e# 0 200 m c 0 0.1 miles Syntagma ¡# & to ¡# 7 Monastiraki, a colourful, chaotic central square teeming with street 5 The expansive Mitropole- vendors, leads to a shopper’s or Monument-packed central is os is home to Athens Cathedral people-watcher’s paradise: the h best explored on foot. The main civic ( 7am-7pm) and its smaller, more Monastiraki Flea Market. hub – Plateia Syntagmatos – merges historically significant neighbour, the 12th-century Church of Agios A into the historic neighbourhoods, mak- (pictured above). ing for an atmospheric stroll. Ermou Eleftherios Classic Photo Evzones (presiden- ¡# Plateia K Leof tial guards) in Plateia Syntagmatos. Start Plateia Syntagmatos 7# Monastirakiou Plateia Vasilissis Sofias ¡# Mit Syntagmatos Distance 2.5km Monastiraki ropo Ermou leos ¡# Three hours Pand L Duration # roso Syntagma 6 u # # ¡# s 5 Mitr Plateia opoleo 1 eo s

Ar olou A Mitropoleos E drianou 6 ’s Library (adult/child ¡# #¤ Syntagma h ou €4/free; 8am-3pm) was once the Xenofont eliou os Mnisikleous most luxurious public building in Mark ur A # the city, erected by the epony- 4 Kyrris PLAKA National Lys tou S Gardens #ü siou ou mous emperor around AD 132. ri olou Filellinon Th s A ia Pr d l as yt r a 1 Plateia Syntagmatos ri aniou i Theo a m n A is home to the parliament building # o 4 The 17th-century Bath House is 3 u s S is (watch the changing of the guards, (adult/child €2/free; t l of the Winds r i a s

t a o every hour on the hour) and the h8am-3pm Wed-Mon), a historic (but os Dedalou V n pid f o s o e e s h Peisistratos aqueduct, unearthed nonfunctional) hammam is one of T Thalou L the few remnants of the Ottoman 2# during metro excavations. T Leo h V Empire, and the only surviving as Olgf Zappeio r

a FF

ss s rr as Gardens

oo yy public bath building. y nn nn l l o oo ii

hh

rr u

oo

yy

uu

VV

É É É

¡#

Akropoli uu

Filopappou o ¡# r Hill g n y k S

s a Take a break... Chill out at re d n % A Klepsydra ( 210 321 2493; Thra- 3 The Quarter is f o e syvoulou 9,h9am-1am; mMonastiraki), a picturesque maze of little L 2 Reliefs at the Lysikrates Monu- a cafe offering quiet respite in the whitewashed houses, the legacy ment, built in 334 BC, depict the busy downtown area. of stonemasons brought in from battle between Dionysos and the to build the king’s palace Tyrrhenian pirates, whom the god after Independence in 1821. transformed into dolphins. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1