During a lovely dinner in February 2023, Steve, Philippe and I decided to visit Athens during the – Catholic – Easter Holiday. As I was lucky to have the full Easter weekend – Saturday, Sunday and Monday – off, I booked flights and a room. Steve and Philippe arrived in the capital of Greece two days earlier. It wasn’t Orthodox Easter, so for the Athenians, it was a normal, low-season, weekend.
After checking in at Fresh Hotel, Steve, Philippe and I started our visit of Athens. Steve and Philippe had been in Athens for a day and half extra and had visited the National Archaeological Museum.
Our Saturday started with a city stroll to Monastiraki, the Plaka neighbourhood, Syntagma Square and the changing of the guard at the Old Royal Palace (now the Parliament), through the National Garden, via the Zappeion to Hadrian’s Gate and the Temple of Zeus. Not far from Zeus’ Temple is the Panathenaic Stadium.
Monastiraki
Monastiraki, literally ‘little monastery’ is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens and is one of the principal shopping districts in the polis. The area is home to clothing boutiques, souvenir shops, and specialty stores, and is a major tourist attraction in Athens and Attica for bargain shopping. The area is named after Monastiraki Square, which in turn is named for the Church of the Pantanassa that is located within the square. The main streets of this area are Pandrossou Street and Adrianou Street.
Plaka
Plaka or Pláka is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residential areas of the ancient town of Athens. It is known as the ‘Neighborhood of the Gods’ due to its proximity to the Acropolis and its many archaeological sites.
Evzones at Syntagma
Syntagma Square or Constitution Square is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular and military uprising on 3 September 1843.
Syntagma Square is the most important square of modern Athens from both a historical and social point of view, at the heart of commercial activity and Greek politics. While we were there, there was no manifestation going on. Hurray.
Parliament house is famous for its changing of the guards. The evzones are known for their striking white uniforms involving a skirt-like tunic and stockings. In April, they were wearing a dark blue coat.
National Garden and Zappeion
Afterwards we walked through the National Garden and passed the Zappeion. The garden was full of tangerines or clementines.
The former Royal Garden, commissioned by Queen Amalia (1818-1875) encloses some ancient ruins, column drums and Corinthian capitals of columns, mosaics, and other features. On the southeast side are the busts of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece, and of the Philhellene Jean-Gabriel Eynard. On the south side are the busts of the celebrated Greek poets Dionysios Solomos, author of the Greek National Hymn, and Aristotelis Valaoritis.
The Zappeion is a large, palatial building generally used for meetings and ceremonies, both official and private and is one of the city’s most renowned modern landmarks.
The Zappeion was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as the main fencing hall. A decade later, at the 1906 Intercalated Games, it was used as the Olympic Village.
It served as the first host for the organizing committee for the 2004 Summer Olympics from 1998 to 1999 and served as the press center during the 2004 games.
Arch of Hadrian
The Arch of Hadrian, most commonly known in Greek as Hadrian’s Gate, is a monumental gateway resembling—in some respects—a Roman triumphal arch. It spanned an ancient road from the center of Athens to the complex of structures on the eastern side of the city that included the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
It was built in 131-132 AD to honour Roman emperor Hadrian (76-117-138). The gate features Roman arches supplanted by a typical Greek pediment, symbolising the supremacy of Greek culture.
Temple of Olympian Zeus
The Temple of Olympian Zeus, also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a former colossal temple in Athens. It was dedicated to “Olympian” Zeus, a name originating from his position as head of the Olympian gods.
Construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, some 638 years after the project had begun. During the Roman period the temple, which included 104 colossal columns, was renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.
The temple’s glory was short-lived, as it fell into disuse after being pillaged during a barbarian invasion in 267 AD, just about a century after its completion.
It was probably never repaired and was reduced to ruins thereafter. In the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was extensively quarried for building materials to supply building projects elsewhere in the city. Despite that, a substantial part of the temple remains today, notably sixteen of the original gigantic columns, and it continues to be part of a very important archaeological site of Greece.
Panathinaïkó
The Panathenaic Stadium (Παναθηναϊκό Στάδιο, romanized: Panathinaïkó Stádio) or Kallimarmaro (Καλλιμάρμαρο, “beautiful marble”) is a multi-purpose stadium ad one of the main historic attractions of Athens. It is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.
A stadium was built on the site of a simple racecourse by the Athenian statesman Lykourgos (Lycurgus) c. 330 BC, primarily for the Panathenaic Games. It was rebuilt in marble by Herodes Atticus, an Athenian Roman senator, by 144 AD it had a capacity of 50,000 seats.
After the rise of Christianity in the 4th century it was largely abandoned. The stadium was excavated in 1869 and hosted the Zappas Olympics in 1870 and 1875.
After being refurbished, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and was the venue for 4 of the 9 contested sports. It was used for various purposes in the 20th century and was once again used as an Olympic venue in 2004. It is the finishing point for the annual Athens Classic Marathon.
It is also the last venue in Greece from where the Olympic flame handover ceremony to the host nation takes place.
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