Walking in Athens city center can be real fun, on a warm, sunny day. The city's "historic triangle" and its half part, called "the commercial triangle" is full of old little shops, that set a colorful tone on the urban landscape, even in these days of economic malaise. Here's a brief photographic presentation of one of these main, narrow streets, called Karageorgi Servias. The street, starting from the central Syntagma Square, is named after a late 18th / early 19th century Serbian leader and hero in their fight against the Ottoman Turks.
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| The intersection of Stadiou St.(right), Karageorgi Servias St. (straight) with Syntagma Square, not appearing, to the left. |
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| Mopeds parked in front of the National Bank of Greece building, 4 Karagiorgi Servias St., with a sit-in protest behind them; the Greek Ministry of Finance is housed in buildings around Syntagma Square... |
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| The minor but always busy intersection of Karagiorgi Servias & Voulis St., Athens, Greece |
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| 20 Karagiorgi Servias St. & Lekka St., looking towards Lekka St., Athens, Greece |
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| Shop window with colorful beads at Karagiorgi Servias St., Athens, Greece |
At some point, the street name changes to Perikleous St. (named after ancient Athenian general and leader Pericles) and then later to Agias Irinis (St. Irene, named after a local church), but its character remains just the same: Small shops, mostly old ones going back several generations and related to textiles and fabrics, together with some pastry shops, souvenir shops and ...closed shops!
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| Corner of Perikleous St. and Thisseos (pedestrian) Street, Athens, Greece |
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| A neoclassical mansion, at the corner of 52 Perikleous and Thisseos (pedestrian) St. |
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| Thisseos pedestrian alley, from the corner with PerikleousSt. |
During this walk, I realized that the small textile shops in this area had
probably sprung up at some point in the past, with the aim to "feed" the
main fashion / retail clothing shops located in the central and very expensive
Ermou Street, which runs parallel to Karagiorgi Servias / Perikleous /
Agias Irinis. Of course, in the old days people used to mend their own clothes, and knit and weave and do all these things that sound so distant to us these days. So, these "marginal", specialized, "feeding" shops probably catered to retail commerce as well. Much more than today anyways.
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| Store selling textiles, at Perikleous St., Athens, Greece |
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| Fabric rolls, close-up; Perikleous St., Athens |
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| Still in Perikleous St., Athens, have no doubt. |
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| 58 Perikleous St., in case you missed it. Still more textiles and motorbikes! |
After this point, the street name changes to Agias Irinis. Wait for the next installment of pictures in a couple of weeks.
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