A neoclassical walk back in King's Athens (2/4)

A neoclassical walk back in King's Athens (2/4)

This is the second part of our interesting walking tour: "A neoclassical walk back in King's Athens". There is still much to discover!


Turn right
Just after Kotzia Square, turn right on Sofokleous Street and walk for 200 meters.



Turn left
Turn left on Menandrou Street. Walk straight ahead and 50 meters away on your left-hand side, you will arrive in Theatrou Square.



Klimataria

Klimataria (Platia Theatrou 2) is one of the few taverns in Athens where generations have enjoyed the sweetness of good cask wine, the pleasure of traditional cuisine, and the sounds of remarkable musicians. Classic Hellenic recipes cooked in hulls located in the courtyard, offer another dimension to the taste. Do not leave without tasting a pie! Handmade pastries filled with fresh ingredients according to the season makes them an integral part of a good meal.


Turn left
After Theatrou Square, turn left into Evripidou Street.



Bahar

After 200 meters on Evripidou Street, you reach the famous spice shop Bahar Athens (Evripidou Street 31). Smell spices, herbs and essences will impress you and inspire you to grab the cooking book and start creating! The shop offers e large variety of dried vegetables, cereals, fresh ginger, food colors, sea and mountain juleps, seaweed for slimming, cosmetic bases, all kinds of soy, are a small sample of the products available.


Katsandri’s House 
Here you can see a simple 2-story building that used to be a residence on the first floor and a shop on the ground floor. Katsandri's House (Athinas Street 51 & Evripidou Street) was constructed in 1878, another project of the architect Ernst Ziller. The ground floor entrances were separated with Doric pillars. It is still considered one of the most beautiful buildings of Athens.



Turn left into Athinas Street
We turn left to get back to Athinas Street. After a few meters you can see on the right the building of Varvakeios Agora, the central market of Athens.



Hotel Venetia
The 3-story Hotel Venetia (Athinas Street 40) dominates the corner of Athinas Street and Evripidou Street, it was built in the last quarter of the 19th century and is a typical example of the edginess of the Athenian classicism. Its simplicity gives an accurate picture of the urban style of Athens at the end of the 19th century. Unfortunately, today the building is completely abandoned.



Varvakeios Agora

The Varvakeios Agora (Athinas Street 42), a municipal market, was built by funds of the City of Athens in 1878. It was created thanks to the national benefactor John Varvakis – hence the name - and is the truest indicator of the country's prosperity. Architect Koumelas, who was also a famous professor at the University of Athens, designed it. In 1884 a fire burned down the barracks of the oldest market of the Ottoman period. The New Market was completed in 1886 and has since operated continuously.


Hotel Olmypias
Built during the interwar period (completed in 1939) and originally housed the "Olympia" Hotel (Athinas Street 57). It exemplifies a transitional modernism in a subtractive morphological style that has clear aesthetic references to the Byzantine architectural tradition.



Turn right into Sofokleous Street
We turn right into Sofokleous Street and go 120 meters to the next intersection with Aiolou Street.



Aharnean Gates

Below the modern building of the National Bank of Greece (Aiolou Street 84) are the ancient remains of the Aharnean Gate. The building was placed on stilts to make the archaeological finds visible.
 

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