HOW ATHENS’ NEIGHBOURHOODS AND SQUARES GOT THEIR NAMES

 

There are several famous but strangely named neighbourhoods and squares in Athens and even Athenians don’t know they got their names.

 

PLATEIA AMERIKIS, American square, is an iconic square in Athens.  The square was named in 1927, as the municipal council wanted to show their appreciation for the philhellenism shown by the USA.  Until then it was called Agamon Square (the square of the unmarried).  It was named so because in 1887 4 middle-aged men, who had a café on the square were all unwed.

 

Until the end of the 19^th century AMPELOKIPI (vineyards in Greek) and was indeed full of vineyards and orchards, which were irrigated by the Adrianou aqueduct that sprouted from Agios Dimitrios from the beginning of the 16^th century when the pipeline was destroyed.

ANAFIOTIKA is an Athenian neighbourhood on the north slope of the Acropolis Hill, particularly picturesque, with tiny houses and narrow lanes resembling a Greek island.  It was created around 1860 by craftsmen and labourers who had come from the island of Anafi to work on the excavation of the Acropolis and parts of Athens which was Greece’s new capital then.  They also built houses for themselves.  Thus Anafiotika (little Anafi) was built. 

 

VATHI or deep Square took its name from the lower part of the city, where the waters of the Cycloborus steam ended.  Once the area was drained for construction,  Vathi Square was created in 1926.

 

GAZOCHORI or Gas Village was a settlement of shacks and shelters built on the north and west of the gas factory during the first decades of the reign of King George I. Originally, the poorest residents of Athens lived there.  Today, it is called Gazi. and it is a vibrant area with trendy bars and gourmet restaurants.  The old gas factory is turned into a complex where concerts, exhibitions and other events are staged.

 

VOTANIKOS Square was named after the Botanical Gardens, which since 1836 has been planted, under King Otto’s order for the establishment of greenery in Athens.  Under the same order, the Botanical Gardens should be used by the Physical-Historical Society, medical schools and institutions of higher education in the city.

 

YUSURUM Square, the flea market in Monastiraki,  was so named because of the Greek-Jewish entrepreneur, Elias Yusurum, who opened the first antique in the area, in the late 19h century.

 

In MONASTIRAKI there is also a flea market, usually packed with tourists, all year round, due to its proximity to the Acropolis and other archaeological sites.  Monastiraki or little monastery owes its name to the monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the enclosure of which gave its name to Monasteraki Square.

 

EXARCHIA got its name, around 1900,  from a man called Exarchos from Epirus who had a grocery store in the area.   The famous Blue Apartment Building was built before World War I.  Today Exarchia is inhabited mainly by artists,

 

The neighbourhood of THESION is named after the temple ancient temple located in the Agoraion Kolonos.  Its ruins were discovered in 1931, during the excavation of the American School of Classical Studies.  In the past, this temple was converted into a Greek Orthodox Church and during the Frankish rule to a Catholic Church. 

 

ILLISIA was named after the Duchess of Plakentia who built her mansion near Illisos river and gave it the name of the river.   Today, the mansion house the Byzantine Museum.

 

KLATHMONOS Square or the square of crying was named so because each time the government changed the civil servants were fired and they cried when new ones took their positions.

 

KOLONAKI the little pillar, the downtown rich and famous neighbourhood took its name from the stone landmark that existed until 1938 near Dexameny Square and was then set up at Kolonaki Square.

 

PLAKA is a neighbourhood located a the foot of the Acropolis was mentioned the first time in an anonymous note “About Attica” in a Paris library dating back to the 17^th century.  It mentioned various Albanian houses in the area.  In 1833, J Hann observed that Plaka comes from a language spoken by Albanians, who moved to Greece during the Middle Ages, and means old, aged.  As K. Biris writes, “It is a medieval name, which arose after the end of the 16^th century when they was a settlement of Arvenites outside the Valerian Wall.”      

           

 

   PLEASE DO BE VACCINATED AGAINST COVID - 19 SO THATYOIUR BELOVED FAMILIES, FRIENDS, THE WORLD AND YOU WILL REMAIN HEALTHY AND SAFE BECAUSE COVID IS DEATH.