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Athens: Monastiraki - Aerides
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Monastiraki and Aerides: Greek, Turkish, Roman, Byzantine …
In the neighbourhood of the vague boundary between the Plaka and Aerides we see the Roman Agora. Nearby we have the Moussio Laikon Organon, the museum of musical instruments, a few Byzantine churches and Dzami Dzisdaraki, which used to be a mosque. Moving a little closer to the large central square (Platia Omonia) we walk across the Athenian flea market.
On our way down from the Acropolis we can get to the Roman Agora (Romaiki Agora), once a covered market, open at the sides. It was probably built on the instructions of Julius and Augustus Caesar, somewhere around the start of the Christian era. An account by Hadrianus tells us that the market traders had to pay taxes on the goods they sold, such as oil. The remains of a public toilet were found beside this market. A little less than a kilometre north along Elou you will find “Kendriki Agora”, a modern version of the earlier Roman Agora. Just a few steps from the Roman Agora lies the “Moussio Laikon Organon”, where you can see all kinds of Greek musical instruments. You can take a guided audio tour around the museum with headphones and hear lots of traditional musical instruments along the way (bouzouki, sandouri …). Concerts are given here regularly in the summer months.
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Without doubt the best-known Byzantine church in this neighbourhood is the “Mikri Mitropoli” or “Little Metropolis”, which was built in the 12th century. It stands at the foot of the “Big Metropolis” which wasn’t built until the 19th century. The little church, whose patron is the virgin Gorgoepikoos, is worth visiting for its bas relief marble stonework. On one of the sidewalls there is a relief frieze dating from the 4th century. Melina Mercouri was laid out here after she died in 1994. The “Big Metropolis” is used for official ceremonies, such as when the Greek presidents take their oaths. In Ermou, the busy shopping street that crosses the neighbourhood from east to west, we find the best preserved Byzantine church in Athens: “Kapnikarea”. In this beautiful cross-shaped church built in the 11th century shoppers come to pray to H. Barbara, who has a separate chapel here. About half a kilometre away we find “Dzami Dzisdaraki” on the Monastiraki square. This former Turkish mosque dating from the mid 18th century now houses the Greek Museum of Decorative Art. The building lost its minaret, but still has a particularly beautiful dome. About 500 metres to the left, on the Platia Avissinias, we find the Athenian flea market, which is beautiful and absolute bedlam.
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Photo: ©iStockphoto.com/Toon Possemiers
Text: RD - © AT-Europe bvba
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