The church of Agia Eirini on Agias Eirinis Square.
Named after the church of Agia Eirini, the most important orthodox church at the time when Athens became the capital of the newly liberated Greek state, in recent years Agias Eirini's Square became one of the hottest spots in town. Easy to approach no matter where you're coming from, and by what transportation means, self-contained and peaceful, with no bothersome thru-traffic, the square thrives with life most hours of the day. Bookstores, coffee-shops, eateries, bars, meeting places, a plant nursery, a haberdashery store, and one of the best souvlaki spots in town: Hoocut, for a gourmet version of the Greek specialty. On the same side of Agias Eirinis Street, stop by School Pizza Bar for superb salads, wonderful pasta dishes and tasty pizza all in great prices. Right off the square, on Vasilikis and Skouze streets, you will find Koukouvaya, a desserts cafe originating from Chania, Crete, since 1997, with fine and tasty traditional but also gourmet desserts. In recent months, the square is undergoing major renovation projects.
Emporikon Hotel on Aiolou Street.
Located on Agias Eirinis Square, we recommendEmporikon Hotel, a fully renovated 19th c. historic building with a designer vibe. All A/C rooms come with a flat-screen TV, minibar and free toiletries. Some units open to a balcony with Acropolis or Lycabettus Hill views, or offer an open-plan or separate seating area. Facilities include a 24-hr front desk and a ticket service. Bicycle and car rental services are provided. Several café bars and restaurants are within a short walk. Syntagma Square is only 600 m away and the popular sites of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum are at a distance of about 1 km. The scenic Plaka district is a 5-minute walk away.
"The Athenian Market in Aeolus Street" by Mary Hogarth, c. 1890.
Scenes in Athens
"The main street, which runs northward from the Acropolis through the heart of the medieval and modern town, is named after the God of the Winds... It is the most attractive of all Athenian streets... The shops in it are mean enough for the most part, as shops in a city without commerce are apt to be; but, at the southern end especially, they retain some resemblance of that earlier bazaar form which is proper to the place. Here, where little wheeled traffic attempts to pass, because the rock-wall of the Acropolis makes the streets something of a blind alley, men and children lead their lives mainly without the houses, and the women hang, as is their custom in Greek lands, out of the upper windows, shrilly passing the time of day. Merchandise overflows the pavement and fills the gutter, and the most intimate attentions of mother to child, or man to man, go on in the view of the sun and the public... But the matchless feature of the street, seen from end to end of it, is that tremendous battlemented steep of the Acropolis, a frowning rampart of dark road, heightened above by the orange tint of the wall and glimpses of marbles on the summit. Aeolus Street is not the finest street even in Athens, but it leads you straight up to the finest site in the world."
Scenes in Athens... Described by David Hogarth, c. 1900
The plant nursery on Ag. Eirinis Sq.
Landmarks
The plant nursery in the middle of the square.
Old rendering of Agia Eirini.
Sightseeing
An old photograph of Agias Eirinis Square on Aiolou Street.