1__ 1900 The Barber Shop Grooming in a totally retro ‘decompression room’
Meandering the side streets of Monastiraki or Psyrri you may notice a few nondescript barber shops straight out of the 1950s, while in trendier areas like Koukaki or Kolonaki you’ll spot barber shops with vintage touches and tattooed hairstylists. But 1900 The Barber Shop is an entirely different story. It was envisaged by a Greek with refined old-school tastes and a strikingly dapper style, whose family lived in Cairo for four generations. Growing up in elegant surroundings adorned by antiques and culture, in his own home, as well as those of French, British and American friends, created in him an aesthetic world that he has translated in this shop. Panayiotis Grigoriou is an entrepreneur who worked for 20 years in marketing management for major companies, but since the ’90s he began to visualise opening his own barber shop. He sought to stand out commercially and offer men treatment fit for gentlemen – indeed most of his clientele are businessmen, politicians, actors and diplomats. His greatest goal was to recreate his fond personal memories from the barber shops in Cairo during his childhood. ‘My dad took me to the barber shop, where I experienced a sense of male bonding; vibrant conversations and a relaxing sense of being pampered.’ Advertised as a ‘gentlemen’s club’ of sorts, 1900 is what he describes as a stylish, yet accessibly priced, ‘decompression room’. Wooden floors, plush sofas, books, a drinks tray, chandeliers, vintage artworks and quirky details like a magnum champagne lamp are the mise-en-scène for this no-woman’s land. Most of the décor is from 1880 to 1920, with an ambience one would feel in an old villa that’s comfortably worn around the edges. Apart from classic-style hair cutting, grooming inspired from Cairo includes face massage, hot towels and a deep shave, lighters to burn away ear hairs, manicures, pedicures and threading. 10
Address Ipsilantou 35 & Ploutarchou, Kolonaki, Athens 10676, +30 210 7220511 | Getting there Metro to Evangelismos (M 3) | Hours Mon, Wed & Sat 10am – 3pm; Tue, Thu & Fri 10.30am – 8.30pm | Tip Just south of Evangelismos metro station, explore the lush archaeological site of Aristotle’s Lyceum, the gymnasia where the Peripatetic School was born.
2__ Agia Marina
A church resting on a pre-Christian grotto
On the Hill of Nymphs, near the National Observatory of Athens, stands a large, cream-coloured church dedicated to Saint Marina, a young woman who is also known as the Vanquisher of Demons. Imposing in appearance, with domed tiled roofs and marble steps that sparkle in the sunlight, the church was built between 1924 and 1927 in the Byzantine style. The four-aisled basilica stands in memory of a 15-year-old maiden of incredible beauty who suffered inconceivable torture and disfigurement at the hands of a man who wanted her as his bride. She told him he could never have her because the only man she had love for was Christ and challenged him to torture her in any way he wished to test her devotion, and so he did, in a multitude of gruesome ways. He even sent a demon to devour her in her prison cell, but she demolished it – using a hammer. The church is imposing but unremarkable, unlike its history. It was actually built on the grounds of a much smaller, post-Byzantine church dedicated to the same saint; the elaborately carved main altar and several icons came from that original church. And then there’s the most intriguing surprise of all – an ancient grotto with a domed roof through which natural light streams, nestled in the south eastern corner of the church. With an intensely tranquil and mystical ambience ideally suited to sacred liturgies, the ‘cave’ dates back to the pre-Christian era when it was used as a place of worship. Centuries later it functioned as an aqueduct, while in the present day it is used for baptisms. Interestingly, Marina is also the saint of pregnant women and children. Archaeological excavations in the cave during the 1980s unearthed seven layers of walls from the 13th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and frescoes from those walls are exhibited, together with other religious relics, in the northern part of the present-day church. 12
Address Agias Marinas 1, Thissio, Athens 11851 | Getting there Metro to Thissio (M 1) | Hours Daily 10am – 1pm | Tip Return to the present and blend into the neighbourhood’s vibrant café culture by bagging a perfect people-watching post at Athinaion Politia café-restaurant.
3__ Agioi Isidoroi
Church cover for a rebel’s escape route?
Agioi Isidoroi, which sits against the western slope of Lycabettus Hill, is one of those ordinary churches found throughout Athens and, indeed, Greece – neither especially pretty nor particularly well-known. One apparent oddity is its name, which uses the plural form of saint, although there was just one Saint Isidore to whom the church is dedicated. But on closer inspection, something else stands out: the church isn’t simply built against the grey rock, but into it. The church was built in the 15th or 16th century by a monk on the spot where Agios Isidoros – a Greek commander in the Roman army who was martyred for preaching Christianity – came to him in a dream. The interior is as plain as its flat, white-washed exterior, except for a gold-edged icon screen and a few icons hung on the rock walls. But the church’s true purpose may have not been as a place of worship, but to conceal the opening of a tunnel linking Lycabettus to Galatsi, part of an escape route to the Penteli mountains that was used by Greek revolutionaries during the Greek War of Independence. This would not be uncommon, as numerous churches throughout Greece are said to have been built on particular sites for similar purposes. Whether the passage, if it existed, was also used by resistance fighters during World War II is not known. A sign inside the church confirms the underground passage (while also mentioning that the church is the area’s oldest and was celebrated for its many miracles). But the possibility of a tunnel’s existence is not far-fetched. The supposed entrance is behind a glass screen but seems wide enough for someone to squeeze through. Lycabettus is part of the Tourkovounia ridge where Galatsi sits. While the city has grown to a point where it is hard to imagine such a link, the opening in the rock may have been formed millennia ago by water coursing down the slopes. 14
Address Sarantapihou 61, Lycabettus, Athens 10210, + 30 210 3633282 | Getting there Bus 60 or X54 | Hours Daily 8am – noon | Tip Follow the sign to the cave of Agios Aristidis, a disciple of Saint Paul who took refuge here from the Romans. To enter, you’ll need to ask the verger for the keys.
38__ Ghika’s Studio
A room without a view but still a masterpiece
Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas (1906 – 1994) may not be a household name to foreigners but he was one of Greece’s finest 20th-century artists. In his paintings, you’ll see shapes that remind you of Braque, Picasso and Matisse, friends from his Paris days, absorbed into a style that is uniquely his own. But despite having travelled the world, and having homes in London, Hydra and Corfu, as well as Athens, one of his favourite subjects was his own studio. This was not a starving artist’s garret and he lavished a perfectionist’s attention on every detail of this top floor of his Athens flat. Surprisingly, it lacks a view. Its large window looks onto a fire escape, but to Ghika that was an advantage. ‘My personality and my laziness seem to prefer closed spaces. Just by letting my eyes fall on one spot or another, I will discover something,’ he wrote. ‘Hence the numerous still lifes … studios and interiors in my work.’ But before he allowed himself to paint, he had the walls of the old family flat stripped and rebuilt using old perforated bricks and cement blocks, leaving structural elements unplastered, but softened by white or grey wash, additional holes and special surface treatment. As a backdrop for his vast library or paintings, they are both neutral yet with a life of their own. Ghika could hardly be termed lazy. Once finished with the studio, he decorated the rest of the flat with exceptional taste, mixing local objects with Japanese snuffboxes, European antiques, images of Buddha, bright silk cushions and many of his own paintings and sculptures, including a series of eye-stopping exotic masks. During his life, he had over 50 exhibitions. But when did he have time to be so prolific? The lower floors of the building are filled with memorabilia and art from his friends, virtually everyone of any repute in the golden age of post-war Greece, including an Oscar from Zorba the Greek and poet Odysseas Elytis’ Nobel Prize. 84
Address Kriezotou 3, Athens 10671, +30 210 3615702, 210 3630818, www.benaki.gr | Getting there Metro to Syntagma (M 2 & M 3) and a three-minute walk | Hours Fri & Sat 10am – 6pm | Tip The Mastiha Shop on the corner specialises in products, edible, drinkable and cosmetic, made with the precious resin from a tree that grows only in southern Chios in the northeast Aegean.
39__ Govosti
Historic publishers of modern Greek literature
The storefront on the narrow, graffiti-pocked street cutting through Exarchia may be its window to readers, but the fact that Govosti is a book publisher rather than seller is indicated by the opening hours, which end at 3pm. In its 90-plus years, Govosti has made enough of a mark on Greek publishing to earn a little eccentricity, having not only introduced the Russian writers to it but also published Greece’s most acclaimed authors. Indeed, the hand-drawn logo (clearly informed by the aesthetic of Soviet art) is more familiar to readers than many authors’ names. Kostas Govostis moonlighted his way into publishing, producing his first book – Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s 1877 short story The Dream of a Ridiculous Man – in 1926, at age 22 in his home. By 1936, the fledgling publishing house had grown into a small enterprise that moved into basement premises on Kanningos Square and added a book-binding unit. Politics coloured the enterprise from the start and, in turn, shaped generations of Greek readers. The focus on Russian literature and Marxist writers drew Greek intellectuals, imbuing the publishing house with a literary aura as writers like Mimis Karagatsis, Napoleon Lapathiotis, Angelos Sikelianos, Kostas Varnalis, Nikos Engonopoulos and Yannis Ritsos regularly met there. But Govostis’ politics landed him in trouble with the Metaxas dictatorship; he was jailed and the entire stock of books burned. But that was not the end of Govostis and his business. In 1951, he was first to use the single-accent system – a move both politically progressive and controversial because of the class implications of the simpler system. Following his death in 1958, the business has remained in the family, with a new generation bringing in new ideas, like Saturday morning ‘salons’ with tsipouro instead of tea. But even today’s sleek, modern look cannot shake off the dust of history. 86
Address Zoodohou Pigis 73, Athens 10681, +30 210 3822251 | Getting there Metro to Panepistimio (M 2); bus 11, 290, A 2 or A 3 | Hours Mon – Fri 9am – 3pm | Tip Stop to view the unusual Renaissance-style icons at the mid-19th-century church of Zoodohos Pigi (Life-Giving Source) at the Akadimias end of the street.
40__ The Greek Film Archive Preserving golden memories from the silver screen
What does a profiterole have to do with Greek politics? A clue can be found on the walls of the Greek Film Archive where a still of a broke professor miming the dessert to a waiter hangs among other iconic Greek movie images that fuel scores of memes commenting on the social and political issues of the day. Greek identity is anchored to the past. Even pop culture is rooted in the films of the 1950s and 1960s, and in the Instagram-paced present, is as good as antiquity. It’s not nostalgia that makes films like Beating Hearts at School Desks resonate with Greeks across generations, but rather that the protagonists and their problems in the black-and-white films of Greek cinema’s so-called golden age continue to provide metaphors for today’s experiences, even to younger generations of Greeks weaned on American TV. This is why the Greek Film Archive isn’t just a repository for 4,000 Greek and foreign films, 2,000 movie stills, and 5,000 original posters, scripts, costumes and props; it’s a mirror of Greek society that reflects both its recent past and its present, a pop culture that aspires to the cinema of auteurs like Nikos Koundouros and Theodoros Angelopoulos but delights in the sassiness and antics of comedians like Thanassis Vengos. Founded in 1950 by the Union of Athens Film Critics, the Greek Film Archive is part repository and part film institute. Today it is housed in the Lais cinema. The 600-seat theatre was akin to a multiplex when it was built in 1948, but fell into ruin as television’s spread kept audiences home. Ironically, TV saved the movies, but doomed theatres like Lais, which thanks to the Archive has been renovated into a cultural centre that hosts regular festival screenings as well as researchers. The 2,000-square-metre premises occupy four levels, including a rooftop terrace used for open-air screenings in the summer. 88
Address Iera Odos 48 and Megalou Alexandrou 134 – 136, Kerameikos, Athens 10435, +30 210 3609695 | Getting there Metro to Kerameikos (M 3); bus 26, 27, 813, 836, 856, 865 or A 16 | Hours Vary according to screenings; check website for schedules (www.tainiothiki.gr) or call ahead | Tip The Ideal Cinema (Panepistimiou 46) is the city’s oldest working movie theatre. It opened in 1922.
The authors
For over 20 years Alexia Amvrazi has been writing about Greece for global media and copywrites for branding companies. She’s been a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal Europe and Greecetravel.com and is currently running the popular wellness website imverywellthankyou.com. Writing aside, for a decade she presented a daily show on national radio, does voiceover work and video reporting.
Diana Farr Louis has lived in Athens since 1972. Her travel writings include guidebooks, Secrets of the Greek Islands, Athens and Beyond and Travels in Northern Greece. Besides numerous articles on food for Greek and international publications, she is the author of cookbooks on the Ionian Islands and Crete, co-editor of A Taste of Greece, and a regular contributor to www.culinarybackstreets.com
Diane Shugart is author of Athens by Neighborhood and was editor of Odyssey, a US-based magazine about Greece. She writes widely on Greek politics and culture, served as consulting editor for several guidebooks, and translates academic non-fiction. Having recently completed a post-graduate course on antiquities trafficking, she is researching a book on cultural heritage and civil war.