Greece - Korina Miller [63]
The industrialisation program launched during the 1950s, with the help of US aid, brought another population boom, as people from the islands and mainland villages moved to Athens in search of work.
The colonels’ junta (1967–74; Click here), with characteristic insensitivity, tore down many of the old Turkish houses of Plaka and the neoclassical buildings of King Otto’s time, but failed to tackle the chronic infrastructure problems resulting from such rapid and unplanned growth of the 1950s. The elected governments that followed didn’t do much better, and by the end of the 1980s the city had gained a sorry reputation as one of the most traffic-clogged, polluted and dysfunctional in Europe.
The turning point came in the 1990s, with politicians finally accepting the need for radical solutions. Authorities embarked on an ambitious program to drag the city into the 21st century. The 2004 Olympics deadline fast-tracked projects, such as the expansion of road and underground metro networks and the construction of a new international airport, and forced changes across the public and private sectors. As Athens absorbed more than 600,000 migrants, legal and illegal, the city’s social fabric was also changing, presenting a new set of challenges.
Post-Olympics Athens
After a frantic, suspense-filled period of construction and doomsaying, the 2004 Olympic Games were an overwhelming success. The Olympics legacy was a more attractive, cleaner, greener and more efficient capital, after billions of euros were poured into major infrastructure and beautification projects, ranging from removing ugly billboards to revamping the city’s parks and squares. The Games’ other legacy was a newfound pride and optimism, buoyed by a decade of booming economic growth.
But the optimism and fiscal good times were short-lived: the global financial crisis, political malaise and widespread disenchantment with the country’s governance combined to darken Athens’ mood. The extraordinary December 2008 riots, sparked by the police shooting of a teenaged boy in Exarhia, were a black mark in Athens history, the worst social unrest in decades.
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ORIENTATION
City Centre
Athens’ historic centre and most major sites are located within walking distance of Plateia Syntagmatos (Syntagma Sq). The city’s two major landmarks, the Acropolis and Lykavittos Hill, can be seen from just about anywhere and are useful for getting one’s bearings. Major streets are generally signposted in English.
Downtown Athens is a city of distinct neighbourhoods, each with its own individual character.
SYNTAGMA ΣΥΝΤΑΓΜΑ
Plateia Syntagmatos (translated as Constitution Sq) is the heart of modern Athens, dominated by the Parliament and surrounded by major hotels, the CBD, shopping precincts and the National Gardens. With pleasant shady benches, a fountain, cafes and the Syntagma metro station, the square is a popular meeting place and a focal point for public rallies and civic events. The changing of the guard ceremony outside the Parliament is a popular spectacle.
PLAKA ΠΛΑΚΑ
South of Syntagma, the old Turkish quarter in Plaka is virtually all that existed when Athens was declared capital of Greece. Its paved, narrow streets nestle into the northeastern slope of the Acropolis and pass by many of the city’s ancient sites.
Plaka is touristy in the extreme, but it is still the most atmospheric part of Athens. The main streets, Kydathineon and Adrianou, are packed solid with restaurants and souvenir shops, but elsewhere you can find a peaceful oasis in virtually car-free streets with restored neoclassical mansions.
The quaint labyrinthine Anafiotika quarter above Plaka is a narrow maze of whitewashed, island-style houses built by stonemasons from the island of Anafi, brought in to build the king’s palace.
MONASTIRAKI ΜΟΝΑΣΤΗΡΑΚΙ
Centred on busy Plateia Monastirakiou (Monastiraki