The walk from NJV Athens Plazza to the tavern "Exapinis" on 6, Panos Str will
be as follows:
Starts from the Athens Plaza hotel, going down Filellinon Str. up to the cross of
Filellinon and Kydathinaion Streets. From that cross you follow the Kydathinaion Str.
through the historical neighborhood of Placa up to the cross with the Andrianou Street
in which you continue. Go down the Andrianou Street until the crossroad with the
Eolou Street (down side of Market Square) where you turn left in order to find the
monument of Aerides and the Ottoman baths (in the Kyrristou Str.). Βy walking
round of the Roman Market you arrive to the tavern "Exapinis" on 6, Panos Str,
which is attached to the Roman Market.
It would be nice if you have reached the tavern until 21.15, so that you can continue
the program with the dinner as scheduled.
Syntagma Square
Syntagma Square (Greek: Πλατεία Συντάγματος, English: Constitution
Square), is located in central Athens, Greece. The Square is named after the
Constitution that King Otto was forced to grant the people after a popular and
military uprising, on September 3, 1843.
Syntagma Square entrance.
Evzones
The square proper is bordered by Vassileos Georgiou A' Street to the north,
Othonos Street to the south, Filellinon Street to the west and Amalias Avenue
to the east. The eastern side of the square is higher than the western, and
dominated by a set of marble steps leading to Amalias Avenue; beneath these
lies the Syntagma metro station. The stairs emerge below between a pair of
outdoor cafes, and are a popular city-centre gathering place. Syntagma also
includes two green areas to the north and south, planted with shade trees,
while in the center of the square a large water fountain traditionally hosts the
occasionally sighted Syntagma pigeons, along with heat-tormented Athenians
during the summer.
The Greek Parliament is immediately across Amalias Avenue to the east, and
surrounded by the extensive National Gardens, which are open to the public.
Every hour, the changing of the guard ceremony, performed by the
Presidential Guard, is conducted in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
on the area between the square and parliament. On Sundays and official
holidays, the ceremonial changing of the guard takes place with an army band
and the majority of the 120 Evzones present at 11am.
Plaka
Plaka (Greek: Πλάκα) is the picturesque old historical neighbourhood 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. During the
early modern age (XVth century) and until the early 20th century Plaka was
inhabited by an Arvanite community The derivation of the name Plaka is
uncertain: it's been theorized to come from Arvanitika "Pliak Athena", meaning
"Old Athens",or from the presence of a "plaque" which once marked its central
intersection. Plaka is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists around the
year, and is under strict zoning and conservation regulations, being the only
neighborhood in Athens where all utilities (water, power, cable television,
telephone, internet, and sewage) lie underground in fully accessible, custommade tunneling. Motor vehicles are not allowed in Plaka, and most streets are
too narrow, thus not being able to accommodate them anyway.]
Museums in Plaka include the new Jewish Museum of Greece, the Museum
of Greek Folk Art, an annex of which is the Old Public Baths building, the
Frissiras Museum, the Museum of Popular Music Instruments, the Museum of
Pavlos and Alexandra Kanellopoulou and the Athens University Museum.
Excavations have proven that Adrianou Street is the oldest street in Athens
still in continuous use with the exact same layout since antiquity.Of special
interest is the neighborhood of Anafiotika, the part of Plaka that is built against
the northern slope of the Acropolis; built by settlers from the Aegean island of
Anafi in the early 19th century, it features traditional Cycladic architecture.
Tower of the Winds
The Tower of the Winds
The Tower of the Winds, also called horologion (timepiece), is an octagonal
Pentelic marble clocktower on the Roman agora in Athens. The structure
features a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind vaneIt was
supposedly built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus around 50 BC, but according to
other sources might have been constructed in the 2nd century BC before the
rest of the forum.
Site
The 12-metre-tall structure has a diameter of about 8 metres and was topped
in antiquity by a weathervane-like Triton that indicated the wind direction.
Below the frieze depicting the eight wind deities — Boreas (N), Kaikias (NE),
Eurus (E), Apeliotes (SE), Notus (S), Livas (SW), Zephyrus (W), and Skiron
(NW) — there are eight sundials. In its interior, there was a water clock (or
clepsydra), driven by water coming down from the Acropolis. Recent research
has shown that the considerable height of the tower was motivated by the
intention to place the sundials and the wind-vane at a visible height on the
Agora, making it effectively an early example of a clocktower. According to the
testimony of Vitruvius and Varro, Andronicus of Cyrrhus designed the
structure.
In early Christian times, the building was used as the bell-tower of a Byzantine
Church. Under Ottoman rule it became a tekke and was used by whirling
dervishes. At that time it was buried up to half its height, and traces of this can
be observed in the interior, where Turkish inscriptions may be found on the
walls. It was fully excavated in the 19th century by the Archaeological Society
of Athens.
The design of the 18th-century Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford, England, is
based on the Tower of the Winds, as is the mausoleum of the founder of the
Greek National Library Panayis Vagliano at West Norwood Cemetery,
London. It has also inspired the 15th-century Torre del Marzocco in Livorno.
There is a similar tower in Sevastopol, built in 1849. Another building based
on the design of the Tower of the Winds is the Temple of the Winds, which
stands in the grounds of Mount Stewart near Newtownards in Northern Ireland
Gate of Athena Archegetis
The Gate of Athena Archegetis is situated west of the Roman Agora, Athens
and considered to be the second most prominent remain in the site after the
Tower of the Winds.
Constructed in 11 BCE by donations from Julius Caesar and Augustus, the
gate was made of 4 Doric columns and a base of Pentelic marble. It was a
monument dedicated by the Athenians to their patroness Athena Archegetis
Hadrian's Library
West wall of the Library of Hadrian
Hadrian's Library was built by Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 132 on the
north side of the Acropolis of Athens.
The building followed a typical Roman Forum architectural style, having only
one entrance with a propylon of Corinthian order, a high surrounding wall with
protruding niches (oikoi, exedrae) at its long sides, an inner courtyard
surrounded by columns and a decorative oblong pool in the middle.The library
was on the eastern side where rolls of papyrus "books" were kept. Adjoining
halls were used as reading rooms, and the corners served as lecture halls.
The library was seriously damaged by the Herulian invasion of 267 and
repaired by the prefect Herculius in AD 407-412).During Byzantine times,
three churches were built at the site, the remains of which are preserved:
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a tetraconch (5th c. AD)
a three-aisled basilica (7th c. AD), and
a simple cathedral (12th c. AD), which was the first cathedral of the
city, known as Megali Panagia
Tourkish Bath
The Old Bath, (Hamam Abit Efendi), in Plaka (at 8, Kyrristou Str.), built in the
17th century, was a popular meeting place in the Ottoman era. The Old Bath
has been renovated. It houses the Personal Hygenie and Toilet Museum.
Muslim Seminary
The gate of the Muslim seminary, at the crossroads of Aeolou Str. and
Pelopida Str., is the remains of the building, whitch was destroyed in a fire in
1911. According to an inscription above the entrance, the seminary was built
in 1721 and consisted of a main building, which was a school and mosque,
buildings housing the students and teachers (hodjia), kitchen and hygiene
areas, and a central court.