A neoclassical walk back in King's Athens (3/4)

A neoclassical walk back in King's Athens (3/4)

The third part of this walking tour tour takes you past the old Stock Exchange to the busy Stadiou and Panepistimiou streets.


Continue Sofokleous Street
The street, named after the tragic poet of ancient times, Sophocles, is well known to all citizens. For a long time the Stock Exchange of Greece was located here.



Old Stock Exchange

The Athens Stock Exchange (Sofokleous Street 8-10), established in 1876, was located on Sofokleous Street, until 2007. Since then, its daily operations have been given over to Hellenic Exchanges - Athens Stock Exchange S.A., whose shares are listed. The Athens Exchange Group (Athex Group) is a group of companies that provide support to the Greek Capital Market. Today, the Athens Stock Exchange is located in its new headquarters at Metaxourgio.


Turn right
Continue along Sofokleous Street until it becomes Pesmazoglou Street. Then turn right into Stadiou Street.



Walk Stadiou Street until you reach Klafthmonos Square

According King Otto's architects, Kleanthis and Schaubert, this street should also lead to an ancient monument, the Kallimarmaro (Ancient Marble Stadium). Today, Stadiou Street connects Omonoia Square with Syntagma Square and is one of the most significant streets in Athens' city center.


Klafthmonos Square

The name "klafthmonos" came after a report of "Estia" magazine because in that particular area, in front of Ministry of Economics, dismissed officials that used to work in the public sector would gather and protest against the every new re-elected government for corruption issues.


First Royal Palace

Visit the First Royal Palace (Paparrigopoulou 5-7), on the south side of Klafthmonos Square. Today, this impressive neoclassical building houses the Museum of the City of Athens. The museum was founded in 1973, it officially opened its doors to the public in 1980. It bears the names of Lambros Eutaxias (1905-1996) and Alexandros Vouros (1871-1959), which is housed in two of the city’s oldest buildings. The first of the 2 buildings was the dwelling place of King Otto and Amalia, first royal couple of Greece – where numerous quantities of their furniture and objects are on display.


Continue Stadiou Street
Leave Klafthmonos Square by taking Stadiou Street towards Syntagma. Unfortunately, this block of Stadiou Street, in the past and recent times has suffered major setbacks due to fires. The historical movie theaters "Apollon" and "Atticon" were burned in 2011, during public uprisings. They will allegedly be reopened because their interiors are intact. Nearly 45 adjacent shops and many old buildings were not designated as preserved, so they are not being utilized as they deserve to be.


Theodoros Kolokotronis Statue

One block further you will see an imposing statue of a man on a horse (Stadiou Street 13). This person was Theodoros Kolokotronis, a well-known Greek hero from the War of Independence in 1821. There are numerous statues of him in Greece, and he was also depicted on the 5000 drachma bill.


Old Parliament House

This neoclassical building (Stadiou Street 13), behind the statue, was the first permanent home of the Greek Parliament. It was built in 1858 by Queen Amalia and was constructed on plans by François Boulanger, modified by Greek architect, Panagiotis Kalkos. The Parliament operated in the building from 1875 to 1932. After the transfer of the Parliament to the Royal Palace (todayʼs Parliament building), it became the permanent home of the National Historical Museum by the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, an institution weaved with the historic identity of the building.


Turn left into Omirou Street
Opposite the Old Parliament house you can see Omirou Street. Turn left into Omirou Street, which leads you to the parallel street, Eleftherios Venizelos Street (Panepistimiou Street).


 

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