Walking along Karageorgi Servias St. / Perikleous St.

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.

The intersection of Stadiou St.(right), Karageorgi Servias St. (straight) with Syntagma Square, not appearing, to the left.

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...

The minor but always busy intersection of Karagiorgi Servias & Voulis St., Athens, Greece

20 Karagiorgi Servias St. & Lekka St., looking towards Lekka St., Athens, Greece

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!

Corner of Perikleous St. and Thisseos (pedestrian) Street, Athens, Greece

A neoclassical mansion, at the corner of 52 Perikleous and Thisseos (pedestrian) St.

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.

Store selling textiles, at Perikleous St., Athens, Greece

Fabric rolls, close-up; Perikleous St., Athens

Still in Perikleous St., Athens, have no doubt.

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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More light installations! A great one at Psirri.

Following my previous post on the Merchants' Arcade light installation, here is another work sample of the "BeforeLight" group, this time in collaboration with the "Imagine the City" group. I find this one to be much more successful, from a planning / effectiveness point of view, and even more stunning, both visually and as a concept.

Light installation at Pittaki St., Psirri neighbourhood, Athens, Greece

It is located in Psirri neighborhood. Psirri was Athens' major entertainment hub in the 1990's / early 2000s. It took a downward trajectory at the end of that decade due to some safety problems, but has since made a relative comeback. It's no longer "the place to be", but it's an interesting area to go out for a calm, easy-going night out, such as a dinner or a drink, and it's very close (i.e. a few minutes walk) to Monastiraki and Thission which are more popular with locals and tourists these days.

Pittaki St., Psiri neighbourhood, Athens, Greece

This installation has been around since the summer of 2013. A number of old, used, lighting fixtures were hang on top of a narrow, dark alley, that nonetheless was fairly central, connecting the main Ermou St. with the inner part of Psirri. A new street was essentially born this way; one that had been hanging around dark and silent, like a Zombie, now brought to life in a most beautiful way.

Light installation at Pittaki St., Psiri neighborhood, Athens, Greece

 

Light installation at Pittaki St., Psirri neighborhood, Athens, Greece

Pittaki St., Psirri neighbourhood, Athens, Greece

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Light installations and urban planning

Even someone ignorant to the intricacies of the art scene -an observant one at least, like myself- can tell that there's been a real renaissance of the arts in Athens and Greece in these past few years. You can see it in the new Greek cinema, with its quirky films, but also in myriads of events / happenings / performances / installations popping up, for a few days or longer in all kinds of places.

A light installation, constructed by the "BeforeLight" group and promoted by the City of Athens, as part of a wider urban renewal project, was put in place in an abandoned, central Athens arcade this summer. Consisting of a series of old neon signs of shops no longer in business, the installation really makes for some urban eye candy and also has the necessary "Greek crisis" element that gives it bonus points for depth and sensitivity, I guess. They've done some more successful projects that this one no doubt.

8-10 Voulis St. The entrance of Stoa Emporon ("Merchants' Arcade")

 "Ariston", an historic snack-food place is located next to the arcade entrance, still operating in full swing!

The "BeforeLight" neon signs installation at Stoa Emporon / 8-10 Voulis St., Athens

The installation is certainly visually pleasing, and it even draws you to enter the now practically abandoned arcade, only meters from Athens central Syntagma Square. 

The "BeforeLight" neon signs installation at Stoa Emporon / 8-10 Voulis St., Athens

However, art alone can be no substitute for planning. The presence of many closed shops around, together with tagged walls, lack of cleanliness and a seemingly eternally "under-construction" building next door, make the area a bit of an eye-shore, despite the large numbers of passers-by during the day. The presence of a homeless man (?) / drug addict (?) at the inner steps of a building inside the arcade was enough to keep me at bay.

A homeless man ? / drug addict? inside Stoa Emporon / 8-10 Voulis St., Athens, Greece

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