJs play rock, funk, soul and jazz. • 22 Spyrou Merkouri, Pangrati • Tel. (+30) 215.500.3160

A new pit stop for fresh fruit or vegetable juices in downtown Athens, Novagea allows you to create your own blends from the cornucopia of produce in the display case. There’s also a menu of juice blends reputed to alleviate different ailments and complaints: among them are mixtures to soothe the nerves, to boost the immune system, to give energy, to help lower cholesterol and to battle aging. Pick the one that suits you best and accompany it with a vegetarian snack.

Upupa Epops

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4 Amalias, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 211.411.4981

Upupa Epops

This funky bar, with an open courtyard at the back of three conjoined interwar-era buildings, has brought a buzz to this residential neighborhood, quickly becoming the talk of the town. It opens in the morning for coffee, stays busy with a lunchtime crowd and the beat goes on until late for drinks and cocktails. Grab a seat on the retro couch for a chilled-out “Moroccan” with tobacco syrup. • 7 Alkminis, Kato Petralona

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Tel. (+30) 212.105.5214

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© CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU, DIMITRIS VLAIKOS

an under-the-radar bar

new arrival s

Panter a Negr a

Mean Peruvian cuisine The eccentric modern décor, the tiny bar and the open kitchen that allows you a peek into the action backstage are just a modest introduction to the big flavors of contemporary Peruvian cooking that await you: anticuchos, tiraditos, causas and chilcanos are only some of the delights on the fascinating menu. Check out the list of extracts, or macerados, created by the chef as a base for the wonderful cocktails, which include the amazing Chilcano made with pisco, tomato juice, celery, ginger ale and aji amarillo (a Peruvian version of the Bloody Mary that is a truly great aperitif). The ceviche made with “panther’s milk” is amazing, as is the braised oxtail with soy-sauce gravy and goat’s cheese, covered with rice paper.

6 Kalogrioni, Monastiraki (+30) 213.036.4214

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Yoleni’s

If you think that this country is only about olive oil and honey, try visiting this unique five-story temple of Greek gastronomy to find local goods and produce. From local soda pops to nuts and kale flakes, and even local gin, you’ll find it all here. An amazing selection of over 50 brands of extra virgin olive oil, a wide assortment of cheeses, and dozens upon dozens of different kinds of canned goods line the shelves. It’s not all shopping: there’s a premium steak restaurant; a supervised play area; a juice bar; and an olive oil “bar” where you can sample some regional extra virgin Greek gold.

Enjoy delicious pies with homemade Thracian pastry in the atrium. • 9 Solonos, Kolonaki • Tel. (+30) 212.222.3600 32

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© CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU

All of greece in one grocery store

new arrival s Pireos 138

eat, shop, gaze The most pleasant way to start or end your visit to the Pireos Street Annex of the Benaki Museum is with a cocktail in its revamped, modern café-restaurant. The beautiful, sunlit space has been jazzed up with indoor plants, comfortable seating, large tables and a small stage for performances and live music.

At the bright bar, you can choose between six custom-made cocktails or from a menu of dishes from the Mediterranean

and beyond, including falafel and burritos. On your way out, drop by the gift shop which shares the space. You’ll find a good selection of great stationery, jewelry, gift items and interesting coffee-table books, as well as original crafts and utilitarian objects by Greek designers. There is nothing stand-offish about the store; it’s designed to invite customers to explore and peruse.

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138 Pireos & Andronikou • Tel. (+30) 210.345.3111 Closed Mon and Tue.

Pireos 138

Wyndham grand ATHENS hotel

Affordable luxury For its first, ambitious opening in Athens, under its fivestar brand Wyndham Grand, the world’s largest hotel owner in terms of properties number (8,000+) has chosen the up-and-coming neighborhood of Metaxourgeio, in the north-east part of the historic center. Named after a silk factory and close to the ancient necropolis of Kerameikos, this part of the city was once a no-go area for tourists, but in recent years it has been largely cleaned up and is gaining in popularity, thanks to a new wave of art galleries, coffee shops and quality restaurants.

The hotel itself offers modern and affordable luxury, 276 rooms and suites, a naturally lit atrium restaurant aptly named Fos (light), an all-day lobby lounge called Silk, and the seemingly obligatory rooftop pool-bar and restaurant, Above, offering impressive Acropolis views.

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Megalou Alexandrou 2 • Tel. (+30) 216.800.9900

discover GREECE IS

ATH EN S

A History Buff’s Mecca Take your pick from must-sees, nose out hidden ancient wonders, and go behind the scenes at the Acropolis Museum.

View of Eleusis with the archaeological site, taken from «1842-1885. Greece, historical, illustrated. A complete collection of historical, topographical and artistic documents, with 280 historical engravings», Athens, Nikolas Books, 1984. Courtesy of Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation.

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SYMBOL vinieta

ATHENA’S FEATHERED FRIEND Long before mascots and logos, the owl represented not only the city of Athens but the concepts of wisdom and prosperity as well.

© THE NUMISMATIC MUSEUM OF ATHENS

BY GEORGIA NAKOU

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SYMBOL

While people from other cultures around the world associate the owl with misfortune and witchcraft, the ancient Athenians considered it a good omen. On the battlefield, the sight of an owl rallied the Athenian troops with the promise of victory. In one famous instance, the Athenian general Themistocles was addressing his fellow citizens from the deck of a ship, trying to convince them that they should deploy the fleet against the invading Persians. As he was stating his case, an owl flew in from the right and perched on the ship’s mast. The avian visitor won Themistocles the argument, the fleet engaged the Persians in the Battle of Salamis, and the city was saved.

But the owl had more prosaic associations as well. When the chorus in Aristophanes’ comedy The Birds promises that owls from Lavrion will flock to the audience, the reference was to owls of the silver variety, i.e., money. In classical times, Athens owed its wealth to the silver extracted from the mines of Lavrion, located on the coast southeast of the city. The Athenian tetradrachm, the four drachma coin, was imprinted on one side with the image of Athena and on the other with an owl and an olive branch, Athena’s fruitful gift to the city.

The coin was known colloquially as a glaux (little owl), and was the reserve currency of the ancient world. The current one-euro coins minted in Greece bear the same motif of the glaux as the ancient Athenian coin. The owl’s association with money is also where the ancient expression “owls to Athens” is thought to originate: like the English equivalents, “coals to Newcastle” or “ice to the Eskimos,” it means “to offer someone what they have in abundance” and is shorthand for a pointless gesture, or a statement of the obvious.

1. Reverse of a silver Athenian tetradrachm, circa 440-420 BC (The Numismatic Museum of Athens).

2. Terracota lekythos (oil flask) showing Athena holding a helmet and a spear, with an owl.

Attributed to the Brygos Painter, circa 490-480 BC (Rogers Fund, The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

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Info If you would like to make a gesture that is not pointless, you can help conserve the Athenian owl and other Greek wildlife by supporting the volunteers of Anima (www.facebook.com/anima.gr)

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© ROGER FUND, 1909/www.metmuseum.org

A

s you approach the entrance to Bernard Tschumi’s concrete-and-glass Acropolis Museum, you will encounter something resembling a primitive security device. Mounted atop a tall column, a white marble owl, at once elegant, inscrutable and slightly intimidating, fixes the visitor with its penetrating gaze. This statue, dating to the Archaic period, is a welcome touch preserved from the previous Acropolis Museum.

The owl has been a defining feature of the Acropolis and the city of Athens for centuries, and there are many more to be seen, both in the museum and around the city. Some romantic accounts have its distant ancestors roosting in the high rafters of the original Parthenon, before it was burned by the Persians in 480 BC, to be replaced by the more familiar marble temple that stands on the Acropolis today.

In classical times, the owl was the emblem of the city of Athens. It was the sacred bird of the goddess Athena, the city’s patron deity. Vase paintings, statues and reliefs often show Athena in the company of an owl, which sometimes flies around her and at other times sits on her shoulder, imparting its counsel. In addition to being a fierce protectress of the city, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, and the owl was the embodiment of her intellectual powers.

Nobody knows exactly how this association came about. Some say it was either the owl’s human-like gaze or its ability to see in the dark that gave the bird its reputation for wisdom. Others suggest that the roots of this connection lie deep in prehistoric myth, hinted at by early images of female divinities in the company of birds. To this day, the little owl (Athena noctua) owes its scientific name to its relationship with the goddess Athena.

L ANDMARKS

On the Trail of History

THE STOA OF ATTALOS

KERAMEIKOS

THE ROMAN AGORA

THE ACROPOLIS AREA

THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM

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THE TEMPLE OF OLYMPIAN ZEUS

Visitors to Athens can revel in a variety of must-see sites and museums in the heart of the ancient city.

BY john leonard

i l l u s t r at i o n : a s i m i n a m i t r o t h a n a s i

THE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

THE MUSEUM OF CYCLADIC ART

THE BENAKI MUSEUM THE NUMISMATIC MUSEUM OF ATHENS

THE BYZANTINE MUSEUM

THE PANATHENAIC STADIUM (KALI MARMARO)

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Erechtheion

Numismatic Museum of athens

Library of Hadrian

Acropolis Area The Sacred Rock… THE place for history-rockin’ visitors! Athena’s Parthenon tops the bill, backed up by the Erechtheion, the Propylaia and the stunning little Temple of Athena Nike.

Around the slopes, make sure to see the Theater of Dionysus, the Sanctuary of Asclepius, the Odeion (music hall) of Herodes Atticus and the cave shrines to the ancient gods.

On the adjacent Areopagus, Saint Paul gave one of his most powerful anti-pagan speeches. Τhe Acropolis

Tel. (+30) 210.321.4172 Open daily: 8:00-16:30 (winter) • Admission: €10 (There is also a €30 ticket allowing admission to all main archaeological sites in Athens) • •

the Acropolis Museum

What is the Acropolis without the Acropolis Museum? It’s a required stop that complements every tour of the Sacred Rock, whether you’re interested in sculpture, architecture, mythical creatures, bronze weaponry, ancient magic, or painted vases that tell the life stories of Athenian women. Here you’ll find the Parthenon’s exquisite decorations and the elegant 40

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Caryatid ladies in a building that’s already a modern classic.

15 Dionysiou Areopagitou Tel. (+30) 210.900.0900 • www.theacropolismuseum.gr • Admission: €5 • Open: MonThu 9:00-17:00, Fri 9:0022:00, Sat-Sun 9:00-20:00 (winter) •

Temple of Hephaistos and Athena marks the old metalworkers’ district, while the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos today houses the Museum of the Ancient Agora.

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the Southwestern Hills Southwest of the Acropolis rises the Pnyx Hill, with the open-air assembly area for the People’s Assembly (Ekklesia).

On this spot, ancient Athenian politicians played to the crowds, delivering fiery speeches from the rock-cut rostrum overlooking the Sacred Rock and the Athenian Agora. On the adjoining Hill of the Muses stands the Philopappos Monument, a prominent tomb for an exiled foreign ruler.

the Athenian Agora

This was the heart of ancient Athens, the city’s central square, market place and governmental hub, where everyone, high or low, passed through, shopped, reported for jury duty, watched street performers and offered sacrifices, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Themistocles, Pericles and Socrates. The pristine

the Museum of the ancient agora

The daily activities of ordinary citizens and artisans in the Athenian Agora are the focus of this informative exhibition within the reconstructed 2nd c. BC Stoa of Attalos. Don’t miss the warrior’s tomb with the “killed” sword; the eyelets and hobnails from Simon the Shoemaker’s House (which Socrates frequented); the jury-selection machine; and the pot-shard ballots nominating Themistocles and other famous figures for ostracism.

Agora & Museum

24 Adrianou • Tel. (+30) 210.321.0185 • Open daily: 8:00-15:00 (winter) • Admission: €4

es scratched on the square’s columns, the area is visit-worthy today for the Tower of the Winds, an ornate Ottoman-era seminary gateway and the newly restored Fethiye Mosque (17th c.), now open to visitors.

• Pelopida, Plaka • Tel. (+30) 210.324.5220 • Open daily: 08:00-17:00 (winter) • Admission: €3

The City of Hadrian (Hadrianopolis)

A new area of the city, added by the Hellenophile Roman emperor Hadrian. One entered this suburb through the Arch of Hadrian, beyond which towered the mammoth Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Illissos River area, with all its shrines and lush vegetation, made this district a pleasant place to stroll.

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the Roman Agora The Romans revitalized Athens’ city center with a new market place, funded by Julius Caesar and Octavian (Augustus).

Once a hangout for merchants, shoppers and semi-literate prostitutes who left messag-

OLYMPIEION

Entrance from Vassilissis Olgas Avenue • Tel. (+30) 210.922.6330 • Open daily: 8:00-15:00 (winter) • Admission: €3 •

Plaka

Hadrian also contributed a new forum (agora) equipped with a library. The courtyard of the Library of Hadrian went

tower of the winds

National Archaeological Museum

Museum of Cycladic Art

on to host two early Christian churches. On the Acropolis’ eastern slope one finds the Lysikrates Monument, commemorating a theatrical victory at the nearby Theater of Dionysus. Lord Byron once used the base of this hollow trophy-stand as a private study.

for the Panathenaic Games was built in the 4th c. BC

by Lykourgos, but given a complete marble makeover

by Herodes Atticus some 500 years later. In 1896, the first modern Olympics were hosted here. Truly a place of historic and athletic glory!

the Library of hadrian

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3 Areos, Monastiraki Tel. (+30) 210.324.9350 • Open daily: 8:00-15:00 (winter) • Admission: €2 •

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Kerameikos

The northwestern corner of the ancient walled city. From here, through the Dipylon and Sacred Gates, Athenians could reach the State Burial Ground or join the annual procession to Eleusis. The wooded Academy of Plato also lay outside the walls. Potters, prostitutes, mourners and soldiers all frequented this once-busy area.

148 Ermou Tel. (+30) 210.346.3552 • Open daily: 08:00-15:00 (Museum closed on Mondays) • Admission: €4 • •

Vasileos Konstantinou Avenue (opposite the statue of the Discobolus of Myron) • Tel. (+30) 210.522.9846 • Open: November-February: 08:0017:00, March-October: 08:0019:00 • Admission: €5

the NUMISMATIC MUSEUM of athens

Once the home of Heinrich Schliemann, the father of Greek archaeology, this impressive mansion now hosts the Numismatic Museum. With its richly painted walls, decorative marble floors and stunning displays of gold, silver and bronze coins, this is the place to appreciate the wealth of both ancient and modern Athens.

12 Panepistimiou Tel. (+30) 210.363.2057 • Open: Mon: 12:00-20:00, Tue-Sun: 09:00-16:00 • •

Panathenaic Stadium

The stadium for Athens and

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Admission: €3

(+30) 213.213.9500 • Open: Tue-Sun: 9:00-16:00; Mon: closed • Admission: €4

the National Archaeological Museum A top destination in the city, where you’ll find extraordinary bronze and marble sculptures; golden artifacts from the Mycenaean palaces; an exhibition on Santorini’s prehistoric, ash-entombed town of Akrotiri; and an extensive collection of black- and red-figure vases with painted scenes of gods, heroes, favorite myths and fascinating glimpses into ancient daily life.

44 Patission • Tel. (+30) 213.214.4800 • Open: Mon: 13:00-20:00, Tue-Sun: 09:0016:00 (winter) • Admission: €5

the Byzantine Museum Housed in the Villa Illissia, another 19th-century Athenian architectural treasure that served as the winter palace of the Duchess of Plaisance, a French-American Hellenophile, the BCM showcases the splendor and far-reaching influence of Byzantine culture and of Greece’s post-Byzantine Christian artists.

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22 Vasilissis Sofias • Tel. G R E E C E IS

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the Museum of Cycladic Artthe Benaki Museum

Two great Athenian museums, located not far apart, one focused on the ancient culture of the Aegean and the other boasting an evocative collection of ancient, medieval and Greek Revolution-era and early modern art objects and artifacts, giving the visitor an overview of the full spectrum of Greece’s history and civilization. (The Benaki Museum also has annexes for Islamic art and contemporary art at two other locations.) the museum of Cycladic Art

4 Neophytou Douka, Kolonaki Tel. (+30) 210.722.8321-3 • Open: Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat: 10:00-17:00, Thu: 10:0020:00, Sun: 11:00-17:00 • Admission: €7 • •

the benaki Museum

1 Koumpari, Kolonaki • Tel. (+30) 210.367.1000 • Open: Thu, Sat: 10:00-24:00, Wed, Fri: 09:00-17:00, Sun: 09:0013:00 (Closed: Mon, Tues) • Admission: €9 •

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© CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU, SHUTTERSTOCK, PERIKLES MERAKOS, KATERINA KAMPITI

philopappos Monument

THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM

in the craftsmen’s lair An inside look into the state-of-the art labs where highly skilled conservators and artists study and reproduce ancient sculptural artifacts for the museum shop.

B Y J o h n L e o n a r d P H O T OS N I K O S P I L O S

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Water is gently brushed onto a sculptural prototype during the moldmaking process, in preparation for an application of protective zinc foil.

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THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM

T

he “face” of the Acropolis Museum usually seen by its visitors is that of a uniquely impressive sculptural collection and innovative archaeological display, viewed through an upward experiential ascent from the exposed sub-floor excavations and canted Slopes Gallery to the masterpieces of the Parthenon Hall. Recently, however, “Greece Is” had the opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the Acropolis Museum – a face normally veiled from public view, but which on close inspection clearly bespeaks the fresh, highly principled, progressive approach of the Acropolis Museum to the ancient materials in its care and to its mission as a leading museological and cultural institution. As Museum Director Dimitrios Pandermalis led us through serpentine back corridors, he explained that what we were about to see represents something unusual in a museum: a specialized, state-of-the-art laboratory for the meticulous study and extremely accurate reproduction of ancient sculptural fragments and entire artifacts.

In approaching its sculptures and other antiquities, the Acropolis Museum strives to achieve a full understanding of the ancient materials used, how the ancient artists rendered these

1. Conservator Lefteris Karteris uses a brush to work the casting composition into a finished silicone mold.

2. Vasiliki Rachioti prepares to thoroughly blend casting materials beside a fume-hood in the Museum’s conservation laboratories.

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3. A plaster cast of a scene from the Parthenon’s sculpted frieze is removed from its mold.

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4. State-of-theart technology, including computer scanning and 3D printing, is used to reproduce the ancient artifacts.

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6. Dimitris Magkafas holds a portrait bust. The Museum prepares reproductions of ancient objects both large and small.

5. A giant mechanical centrifuge ensures proper material distribution in the casting of hollow replicas.

7. Material is poured into a mold stabilized with stone weights.

Every step in the process requires clever solutions refined through experience.

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THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM

Maria Gavrinioti is responsible for producing hefty bronze facsimiles like the figurine she holds in her hands.

An ancient female face looks up from a work table. The finely reproduced details attest to the inspiration of the original artist.

materials and how the objects have been affected or altered by the passage of time. Under the museum’s scientific and technological scrutiny, Pandermalis notes, the ancient artifacts themselves reveal the extraordinary passion with which ancient Greek artists once worked in order to “capture” the desired details. “This sense of passion, so remarkable today, is what the Acropolis Museum hopes to transfer to its visitors: It is about recognizing the details in the items exhibited and thus appreciating their quality.”

To explore, record and reproduce the Acropolis Museum’s treasured objects and the ways of ancient artists, Pandermalis has assembled a dedi-

cated team of specialists, trained in disciplines ranging from archaeology, archaeological conservation and materials science to fine arts. They rely not only on previously established methods and cutting-edge approaches similarly adopted by the world’s other major museums, but also on newly developed techniques and procedures created right here in the Acropolis Museum’s own laboratory. The absolute principle guiding their efforts is the need to achieve the highest degree of accuracy possible, a goal in which the museum is also assisted and advised through collaboration with the Polytechnic School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The methods employed

“This sense of passion... is what we hope to transfer to our visitors: it is about recognizing the details in the items exhibited and thus appreciating their quality.”

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at the Acropolis Museum, according to members of Pandermalis’ team, are constantly being evaluated, refined and improved through in-house experimentation and research.

The actual procedures behind reproducing an ancient fragment or artifact are a far cry from the ancient process of the Greeks and Romans, who employed a mechanical pointing device to transfer the surface topography of an object to a newly created work. This age-old technique involved a certain degree of artistic freedom which today is incompatible with the Acropolis Museum’s highly exacting standards.

To begin with, an exact working prototype must first be created, which will be used as a guide in the subsequent steps of mold-making, casting and painting. Prototypes of existing objects are rendered either by working with the ancient object directly or by scanning it using 3D computer graphics technology. In the former technique, a membrane-thin sheet of zinc foil is first tamped onto the surface of the ancient artifact using water and a fine brush.

Dimitris Kilkis and his specialist colleagues strive to reproduce the museum’s treasures with the greatest possible accuracy.

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THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM

Even existing signs of weathering, wear, tool marks and holes for original bronze attachments are reproduced to create an exact replica of the ancient artifact.

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1. Plaster casts are “brought to life” by conservators Stelios Panagiotopoulos and Christos Angelopoulos.

2. The museum presently uses bronze, plaster and resin for its reproductions, but hopes to soon begin working with marble as well.

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This protects the original object when it is placed into a container of silicone rubber to form a mold. Once the mold is ready, gypsum plaster is poured in to create a cast. For larger, heavier fragments or artifacts, a two-part mold is used, into which casting material is injected and centrifugally spun to allow a hollow, thin-walled final product.

For plaster, acrylic resin or bronze reproductions of small artifacts, initial prototypes are created through 3D printing of the scanned original objects. These “printed” prototypes are then used as previously described for the mold-making and casting procedures. (To make their copies more like the originals, the museum hopes to be able in the future to begin using marble similar to an object’s original material, rather than plaster.) The last major production step is painting – both of an artifact’s base color and of all its intricate visible surface details. Even existing signs of weathering, wear, tool marks and holes for original bronze attachments are reproduced to create an exact replica of the ancient artifact in its current state of preservation. Perhaps most intriguing are the minute details of decoration and especially texture, which the ancient artists included so as to depict more realistically the actual cloth type and fabrication details of a figure’s peplos (robe) or other attire.

To reproduce texture, cloth thickness, stitching and polychromatic border decorations, the Acropolis Museum’s painters must employ “micro-sculpting” techniques and a program of experimentation with a range of colors and paint types until the exact ancient hues are discovered. The science, precision and disciplined artistic skills required for all of these procedures pay appropriate tribute to the inspiring original artistry of the ancient Greeks.

Info O p e n i n g h o u r s : Mon-Thu 9:00-17:00, Fri 9:00-22:00, Sat-Sun 9:00-20:00 (winter) T i c k e t s : General admission: €5 • 15 Dionysiou Areopagitou • Tel. (+30) 210.900.0900 • www.theacropolismuseum.gr

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the BYZ ANTINE MUSEUM

18 CENTURIES IN TWO HOURS An elegant villa originally built for a duchess is now home to 25,000 treasures of art, faith and everyday life, from the beginning of the Byzantine civilization to the birth of the modern Greek state.

By Maria Skiadaresi

P H O T O S P ERIK L E S M ERAK O S

Š Byzantine & Christian Museum

Admiring some of the exquisite 17th-century icons

the BYZ ANTINE MUSEUM

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hen Stamatis Kleanthis, one of the pre-eminent Greek architects of the 19th century, completed the elegant villa commissioned by Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, this area of Athens still had something of the countryside about it, even though the two-story manor on the banks of the River Ilissos was only a short distance from the palace of King Otto. Clad all over in carved marble, set inside a well-tended garden and with an ample courtyard framed by ground-floor ancillary buildings, it remains stately in its simplicity but with a lightness provided by a row of seven elegant arches along its facade. It is a special home that reflects the unique personality of its original French-American owner, known by the title Duchess of Plaisance (in Greek, “Doukissa tis Plakentias”).

Following the death of her beloved only daughter, Eliza, in 1837, Sophie de Marbois decided to settle in Greece, just as many other philhellenes had done after the Greek War of Independence. She had this house built as a winter residence, attracted to a location that offered her a view of both Faliro Bay to the south and stately Lycabet52

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tus Hill to the north. After her death in 1854, Villa Ilissia, as she had named it, came under the ownership of the Greek state. For three years, it served as the Evelpidon Military Academy and later was used by other military authorities.

In 1926, it was chosen to house the Byzantine and Christian Museum.

The simplicity of the museum’s name belies the wealth of its contents – more than 25,000 artifacts originating mainly from Greece, the Balkans and Asia Minor. Visitors can tour the permanent collection in about two hours as they journey through the last 18 centuries of Greek history. The period of civilization known as the Byzantine era determined the course of the eastern Roman Empire and, more importantly, its transformation into the Orthodox Empire of Byzantium, with its capital in Constantinople. The roots of this era go back to late antiquity while the last of its branches extends forward into the Ottoman era; its influence however reaches further, through the period in which the modern Greek state was established, to touch us even today.

It had been years since I last visited the museum, but I was recently

1. Masonry iconostasis with depictions of the Great Prayer, Christ Pantocrator, Virgin and Saints (17th c.).

2. Funerary statuette from Christian Egypt (a typical example of Coptic art.)

The period of civilization known as the Byzantine era determined the course of the eastern Roman Empire and its transformation into the Orthodox Empire of Byzantium, with its capital in Constantinople.

© Byzantine & Christian Museum

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Observing the icon of the Panaghia Hodegetria (Directress) as it appears on the reverse side of a two-sided 9th c. icon; to the right, a marble sarcophagus from the 10th or 11th c.

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the BYZ ANTINE MUSEUM

attracted by the exhibit of icons from the famed State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow; the occasion proved a good opportunity to revisit its permanent collections as well. The whole collection seemed more comfortable, lighter and more familiar this time around. It is an exemplary museum that, if missed on a first visit to Athens, gives foreign travelers an added incentive to return.

© Byzantine & Christian Museum’s Historical and Photographic Archives

THE CROSS OF PURIFICATION

Seeing the sculptures from the period that began when the Roman Empire stopped persecuting Christians (AD 313) to the year that Christianity was declared the official religion of the state (AD 380), it is clear that life underwent a radical change from the moment that Christians finally felt free; sculpture and funerary steles from antiquity were now marked with a cross in an attempt to purge them of the miasma of idolatry, to stamp out everything that once persecuted Christ’s followers. A typical example is the marble plaque with carving on each side found in Lechaio, a port on the shores of the Corinthian Gulf near the Corinth Canal. The head of Gorgon on the front served as a decorative element on an ancient temple, and a relief cross on the reverse is from the period when the temple came to be used as a Christian church. Other exhibits highlight those customs and beliefs of humans that remained unaltered regardless of which God they believed in, as evidenced by amulets such as pendant blessing crosses, communion diskoi (trays) decorated with symbols, and the small vials made to hold holy water.

Unaltered is also a word that can be used to describe the state of some of the items on display. No visitor can remain unimpressed by the samples of the tra-

1. A memorable school trip.

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the BYZ ANTINE MUSEUM

ditional dress of the Coptic Christians of Egypt, particularly the leather footwear or the decorated child’s tunic with the stunning embellishment of gold leaf, all perfectly preserved by Egypt’s dry desert climate.

TRACES OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Glazed cup from a Cypriot workshop (late 14th c.).

Silk vestment embroidered with gold and silver, depicting Christ Ampelos, from the Balkans (17th c.).

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Glazed ceramic utensil, used for preparing and serving sauces (12th c.).

The exhibits reflect the changes in fortunes over the centuries, sometimes gleaming in testimony to the wealth of the empire, sometimes seemingly dulled by harder times. One of these times of crisis came between the 7th and 8th centuries, brought on by both ongoing external wars and imperial infighting, including the religious and political conflicts over the use of icons.

During this period, the works of art become less ornate and the objects related to worship become much simpler. This marks the period when Byzantium was transformed from a global empire with worldwide radiance into a medieval and chiefly Eastern power.

Nevertheless, there are exhibits from the 7th century, two facing display cases in particular, that surprise visitors with their splendor: one contains silver utensils and the other holds gold jewelry and coins found in Lesvos.

Among the gold artifacts are 32 solidi coins from the reigns of emperors Phocas (602-610) and Heraclius (610641). Each new emperor minted their own coins of gold, silver or bronze. The solidi were gold and had a stable value, which is what their name implies. One side of the coins bore the face of the emperor or empress, and often included their heir, while the other side featured a holy figure. It was an effective way for the subjects of the vast empire to get to know the face of their ruler and to connect that face with the divine right to rule.

2. Gold-plated copy of the Old Testament, a sponsored gift from Catherine the Great of Russia to the Greek Church of Livorno (18th c.).

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the BYZ ANTINE MUSEUM

As visitors to the museum move from era to era, the exhibits of public and ecclesiastic life give way from time to time to cases featuring everyday objects used by the common people, displays which often hold greater fascination for the viewer. Of significant interest is the glass case full of lead seals, testifying to how the Byzantines conducted their commercial transactions.

These seals were small round lead pieces pressed together over the ends of a string tied around documents or goods to ensure security and/or authenticity.

Another exhibit includes two tin-plated bronze crowns which, according to the inscription on them, were created for the wedding of a senior officer named Romanos.

© Byzantine & Christian Museum’s Historical and Photographic Archives

PAINTING OF SAINTS

Over and above everything else, the main institution throughout the Byzantine period was the Christian church; within that institution, icons were the principal form of expression. For a time, these objects were challenged by emperors and others who tore many of them from their churches and destroyed them, influenced perhaps by the mentality of the East and particularly Islam, which abhorred images of faces.

Eventually the iconoclasts disappeared (AD 842) and subsequent generations restored the practice of iconography, making it possible for us to admire and study this unique form of art so richly represented in this museum.

Some of the most impressive are those icons painted on both sides of their panels, which date mainly from the late Imperial era (9th-14th centuries), and from after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. In addition to their double aspect, many of these icons also show signs of multiple layers of images,

Right, North side of the Villa Ilissia’s central building at the time of its use by the Greek military (Historical Photographic Archives of the Byzantine and Christian Musem). Far right, 12th c. four-gospel codex in parchment; on lefthand page, St. John the Apostle is depicted.

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Two-sided icons , one of the Panaghia Hodegetria with scenes of the Dodekaorto and one of Christ Pantocrator.

Behind them, carved relief panels from Athens (10th-11th c.).

the BYZ ANTINE MUSEUM

Marble pilaster capital with relief decoration, from Basilica C, Nea Anchialos (7th-8th c.).

Ascension of the Prophet Elijah and Scenes from His Life,

by Cretan painter Theodore Poulakis (2nd half of 17th c.).

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The exhibits reflect the changes in fortunes over the centuries, sometimes gleaming in testimony to the wealth of the empire, sometimes seemingly dulled by harder times.

© Byzantine & Christian Museum’s Historical and Photographic Archives

such as the one which features the Crucifixion on one side and a Virgin Hodegetria on the other. A closer look at John as he mourns Christ on the cross shows him to have three hands, which would indicate the existence of an earlier Crucifixion scene underneath.

Indeed, a thorough study of the icon found that its Crucifixion side had been painted three times – in the 9th, 10th and 13th centuries.

The Virgin on the reverse side was added in the 16th century. It is likely that a lack of suitable wood led the hagiographers to reuse older icons for their work. Another exquisite example of this art form is the 14th century icon

Marble statue of the Good Shepherd, from Old Corinth (4th c. AD).

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from Veria, showing Saint Catherine with the important moments in her life symbolically illustrated. This was a common technique hagiographers used to teach the illiterate faithful about the lives of the saints.

WORSHIP AT THE EPISCOPE

On entering the gallery that reproduces the interior of an entire Byzantine church, complete with the authentic wall paintings recovered before the church in question was abandoned, one cannot help but be awestruck. The room is a faithful copy of the inside of the Church of the Assumption of Mary, or Episcope, which once stood on the west bank of the Megdovas River in Evrytania. In 1960, work began on a dam at Kremasta on the Acheloos River that would cause the church to be submerged by the rising waters of the artificial lake. However, before the water level reached the church, archaeologists carefully removed the wall frescoes using special techniques. The frescoes were taken to the Byzantine Museum, where each part of the church interior was carefully reproduced in a specially designed room, each piece placed “back” in its spot as the exhibit took shape.

In this gallery of Byzantium’s final days of glory, there is a sense that the empire, having reclaimed some of its territory from the Franks, was now undergoing a self-aware artistic and spiritual period, perhaps for the first time in its history, building on all of its previous periods of creativity to give the world some of the most eminent artworks ever produced. A 15th-century icon showing the apostles Peter and Paul with a cross between them, made as the empire was

in its final throes, symbolizes the union of the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

This was a policy promoted by the last of the Palaiologos dynasty which, until a few years before the Fall of Constantinople, believed this was the only way to stop the destruction that was galloping mercilessly across the open valleys of Thrace straight for the crippled walls of the City of Cities. (It should be noted that this unification policy backfired, leading to the accelerated fall and dissolution of the empire.)

After walking through the last galleries with exhibits from the Turkish occupation and the various hagiography schools of Crete and Ionian Islands, and the subsequent rooms housing the early flutterings of New Hellenism, I could not help but stand a moment just before the exit to gaze at an 18th-century icon from Asia Minor which vividly depicts a scene from the Book of Revelation. I doubt it was placed here at the very end of a tour of a Christian museum by chance, particularly since Saint John’s apocalyptic text condenses the entire teleology of the Christian faith.

Info 22 Vasilissis Sofias O pening hours : Tue-Sun: 9:00-16:00; Monday: Closed T ic k ets : General admission €4; free admission to those under 18 • Tel. (+30) 213.213.9500 • www.byzantinemuseum.gr Weather permitting, it is certainly worth touring the museum’s recently restored gardens – a simulation of Paradise as seen from a Christian perspective. As you stroll among the herbs and fruit-bearing trees, you can observe the changes that the landscape around the Ilissos River has undergone since antiquity.

I n the gift shop, you will find certified copies of items from a number of Greek state museums, as well as publications, posters and handmade works inspired by pieces in this museum’s permanent collection • Tel. (+30) 213.213.9552 T o round out your tour , visit the elegant Café-Bistro Ilissia on the museum grounds.

The café has its own opening hours.

Tue-Sun: 9:00-20:00 • Tel. (+30) 211.012.0441

TERNA The Greek company t h at u n d e r s i g n s t h e construction achievement o f Sta v r o s N i a r c h o s F o u n d at i o n C u lt u r a l C e n t e r ( SNFCC )

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) has been a complicated project, unlike any other of its kind world-wide, full of engineering challenges. A Greek construction company, TERNA, member of GEK TERNA Group of companies, proved in practice that the Greek technical workforce is in position to successfully respond to any construction or technical challenge. TERNA, member of the “Salini Impregilo - TERNA” joint venture responsibly and with consistency implemented the vision of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and fully respected the meticulous design and specifications of internationally renowned architect Renzo Piano and his advisors; the uniquely original “ferrocement” canopy above the Opera Building is a truly extraordinary feat of design and construction methodology

that constitutes a unique mechanical achievement globally.

For approximately 3.5 years, more than 6,000 employees (only those within the construction site) outdid themselves to realize this state-of-the-art project, which apart from size and complexity, became the most demanding project in Greece until today, in terms of safety for both the personnel and the facilities, as well as in terms of Environmental protection.

It is no wonder that the joint venture won an International Safety Award with merit from the British Safety Council in recognition of its commitment to keeping its workers and workplaces healthy and safe during the 2015 calendar year.

Neither is the fact that the project meets the very strict standards required by the LEED certification (Leadership in

advertorial

Energy and Environmental Design), the certification program of the U.S. green building Council that includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings.

The exhaustive controls and tests of materials and constructions, the progress of the project, the procedures of approvals and supplies, etc., were performed through a document electronic management system in combination with 3D building information modeling (BIM) for the entire building components and installations.

Independent certification bodies, universities and special consultants had real-time electronic access to all quality documents within and outside the site.

TERNA: A pioneer in constructing cultural projects

TERNA has an impressive portfolio of important cultural buildings including the Athens Concert Hall, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the Royal Theater of Thessaloniki, the Foundation of the Hellenic World, the Goulandris Museum and the Pallas Theater among others.

The most exquisite of them all, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) can now be added to this long list.

GEK TERNA Group is one of the leading business groups in Greece with operations also in Central and Southeastern Europe, USA, North Africa and Middle East.

The Group’s expertise spans from construction, energy production and supply, concessions, waste management and mining activities to real estate development & management.

With a total number of 6,000 employees around the world, the Group has invested more than €1.5 billion in the last years. The current construction backlog of the Group exceeds €2,8 billion.

OUT OF TOWN

ANCIENT WONDERS in the Attic Countryside No need to travel far to explore “mysterious” Eleusis, an arcaded haunt of little “bears” or a blood-soaked battlefield marked forever by Greek victory.

BY John Leonard

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PHotos pericles mer akos

From famous battlefields beside excellent beaches to serene rural sanctuaries devoted to an ancient god or goddess to mountaintop fortresses and solitary watch towers, we offer you a glimpse of this amazing array of potential destinations to fuel your imagination and get you started.

Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis: the Greater Propylaia (main gateways), with the cave behind marking the shrine of Pluto, god of the Underworld.

© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/Archaeological Receipts Fund

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t’s not just the city proper that has stunning archaeological sites – there are many places of historical interest, some with unforgettable ruins and inspiring natural vistas, lying largely forgotten in the Attic countryside, which you can experience on an easy half-day or one-day excursion.

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OUT OF TOWN

Eleusis - elefsina

Visions of the afterlife

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underwent secret initiation ceremonies.

To reveal these proceedings was considered sacrilege and was punished strictly. Aristotle (4th c. BC) reports only that the rites included things done, said and revealed, while Plutarch (1st/2nd centuries AD) opines that those attending were overwhelmingly awed into submission and amazement. Participants departed Eleusis on the ninth day, having endured a physically taxing, emotionally heightening experience intended to leave them feeling united with their fellow initiates and spiritually uplifted.

Where once existed boisterousness, celebration and covetous incursions by neighboring powers, visitors to Eleusis today usually find a quiet archaeological site, impressive for its multiple circuits of defensive walls, a monumental entrance like the Propylaia on the Athenian Acropolis, preserved mudbrick granaries and sacred springs where Demeter reputedly paused while searching for Persephone. In the forecourt stood two Roman gateways, honorific miniatures of Hadrian’s Arch in Athens, while nearby a stepped fountain with wellworn water channels once provided cool refreshment and a place for weary travelers to sit.

The cult of the Eleusinian Mysteries represents an intriguing precursor to Christianity, as it envisaged an afterlife for its followers in which they could expect better circumstances.

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© Ephorate of Antiquities of West Attika, PirAeus and Islands

The sanctuary of Demeter at ancient Eleusis, in western Attica, was perhaps the best-known religious center in Athens’ hinterland, home to the foremost mystery cult and festival in the Greco-Roman world: the Eleusinian Mysteries. Demeter, goddess of grain, agriculture and fertility, her daughter (Kore) Persephone and Hades, god of the Underworld, were key figures in the Mysteries. The cult represents an intriguing precursor to Christianity, as it envisaged an afterlife for its followers in which they could expect better circumstances. So important were the Mysteries, especially to Athenians, that they flourished in some form from the Late Bronze Age through the late Roman era — a span of nearly 2,000 years.

Demeter, through the myth of her daughter, was credited with a role in the changing of the seasons, but also served as the divine protectress of harvest, youth, marriage and birth. Although few facts are known, the ceremonies at Eleusis appear to have involved the retelling and dramatization of the stories of Demeter and Kore, who was abducted by Hades and only allowed to reunite with her mother for part of the year — during which the earth flourished.

Everyone could participate in the Eleusinian Mysteries despite age or sex and without racial or social discrimination. The Great Mysteries, held in autumn (September), called for nine days of rites staged both inside and outside Athens. After listening to an opening proclamation at the Painted Stoa (adjacent to the Agora), the faithful underwent ritual purification in the sea at Faliro, then several days of fasting and nights of feasting, a walking procession from the Kerameikos’ Sacred Gate to Eleusis (approx. 20 km), followed by further fasting and feasting. Finally, on the seventh and eighth days, they were ushered into the Telesterion, a torch-lit hall that held 3,000 people, where they

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© Ephorate of Antiquities of West Attika, Piraeus and Islands

The Telesterion, the great hall of the Eleusinian Mysteries, with the Straits of Salamis in the background.

1. The “Fleeing Kore,” probably an Oceanid (sea nymph), from the pediment of the Sacred House, 490–480 BC (Archaeological Museum of Eleusis).

2. Relief depicting Demeter (left), seated on a throne, and her daughter Persephone (right), holding torches (Archaeological Museum of Eleusis).

3. Ceramic Ninnion Tablet, with painted scenes of the Eleusinian Mysteries, first half of the 4th c. BC (National Archaeological Museum, Athens).

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4. Caryatid from the Lesser Propylaia.

On her head she carries a sacred box decorated with carved reliefs symbolic to the mysterious rites at Eleusis (Archaeological Museum of Eleusis).

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Cape Sounio, lavrio, thorikos The Temple of Poseidon

On the peak of Cape Sounio at the southernmost tip of Attica stands the temple of Poseidon. For here, one has virtually a hang-glider’s view of the Saronic Gulf and its islands. The distinct promontory was also sacred to Athena, worshiped in a small sanctuary below the summit. A timeless navigational landmark, Sounion was vulnerable to the passing Persian fleet which, in 480 BC, stopped long enough for the invaders to destroy the temples of both Poseidon (early 5th c. BC) and Athena (6th c.

BC). The latter was rebuilt a decade later, while a new temple for Poseidon, de-

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signed by Athens’ “Theseion Architect” and sharing certain stylistic details with the contemporary Hephaisteion, arose ca. 444 BC. After Sounio was strengthened with a hilltop fortress in the late 5th c. BC, it became an important Attic border post and coast guard station, equipped with a rock-carved ship’s ramp for the drawing out and rapid launching of small naval craft.

As Philip II, Alexander and their successors rose to power in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, Sounio was occupied

by Macedonian troops. Under the Roman Εmpire, the stronghold lost much

of its military significance, but still proved advantageous to a band of rebellious slaves (ca. 100 BC) temporarily on the lam from the silver/lead mines at nearby Lavrio. Sounio also became notorious as a pirate haven and later as a favorite stopover for early travelers and antiquarians — including Lord Byron who, in the early 19th c., left his name prominently carved into one of the Temple of Poseidon’s marble doorposts.

Temple of Poseidon at Sounio.

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© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/Archaeological Receipts Fund

OUT OF TOWN

Brauron - VRAVRONA

© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/Archaeological Receipts Fund

Where girls became women

A larger rural sanctuary with ties to ancient Athens is that of Artemis Brauronia, located near Attica’s east coast.

Now silted in behind a reedy marsh, Brauron used to offer passing ships a convenient harbor with fresh water.

This was the spot, according to legend, where Iphigeneia, daughter of Agamemnon, took refuge before the Trojan War, having escaped after her father threatened to sacrifice her. Iphigeneia’s story and the importance of Artemis Brauronia’s cult, especially for Athenian women, are disclosed in the 5th c. BC plays of Aeschylus (Agamemnon), Euripides (Iphigeneia at Aulis) and Aristophanes (Lysistrata). On the Athenian Acropolis, a city branch of the Artemis Brauronia sanctuary, constructed perhaps by Peisistratus in the 6th c.

BC, was granted a key position between the Propylaia and the Parthenon.

Every four years, a procession of worshipers left Athens for Artemis’ Arkteia festival and walked or rode along a sacred route to the sanctuary (today about 41 km via Attiki Odos).

Expectant and new mothers particularly cherished the goddess for her divine protection during/after childbirth. Young girls in Classical times also worshiped her with rituals that marked their transition into puberty and womanhood. Athenian daughters (7-10 years old) were sent to Brauron to serve as Artemis’ attendants (“arktoi”: bears). They lived in the sanctuary for a year, during which they participated, often dressed as bears, in sacred dances, races, and sacrifices.

Brauron is one of Attica’s most distinctive archaeological sites, with its shady trees, sacred spring, cave shrines and its singular, partly restored Doric 68

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Admiring the colonnaded stoa in the Sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron.

stoa. The site was already inhabited in Neolithic times (ca. 3300 BC), and again in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (ca. 2000-1600 BC), but was abandoned ca. 1200 BC, before being reoccupied in the 9th or 8th centuries BC. Iron Age residents centered their worship of Artemis at the site’s natural spring and within nearby rocky hollows. The goddess’ first stone temple was constructed in the 6th c. BC, but in 480 BC fell victim to invading Persians bound for Athens. Some 50 years later it was rebuilt, along with an unprecedented three-sided stoa, which sheltered nine ceremonial dining rooms, each containing 11 dining couches. A uniquely preserved stone bridge (5th c. BC) spans a stream just west of the stoa, its upper surface rutted from ancient cart wheels. Archaeological excavations have revealed votive offerings dropped into the spring and preserved in its mud, including bronze mirrors, rings, gems, wooden spindles and whorls, delicate bone tools and other objects also indicative of female worshipers. Inscriptions suggest the existence of other (presently unexcavated) buildings on the site, including a palaestra and gymnasium.

This was the spot, according to legend, where Iphigeneia, daughter of Agamemnon, took refuge before the Trojan War, having escaped after her father threatened to sacrifice her.

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Marathon Plain Mounds, monuments and a philosopher’s country refuge

The Marathon area is one of the most popular places outside Athens; but don’t let this deter you. Besides its major monuments, there are other corners of the Plain that are seldom seen and fun to explore. This trip, as all excursions described here, is best undertaken with a rental or private car or a hired driver/taxi. At the top of the Marathon list is the Mound of the Athenians, a 10m–high tumulus erected in 490 BC after the Battle of Marathon between the Persians and the Greeks — an event recounted by ancient authors, including the historian Herodotus (5th c. BC) and the Roman-era traveler Pausanias (2nd c. AD). This hill, and the adjacent

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bronze statue of the Greek commander Miltiades, marks the spot of a large funeral pyre, where 192 Athenian warriors that died defending Greece were ceremonially cremated. Families of the fallen made dedications at the Mound that included ornate black-figure pottery, now displayed in the Marathon Archaeological Museum. On the access road to this district museum (left turn, beyond the Mound), one passes on the right a modern enclosure protecting an extensively excavated Early Bronze Age cemetery (Tsepi), visible through large windows; further on stands another, smaller post-battle tumulus, the Mound of the Plataians.

Tomb of the Athenian Warriors from the Battle of Marathon, Marathon Plain.

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marked by the small chapel of Panaghia Mesosporitissa. In 1884, a huge tumbled mass of human bones was recorded lying near this chapel. It is also the area where the Athenians erected an Ionic-style column of Pentelic marble as a victory trophy (475-450 BC). Now replaced with a handsome replica, the original column (Marathon Museum) stood 10m high, capped with a statue of Nike (Victory). It represented a cherished Athenian monument, later mentioned in Aristophanes’ plays The Knights, The Wasps and Lysistrata.

By Roman times, Marathon was also known for its native son Herodes Atticus, the sophist, senator and great public benefactor, who founded a music hall on the South Slope of the Acropolis. Herodes kept a large country estate northwest of the Marathon battlefield and made local benefactions that included the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods (ca. AD 160) — a tribute to the emperor Hadrian’s own Nilotic complex at Tivoli outside Rome. This “Sanctuary of Canopus,” once featuring a canal and adjoined by a luxurious Roman bath, is located behind Aghia Kiriaki church on the seafront, in the district of Brexiza. From Athens, via the Marathon Highway, it proves more direct to follow signs to the church than to the archaeological site.

Another tranquil spot in the Marathon area lies west of the town of Marathonas, where a three-storied medieval watchtower (“Oinoi Tower,” 13th c.) overlooks a natural spring, a Frankish chapel (Holy Apostles, 13th c.) and the marble ruins of a unique, Roman-era nymphaeum (water display) installed

by Herodes Atticus.

Nearby, a low hill contains a cave, now gated, described by Pausanias and sacred to Pan, the goat-like god credited for the Persians’ “panic” during the Battle of Marathon. Nature walkers will appreciate a well-signed trail network that also begins here, with one path following an ancient road and another leading through a gorge to the foot of the Marathon Dam.

Marathon was also known for its native son Herodes Atticus, the sophist, senator and great public benefactor, who founded a music hall on the South Slope of the Acropolis.

1. The imposing Frankish watchtower (ca. AD 1250) at Oinoe, near the town of Marathonas.

2. Female statue in the form of Isis, from the Roman Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods at Brexiza (Archaeological Museum of Marathon).

3. The gallery of the Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods, founded by Herodes Atticus in AD 160 (Archaeological Museum of Marathon).

4. Early Helladic cemetery at Tsepi.

5. The Church of the Holy Apostles.

6. The area of the ancient nymphaion (fountain) of Herodes Atticus (2nd c. AD).

© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/Archaeological Receipts Fund, ANGELOS GIOTOPOULOS

As the prehistoric necropolis indicates, Marathon Plain had long been attractive to settlers. When the Persian fleet invaded Greece in the early 5th c.

BC, Marathon appeared to be an ideal shore that offered a level, sandy disembarkation point, close to Athens, where Darius’ forces (as many as 600 ships and up to 25,000 men) could conveniently muster. The distinctive Kynosoura (“dog-tail”) peninsula at the plain’s northeastern end provided shelter in its lee from northern winds, while fresh water could be had from the nearby Makaria spring. What Persian strategists didn’t count on were the extensive marshes that lay inland from the northern shore (Schinias, one of Attica’s most pristine beaches).

These wetlands could easily be avoided by the Persians prior to the onslaught against the Greeks, who assembled further south (9,000 Athenians, 1,000 Plataians).

When the actual battle began, however, and the charging Greek hoplites ferociously routed the Persians, the enemy troops took to their feet in blind panic and ran back toward their ships, only to get swallowed up in brackish waters, bogged down and slaughtered among the reeds. Others managed to reach the beach, but there met further Greek resistance before finally escaping out to sea.

Persian casualties at Marathon far outnumbered those of the Greeks. The Athenians lost only those 192 buried in the Mound, with another 11 fighters interred beneath the Mound of the Plataians. Among the Athenian dead was Cynegeiros, brother of the playwright Aeschylus — who himself fought at Marathon, as well as at Salamis and possibly Plataiai in 480-479 BC. Cynegeiros died, Herodotus reports, after losing a hand to an enemy sword while trying to prevent a Persian ship from fleeing.

The fallen invaders numbered some 6,400 (not counting those lost in the marshes). Their burial spot is not visible today, but its general location is

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Rhamnous

The naval base of Ancient Athens

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Most impressive at Rhamnous are the massive stone walls and towers of the coastal fortress… a network of narrow streets, courtyard houses, a gymnasium, and a central agora…

The Nemesis temple ranks among four temples attributed to the Hephaisteion’s unknown designer (“Theseion Architect”), who also built the temple of Poseidon at Sounion and that of Ares in the Athenian Agora. In antiquity, Nemesis’ cult statue was attributed by Pausanias and Pliny (1st c.

AD), respectively, to either the master sculptor Pheidias or one of his favorite apprentices, Agoracritus.

Inscriptions unearthed at Rhamnous reveal that many outsiders frequented the town, while numerous locals, including politicians and orators, were well-known in Athens. Antiphon of Rhamnous rose to particular prominence there, as a political speech-maker and founder of a school of rhetoric attended by Thucydides.

Most visually impressive at Rhamnous are the massive stone walls and towers of the coastal fortress, inside which one finds a network of narrow streets, courtyard houses, a gymnasium, and a central agora area with an atypically rectangular theater or bouleuterion (council house). Below the site lie the Euboean Straits, two silted ancient harbors and an excellent spot for a swim.

1. Statue of the goddess Themis, dedicated

by Megakles; from the temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous (National Archaeological Museum, Athens).

2. View of the archaeological site of Rhamnous.

© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/Archaeological Receipts Fund

The fortified town of Rhamnous in northeastern Attica may have been remote, but it served Athens as a key satellite community in the 5th c. BC, with distinct ties to the city’s political, religious, and artistic scenes. It also played a pivotal role in securing Athens’ food supply. During the brilliant but tempestuous first half of the Classical era, as Athens strove to quell invading Persians, rebellious allies and finally its arch-rival Sparta, following the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (431404 BC), Athenian residents relied on grain arriving overland from Euboea (Evia). When Sparta resorted to siege tactics, occupying the Attic outpost of Dekeleia in 412 BC and cutting off a main north-south land route, Rhamnous, with its strategic position at the narrows of the Euboean Gulf, came to serve as a naval base from which Athenian warships could safeguard shipping lanes extending around Cape Sounion to Piraeus.

The archaeological site today comprises two main areas, an upper temple precinct and a lower citadel, connected by a street lined with monumental graves that attest to the prominent, prosperous families who once inhabited Rhamnous. The town’s chief divinity was Nemesis, goddess of retribution, who particularly frowned upon acts of hubris or arrogant presumption. Beside the preserved base of her temple (ca. 440 BC) lies a smaller treasury or temple dedicated to Themis, goddess of divine order, justice and law. The cult of Nemesis (Rhamnousia) had already been established at Rhamnous by the 6th c. BC, but became more respected and popular following the Persians’ boastful invasion and subsequent humiliation at Marathon. Her latest temple was begun around the same time as the Parthenon and the Hephaisteion/ Theseion in Athens.

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Amphiareion OF OROPOS A secluded sanctuary

Amphiarus (deified by the people of Oropos) once featured unusual details including a small hidden cult chamber or treasury. The sanctuary also has two bath complexes; a 110m-long Doric stoa (roofed portico) with internal Ionic columns; and a typical Hellenistic theater with a reconstructed Doric colonnade adorning the façade of the scene building. To further serve visitors’ needs, a complex of hostels, stoas and other accommodations occupied the stream’s opposite bank, where a water clock with a deep reservoir can also be seen.

Inscribed statue bases still in situ indicate the Amphiareion’s particular popularity during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. After 146 BC, the sanctuary also hosted noted Roman including the notorious commander Sulla; Brutus, the co-assassin of Julius Caesar; and the Augustan admiral Agrippa. It was Athenian visitors, however, who were more common, especially during the late 5th c. BC plague — a crisis that may have sparked the original need for this countryside healing center.

Marble votive relief from Amphiareion. The relief depicts successive phases in the healing of a patient (4th c. BC, National Archaeological Museum, Athens).

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© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/Archaeological Receipts Fund

Among the wooded hills of northern Attica, in a ravine carved by a seasonal stream, nestles the Amphiareion of Oropos, a secluded ancient sanctuary far removed from the daily bustle of urban Athens. This petite sanctuary rests on the banks of the ancient Charadra, whose rocky course continues downward to a long-forgotten port called Delphinion. More than 2,400 years ago when the sanctuary was founded (ca. 425 BC), the ports of Delphinion and nearby Oropos represented regular stops in the Euboean Straits.

The Amphiareion takes its name from the widely venerated Argive hero Amphiarus, whose main shrine stood outside Thebes. He was a legendary figure, a king of Argos and a seer, whose cult offered prophesy and (like Asclepius) healing through interpretation of dreams. Aeschylus relates in his play Seven Against Thebes that Amphiarus joined an Argive invasion of Thebes before ultimately dying at the hand of Zeus.

Now partly eroded by seasonal flooding, the Doric-style temple of

The restored colonnade in front of the scene building (skene) in the theater at Amphiareion.

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Oropos

RHAMNOUS

Marathon

Eleusis

Brauron

Elefsina

Hidden Charms

Despite its associations with Attica’s heavy industrial past, Elefsina still retains areas with considerable charm that are worth a visit. Take a walk around Iroon Square and the pedestrianized Nikolaidou Street, which are the most vibrant parts of town, or along the seafront, where you’ll find century-old factory buildings, excellent specimens of industrial architecture.

Info: Located 20km west of Athens, Elefsina can be reached either via the Attiki Odos (take the Thriasio-Magoula or Mandra exit) or the Athens–Corinth National Road.

STOPS: At Kykeon (Tel. (+30) 210.554.5401) you can sip coffee while browsing books dedicated to the town’s archaeological past; other options for drinks are Rodon, on the seafront (Tel. (+30) 210.554.2522) or the cocktail bar En Etei (Tel. (+30) 210.554.6190). For light food, try Ouzeri Aegeon (Tel. (+30) 210.554.6001) or the fish taverna Trata (Tel. (+30) 210.554.16.02). For good grilled meat, drive to nearby Mandra.

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Around Vravrona

LAVRIO

For Outdoor Fun

You can go horse riding at the Vravrona Tower Riding Club (Τel. (+30) 694.859.4870) or stop over at the wetlands and search for the famous Frankish tower. In Porto Rafti, you can tour the Papagiannakos Winery (www. papagiannakos.gr). The Vravrona region is especially popular in the summer, thanks to its numerous beaches – Artemida in particular is a good spot for wind or kite-surfing. Info: 35km east of Athens, accessible via the Attiki Odos (Spata or Markopoulo exits) or Spaton Avenue.

STOPS: For food, try Xypolitos (Tel. (+30) 2294.028.342) or To Korali (Tel. (+30) 2294.045.044), and for coffee, go to To Trolley (Tel. (+30) 2294.084.660). In Porto Rafti, try Ouzeri Makarios (Tel. (+30) 2299.071.359) or Kalos Gialos (Tel. (+30) 2299.072.342). In the summer, the meeting point in Artemida is Nissakia Surf Club while in Vravrona, it’s worth lounging at the beach bar Ippokampos.

Cape Sounio

OUT OF TOWN

Oropos

Among the pines

Marathon/Rhamnous Nature’s wonderland

Archaeological sites, beaches, forests; the wider Marathon (or Marathonas) area offers itself for an all-round outdoors experience. Visit the dam at Lake Marathon and explore the walking paths around it. For a pleasant walk or bike ride, you can take the pedestrian road from Aghios Panteleimonas to Nea Makri, or the Inoi walking path near Marathon Dam. Along the coast, marvel at the beautiful pine trees extending all the way down to the beach at Schinias National Park (there is an observatory at Megalo Elos). In the summer, long and sandy Schinias Beach comes alive with different bars offering food, coffee, drinks and even water sports. For a swim away from the crowds, there are more hidden spots, like the rocky outposts at Dikastika and the quiet beaches at Rhamnous (nowadays called Ramnoundas).

Info: Marathonas is located 40km northeast of Athens and can be reached via the Athens–Lamia National Road (exit at Aghios Stefanos); Rhamnous is an extra 10km away.

STOPS: For food, try Heimona Kalokairi in Nea Makri (Tel. (+30) 2294.099.704); for seafood, Isidora (Tel. (+30) 2294.056.467) or Psaras (Tel. (+30) 2294.055.237). For meat, go to Argentina in Kalentzi (Tel. (+30) 2294.066.476), Mario in Ano Souli (Tel. (+30) 2294.061.637) or Archontiko Lekka in Marathon (Tel. (+30) 2294.067.374).

Try Nea Makri’s famous halva at Hatzigavriil (Tel. (+30) 2294.090.273) or indulge in some creamy delicacies at Dafni pastry shop (Tel. (+30) 2294.095.962).

Sounio’s best walks are in the Aleppo pine forest (the entrance to which is in Aghios Konstantinos), in which you can discover a ravine called Chaos as well as ancient mining pits.

A forested area, Oropos is ideal for walking and mountain biking. Its coast is also renowned for its coffee shops, bars and nightclubs located at Aghii Apostoli, Kalamos and Skala Oropou. Worth a visit is Phaeton Technological Museum (www. phaetonmuseum.gr) and the Costa Lazaridi Wine Museum (www. domaine-lazaridi.gr).

Info: 40km north of Athens. Take the Athens-Lamia National Road (Kapandriti-Kalamos or Markopoulo exits).

STOPS: For some tsipouro and meze, take a seat at Belami in Skala Oropou (Nea Palatia, Tel. (+30) 2295.037.466), or try Makedonia in Kapandriti (Tel. (+30) 2295.053.441). For meat, the best choice is To Tzaki at Polydendri (Tel. (+30) 2295.052.319). Alekos in Aghii Apostoli is a café, club and restaurant space (Tel. (+30) 2295.083.446).

Sounio

Archaeological parks and museums

Home to a national park covering 35 hectares and an ancient mining site, Sounio’s best walks are in the Aleppo pine forest (the entrance to which is in Aghios Konstantinos), in which you can discover a ravine called Chaos as well as ancient mining pits. In Lavrio, visit the Technological and Cultural Park (www.ltp.ntua.gr), a scientific, educational, business and cultural center on the site of an old French-owned mining company. Also worth a visit is the Mineralogical Museum (Tel (+30) 2292.026.270), the French industrial wharf and the ancient theater at Thorikos. For swimming, there are the beautiful, organized beaches at Sounio, Legrena and Harakas. In an area called Kape, you’ll find several quiet and more private spots, including a nudist beach.

Info: Located approx. 70km southeast of Athens. Accessible via the Attiki Odos and Lavriou avenue or Poseidonos-Souniou avenues.

STOPS: For fish, try Akrogiali in Sounio (Tel. (+30) 2292.039.107). Another excellent choice is Theorodos and Eleni (Tel. (+30) 2292.051.936) or Marida (Tel. (+30) 2292.051.221) at Legrena. For more gourmet options made with select produce, try the restaurants at Cape Sounio Resort (Tel. (+30) 2292.069.700).

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explore GREECE IS

ATH EN S

Going Native Learn how real Athenians live, share their hangouts and trace the evolution of the Greek art scene. Š Original Illustration by Philippos Avramides

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ARCHITECTURE

WHERE WE LIVE

An apartment entrance in the iconic “Blue Polykatoikia,” built in the early thirties by architect Kyriakos Panagiotakos.

After decades of being blamed for all that is ugly about the city, apartment buildings are now being seen in a new light.

© YIORGIS YEROLYMBOS

BY SELANA VRONTI Buildings’ Descriptions

by P etros B abasi k as

Polykatoikia ON Kifissias Avenue, 1958.

ARCHITECT: Nikos Valsamakis

This apartment building responds to car traffic and the width of a suburban thoroughfare by turning a porous sidewall to the street and opening its long side towards the south. It is made of three articulated parts: a block of flats, a base of free columns containing lower residential units on which that block rests, and a freefloating slab separating the two. The slab creates a canopy for an elegant drop-off and entry zone. The lowest story of the building steps down two levels beyond this zone to a green courtyard. The 18 singleand double-level apartments contain living areas and private spaces separated by sliding panels, a free-flow of uses echoing the flowing horizontal composition of the main volumes. A series of perforated panels shade and shelter the openings.

In all, this is an optimistic project: airy and sunny, its classical scale and human proportions signal a 1960s vision of speed and freedom. Αddress: 272 Kifissias Avenue, Halandri

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architecture

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© DIMITRIS KALAPODAS/DOMES INDEX

hurches, ancient ruins, kiosks and sunbleached awnings are just some of the typical sights that define Athens. But look around, and you’ll surely notice – walking along its streets or driving by in a cab – that the Greek capital is jam-packed with unsightly multi-story residential buildings festooned with rusty TV aerials poking up from their rooftops and plants growing wild on their balconies.

You are looking at examples of the polykatoikia (originally an academic architectural term to describe the Athenian apartment buildings that literally means multi-residence), one of the main architectural typologies encountered in Athens.

We Greeks have always had a love-hate relationship with these cement masses and, for decades, we’ve blamed them for all the stressful factors of city living: the over-population, the ugly cement sprawl, the environmental degradation, the shrinking of public space, the tensions with neighbors over the rules of communal living, the irritating noises coming through paper-thin walls and even our alienation from one another. In the past few years, however, something appears to be shifting in our perception of the polykatoikia. It has become the new “hot” topic in the academic architectural community, with numerous discussions being held in leading cultural forums and with “the apartment building” being presented as a phenomenon at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. For the end-user as well as the academic, views are changing.

Since the start of the financial crisis in particular, many urban residents in Greece (and in other countries around the world) are beginning to embrace and accept the apartment building as part of an effort to better understand their cities

and, by extension, themselves. “As time goes by, we inevitably start to love certain things, and the polykatoikia – for better or for worse – is part of our identity,” says architect Panos Dragonas, who recently co-organized a debate on the subject at the Onassis Cultural Center.

In short, if you want to understand Athens – and therefore Greece – it is imperative to get to know some of the history of these mostly family-built residences.

The Greek polykatoikia was born in 1929, thanks to legislation regulating horizontal property ownership, which essentially introduced the notion of antiparochi, an exchange with tax privileges between a property owner and a contractor whereby the former cedes his land or single-dwelling house to the latter, who erects an apartment building on the site. The contractor then hands back to the former owner some of the apartments in the new structure. The city’s earliest apartment buildings were designed and constructed by well-educated and well-traveled architects and contractors who were interested in delivering the best possible result. Typical examples of this period of modernist architecture include the “Blue Polykatoikia” on Exarchia Square, which was designed by Kyriakoulis Panagiotiakοs, and the apartment building on Zaimi Street, built in 1933 by Thoukididis Valentis and Polyvios Michailidis. Style, however, left the proverbial building following the Greek Civil War, when the near-total abandonment of the countryside in the 1950s and ‘60s by tens of thousands of impoverished Greeks put unprecedented pressure on the capital. This prompted unplanned and hurried development, and the phenomenon of the polykatoikia exploded.

We Greeks have always had a love-hate relationship with these cement masses and, for decades, we’ve blamed them for all the stressful factors of city living.

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The typical Athenian apartment building is home not just to residential units but also to medical practices and office spaces and, at street level, to grocery stores, pharmacies, tailors, art galleries and even movie theaters.

bricolage was not the product of one individual but of collectives.”

“Athens was built from the bottom up,” Dragonas says. “There was no central planning. In other countries, cities are designed by urban planning and zoning experts and they are usually separated into residential, commercial and work zones. This never happened here, though the different uses gradually found their place on their own.”

Are all the apartment buildings that emerged from the antiparochi system ugly? “It’s not a question of beauty. We are wrong to compare Athens to other European metropolises. The polykatoikia produced something new, regardless of esthetics,” stresses Ioanna Theocharopoulou, assistant professor at Parsons The New School for Design in New York. “When I started my doctoral thesis on Athens in early 2000, I realized that I had become tired of all the negative stereotypes I kept hearing about it. Athens developed in a piecemeal, unique (for western Europe, at least) manner, and as such is not lacking in interest. Even though it is by no means perfect, it does have many fascinating elements, and the polykatoikia is one of them. I have no intention of exalting it, but it is worthwhile to understand the past, the history and the society that created it. So why don’t we try to understand it on our own terms?”

The typical Athenian apartment building is home not just to residential units, but also to medical practices and offices, and, at street-level, to grocery stores, pharmacies, tailors, art galleries and even movie theaters. For Richard Woditsch, a German architect and a professor of Architectural Theo-

ry at the Georg Simon Ohm University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg, the Athenian apartment building is a charming thing: “It is a modern typology that offers a kind of mixed use: residences and work spaces at the same location. Thanks to this, the ‘interior’ and ‘exterior’ are in constant conversation.”

“The mixture of different uses and the osmosis of public and private space has always been a subject of interest to architects and city planners,” comments Dragonas. “In Athens, this emerged all by itself! This is one of the assets of the polykatoikia; that it brings life to its street.”

Konstantinos Pantazis and Marianna Rentzou of the architectural firm Point Supreme make another obser-

Polykatoikia Logothetopoulou, 1932 ARCHITECT: Kyprianos Biris

This building is a historic multi-residence building with a key position in the Athenian political and cultural imagination.

Responding to the interwar housing crisis, the architect created housing on a civic scale to accommodate the daily life of the middle class. The building pioneered the use of protruding reinforced concrete volumes (“erker”) as distinctive elements of the Athenian polykatoikia, creating urban thresholds and bringing the private into the public. Its façades, ground floors and terraces were designed as public spaces, integrating arcades, courtyards and lightwells in the service of the 46 units of the block. After the war, the building hosted the National Intelligence Agency, the offices of the Communist Party and the Ministry of Culture. Its historical identity as a memorial, first to torture, oppression and division and then to state bureaucracy, eclipses its design as a public space.

Address: 20-22 Bouboulinas, near Exarchia Square

© DIMITRIS TSOUMPLEKAS

The big boom “Antiparochi was one of the key concepts of that era. Today, it sounds more like an accounting scheme,” says Dragonas. “As Greece did not have a program for providing cheap housing to the masses, the antiparochi system was a useful tool in dealing with the housing shortage. The state basically allowed its citizens to build their own homes. It lost money through the scheme, but it solved the problem of producing housing. The antiparochi system also boosted the economy. Let’s not forget that construction was one of the basic pillars of the economy before the onset of the crisis.”

The construction bedlam that gripped Athens also became the stuff of comedy, with the 1960 film Ta Dervisopaida (The Dervish Children) by Stelios Tatasopoulos giving us an apt description of the phenomenon. The film starts with a narrator saying: “Athens is changing. The old picturesque Athenian houses are being demolished to make way for huge, modern apartment buildings. Diggers, cranes, machinery and people are working on rebuilding.

A new city is being created.” In the next scene, we see two laborers, Tryfonas and Polydoras, working on a construction site. The neighborhood barber asks them if they’ve ever done this sort of work before. “It’s our job,” one of them answers, “but today is the first time that we’re building something.”

Shaking his head with contempt, the barber says: “I see. The demolition of Athens has started.”

This scene reveals another interesting fact about the typical polykatoikia: it was somewhat “homemade.”

Anyone could – and did – become a builder. We have, for example, plenty of photographic evidence of housewives plastering walls. “The polykatoikia was a symbol of the prevalence of the metropolitan bricolage culture,” notes Yorgos Tzirtzilakis, an associate professor at Thessaly University’s Department of Architecture. “Apartment blocks were what their residents made them. The

ARCHITECTURE

The Blue Polykatoikia (Antonopoulou), 1933.

ARCHITECT: Kyriakos Panagiotakos

The Blue Polykatoikia is a novel of many chapters, stories within stories that feature famous residents and interface with the cultural and political history of Exarchia over the past 83 years. This complexity is reflected in the volumes, openings, setbacks and exterior spaces contained in its stern-like façade, defining a “vertical neighborhood” as an integral part of Exarchia Square. The Polykatoikia comprises two separate buildings connected at basement and rooftop levels. Its communal spaces are masterfully designed to produce encounters and exchanges among the residents of the 39 apartments. They include a landmark café and a open-area rooftop clubhouse, accommodating a rich communal life vis-à-vis the city. The building, originally colored by the expressionist painter Spyros Papaloukas, is today blue in name only, as it has been repainted. Αddress: 61 Arachovis & 80 Themistokleous, Exarchia Square

© YIORGIS YEROLYMBOS, DIMITRIS TSOUMPLEKAS

Polykatoikia Lanara, 1938 ARCHITECT: Ιoannis Zolotas

The Polykatoikia on Fokionos Negri is part of an interwar development for a “green boulevard,” transforming a rural landscape into an urban one. Fokionos Negri includes significant civic spaces and numerous apartment buildings. The Polykatoikia Lanara is an outstanding project and an integral part of its urban assembly. It presents a masterful façade of balconies, slender openings, protrusions and setbacks, rounding the corner and opening up a great entrance to a crossroad. Its wide communal areas unfold upwards.

The building features a number of rounded architectural elements and balances primary and secondary spaces, surfaces, openings and uses at the borders of the public, the communal and the private.

Address: 23 Fokionos Negri & Eptanisou, Kypseli

vation: “It is important to understand that the polykatoikia is not ugly as an ‘invention’ or ‘building type,’ but in its execution. For example, the apartment buildings in Kolonaki, built by architects in the 1960s, are very beautiful, and anyone would be happy to call them home. The problem is that most apartment buildings were constructed with a view to maximizing profits, without any thought given to the quality of their spaces.”

For Pantazis and Rentzou, the polykatoikia is an important part of their work – which ranges from academic studies to posters and designer souvenirs – as they have specialized in revealing hidden or untapped potential in these trademark structures, transforming them into iconic buildings. “The entire city effectively exists among its apartment buildings,” they argue.

Changes in social geogr aphy Between the 1950s and the 1980s, some 35,000 five-story apartment buildings were constructed in Athens, according to Thomas Maloutas, professor at Harokopio University’s Department of Geography. It is worth noting that from 1951-1971, the population within the Municipality of Athens grew by nearly 50% (from 550,000 residents in the 1950s to 800,000 two decades later). The construction boom prompted by this population swell soon drowned the city in concrete. “In order to gain a foothold in society,” Maloutas says, “the junta regime of 1967-74 increased the permissible size of buildings by 20%, thus further boosting construction. If you look at the polykatoikia as nothing more than a concrete mass, then it is reasonable to hate it. But, if you interpret it in a different way, you’ll

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Polykatoikia AT Amalias Avenue, 1960.

ARCHITECTS: Takis Zenetos, Margaritis Apostolidis

The Polykatoikia on Amalias Avenue is an experimental residential project: a transparent curtain or luminous glass box in the heart of Athens. The building incorporates the 20th-century architectural ideals of the free plan, the blending of inside and outside, and the modular use of prefabricated technologies to create different states of openness. Each floor and apartment is a series of connected spaces, from the wide balconies through the living spaces to the interior private zones.

These spaces are separated by sliding panels, doors and windows. The façade features different layers of glass frames, both movable and fixed, filtering air, heat and sunlight through to the interior.

The apartments are extensive, providing an open setting for everyday life to be filled by the objects and activities of the residents.

Š DIMITRIS TSOUMPLEKAS, MORIS ALTSECH/DOMES INDEX

Address: 34 Amalias

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Polykatoikia Lourou, 1953.

ARCHITECΤ: Nikos Valsamakis

If the Blue Polykatoikia is a novel, the apartment building on Semitelou Street is a poem. A simple, rational, symmetrically drawn, functionally structured building, it is inventive and consistent in its materials and masterful in its construction. It offers a three-part image of ground floor, living units and skyline to the narrow street. Its layout and façade comprise different but balanced orthogonal shapes.

These contain, respectively, smaller compositions of ordered spaces and uses (living, wet, entry, service, sleep), or materials and architectural elements (columns, doorways, shutters, railings, masonry). The Polykatoikia Lourou creates open frames to be filled by the inhabitants. It builds an architectural ideal as a space of everyday life.

Address: 5 Semitelou

vinieta

An end or a new beginning?

The antiparochi system and the buildings it created came to an end in 2011 with the onset of the crisis, which led to successive hikes in property taxes and construction material costs, bringing the entire sector to a grinding halt. The need for more housing also dropped. “The polykatoikia is a typology that has completed its historical cycle,” says Tzirtzilakis. “What interests us now is what the next model of mass habitation will be or, more correctly, how the polykatoikia will evolve.”

It is already clear that a demand for transforming existing apartment buildings and adapting them to new uses is on the horizon. “Instead of waiting for an earthquake to solve the problem,” says Woditsch in jest, “architects and city planners need to study how to go about upgrading the interiors and exteriors of these buildings and how to recycle this stock of buildings, both in terms of construction and of society.”

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Polykatoikia Asyrmatos, 1967.

Architect: Elli Vasilikioti (Housing Projects Department, Ministry of Public Works)

The Asyrmatos is an urban housing complex standing at the cliff-side edge of Philopappou Hill and Ano Petralona. It is a classical work of Athenian architecture. Marked by slender columns, slabs and parapets ordered in wide bays, stairways and corridor-balconies, it opens its inner life to the city and landscape via two faces – a low one to the east and a higher to the west. The building works as a bridge, gateway and filter between the Acropolis foothills and the dense city beyond. Its rigid block is transfigured through a very simple, exquisite curve swelling out towards the view, reflecting the urban plan, offering difference and variety to its 55 units. A sequence of communal spaces and shops at its base, roof and middle levels, designed to bring together a re-settled community of Asia Minor refugees, opens inside the block. The Asyrmatos grows out of the rock as an ideal re-settlement; it marks an edge between hinterland and city as it looks out towards the sea, bathed in the dramatic evening light. It is a clement monument.

Address: Filopappou Hill & Ano Petralona

Alexandros Xydis Residence, 1961.

Architecτ: Aris Konstantinidis.

The Xydis Residence is a vertical urban villa (a single rather than a multi-residence), yet it seems much more than that. It is, in turn, a five-story complex on a street, a horizontal house with private courtyards on a hill, a perpendicular urban vessel drilled into a rock and a cluster of light-filled voids turning to several orientations. Its site, scale, materials and presence in the city are remarkable. The concrete forms, stone walls and protruding metal structures link strongly with the natural rock and urban hardscapes. Its levels articulate the polykatoikia’s fundamental elements: excavated parking and service area, street office and cantilevered and nested private living spaces. The Xydis Residence is an aboriginal artifact, masterfully integrated into the complex topography, oblique geometry, dense fabric, material economy and bright climate of a Mediterranean metropolis.

Address: Archimidous & Kleitomachou, Pangrati

© DIMITRIS TSOUMPLEKAS, ASPASIA KOULIRA

love it. The success of the antiparochi system was that it leveled social inequalities.”

What does the professor mean by that? “The richer residents resided on the upper floors; while the less privileged classes lived on the lower floors,” he says, explaining, however, that all the different social classes mingled in the communal areas, such as the foyer and the elevator, while the superintendent – a jack of all trades who was usually granted a small flat in the building in exchange for taking care of all the maintenance work – acted as an intermediary for this disparate group. At the Onassis discussion on the topic, Maloutas, who co-organized the event, was succinct: “The polykatoikia is an excellent example of how the built environment can affect social geography in ways that nobody can predict.”

ARCHITECTURE

How ugly is the Athenian polykatoikia after all?

“I have never been bored in an apartment building”

“LIVING BESIDE ONE ANOTHER IS A FORM OF SOLIDARITY”

“Our space shapes us, GIVES RISE TO AN IDENTITY”

“They define Athens just as much as the Acropolis”

Angelos Frentzos, fashion designer

Yorgos Tzirtzilakis, associate professor of Architecture, University of Thessaly

Panos Dragonas, associate professor of Architecture and Urban Design, University of Patras

Andreas Angelidakis, artist

I could never live in a house.

I find the solitude of the detached house unbearable and the multifaceted environment of the polykatoikia so much more interesting, even when every noise can be heard through the badly insulated walls and the kids upstairs stomp around above your head. I fail to understand the level of slander that the Athenian polykatoikia has been subjected to. Pretty or ugly, it’s one of the few things that gives modern Athens character. The neighborhoods of Paris, with their homogenous appearance, may be much prettier, but there’s so much more visual stimulation in Athens. From well-tended balconies with potted plants, to clothes hung out to dry and CDs hanging on strings off the railing to scare away the pigeons, apartment buildings, and their balconies in particular, are indications of the lives of the people inside the apartments. They may, like in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, hide a crime, or perhaps conceal a romantic escapade, or they may simply offer nothing more than a mundane existence put on display, but I have never been bored in an apartment building.

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The polykatoikia is one of the most successful models of mass housing, and it developed without us being aware of it. It is a hybrid of individual residence and collective coexistence. Kenneth Frampton, a professor of Architecture at Columbia University with extensive knowledge of Athenian architecture, expressed it correctly when he said that the polykatoikia reproduced the model of island settlements, which look like small beehives, one on top of the other, each communicating with the other and helping to develop human relationships. After all, living beside one another is a form of interaction and solidarity.

As far as esthetics is concerned, architecture should not be approached like an art but in terms of its habitability.

Contemporary art has taught us that modes of habitation are fascinating in their own right and are worth observing and learning from. What’s more, relationships between people are of greater importance than esthetic dogmas. And, as Marcel Duchamp used to say: every home is beautiful when it becomes a part of our life.

The relationship between the Athenian and the polykatoikia developed in different phases. In the 1950s, the polykatoikia was received with great enthusiasm. It was new and was associated with new lifestyles and all things fashionable. Memories of living in the countryside were still fresh in the 1970s and even the 80s, but this is when the problems began to surface so that, by the late 1990s, there was nostalgia for the city itself.

But our space shapes us, gives rise to an identity. This is why we are at times affectionate towards the polykatoikia and at others judgmental. Personally, I am a fan.

It is hard to judge apartment buildings using esthetic criteria because, to a large degree, esthetics was the last thing in the minds of those who built them and also those who lived in them. All that the former cared about was time and money.

Athens’ apartment buildings were constructed mainly during periods of internal migration after World War II and during the extreme poverty that followed.

For many Greeks, moving to Athens was the solution to this poverty. And the solution to where they’d live was the polykatoikia, a building that espoused the speed and economically viable construction style recommended by Modernism, without, however, having the luxury of also borrowing the high living standard promised by that architectural movement.

Nevertheless, most of us have grown up in these apartment buildings, and they have come to define Athens just as much as the Acropolis. If you like Athens, then you probably like the polykatoikia, too.

© GETTY IMAGES/IDEAL IMAGE

W H AT SOME OF T H E EX P E R TS H AD TO SAY A B OUT T H E C ITY ’ S A P A R TME N T B UILDI N GS

DOWNTOWN

© DIMITRIS VLAIKOS

THE COOL GUIDE

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So, you’ve climbed the Acropolis, you’ve been to all the major museums and you’ve had your fill of history. What’s next? T ake your pick from our eclectic list of options.

BY E L E F T H E R I A A L AVA N O U, A L E X I A A M V R A Z I , M A R I A C OV E O U, M A R I A KO R AC H A I , A L E X A N D R A T Z AV E L L A

Urban Eden With its ponds, its brooks and its local and exotic plant life, including towering rows of old Washingtonia palm trees, the National Garden is a notto-be-missed urban oasis for turtles, ducks and peacocks, as well as locals and tourists. Landscaping began around 1839 under the supervision of Queen Amalia; it now includes 7,000 trees and 40,000 shrubs. The park is ideal for a morning jog, a break from the city bustle, some playtime at the children’s playground or a coffee break amid the sound of twittering birds at the café just inside the gate on Irodou Attikou (open from 8:30).

You'll also find food and coffee at Aegli Restaurant next to the stately Zappeio Hall, an 1888 neoclassical building designed by Theofil Hansen, which hosts all types of major events.

The garden is open from sunrise to sunset and entrance is free.

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Both astronomy and architecture enthusiasts should visit the National Observatory of Athens, designed by Danish architect Theophil Hansen and built in 1842-46 on the Hill of the Nymphs, one of the seven sacred hills of ancient Athens. Highlights include the room where Greek time was measured between 1846 and 1902 using the Starke meridian telescope; the only known copy of Schmidt’s lunar map, the most accurate 19th c. mapping of the Moon’s surface, drafted by the Observatory’s third director, German astronomer Julius Schmidt; and a working copy (to a scale of 3:1) of the

Antikythera Mechanism, considered to be the oldest computer in the world (2nd c. BC), on display here at the Museum of Geoastrophysics. It is worth taking the night-time tour to observe the sky through an historic 1902 telescope, which weighs more than eight tons and was made in Paris by Paul Gautier, a famed instrument maker of the period. The Observatory is located on the Hill of the Nymphs in Thiseio, Tel. (+30) 210.349.0000, www.noa.gr. Tours are offered Mon-Fri at 11:00 and Wed, Fri and Sat at 19:00. General admission is €5.

THE NEW “IN” SPOT FOR THE HIP CROWD If you're looking for evidence that Psyrri is coming out of its most recent slump, join the cool crowd of artists, hipsters and other urban tribes on Protogenous Street. By day, you can browse the vintage stores with oldbut-gold fashions, accessories and furniture, while at night, café-bars such as Tranzistor and Barrett up the vibe with their groovy decor and wide-ranging music mix. Right next door to Barret is Syd Records – think there might be a Pink Floyd thing here? – one of a handful of stores in Athens leading the new vinyl revolution.

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Stargazing

Swing City To a gregarious people like the Greeks, it is only natural that social dancing comes, well, naturally. Dance schools are springing up left and right, teaching everything from folk dancing to Argentine tango and rock‘n’roll. This writer's favorite is the 1930s dance associated with swing music, the Lindy Hop. There is currently a strong Lindy Hop community in the city, comprised of passionate dancers who, on a weekly basis and occasionally dressed up in vintage clothing, flock to tiny bars to perform a dance so exuberant you will want to join in – even if you don’t know the steps (don’t hesitate to ask someone to show you). • Lost n’ Found, Wednesdays 21:00-4:00, 53 Kerameikou, Metaxourgeio, Tel. (+30) 210.524.6564 • 42 Bar, every second Thursday 22:00-2:00, 3 Kolokotroni, Tel. (+30) 694.824.2455 • Sq., Fridays 22:30-2:30, 43 Praxitelous & Aghiou Markou, Tel. (+30) 210.321.0460 • It is advisable to call ahead to confirm opening times and make a reservation if necessary.

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Changing of the Guard at Syntagma Square

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Proud, tall and eminently photogenic, the Evzones stand vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Greek Parliament, dressed in the uniform of the Macedonian Struggle (1904–1908). The well-choreographed changing of the guard is a staple attraction that occurs hourly. The "big show", however, is on Sundays, just before 10am: before falling into formation for the national anthem, the entire unit arrives at the memorial in a synchronized march accentuated by the loud crack of their studded tsarouchia clogs striking the ground in unison. For this ceremony, the Evzones also put on their traditional uniform from the 1821 War of Independence.

BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS The Olympia Theater has been home to the Greek National Opera for the better part of a century, cherished by opera fans not just for its old-world elegance but also for the great lyrical talents it helped launch, including Maria Callas – before she became "La Divina," she was simply “Miss Kalogeropoulou” to the critics who saw her here. This venerable venue – with its plush red velvet seats and art deco lighting – is about to enter a new chapter, however, as the GNO will be moving to its new home at the state-of-the-art Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, designed by Renzo Piano. Until then, you still have a chance to catch a show, including “Giselle” and “The Barber of Seville,” at this historic theater. • 59-61 Academias • Tel. (+30) 210.366.2100 • www.nationalopera.gr

Your Sunday Best

You don’t need to be Orthodox, or even religious, to visit a Greek church. If you find yourself in Athens on a Sunday, do make an effort to get up early to attend Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Built between 1842 and 1862 during the reign of Otto, the Bavarian prince who became the first king of modern Greece, it recently reopened its doors after seven years of restoration work. It would be no exaggeration to say that Mass here is a glamorous social event; indeed, it is even televised. While it’s likely to be all Greek to you, you can still enjoy the ritual; the haunting choral singing and the careful intonation of phrases create a unique spiritual atmosphere. Mass begins at around 8.30am but you can drop in at any time and take some discreet no-flash photos.

• Mitropoleos Square, Sunday Mass: 8:30-10:30

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Future artists of Athens Ηoused in a graceful, neoclassical building in Plaka since 1994, the Museum of Greek Children’s Art is οne of the few in the world to exhibit works by children aged 5-14. Its founding principle is embodied in the words of Picasso: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” With more than 8,000 artworks in its collections, bilingual interactive corners and stimulating exhibitions, the museum gives pause for thought to thousands of visitors, young and old. The current exhibition, “Alone or Unique? Diversity and Racism,” features 114 paintings, comics & 3D drawings born of young hearts and minds free of stereotypes, prejudices and intolerance. • 9 Kodrou • Tel. (+30) 210.331.2621 • www. childrensartmuseum.gr 102

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The cozy rooftops of downtown Athens are all-day hangouts that transcend seasonality. They don’t hibernate in winters, they just stock up on butane overhead heaters and, unless it’s raining, you can still enjoy an outdoor table with an unobstructed view of the Acropolis. Slip out of noisy Monastiraki Square and seek out the most vibrant all-day rooftop bars. It’s a close contest between the 7th-floor “A for Athens” bar/restaurant on the north side and the 4th-floor “360° Cocktail Bar” sitting just down the square to the south. There’s a younger crowd enjoying the view from the roofs of “Couleur Locale” and “Loukoumi

Vintage Bar.” If you decide to head towards Mitropoleos Street, make sure to pay a visit to the roof-garden at “The Zillers” – even on a rainy day, you’ll still feel cozy under its broad canopy.

• A for Athens: 2-4 Miaouli, Monastiraki, Tel. (+30) 210.324.4244, www.aforathens.com • 360° Cocktail Bar: 2 Ifestou, Monastiraki, Tel. (+30) 210.321.0006, www. three-sixty.gr • Couleur Locale: 3 Normanou, Monastiraki, Tel. (+30) 216.700.4917, www.couleurlocaleathens.com • Loukoumi: 3 Avissinias Square, Monastiraki, Tel. (+30) 210.323.4814, www.loukoumibar.gr.

Coffee MECCA

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The "third wave of coffee" hit Athens hard in recent years, with trends and blends being imported from around the world. You can't go wrong with an espresso stop at: Taf, Athens’ first specialty coffee shop, importing directly from producers and roasting in-house; Mokka, a historic roaster offering a variety of Brazilian beans; Underdog, where celebrated baristas specialize in complex beverages featuring coffee and alcohol; Warehouse, a micro-roastery that prepares excellent espresso blends and also boasts a delicious brunch menu; Tailor Made, a rather fancy café that serves a plethora of beverages made with beans roasted on-site; Kaya, a tiny shop packed with five grinders, one big coffee machine and a 4m-long stand-up bar; and Kudu The Workshop, for its South American and African blends as well as its delicious breakfasts and light meals. On a sweeter note, Lukumades serves fine blends from local micro-roasteries along with its specialty loukoumades (fried dough fritters soaked in honey and sprinkled with nuts and cinnamon). • Τaf: 7-9 Emmanouil Benaki • Mokka: 44 Athinas • Underdog: 8 Irakleidon, • Warehouse: 41 Mavromichali • Tailor Made: 2 Aghias Irinis Sq. • Kaya: 7 Voulis • Kudu The Workshop: 28 Voutadon • Lukumades: 21 Aiolou

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SHOP, COOK, ENJOY

EVRIPIDOU STREET: WHERE THINGS GET SPICY It’s a sunny winter morning and you’re strolling downtown. Give in, don’t resist, and follow your nose to Evripidou Street. An enticing blend of scents from all kinds of herbs and spices (including black and red pepper, cumin, anise, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, thyme and oregano) fills the air as you approach Bahar (No 31), Hatzigeorgiou (No 37) and Elixir (No 41), three of the oldest spice shops in town. This street is also the epicenter of cured meats, and you’ll get a whiff of why they’re so famous when you get closer to Miran (No 45) and Arapian (No 41), the oldest Armenian charcuteries. Now that you’ve got the craving for pastourma and soutzouki, head up to the next corner, to the little restaurant Karamanlidika tou Fani (No 52, Tel. (+30) 210.325.4184). It’s a culinary gem with amazing cold and hot meze.

NOW TRENDING: IPITOU STREET

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The Museum of Greek Gastronomy has visitors buy ingredients themselves, cook them and then enjoy the meals they have prepared. The experience begins in the bustling Varvakeio Municipal Market where, for more than a century, Athenians have been doing their daily shopping. A professional chef and his team accompany you and provide tips on properly selecting meat, fish and vegetables. You then stroll through the surrounding neighborhood that is infused with the scent of cinnamon and pastrouma, thanks to the numerous shops selling spices and cured meats (see "Evripidou Street"). Once you arrive at the museum, housed in a typical 1890s neoclassical building with ornately painted ceilings, you can prepare your food in the outdoor kitchen and then enjoy your very own Greek meal meal in an area designed to resemble the dining room of a Greek home.

• 13 Aghiou Dimitriou, Psyrri, Tel. (+30) 210.321.1311, www. gastronomymuseum.gr. • Cooking lessons for 2 to 12 persons. • Also hosts exhibitions related to Greek gastronomic culture.

Ipitou, a short pedestrian way that connects Voulis and Apollonos streets, bustles with life day and night. The 30-something crowd meets at Blue Bird or Ipitou for a cocktail and at the Kiki de Grèce bistro for Greek wine and meze. In the morning, the road teems with kids from a nearby high school. Locals take their clothes to the cleaners up the street, shop at the Lacandona co-op grocery and coffee shop, and eye the displays in the window of Matalou at Home/Blanc Studio, which sells accessories and original souvenirs.

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Strolling around Plaka As a tourist magnet, Plaka district is second only to the Acropolis, with its romantic lanes, impressive neoclassical mansions, traditional tavernas and cafés with tables arranged on stepped streets. Walking uphill, you reach Anafiotika, a lovely neighborhood more reminiscent of an Aegean island. This is no coincidence, since this area was built in the 19th century by skilled builders who moved to the city from the Cycladic island of Anafi to work on King Otto’s palace. Join the Athenians for a drink of honey-sweetened raki and homemade sweets at Yiasemi (23 Mnisikleous) or for a coffee at Klepsidra (9 Thrasyvoulou and Klepsydras). Don't forget to pass by Alexis Papachatzis' workshop (6 Erechtheos) and check out his fine gold and silver jewelry.

OLD-SCHOOL SHAVE Nobody goes to a barber shop for a shave anymore. No one except connoisseurs, says Giorgos Kollaros, owner of (and barber at) the Barber Shop, which first opened in the 1970s on Apollonos Street. Although the hotels in the area have brought him customers from all over the world, he has not modernized his methods at all, which is probably why his patrons have remained loyal.

The ritual includes hot compresses, a brush lathering – no canned foam – and a straight-razor shave. Clients leave refreshed, powdered and scented.

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Picnic at the top There's no better way to bask in the Athenian sun while enjoying a view of the ancient city than to have a picnic at Philopappou Hill. Start by shopping for essentials. Near the Acropolis metro station, stop in at the Ellinika Kaloudia grocers for fresh sourdough bread, rusks, Greek yogurt and pasteli (honeyed sesame bars), or at Takis Bakery for sweets and snacks. Take Rovertou Galli Street (near the Acropolis Museum) to reach one of the loveliest green areas of the city. The paved part deserves your attention: it was designed in the 1950s by distinguished Greek architect Dimitris Pikionis and made with stones from neoclassical houses that were being demolished at that time to make space for new apartment buildings. Pikionis also rebuilt the famous Church of Aghios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris, which dates to the 12th century. When you're tired of walking, chill out on a bench, enjoying your goodies and taking in the atmosphere.

• Ellinika Kaloudia, 8 Hatzichristou • Takis Bakery, 14 Misaraliotou

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KEEPING THE INDIE SPIRIT alive Bucking the multiplex trend, a few independent cinemas in Athens have retained their small-scale, arthouse character and a retro feel that brings to mind the times when movies mattered. Older generations of Greek film lovers still remember that, under the junta, a film might be stopped midway through by the censors, on the pretext that the projector had broken down. The audience would loudly protest, and it still does today, though for different reasons. “If people complain that it is too loud, we turn the volume down,� says the manager at Elli Cinema (64 Academias, Tel. (+30) 210.363.2789). Adorned with a classic neon sign, it has been showing art films since 1952. Alkyonis New Star Art Cinema (42-46 Ioulianou, Tel. (+30) 210.822.0023), which first opened in 1969 and has recently been refurbished, specializes in political films and hosts tributes to both classical and new directors. It is worth having a pre-show drink at the bar in the foyer of Astor (28 Stadiou, Tel. (+30) 210.321.1950), which has retained its vintage esthetic. The theater features mostly independent arthouse films. You can also enjoy alternative cinema in the basement of Asty (4 Korai, tel (+30) 210.322.1925), or at the Greek Film Archive (48 Iera Odos and 134-136 Megalou Alexandrou (Kerameikos Metro), Tel. (+30) 210.360.9695), which maintains a massive store of historic material and classic masterpieces. Please note that movies in Greece are shown in their original language with Greek subtitles.

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Sunday morning coffee and paper

For the Athenian version of the Sunday newspaper-and-coffee ritual, head towards the cosmopolitan Kolonaki district, just a 10-minute walk from Syntagma. Both kiosks on the main square offer a wide selection from the international press. Then choose a coffee shop with the atmosphere that best suits you. Media personalities and other notables frequent Da Capo, famed for the high quality of its brews. For a nostalgic taste of old Athens, visit the historic Vivliothiki (“Library”), next to the British Council.

Further down on Skoufa Street, next to the Church of Aghios Dionysios, Filion is a popular hangout for artists and intellectuals. If you are looking for something trendier, Tsai is a great little spot serving a large range of teas, which you can pair with scones, homemade biscuits, open-faced sandwiches with scrambled eggs and other mouth-watering selections • Da Capo, 1 Tsakalof • Vivliothiki, 18a Filikis Eterias Square • Filion, 34 Skoufa • Tsai, 19 Alexandrou Soutsou & Lycavittou.

“I loved books as a kid but it hadn’t occurred to me that I could go into publishing. I would spend hours poring over covers, fonts and illustrations,” says Rachel Misdrachi-Kapon, who started her career as an art editor before launching her own publishing company in 1980 along with husband-architect Moses Kapon.

Their very first project, "Magnesia: The Story of a Civilization," was recognized by the Academy of Athens for its bold esthetics and originality, prompting them to focus on books about culture, the environment, history and archaeology and to create works notable for high-quality writing, translation and illustration, which gained them interest from foreign publishers. Just a few months ago, Misdrachi-Kapon opened her first bookshop, a cozy space in Kolonaki district, where she sells a broad range of books in different languages as well as selected titles published by educational institutions and museums.

• Rachel’s Bookshop, 22 Ploutarchou, Kolonaki, www.kaponeditions.gr

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A Bookworm with Style

THE BEST DOWNTOWN JOGGING ROUTE Of the many tourists and athletes who visit the Panathenaic Stadium (Kallimarmaro), famous for hosting the first modern Olympics in 1896, only a few know that right behind it is a proper running track (accessed from Archimidous Street), from where one can also relish a lovely view of the Acropolis. Nature lovers and fitness enthusiasts alike can also head up a slope from Ardittou Street in Pangrati and exercise, meditate or stretch on pine-covered Ardittou Hill, where ancient Greek judges took their oath in the name of Zeus, Apollo and Demeter.

Ardittou towers above the sparkling white marble stadium, offering scenic views of the city. Visiting hours: The running track is open from 8:30–sunset. Ardittou Hill is accessible around the clock.

OFF TO MARKET

Weary of history? Head to a laiki (farmers’ market) for a slice of real life. The most intriguing of these open-air markets is the one held every Saturday in Exarchia, a neighborhood that has retained a reputation as the city’s hub of political ferment and tension since the seventies. Give yourself time for a leisurely stroll among the stalls and, if in doubt about which vendor has the best products, try stalking a Greek grandma; they are veteran connoisseurs of all things fruit and veg. Also, bear in mind that vendors here can be REALLY LOUD when promoting their products, always with a good dose of humorous social commentary (alas, understandable only to those who speak Greek). Even if you end up empty-handed, you will be going home more attuned to the Greek temperament.

• Kallidromiou Street, Exarchia, market hours: 7:00-14:00

Kiosks: STAYIN’ AlivE

Breakfast on the go

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Greek breakfast doesn't have to be served at the table; it's sold at almost every corner and eaten on the go without making a mess. The round-shaped local version of the bagel is known as koulouri, and was first introduced in Constantinople and Thessaloniki in Byzantine times. Nowadays, you can still buy koulouri from street vendors, but if you prefer them freshly baked and warm, head for the source: a bakery that has been supplying the entire city since the 1960s. Koulouri tou Psyrri (23 Karaiskaki, Psyrri), open 24/7, is a great place to visit late at night to cure the munchies or prevent a hangover.

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When Greeks run out of gum, chocolate, batteries or cigarettes, they don't go to the supermarket; they nip down to the corner kiosk. These traditionally yellow, omnipresent cubicles sell everything from soft drinks and food to souvenirs and underwear. Kiosks first appeared in Athens in the early 20th c., initially to employ disabled veterans of the Balkan Wars (1912–13). They evolved into impromptu mini-parliaments, where passers-by would gather to comment on the headlines of newspapers hanging along the front like laundry, drying in the breeze. Kiosks also functioned as phone booths at a time when most homes did not have telephones. The kiosk owner thus came to know just about everything about the neighbors. Now, almost a century later, the kiosk remains a city trademark and its owner is someone to rely on: he or she will save you when you run out of milk at 3am, and give you directions when you’re lost; he’ll advise you on where to find parking, or even offer a review of the restaurant you are planning to go to. This small institution, however, is on its way out, due to recent legislation curbing kiosks’ operation.

The RIDE ON LINE 1 There is no faster way to see the real face of the city than a ride on Line 1 of the Athens metro, known as ISAP or ilektrikos (electric railway). Built in 1869 and powered by steam up until 1904, the ilektrikos is a vital part of the urban transport network, connecting the port of Piraeus to the leafy northern suburb of Kifissia in 80 mins, along a 25km route including 24 stops. The train passes The Mall, Athenians’ favorite shopping center (Nerantziotissa Station) and the Olympic Stadium (Ei-

rini Station), while also taking you past several working-class neighborhoods, dipping underground at Attiki to reach Monastiraki. It re-emerges at what is arguably the most amazing stretch of the ride as it runs right beside the Athens Agora, on its way to Thissio, the prettiest station. Jumping off at Piraeus, the other beautiful and picturesque terminal station (shown above), offers visitors well-earned snapshots of the historic port after a rather grimy ride.

If you're looking for an unusual gift for friends back home, it’s worth checking out the "new wave" of Greek souvenirs by local designers. At Forget Me Not (100 Andrianou, www.forgetmenotathens. gr), you will find the most authentic memorabilia as well as funky fashion accessories. Flaneur (1 Flessa), recently created "by travelers for travelers" offers carefully selected and reasonably priced design objects. Neon Raum (17 Leocharous, www.neonraum.com), styled like a New York City loft, is where you’ll find a fascinating potpourri of modern Greek fashion with a retro-bohemian air. If you go on a Sunday, you'll be treated to brunch.

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SMART SOUVENIRS shopping

A sculpture garden unlike the others

figure are just some of the famous buried. A walk here feels like a visit to an outdoor sculpture gallery: many of the tombs are embellished with impressive statues carved by some of the finest Greek sculptors, including Dimitris Filippotis (1839-1919), Kostas Valsamis (1908-2003) and Yannoulis Chalepas (1851-1938), creator of the sculpture known as the “Sleeping Beauty.” This is the bestknown work of art in the cemetery and represents the young Sofia

Afentaki, who died of tuberculosis in 1878 at the age of 18. Overcome with grief, her father commissioned Chalepas to create her statue and the result was a sculpture of incomparable expressiveness showing a young girl, eyes closed, and holding a cross, surrendering to eternal sleep.

• The First Cemetery is at the top of Anapafseos Street, near the Panathenaic Stadium. It is open from 7:00 to 17:00 in winter and to 20:00 in summer.

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Proto Nekrotafeio (First Cemetery) is a storehouse of Athenian memories and history. It resembles the Parisian Père Lachaise Cemetery, only instead of Marcel Proust and Edith Piaf, this is the final resting place of many of the most important figures in modern Greece: Theodoros Kolokotronis, a hero of the 1821 Greek Revolution; Heinrich Schliemann, famous for the excavations at Troy and Mycenae; and Melina Mercouri, iconic actress and political

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In a 1930s art deco building in the once aristocratic neighborhood of Kypseli, the curved stairway with the ornate handrail leads you to the Agiorgiti Residence. Hostess Matina Agiorgiti welcomes you into an impressive old Athenian apartment with 19th-c. armchairs, rare books, Byzantine-era family heirlooms, traditional Greek costumes and 18th-c. works of art.

There are no rules against touching the objects. “Oh, don’t worry. My sons roller skate in here,” the owner says casually, noting that the goal is to touch almost everything – that's what her mother, from whom she inherited this valuable collection,

Group cycling at night

Athens is not exactly a bicycle-friendly city, but where there's a will, there’s a way: eight years ago, a group called Freeday started riding on Friday nights, when the city is at its most beguiling. With safety in numbers, the group acquired confidence, the rides became a habit and new members joined, bringing participation as high as 3,000; friendships were forged, the simply curious became loyal fans and a credo was established: in rain, cold or wind, every Friday is Freeday. These days, the group continues to set off from the same spot (Aghion Asomaton Square, Thiseio) but the route, covering a distance of 30–55km, is always a surprise. • Every Friday, 21:30 • Average speed: 11km/hr. • Tip: Bring a bottle of water and a sandwich for the break. • Rent a bike: Funky Ride, 1 Dimitrakopoulou, Koukaki, tel (+30) 211.710.9366, www.funkyride.gr.

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No typical house, no typical museum would have wanted. "She believed that objects had value only if they were used. She used to make coffee in a 100-year old pot and then put it back on display in the sitting room because it was an antique. All books were to be read, all jewelry, no matter how old, to be worn. Everything was to be used.”

• Visits by appointment • www.agiorgiti-residence.com, bookings at www.athenianmuse.com • Tel. (+30) 210.861.4445 • A visit with pop-up experiences costs €35/person; themed presentations, such as “The history of Anatolian-Greek coffee” or “Haute couture in Greek antiquity” from €50/person.

Day Spa in Central Athens

The closest you can get to feeling reborn and radiant is by visiting one of Athens’ favorite wellness havens. Popular with Athenians and visitors alike, the Hammam Baths (17 Aghion Asomaton, Thiseio, Tel. (+30) 210.323.1073) stands out for its impressive interiors, particularly the round marble steam room where you can unwind, wrapped in a Turkish cloth, dowsing youself with water from bronze basins. The whole experience borrows heavily from the bathing style of ancient Greece and Rome, as later adopted by the Ottomans. Choose from a variety of traditional Turkish facial, body and hair treatments.

Apivita, one of Greece’s leading companies in natural cosmetics, supplies numerous topnotch spas in addition to running its own Beehive Spa in several locations. Inspired by the holistic Hippocratic philosophy, Beehive (6 Solonos & Kanari, Kolonaki, Tel. (+30) 210.364.0560) uses pure organic essential oils, as well as a range of bee products such as moisturizing honey, reparative pollen, antiseptic propolis and luxuriously rich royal jelly, in its therapies. The spa, which has an infrared sauna, also offers a broad range of beauty treatments, scrubs and slimming or detox therapies and two relaxing types of massage.

In rooms named Hammam, Reflexology, Chocolate, Shiatsu, Face & Body and Spa, Elena’s Day Spa (10 Lykavittou & Solonos, Kolonaki, Tel. (+30) 210.338.7555) offers a vast choice of beauty and wellness treatments for the face and body, massages and alternative therapies.

Located right in the heart of Athens, it makes for an easy and pleasurable stop for high-quality wellness rituals – from seaweed wraps and a gold-leaf face mask to chocolate treats and Hawaiian massage – to restore health to tired souls and aching limbs at any hour of the day.

Nailing it

Athenian ladies place great importance on the state of their nails, which is apparent from the busy nail salons dotted around the city center. These salons offer all the most up-to-date services, from temporary or permanent gel polish and intricate designs or decorations to basic reflexology massage, relaxing foot baths and softening paraffin wax treatments. You’d be wise to book your appointment in advance; a day or two beforehand will suffice. You can count on the city-center salons listed below for sophisticated treatments, friendly and professional service and, of course, first-rate hygiene standards.

• Fairynails: 3 Filellinon, Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 210.321.8255 • Trendnails: 15 Voulis, Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 210.331.0461-2 • Athens Fish Spa: 45 Aiolou, Monastiraki, Tel. (+30) 211.800.3700 • Elxis Spa: 3 Mitropoleos, Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 210.701.5392 • Queens Delux Beauty Bar: 9 Panepistimiou (in the Attika department store), Tel. (+30) 211.180.2814

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THE antique MARKET

Τreasure Ηunting Cast yourself in the role of a 19th century explorer looking through the city’s antique shops for curios and souvenirs to take home.

BY DIMITRIS X ANTHOULIS photos: NIKOS KOKK AS

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onastiraki, the erstwhile heart of the city center, used to be the main gateway into Athens for people coming from the countryside looking for a better life. A hodge-podge of small inns, hotels, mosques, churches, homes, workshops and stores made this area a Balkan-style medina, a place bustling with carriages coming and going between Athens and the rest of the country.

Only a few traces from those bygone days remain, yet nothing has really changed. Indeed, some of the small streets have retained their old Ottoman-Balkan character, and in the main square, three notable monuments (built over the bed of the ancient Iridanos River – discovered a few years ago during excavations for the Athens metro) remind us of the different phases of the city’s history.

From Byzantine times, we have the Dormition of the Virgin, the main church of a small 10th century Byzantine monastery after which the area of Monasteraki is named. We also have the 18th century Tzistarakis Mosque, now a museum. Named after the Ottoman governor, or voevoda, of Athens, Mustapha Agha Tzistarakis, known as Cizderiye in Turkish, the mosque marks the passage of the Ottomans.

Last but not least, there’s the ISAP electric railway, one of the first major infrastructure projects designed during the founding of the modern Greek state and inaugurated in the late 19th century.

Together with its modern apartment blocks, multiethnic population, street peddlers selling fruit from small stalls and the smell of roasting meat from the souvlaki joints, the heart of the old city remains vibrant and colorful.

Monastiraki Square is the best

Ayvissinias Square is believed to have been named this because, in 1922, aid from Ethiopia was distributed from this spot to Greek refugees from Asia Minor. This initiative was organized by the Regent of Abyssinia, later Ethiopia’s emperor, Haile Selassie I.

place to set off on a treasure-hunting expedition that will double as a tour of the city’s history. Start by heading down the main street, Iphestou, to Avyssinias Square, exploring the side streets and arcades. Around since the early 20th century, Avyssinias is the oldest and perhaps only organized emporium of second-hand clothes, shoes, furniture, books, objets d’art and sundry other goods, and to this day, it is the place where antique buyers come to root out interesting finds. Sunday is the busiest day, with sellers coming out in force and setting up all around the square and into the surrounding streets (down Astigos, onto a part of Ermou and to the start of Leokoriou), attracting hordes of people: the curious, the collectors, the professionals, folks looking to make some extra cash and others who are just there to while away their time.

Depending on the day, you can find all sorts of weird and wonderful things at the market: a lot of stuff from the Balkans (whose countries basically shared the same culture as interconnected parts of the Ottoman Empire up until the late 19th century), traditional Greek embroidery and kilim rugs/throws, Ottoman glassware, pottery from the Aegean, silverware, books, metalwork and “European” objects that you can often find at much cheaper prices in Greece.

Sunday is the busiest day, with sellers coming out in force and setting up business across the square and into the surrounding streets, attracting hordes of people: the curious, the collectors and others who are just there to while away their time.

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the antique market

Artin Kule with a Canakkale jug and a mechanical toy from the 1950s.

Plastic soldiers from the 1960s.

19th-c. French porcelain bottles depicting Greek themes.

Church candle holder from Tinos, 19th c.

Artin

Ta Palia kai Paraksena (The Old and Odd)

The owner is a wise Armenian who specializes in ceramics from the broader Greek world and particularly from the start of the industrial era in Greece. His welcoming store has a 19th century feel about it and should not be missed.

The treasures here can be described as Greek bric-a-brac with style: plastic evzone dolls, old soda pop bottles, antique toys, ceramic bird cages, collectibles, stone mortars, wood carvings and more. Basically, it’s all the stuff found at the Sunday market, filtered by the antiques expert and owner Yiannis Skiadopoulos.

5 Kynetou, Avyssinias Square • Tel. (+30) 694.460.3593 7 Navarchou Apostoli • Tel. (+30) 210.322.7901

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Martinos This four-story Aladdin’s cave exemplifies Ottoman style, with furniture, silverware, jewelry, embroidery, porcelain and paintings from that period, as well as a good collection of what can be described as “Philhellene” art. It also carries African art, antique mirrors and modern objets d’art. A visit here is like going to a museum that offers a crash course in local history. Martinos has been around in the area for more than 100 years and at its current location since 1926.

Unfortunately, it’s closed on Sundays. 50 Pandrossou • Tel. (+30) 210.321.2414 • www.martinosart.gr GREECE IS

A pair of Louis XV chairs with Gobelin upholstery; an iron cross from the 17th century; Greek chests; and an Italian Primavera lamp from the 1970s.

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Apostolos Argyriadis Don’t be discouraged by the shop’s rather dusty appearance, because a good search through its merchandise is bound to be rewarding.

Apostolos Argyriadis has a true collector’s zeal for sniffing out great finds and if you tell him what you’re looking for, he will most probably have it. His shop is like a showcase of bourgeois tastes and esthetics, with art objects artlessly exhibited in a fascinating jumble, where silverware from Smyrna is set beside works by important Greek artists, Chinese porcelain and rare glassware purchased from Greek homes.

42 Patriarchou Ioakeim, Kolonaki • Tel. (+30) 210.725.1727

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The armored cruiser “Averof”, seen in an early 20th c. folk painting, and 19th c. silverware from Smyrna (Izmir).

the antique market

Angleos Vlastaris standing next to a wooden winch from an early 20th-century boatyard in Chios.

Angelos Vlastaris Esthete Angelos Vlastaris selects one-of-a-kind objects and furniture from the broader Greek world and has created a shop that is like a cabinet of curiosities in the buzzing up-and-coming neighborhood behind the Acropolis Museum. His greatest love, however, is clay jars from the island of Chios, his second home and the subject of many years of research. He is currently writing a much-anticipated book on the pottery of Chios, which is slated for release in 2017.

IN THE BROADER CENTER In the 1980s, antique dealers began moving from Monastiraki to other parts of Athens.

5 Mitseon, Makriyianni • Tel. (+30) 694.523.8001

Giorgos Goutis

Gold earrings with gold enamel and pearls, from the Dodecanese.

Giorgos Goutis is the last surviving professional tailor of traditional Greek costumes and is regarded as an important proponent in the preservation of the country’s folk history. He first opened his shop in Monastiraki in 1934 and later moved to his current address. The store specializes in local traditional costumes – he has supplied almost every museum in Greece showcasing such collections – as well as embroideries, Greek jewelry and memorabilia from the Ottoman era.

10 Dimokritou, Kolonaki • Tel. (+30) 210.361.3557

Giorgos Goutis in his shop.

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the antique market

Going Modern a heyday for Sleek Scandinavian design

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he advent in Greece of Scandinavian design in furniture (sold for a small fortune in foreign markets and auction houses today) coincided with the construction boom of the 1950s and 60s, and also with the arrival of Anne-Marie, Princess of Denmark and later Queen of Greece. The new style – defined by simplicity, minimalism and functionality, but also by the fact that is was affordable and suited all manner of tastes – was soon embraced by the masses and renamed the “Anne-Marie look,” an all-encompassing term also used to describe Italian and French furniture from that period. The Anne-Marie look prevailed in the interior design of apartments and homes throughout Greece well into the 70s, and today we can find authentic pieces of interesting replicas at Avyssinias Square – usually at very affordable prices – and in a few stores.

Mofu, Vintage & Contemporary Design This is a temple to Scandinavian design, with an excellent selection of carefully chosen items ranging from furniture to lighting fixtures, lamps and objets d’art.

28 Sari, Psyrri • Tel. (+30) 210.331.19.22 • www.mofu.gr

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Statuette of Muhammad Ali; teapot and vase by Thomai Kontou; and a piece by Nicholas Moore.

Martinos The second Martinos store, in the upscale Kolonaki district, is more eclectic in style than the first and showcases a very interesting collection of furniture and objects from the 1950s and 60s, pieces by contemporary Greek and foreign designers, and contemporary art. It also has one of the biggest collections in Greece of pieces by local ceramic artist Eleni Vernardaki.

24 Pindarou, Kolonaki • Tel. (+30) 210.360.9449

see also Benaki Museum Before you start exploring the city’s antique shops, a visit to the Benaki Museum’s permanent collection serves as a good introduction to Greece’s history.

Bringing together more than 40,000 exhibits, it constitutes a fascinating historical panorama that ranges from ancient and Roman times through the medieval Byzantine period from the fall of Constantinople (1453) and the centuries of Frankish and Ottoman occupation to the start of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, the formation of the modern state of Greece (1830) and the 1922 expulsion of Greeks from Asia Minor • www.benaki.gr

Museum of Greek Folk Art

Ceramics designed by Eleni Vernardaki for the 2004 Athens Olympics; an Italian lamp from the 1970s; and black-andwhite photos by Ettore Sottsass.

The museum is currently closed for renovations, but its very interesting gift shop is still open and contains excellent replicas of the museum’s collections, as well as selected contemporary pieces inspired by traditional themes and figures, including pottery, wood carvings, silverware, jewelry, embroidery, shadow puppets and fashion accessories.

• 43-45 Adrianou, Monastiraki • www.melt.gr

Vergos Auctions ...specializes in old manuscripts and engravings with a Greek focus, as well as in paintings and sculptures done mainly by Greek artists or foreigners who either visited the country or were inspired by its history. • www. vergosauctions.com

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STEFANOS TSIVOPOULOS, History Zero, 2013, video still Courtesy of the artist and Kalfayan Galleries (Athens-Thessaloniki)

THE ART SCENE

A Creative Eco-System With new spaces, new ideas and an influx of talent both local and foreign, the Athens art scene is booming and ready to co-host, for the first time, Documenta 14, a global art event.

BY SELANA VRONTI PORTR AITS: NIKOS PILOS

THE ART SCENE

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odern Athens, unlike Paris or London, has never been a major art capital. In the last few years, however, this seems to be changing. Μore and more foreign curators, artists and other cultural workers are visiting Athens or settling permanently in the city in order to explore its vibrant art scene, draw inspiration from its rough urban landscape and study its contemporary culture. “At the moment, Athens looks like a big art residency,” says Afroditi Gonou, a historian and contemporary art consultant at the Museum of Cycladic Art. “Despite the financial crisis, things are happening. There are many promising Greek artists who have developed an efficient network of communication: they exchange ideas and support each other. It might be too early to talk about a new movement, but for the first time, we are witnessing the creation of an art scene.”

Is Athens turning into an arts hotspot? The signs are certainly there: the collaborative force, the sense of greater activity, the feeling that something new is emerging. On the other hand, the market is dead and there is a definite lack of support from the various institutions. In order to explain this paradox, we need to go back a few years.

Right before the onset of the financial crisis, the art sector in Athens appeared to be inactive. The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), which should have opened in 2004, still remained closed. There were only a few galleries, and the ones that existed weren’t very open to new names, fresh ideas or experimentation. Up-and-coming artists and curators didn’t really have a place to express themselves, so they developed their own initiatives. One such enterprise was the Athens Biennale, launched in 2007 under the prophetic title “Destroy Athens.”

However, the deterioration of the financial situation suddenly changed the game: artists began reading the cityscape

“The National Museum of Contemporary Art is a strategically placed landmark that is certainly worth visiting for a comprehensive overview of Greece’s cultural identity. We hope that, along with other art organizations that are active and growing against all odds, it will change the face of Greece’s beleaguered and overlooked visual arts community.”

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in new ways, started moving into low-rent studios and created places where they could live and interact. Turmoil ensued: independent groups were formed, artist-run spaces and residencies were established, exhibitions were organized in unconventional places, collaborative projects began taking shape, new artistic institutions were created and street art rose to new heights. Most importantly, however, the actual works produced were of exceptional quality and could stand comparison with art from anywhere in the world.

Although this emerging scene was still unformed, it was attracting a great deal of interest. It resembled a boiling cauldron which contained many ingredients, but nobody was quite sure what was cooking. In the meantime, Athens itself was drawing more and more members of the art crowd, coming here to attend events or visit artist friends. In either case, they felt some kind of energy pulling them to this city. They saw Athens as this beautiful place full of life and quirkiness. The people, the cafés, the museums, the archaeological sites, the street art, the chaotic architecture, the nightlife, the beaches and the sun seemed all interconnected. Some started calling it “New Berlin,” although this wasn’t particularly apt - perhaps the only thing that the two cities had in common was the reuse of empty space and a strong “do it yourself” mentality. The discourse that developed regarding the differences between 130

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“It’s strange, because one would expect that nothing would be happening here during such a time of crisis.

But there are so many exhibitions being organized that it’s hard to keep up.

What we’re doing here is just as good as what’s being done abroad.”

HE L E N A PA PA DOP OUL O S , R A DIO AT HE NE S DIR EC T OR

THE ART SCENE

EVA PAPAMARGARITI, Factitious Imprints (detail), 2016, from the exhibition The Equilibrists, organized

by DESTE Foundation and the New Museum, N.Y. in Benaki Museum.

PETROS EFSTADIADIS, Parthenon, 2012. Inkjet print.

Courtesy of CAN, Christina Androulidaki Gallery

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the “North” and “South” of Europe also played an important role. “A part of the artistic world tends to run to wherever they can locate pain and woe,” commented Yorgos Tzirtzilakis, a consultant at the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art. “Greece is a traumatized area. The issue now is how to utilize this sudden interest in the country so that we offer something new and not just rely on this notion of trauma. That is the real challenge. The Athenian art scene is restless, promising and undoubtedly more active than ever, as many artists are achieving international recognition. But Athens needs to develop its own ‘language’ so that it can find its place in the international artistic scene.”

In the meantime, Polish curator Adam Szymczyk, who frequently visited Athens with his Greek-Swiss wife, witnessed what was happening. He too felt the sense of urgency and was aware of the role that the country was playing on the world stage, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. In 2014, he stated that Documenta, one of the largest contemporary art events in the world which traditionally takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany, would in 2017 be entitled “Learning from Athens” and take place in the Greek capital as well.

This piece of news motivated the Athenian art world: museums and other institutions (such as DESTE and the nonprofit organization NEON) started becoming more active. Everyone - artists, collectors, galleries and non-profit organizations tried hard to put their best foot forward. “Documenta acted as a catalyst or a magnet,” said Panos Haralambous, Dean of the Athens School of Fine Arts.

From the moment it was announced that Documenta would be held in Athens, there has been an explosion of interest in the international press. Publications such as El Pais, the New York Times, Die Zeit, Libération and the Guardian, along with more specialized channels of information such as the Vulture and Frieze, have all written about the artistic community growing in Athens.

“What constitutes the ontology of the Athenian visual arts scene? It’s a relatively minor scene in constant movement. This kind of mobility existed in my generation, only we would go abroad to learn. In contrast, there is more of a sense of parity nowadays.

There is no inherent provincialism.”

PANOS HAR AL AMBOUS, DE A N OF T HE AT HE N S S CHOOL OF F INE A R T S 132

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© BORIS KIRPOTIN

THE ART SCENE

DIONISIS KAVALLIERATOS, Owl, 2016, Glazed ceramic, 58x88x47cm, Courtesy of Bernier/Eliades Gallery

CACAO ROCKS, Les Cyclades Electroniques Prelude, 2016

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THE ART SCENE

“Athens is an interesting place to be right now, with Documenta happening here. We’re making a platform for European artists under 30.

We want to contribute to the local art scene somehow.”

L U K A S P A N E K & P A U L M A K O W S K Y, G E R M A N A R T I S T S W H O R E C E N T LY O P E N E D T H E I R O W N P R O J E C T S P A C E I N M E T A X O U R G E I O

“Documenta’s imminent presence has been both a symptom of and inspiration for the increasing interest in the art scene,” said Cathryn Drake, a critic for the magazine Artforum. But popularity isn’t necessarily indicative of the demand for art work. “The fact that foreign journalists come all the way here to write and report doesn’t mean that the art market benefits at all,” said Yorgos Tzirtzilakis. “They are more interested in what’s happening in Greek society than in the artists themselves.”

When the Documenta team moved to Athens, their presence made it imperative that EMST finally open (the building itself was ready, but they were still hiring the staff). This October, the museum’s director Katerina Koskina and the Minister of Culture, Aristides Baltas, announced the “soft” opening of EMST with its first major event: an exhibition organized in conjunction with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp.

MuHKA director, Bart de Baere, stated that “the future is be-

ing created here” and that “Greece is one of the most important countries in Europe right now.”

Documenta in Greece is a major event, and will undoubtedly bring the international art community en masse; it is also expected to increase cultural tourism in general. The exhibition is definitely strengthening Athens’ position on the modern cultural map. But what will follow after it closes? Will it change things for the better or are we going to experience, once again, the after-party depression that followed the 2004 Olympic Games? “Documenta is not going to pull Greece out of its crisis. But it will motivate some foundations, it will give a boost of energy and it’s [already] functioning as an ‘agent provocateur’ by re-shuffling the European art deck,” argues curator Marina Fokidis, head of the Artistic Office of Documenta in Athens. “After it ends, it will leave a consignment of relations between artists, curators, theorists and people working in the arts. It will help create international bonds.”

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“Greek artists now use different means of expression, we participate in group projects, we take initiatives and we renegotiate the notion of public space.

All of these contribute to a more dynamic artistic scene.”

P O K A Y I O , A R T I S T, D I R E C T O R O F T H E A T H E N S B I E N N A L E

Fokidis was the director of the magazine South as a State of Mind (which has become the official magazine for Documenta 14) and also of Kunsthalle Athena, an exhibition space that left its mark on the city’s art scene. What does she think of the way the scene is evolving? “There is certainly some activity with artists focusing on themes related to the crisis, but there aren’t any voices responding to political matters yet. In my opinion, the next step involves the politicization of the Greek artists. They need to dig deep into what’s happening in the world and not just stick with esthetics and form. Art cannot be passive within a society. It has to play a different role in these difficult times, during which we experience extreme social phenomena.”

Recently, DESTE, along with the New York New Museum, organized an exhibition in the Benaki Museum, featuring young Greek artists. Why aren’t such events, promoting young local talent, held more often? “Private institutes cannot play the role of a state-run contemporary art museum. And the Athenian art scene needs to be stabilized, as it is currently characterized by an inconsistency that can be exhausting.

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sought-after consistency and become an organization of stability and evaluation. But for now, we will have to proceed with this state of temporariness,” points out Tzirtzilakis.

Everybody who works in the arts recognizes the lack of an infrastructure or some kind of mechanism that would support and promote the fine arts. “Many independent initiatives are bound to grow cold unless they’re supported in some way.

There is an imperative need for the museums, the state and the collectors to form a support system,” says Helena Papadopoulos, director of the non-profit space Radio Athènes.

The future will show if this artistic spring in Athens leads to something more permanent or if it’s just an internal shift that will soon be forgotten. Many people fear the latter, but there is some encouraging evidence that things are indeed changing: “This year, there was a record number of applicants for the Athens School of Fine Arts; over a thousand candidates took the exam,” says the school’s dean Panos Haralambous.

“Since a career per se is not a secure or guaranteed thing in Greece anymore, people are attempting to change their ideas and lifestyles. The life of an artist seems lighter, more poetic, and yet more real.”

GEORGE DRIVAS, still from the single-channel video Kepler, 2014 Courtesy of the artist and Polyeco Contemporary Art Initiative

PAVLOS TSAKONAS, 2011, Mural at 20 Pireos.

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© HELENA PARASKEVA

Setting up the first exhibition at the National Museum of Conteporary Art (EMST)

MUSEUMS AND FOUNDATIONS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART (EMST)

EMST is hosting the exhibition Urgent Conversations: Athens-Antwerp, open until January 31, 2017. Co-produced with the Museum of Contemporary Art of Antwerp, the exhibition features 70 works from the permanent collections of both museums. It will be followed by Documenta, which officially starts on April 8, 2017. This major contemporary art exhibition, which is thought to be as important as the Venice Biennale, is held every five years in the city of Kassel, Germany and lasts for 100 days. In 2017, its 14th edition, entitled “Documenta14: Learning from Athens,” will be held in both cities • www.emst.gr • www.documenta14.de

ΝΕΟΝ

A non-profit organization founded in 2013 by collector Dimitris Daskalopoulos, NEON aims to bring contemporary culture closer to the public by organizing exhibitions and events in surprise

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locations around the city. “I am positive that a society better informed about contemporary art and culture can unleash a wealth of human potential and regenerate a cosmopolitan spirit,’’ says NEON’s director, Elina Kountouri. Their current exhibition, entitled “Flying over the Abyss”, runs through January 31, 2017, in the basement of the Athens Conservatoire. The exhibition space’s makeover was funded by NEON. • neon.org.gr

DESTE FOUNDATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

Established by collector Dakis Joannou, DESTE is a nonprofit institution that organizes contemporary art events in collaboration with a number of internationally acclaimed curators and leading artists. Central to the foundation’s policy of supporting and promoting contemporary art is the DESTE Prize, established in 1999 and awarded every two years to a Greek artist under 40, whose work is actively contributing to new issues in the artistic discourse. A group exhibition of past winners is scheduled for Spring 2017, at the Museum of Cycladic Art.

• deste.gr • www.cycladic.gr

THE GEORGE ECONOMOU COLLECTION

Ship owner George Economou has put together a priceless collection of contemporary art that focuses on German impressionism. Parts of this collection are presented in thematic exhibitions in an impressive purpose-built building in Maroussi. It is the perfect place for art lovers to enjoy exceptional works by artists such as Otto Dix and Yayoi Kusama. Currently on show is the exhibition “New Beginnings: Between Gesture and Geometry”, bringing together 19 artists who emerged in the post-war era (until April, 2017).

• www.thegeorgeeconomoucollection.com

THE BENAKI MUSEUM

One of the most important cultural institutions of the country consistently presents splendid collections that cover multiple artistic domains. The central building – a jewel of neoclassical architecture – is located in Kolonaki while the impressive, modern annex designed by architects Maria Kokkinou and Andreas

GEORGIA SAGRI, “Attempt. Come.”, Performance 2016

Kourkoulas is at 138 Pireos Street; there are also other Benaki annexes scattered all over the city. You can find information on current exhibitions on its website.

• www.benaki.gr

GALLERIES ΒERNIER-ELIADES

Its first exhibition in 1977, which featured works from Jannis Kounellis, set the tone for the future of the gallery. Today, it is situated in a renovated neoclassical building on a beautiful pedestrian street in Thiseio and mainly shows the work of successful artists with international appeal. Ever since it first opened, its owners Jean Bernier and Marina Eliades have made a point of inviting the artists to the opening night of their exhibitions so that they can get to know the city and its people.

• www.bernier-eliades.gr

ELENI KORONEOU GALLERY

This gallery has been around for 27 years and is now located in a neoclassical former residence in Thiseio. It has made an

important contribution to the Athenian art scene, hosting exhibitions from many foreign artists such as Christopher Wool, George Condo and Paul McCarthy, often before they became particularly wellknown. It also supports young Greek artists.

• www.koroneougallery.com

brothers Arsen and Roupen Kalfayan, who grew up in a middle-class Armenian family in Thessaloniki. Their space on Haritos Street in Kolonaki was designed by award-winning architects Andreas Kourkoulas and Maria Kokkinou.

• www.kalfayangalleries.com

CΑΝ

One of the most powerful galleries in the world, Gagosian opened a branch in Athens in 2009, as part of its 16-strong global network. It features the work of esteemed foreign artists from the extensive Gagosian roster. The first exhibition in Athens featured work by American artist Cy Twombly.

• www.gagosian.com

This small white cube gallery in Kolonaki, opened in May 2012. Its art historian owner, 35-year-old Christina Androulidaki, invests in the new generation of Greek artists. “I believe they are the future and I like collaborating with people my own age,” she says. “I choose artists that have something new to say, in terms of both ideas and form.”

• www.can-gallery.com

KALFAYAN

The Athenian branch of this Thessaloniki gallery promotes art from the Balkans and the Middle East. Two of its featured Greek artists have participated in the Venice Biennale – Stefanos Tsivopoulos represented Greece in 2013 and Diohandi in 2011. The gallery belongs to

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GAGOSIAN

THE ILEANA TOUNTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER

Housed in a beautiful two-story building of industrial design that started out as a cultural center but now focuses on group exhibitions, the “Tounta Gallery” has been collaborating with Greek artists and curators for many years. At the entrance, you will find a shop that sells autographed books and catalogs, while

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© STATHIS MAMALAKIS

Pre-Documenta events, including lectures and themed walks, began this September.

THE ART SCENE

MARO MICHALAKAKOS “Happy Days, Oh Les Beaux Jours”, 2012, and Kostas Ioannidis, “GLIMPSES”, 2007. Installation view from the exhibition FLYING OVER THE ABYSS, NEON Foundation

© NIKOS MARKOU

MALVINA PANAGIOTIDI, Ghost Relief III, 2015, from the exhibition The Equilibrists in the Benaki Museum.

STRATOS KALAFATIS. 2014/16, Archival inkjet print, 65x63cm, courtesy of Bernier/Eliades Gallery

at the rear of the ground floor, there is a modern restaurant with a garden.

• www.art-tounta.gr

A.ANTONOPOULOU.ART

Angeliki Antonopoulou opened her gallery in 2001 in Psyrri, an area once labeled the Soho of Athens. The artists she represents have collaborated with acclaimed museums and institutions, including Guggenheim Bilbao and MoCA Shanghai, or participated in various international exhibitions such as Venice Biennale and Documenta.

• www.aaart.gr

REBECCA CAMHI GALLERY

Back in the 1990s, this gallery ruled the scene. Now more low-key, it is located in a neoclassical building in the downtown area of Metaxourgeio. The gallery has collaborated with leading international artists that include Nan Goldin, Nobuyoshi Araki, Julian Opie and Rita Ackermann, and has represented well-known Greek artists such as Takis, Konstantin Kakanias, DeAnna Maganias and Mantalina Psoma.

• www.rebeccacamhi.com

NON PROFIT SPACES

AD GALLERY

AD Gallery is one of the oldies. Established in 1986, it is located in a little neoclassical building, on top of a houseware shop. Its focus is on contemporary works that address and raise awareness on social and political issues.

• www.adgallery.gr

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ATOPOS

The word “atopos” comes from Ancient Greek and refers to the strange, the exceptional and the unclassifiable. Founded in 2003 by architect Stamos Fafalios and anthropologist Vassilis Zidianakis, this platform for the arts is mostly focused on the expression and adornment of the

human body. In 2014, they inaugurated their Occupy Atopos residency program, which aims to observe and support the creative process of contemporary artists.

Recently, they announced their collaboration with Documenta14.

• www.atopos.gr

CIRCUITS AND CURRENTS

This is the project space of the Athens School of Fine Arts, and the students themselves are responsible for its program. It hosts exhibitions, talks and workshops, while also bringing together artists, theoreticians and people from other creative fields.

• circuitsandcurrents.info

RADIO ATHENES

It’s a book project, a showroom, an exhibition space and a curatorial practice.

Flexible, independent, nomadic and interdisciplinary, Radio Athènes works together with local and international artists and institutions in order to present exhibitions, lectures, screenings and

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THE ART SCENE

SNEHTA RESIDENCY: Director Augustus Veinoglou and Coordinator Becky Campbell

© DIMITRIS VLAIKOS

© CHRISTOS ANGELOPOULOS

MICHALIS KALLIMOPOULOS, “KOSMOS”, 2016, courtesy of the artist and A. Antonopoulou Gallery

DIMITRIS ANDREADIS, “Hemlock”, 2015 courtesy of the artist and Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center

readings in the fields of contemporary art, literature, philosophy, dance and the applied arts. It is currently hosting an exhibition by New York-based artist Rey Akdogan that features wall sculptures made out of everyday plastic materials collected from stores and supermarkets around Greece (through December 10).

• www.radioathenes.org

STATE OF CONCEPT

Founded in 2013 by art critic and curator Iliana Fokianaki and based in the upand-coming neighborhood of Koukaki, near the Acropolis and the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), this independent gallery not only introduces non-mainstream international artists to the Greek audience but also showcases the work of selected Greek artists. In addition, it organizes a variety of events, including talks, screenings and workshops for children.

• www.stateofconcept.org

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3 137

A self-funded, self-managed project space focused on documentary and archival art and run by three young artists, Paki Vlassopoulou, Chrysanthi Koumianaki and Kosmas Nikolaou, 3 137 gives established galleries a run for their money. Their openings, where even the food that is served is homemade, have become the talk of the Athenian art crowd.

• www.3137.gr

SNEHTA RESIDENCY

Run by Greek artist Augustus Veinoglou, and deriving its name from Athens spelled backwards, this is one of the city’s most active residency programs.

Residents are selected through an open call for artists, designers, architects, curators and art historians; successful candidates spend two months researching in the city. Two annual exhibitions showcase the residents’ work.

• www.snehtaresidency.org

‘ΥΛΗ[MATTER]HYLE

Housed in an apartment overlooking Omonia Square, this “semi-public, semi-private” space aims to bring together art, politics and sciences. It is an initiative by performing artist Georgia Sagri and others.

• www.hyle.gr

ENTERPRISE PROJECTS

It’s all about exploration of artistic forms, experimentation and conversation between artists, disciplines and their audience in this newly-established project space. It was created by 24-yearold School of Fine Arts graduate Danai Giannoglou and artist Vassilis Papageorgiou, in the latter’s basement studio in the neighborhood of Ambelokipi.

• www.enterprise-projects.com

taste GREECE IS

ATH EN S

CAUTION: GREEK FOOD IS ADDICTIVE From gastronomic pioneers to authentic tavernas, and from souvlaki to octopus, Athens has it all – plus some of the hottest bars in the world. © Athenian taverna, original painting by Farida El Gazzar

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THE GOOD LIFE

THE TAVERNA: AN INSTITUTION Offering so much more than what is on the menu, the taverna has always been the place where Greeks are themselves.

BY G E O R G E P I T TA S

W

hen Athens was named the capital of Greece, in 1834, and began to develop from a sparsely populated town into a modern metropolis, its new residents, mostly working people, needed a nofrills place to eat, drink their retsina and socialize. This is how Athenian tavernas came about. Over the years, they developed in much the same way that the city did.

People coming to Athens from a particular rural area congregated in the same neighborhood and invariably opened a taverna there. So, for example, people from the Mani region of the southern Peloponnese settled in what became the Maniatika district of Piraeus, and those from the Cycladic island of Anafi settled in the Plaka district of Anafiotika at the foot of the Acropolis.

Later, many establishments opened around the Athens Polytechnic and the Exarchia area to cater to students.

The emphasis was not on the food as such, but more on the entertainment: tavernas always involved wine and song. In a more romantic era, as these eateries emerged in new Athenian neighborhoods such as Neapoli, Plaka, Psyrri and Metaxourgeio, the night air was

filled with the melodies of serenades. The arrival of refugees from Asia Minor in 1922, after the Greek-Turkish war, led to another explosion of tavernas, which became little hubs of social activity, as the newcomers were given very small houses in which entertaining was impossible. These new establishments became havens for outcasts and fringe groups and incubators for rebetika blues and popular Greek songs.

During the junta, rebellious youths would gather in tavernas to listen to songs by Mikis Theodorakis that fueled their anti-dictatorship sentiments. It was here, too, that in the 1980s a new generation rediscovered rebetika and, as tourism flourished, foreign travelers were introduced to Greek cuisine and retsina and shared this uniquely Greek form of entertainment.

As a gathering place for music lovers, friends or families, the Athenian taverna fulfills multiple needs.

Here people come to eat, drink, sing, dance, share a piece of their life and forget their troubles with some comfort food, a little alcohol, a little laughter and comraderie. It’s here, too, where they concentrate on the vi-

This is what the taverna is all about: from the mix-and-match decor to the bouzouki player and the impromptu dancer, this 1990s photo from “Eidikon” could easily have been taken in the 1920s, when the establishment first opened.

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tal matters of the heart, such as friendship and solidarity.

THE EATING RITUAL The sheer enjoyment of the eating ritual is one of the taverna’s unique features. Echoing the days of communal sharing, many of the dishes are put in the center of the table so that everyone can help themselves. Glasses are raised and cutlery is parried over the platters.

The left-over salad oil and sauces are mopped up in a battle of bread. The feeling of unity spreads to neighboring tables, and carafes of wine are sent back and forth along with wishes for good health: Yia mas!

THE FOOD At smaller tavernas, the kitchens are tiny and the selections are limited. There are even some establishments that serve only three or four dishes. This does not stop hardcore fans from stopping in just for the salad, or an order of fried cod and garlic dip, or whatever each eatery’s specialty happens to be: lamb in lemon sauce, irresistible sautéed offal, rabbit stew or delicious fried meatballs. The larger the taverna, the roomier the kitchen, and the offerings multiply accordingly (in one kitchen, I saw about 30 cooking pots full of food). Here, one can expect the who’s who of classic Greek cuisine: from vegetable dishes, such as stuffed tomatoes and peppers and briam in the oven, to pulses like the iconic fasolada (bean soup), to meat dishes, either stewed with lemon or tomato sauce, or baked (giouvetsi). When the taverna is also a grillhouse, you will always find sausage, lamb chops, steaks and burgers, often along with local favorites such as offal-stuffed kokoretsi and meat on the spit (pork, chicken and lamb).

THE ATMOSPHERE The decor of the taverna depends on the style of the building that houses it and, more importantly, on the taste of its owner, who gives the space its esthetic character.

Barrels in the dining area always add an extra touch. In the past, they functioned as vats for maturing wine. Nowadays, much of the wine consumed comes from boxes or bottles, and the barrels are often purely decorative – a reminder of the glory days.

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clubs, where innovation drives style, the world of tavernas still revels in nostalgia. Memories live on in objects such as jukeboxes, old radio sets and phonographs, and copper wine carafes, as well as in the yellowed photographs reminding patrons of how things used to be.

The walls often feature paintings of typical taverna scenes, done by amateur artists; in days past, these were exchanged for a hot meal and a carafe of retsina. Next to them you might see framed sayings or fragments of popular philosophy developed over a glass or two. Many tavernas still feature an old chalkboard on which regular customers’ tabs would have been tallied by the owner, in the hopes of eventually getting paid.

THE TAVERNA OWNER The taverniaris (taverna owner) is the soul of the place. Most tavernas are named after their owner, and its his or her personality that determines the character of the establishment.

Not only must the owners take care of daily business, select the best ingredients, foods and wine and oversee the preparations and cooking; they must always be there to see to the patrons. A good taverniaris can read customers, and see when their eyes are troubled and their spirits need a lift. On the other hand, he’ll also tease them when their soccer team loses. In the end, it is often the political beliefs, favorite teams and place of origin of the taverna owner, along with his taste in music, that will determine his clientele.

At smaller, local tavernas, the taverniaris does everything from stocking supplies and handling kitchen prep, to grilling, taking orders, serving and adding up the bill. If he has a wife, she may help him out by taking over the kitchen. Usually, there is someone to wash the dishes. As the taverna grows and stays open longer hours, the staff gets bigger. Waiters, cooks, assistant cooks and more dishwashers are overseen by the owner, who is now free to spend more time with his customers, making sure they leave satisfied so that they’ll come

ABOUT THE AUTHOR An interior decorator and furniture designer, George Pittas studied political science and sociology at the University of Paris 8 (Vincennes). He has served on the boards of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) and the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, and has worked in the areas of culture and alternative tourism. Since 2010, he has headed the Greek Breakfast program, which aims to link hotels with the gastronomic wealth of their home regions. He has published numerous books (in Greek), on subjects such as the Athenian taverna, the traditional kafeneio and the treasures of Greek gastronomy.

He is the creator of the website www. greekgastronomyguide. gr, which showcases the values and components of Greece’s gastronomic heritage.

Here people come to eat, drink, sing, dance, share a piece of their life and forget their troubles with some comfort food, a little alcohol, a little laughter and comraderie.

© DIMITRIS VLAIKOS © TAKIS ROIDAKIS

Diporto Taverna: Mitsos, who started off as a dishwasher at the age of 12 and went on to become a waiter, has been running the place for the last quarter-century.

Business as usual at Bairaktaris Taverna in Monastiraki, in operation since 1879.

Boys will be boys: a group of friends enjoy a good night out to the sound of the laterna (hand organ).

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TO TRIANTAFYLLO TIS NOSTIMIAS

IPIROS

The Real Deal A R O S T E R O F TA V E R N A S T H AT TA K E T H E I R T R A D I T I O N S E R I O U S LY

BY NENA DIMITRIOU

Aromas of century-old recipes will draw you into this basement taverna that specializes in fried salted cod and fresh fried potatoes, all served steaming hot from an old iron griddle. The traditional skordalia (garlic paste) served with this dish is optional and definitely not for the faint-hearted.

• 41 Kydathinaion, Plaka, Tel. (+30) 210.322.5084

TO TRIANTAFYLLO TIS NOSTIMIAS

The tables are set out in an arcade in an area that nowadays is mostly shuttered storefronts. It serves the best “value for money” seafood dishes in town. Try the beautifully crispy whitebait, the boiled vegetable salads, the cured fish from Lesvos, the eggplant puree or the grilled sardine filets stuffed with herbs, along with a glass of ouzo or Lesvos wine.

• 22 Lekka, Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 210.322.7298

DIOMATARIS

The Cretan owner brings a lot of the ingredients over from his native island and serves up generous portions, rich flavors and equally rich stories. Try the eggs fried in staka butterfat, or the dish of stewed meat and rice traditionally served at weddings.

There is, of course, always the option of roast meat washed down with tsikoudia or wine, and why not finish with rich graviera drizzled with honey?

• 80 Dimofontos, Ano Petralona, Tel. (+30) 210.345.5505

TO STEKI TOU ILIA

While there’s nothing remarkable about the interior spaces of this taverna’s two locations, what they lack in décor is more than made up for in flavor. The forte here is the crispy grilled meat, particularly the delectable lamb chops.

Try not to over-order.

• 5 Eptachalkou, Thiseio, Tel. (+30) 210.345.8052 & 7 Thessalonikis, Thiseio, Tel. (+30) 210.342.2407

DIPORTO

Said to be the oldest taverna in Athens, legend has it that the current owner went down its three steps 60 years ago and has yet to re-emerge.

Wine barrels and a handful of tables all squashed together add to the ambience. Try the chickpea and celery stew.

• 9 Sokratous & Theatrou, Psyrri, Tel. (+30) 210.321.1463

TO EIDIKON

A grocery store-slash-taverna, its decorative theme of canned goods adds to its Instagram-friendly retro authenticity – even the floor squeaks. The “cucina povera” philosophy is expressed in dishes like the spicy soutzouki sausage or the corned beef omelet whipped up in an old skillet over a small gas ring; sides include tangy graviera cheese, and there are a few salads, too.

• 38 Psaron & Salaminas, Piraeus, Tel. (+30) 210.461.2674

IPIROS

This is not your classic taverna; it’s more of a Greek

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version of a diner, where the wine flows freely and the atmosphere is unpretentious.

Located inside the Varvakios Market, the central Athens meat and fish market, Ipiros opens at six in the morning to serve the market workers such hearty fare as chicken soup, tripe soup and other classic dishes (including stews and roasts), and stays open during the day to cater to the hungry shoppers.

• 4 Filopimenos, Omonia, Tel. (+30) 210.324.0773

TO TRIFYLLI

This no-frills taverna, tucked away behind the Panathinaikos FC Stadium, doesn’t feature in any guidebook. 60 years ago, it was a private residence whose owners would grill souvlaki on match day to feed hungry fans. The grill is now indoors, and the menu has grown to include a few items, such as their meatballs, that have become as famous as their local wine.

• 7 Panathinaikou, Ambelokipi, Tel. (+30) 210.644.6585

© CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU, DIMITRIS VLAIKOS

TA BAKALIARAKIA TOU DAMIGOU

TA BAKALIARAKIA TOU DAMIGOU

THE FOOD SCENE

NARROWING IT DOWN An Athenian connoisseur’s shortlist of the most interesting places to try out the city’s flavors, from Greek salad sorbet to souvlaki guide of Athens.

BY Va s s i l i s M a s s e l o s

varoulko seaside

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When in Rome do as the Romans do” goes the saying, but this is not always easy or advisable when a gourmet visitor to Athens has to decide where to wine and dine amongst the city’s numerous eateries. Greeks enjoy delicacies that fall into the category of “acquired taste,” which the uninitiated might not appreciate. One such example is gardoumba, lamb’s innards (liver, lungs, sweetbreads) wrapped in lamb intestine, seasoned and cooked in a pot. Deciding where to eat is never easy but, in our scenario, if there were a single kriterion, as the ancient Greeks would say, that applies both to tourists and locals alike,

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this should probably be authenticity, which invariably makes a restaurant great regardless of its type, price category or location. The good news is that there is a plethora of authentic restaurants in Athens, which, incidentally, is experiencing a gastronomic renaissance, despite the country’s persistent financial troubles.

Although connoisseur tourists would probably not choose to eat at a classic haute cuisine establishment, as there are plenty of those back home, they should perhaps make at least one exception: Funky Gourmet is just seven years old but already has two Michelin stars under its belt. Eating there is both an experi-

ence and an investment, as each guest will have to fork out about €200 to enjoy, inter alia, Greek salad sorbet, house cheese, avgotaracho (superb Greek bottarga), or a tart with white chocolate and a beetroot fashioned into a rose and served with aioli. If you want to maximize the experience, you should also opt for the paired wine menu. The brainchild of two young US-educated chefs, Georgianna Hiliadaki and Nikos Roussos, this exquisite restaurant is in a category of its own and is a good choice if you are looking for something special.

For those who are spooked by Funky’s prices, there is always Cookoovaya, which recently celebrated its

© ANGELOS GIOTOPOULOS

NOLAN

MIRAN

second birthday. Having overcome minor teething problems, which thankfully didn’t last long, this large restaurant works like a well-oiled machine and continues to pleasantly surprise. Owned by no less than five chefs who have amazingly managed not to kill each other since they opened, Cookoovaya (“owl” in Greek) relies on carefully selected local ingredients based on seasonality and availability. Its large electric oven that mimics a wood-fired one churns out exquisite “pites” (pies), while everything is prepared in a long open kitchen under the customers’ watchful eyes. Try their version of the Athinaiki (Athenian) salad made with G R E E C E IS

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ECONOMOU TAVERNA

COOKOOVAYA

large, instead of small, chunks of boiled fish, potatoes, carrots and mayonnaise, and the brisket on a bed of smoked aubergine purée and wild rice. The oenophile will not be disappointed here as they offer a fine choice of Greek wines, old and well as new world selections, and their own reasonably priced and surprisingly good house wines. Cookoovaya is conveniently located near the Hilton hotel and is also open for lunch.

Varoulko, whose celebrity chef Lefteris Lazarou has, for the past three decades, been instrumental in developing the modern Greek cooking ethos, remains a classic choice for fish.

Located in the quaint little port of Mikrolimano, it is one of the few exceptions to the rule that says restaurants with lovely views serve terrible fare. Lazarou is one of the most experienced and innovative chefs in town; his extensive network of contacts throughout the Aegean guarantees a steady supply or superb fresh fish. In fact, he once complained that his biggest problem was not sourcing seafood but turning away some of his regular suppliers when they’ve caught too many fish.

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and rock fish broth. Varoulko has a comprehensive wine list, excellent service and an unbeatable view, making it an obvious choice for seafood.

Less obvious but no less interesting is Nolan, the den of Greek-Japanese chef Sotiris Contizas who left a promising career in banking to pursue his culinary dream. This small, nicely appointed restaurant offers a very well thought -out menu with less than 20 Greek-Japanese fusion dishes made with fresh local ingredients.

At Nolan, you can have zucchini with miso and cheese from Naxos or bean noodles with olives and octopus or, the pièce de résistance, donburi with minced lamb, which artfully combines Japanese elegance with traditional Greek flavors.

A short but nicely put together wine list will help you choose the right tipple to wash down this sophisticated yet unpretentious fare. Centrally located, off Syntagma Square, and with affordable prices, Nolan would be the ideal spot for lunch during a day tour of downtown Athens.

If you wish to savor a perfect example of “souvlaki,” the legendary Greek street food made with a brochette of pork meat carefully wrapped in a pita with tomato, tzatziki (yogurt

Funk y Gourmet 13 Paramythias & Salaminos, Kerameikos, • Tel. (+30) 210.524.2727 • funkygourmet.com

C o o k o o v aya 2 Chatziyianni Mexi, • Tel. (+30) 210.723.5005 • cookoovaya.gr

Va roul ko Se a side 52 Akti Koumoundourou, Mikrolimano, Piraeus • Tel. (+30) 210.522.8400 • varoulko.gr

Nol an 21 Voulis • Tel. (+30) 210.324.3545 • www.nolanrestaurant.gr

THE FOOD SCENE

FUNKY GOURMET

and garlic sauce) and onions, you don’t have to venture far. Kostas, one of the older souvlaki joints, is just around the corner from Nolan.

Kostas’ grandfather started selling his own special recipe from a street cart in 1948 and opened the “souvlatzidiko” two years later. The grandson opens at six in the morning and sells out by three in the afternoon. There is usually a queue but the wait is worth it if you want to taste souvlaki as it should be.

Another all-time classic, dating from 1930, is Economou, a typical mageriko (a taverna serving dishes cooked in pots). Using ingredients personally selected from local producers by its current owner Costas Diamandis, the legendary taverna serves mainly ladera (vegetable dishes cooked with olive oil) and many time-honored Greek delicacies such as stifado (rabbit with plenty of onions), oven-cooked lamb with potatoes, and rooster in tomato sauce. For anyone seeking to experience authentic Greek cuisine – as it once was – a visit to the very affordable Economou is a must.

You don’t always have to eat at a restaurant or a taverna, as many “bakalika” (grocery stores) and charcuteries also serve their wares in-store.

One of the oldest pastrami makers, Miran, has a couple of tables at the back of the store where the initiated can sample, in addition to pastourma, some of Greece’s tastiest cold cuts (including Greek prosciutto or kavourmas made with buffalo meat) as well as local cheeses. You can buy a loaf of bread at the bakery opposite Miran and, if you are very nice to the owner, he may let you slip in your own wine and glasses.

The usual business transformation path is from bricks to clicks, but Yoleni’s did it the other way around. The successful Greek delicacies e-shop has just opened its flagship “bakaliko”, where one can choose to buy or eat from a large array of high-quality local products, including meats from Bralos Estate, freshly baked Thracian pies, salads and a variety of yogurts, which can be washed down with one of 230 different wines ore one of more than 20 gourmet beers. You can leave your children safely on the second-floor nursery while attending one of the many cooking courses offered on the third floor.

Even if you don’t want to eat, Yoleni’s is the place for truly meaningful souvenirs in the form of mouthwatering local grocery products that do justice to Greece’s superb Mediterranean terroir.

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Ec o n o m o u Ta v e r n a 41 Troon & Kydantidon, Petralona • Tel. (+30) 210.346.7555

K o s ta s Mitropoleos & Pendelis, • Tel. (+30) 210.322.8502

Mir an 45 Evripidou, • Tel. (+30) 210.321.7187 • www.miran.gr

Yoleni’s 9 Solonos, • Tel. (+30) 212.222.3600 • www.yolenis.com

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NIGHTLIFE

A 21-BAR SALUTE TO ATHENS Here’s our guide to an amazing night out on the town, featuring the city’s best classic, wine and even cult bars.

BY NENA DIMITRIOU

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t’s a chicken-and-egg-situation: Was it the demand for original cocktails served in a sophisticated cosmopolitan setting or the emergence of a new generation of bartenders and mixologists that planted the seeds for Athens’ new bar scene? It really doesn’t matter what came first, because Greeks have always been fans of going out a lot, trying different bars depending on the mood they’re in.

And odd as it may sound, the start of the economic crisis about six years ago also signaled an important shift in the Athens nightlife scene as young people started looking for professional prospects on the other side of the bar. Within just a few years, the city center was packed with new establishments: cocktail bars, bars that stay open until dawn or start the day early, bars that specialize in wine, bars with amazing city and Acropolis views, bars taking over closed shops in small arcades and bars spreading out across the city’s rooftops.

Most of these new entrepreneurs invested heavily in their businesses, going to great pains to stock a collection of high-end spirits, spending those extra euros on premi-

um ingredients, putting great thought into their menus and coming up with exciting new cocktails. There is, however, a potential downside: the majority of Greeks consider it unthinkable not to smoke when they’re drinking, so the anti-smoking law is enforced only in a handful of establishments.

THE AWARD WINNERS Athens has world-class bars and the first to win the distinction of ranking among the World’s 50 Best Bars is Baba Au Rum, which, as its name suggests, specializes in rum and has an extremely high-quality and comprehensive collection of labels. Styled like a tiki bar, it plays good music, respects non-smokers and serves excellent Zombies as well as Mai Tais with 18-year-old rum.

The second bar to earn international kudos is The Clumsies, which came ninth in the rankings within just two years of opening.

The team does great things behind the bar and in the small workshop that they have set up to create cocktails using, among other things, fermented extracts, flavored tobacco, liquid nitrogen and xylitol. Innovation in a glass!

Greeks have always been fans of going out a lot, trying different bars depending on the mood they’re in.

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42 bar is a domestic award winner.

Every new menu introduction becomes the talk of the town, as the mixologists prepare dazzling concoctions behind its majestic wooden bar. The name “42” was inspired by Douglas Adams’ fantasy novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which the number 42 is said to be the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.” If you enjoy the classics, order a Negroni. But if you’d like to try something different, the Ultima Forsan is made with kimchi, strawberries, Manzanilla sherry, tomato and basil, a wonderful twist of Bloody Mary. Please note that smoking here is strictly forbidden indoors.

THE COCKTAIL BARS It’s always Christmas at Noel, which has adopted the year’s biggest holiday as its theme, with retro furniture, and a mix of art nouveau and baroque styles. It’s a popular place, so get there early if you want a table.

There’s a separate, non-smoking room called Noel Blue, where gold décor and a stunning ceiling are style highlights.

From the cocktail menu, we suggest the long drink made with whisky, chestnut liqueur, tonic and bitters. If you’re looking for somewhere less fancy, just down the road is 9, a low-profile bar with surrealist decorative details, a decent library and a menu that includes five “Perfect Gin & Tonics” for fans of bitter herby drinks. Tucked away in an arcade off Syntagma Square and sporting baroque details, Trap is a new bar that works as a bistro in the morning and is perfect for a light meal or snack from its international menu, or after-work drinks. The list comprises classic tip-

ples with a twist; we recommend the Cascara Spritz, a refreshing aperitif made in-house with the outer shells of coffee beans.

Affectedly old-hat, 7 Jokers is the go-to place for the casual party crowd.

Crowded, smoky, fashion-unconscious, with an eccentric musical selection and open from the evening on, it has been a popular after-hours watering hole for the last decade.

ALEXANDER’S

THE SPECIALISTS The Gin Joint is Athens’ only specialized gin bar and it more than lives up to its name: it has hundreds of carefully selected brands and extremely knowledgeable staff who provide such valuable tips as which tonic is naturally sparkling, why you should choose a New Western Dry instead of a London Dry gin or where the best juniper berries come from. This is not the place to get an ordinary G&T; just the best one you’ve probably ever tasted.

Athens’ second specialized rum bar is Rehab, a lively joint with loud music, an LA vibe, a big tank filled with exotic fish, colorful wallpaper, lots of marble, and gold brushstrokes here and there.

It serves some of the best rums in the world, used in clever combinations. Try the Cascadeur, made with 11 ingredients, including smoked whisky, sherry and aged vermouth. Over at Barreldier, the proud Italian bartender, Mario Basso, master of vermouth, makes his own, aged in small wooden barrels above the bar, while Odori, Athens’ first vermuteria serves full-bodied, spicy or lighter vermouths and signature blends in a space that resembles a botanical garden. Enjoy an aperitif with some Italian food.

The city center is packed with new establishments: cocktail bars, bars that stay open until dawn or start the day early, bars that specialize in wine, and rooftop and penthouse bars with amazing views.

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THE CLASSIC BARS Alexander’s is a classic elegant whisky bar in the Grande Bretagne Hotel boasting a huge selection of liquors, mainly whiskies and brandies. Upstairs is a special lounge where you can enjoy a selection of cigars along with your drink. Down the road and next to the Hilton Hotel, CV Distiller is a modern, no-smoking whisky bar where you can sample an excellent selection of premium labels as well as whisky-based cocktails, either at the long wooden bar with shelves of sparkling bottles or in the private basement cellar where the real gems are stored. If you prefer bourbon or Irish whiskeys with your blues and soul, old-school Low Profile is tucked away in an arcade on Voulis Street and stocks 100 different labels.

On the first floor of the NJV Athens Plaza you will find the Explorer’s Bar. At this British-style establishment with seriously elegant ambiance and a menu full of time-honored drinks, you might have once expected to meet Ernest Hemingway, Harold Pinter or T.S. Eliot lounging nearby on a green leather Chesterfield sofa. Today, you can make your own history here. Every Friday and Saturday until February the bar hosts live jazz performances.

THE CULT WATERING HOLES Before modern booze temples began mushrooming in the city center, Athens nightlife was centered on bars whose character was shaped as much by their regulars as by their owners.

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by time.

One of these cult classics is Au Revoir, around since 1957. Designed by the noted Greek architect Aristomenis Provelengios, who worked in Le Corbusier’s firm after World War II, the bar is a model of genteel decline, maintaining its sheen of glamor from the 1960s, when it was a hangout for actors and artists. The no-fuss drinks include a couple of good whiskies and cognacs and are always served with the mixer on the side – as is right and proper.

In the Syntagma area, follow the direction that Greek War of Independence hero Theodoros Kolokotronis is pointing to from his horse outside the Old Parliament building to find Galaxy and its tireless owner, Yiannis, bartending here since 1970. This place is a classic, with hundreds of newspaper clippings and photographs on the walls.

You know it’s a drinker’s paradise from the cushion-edged bar, designed to rest your arms as you nurse a simple drink and nibble on sides like cheese with mustard, olives or a bit of toast.

In Kolonaki, 56 is a basement bar located at the top of Ploutarchou Street, where the music is jazz, the décor is retro and Christmas lights twinkle all year round. The bar carries many hard-to-

find malts, served without a measure, and the owner, who fancies himself as something of a philosopher, is always happy to swap tales with patrons. He’ll usually tempt you to stay a bit longer by buying the last drink.

THE WINE BARS Wine bars have been instrumental in teaching Greeks about different wine varieties and drinking trends. Most are non-smoking, as cigarette smoke tends to kill the finer notes of better vintages. Ηeteroclito, styled as a Parisian bar, is known for its experimental wines and wines from small-scale, obscure Greek producers, served with snacks inspired by local cuisine.

Oinoscent is also popular, especially among the 30-somethings, and changes the menu about twice a month in order to showcase new wine selections from around the world, picked for quality and unique flavor profiles.

The comprehensive cellar stocks more than 700 labels, while you can also attend wine-tasting sessions. By the Glass serves 60 labels by the glass and, thanks to Coravin technology, also allows samplings of another 150 vintage and rare wines. Its greatest asset is a collection of excellent vintages.

LOW PROFILE

© DIONYSIS KOURIS, CLAIRY MOUSTAFELLOU

Wine bars have been instrumental in teaching Greeks about different wine varieties and drinking trends.

NIGHTLIFE

INFO 7 JOKERS

THE GIN JOINT

7 Voulis, Syntagma, • Tel. (+30) 210.321.9225

1 Christou Lada, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.321.8646

9 9 Kolokotroni, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.323.2795

42 3 Kolokotroni, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 213.005.2153

56 56 Ploutarchou, Kolonaki • Tel. (+30) 210.723.1424

ALEXANDER’S BAR 1 Vassileos Georgiou (Grande Bretagne Hotel), Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.333.0000

AU REVOIR 136 Patission (officially 28th Oktovriou), Kypseli • Tel. (+30) 210.823.0474

LOW PROFILE 7 Voulis (inside the arcade), Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 213.035.2114

NOEL 59B Kolokotroni, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 211.215.9534

ODORI 2 Skouleniou, Psyrri • Tel. (+30) 210.331.4674

REHAB 16 Thiseos, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.321.1434

TRAP 10 Othonos, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.321.5561

BABA AU RUM 6 Klitiou, Monastiraki • Tel. (+30) 211.710.9140

BARRELDIER 7 Voulis, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.325.4711

THE CLUMSIES 30 Praxitelous, Monastiraki • Tel. (+30) 210.323.2682

CV DISTILLER 7 Hadziyianni Mexi, Ilissia Tel. (+30) 210.723.1767

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GALAXY 10 Stadiou (in the arcade), Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.322.7733

THE EXPLORER’S BAR NJV Athens Plaza, 2 Vassilis Georgiou • ​Tel. (+30) 210 3352400

WINE BARS

BY THE GLASS 3 Souri (Ralli Arcade), Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.323.2560

ΗETEROCLITO 2 Fokionos, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.323.9406

OINOSCENT 45-47 Voulis, Syntagma • Tel. (+30) 210.322.9374

BY THE GLASS

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