Syntagma Square (Constitution Square)

Syntagma Square is back and better then ever. Well maybe not better than ever. It was probably at it's best in the early 1900's when there were no cars and buses whizzing around it and it was shaded by large trees.

But with the re-routing of the traffic, the opening of the new metro and the removal of the wooden billboard covered walls that hid the construction site that was once Athens most popular platia, Syntagma looks better then it has in many years.

The Square has a long history. It seems every major event in Greece's modern history has either been mourned or celebrated here. It has held some of the biggest political pep-rallys that have ever been seen on the planet. In the nineteen forties it was the sight of a battle between the communists and the right-wing government.

When the Military Junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974 fell and Constantine Karamanlis came back from exile in Paris to lead Greece back to democracy, it was in Syntagma that he first spoke to his newly free constituents.

To appreciate the absence of Syntagma for all these years while they built what is probably the world's most beautiful Metro station, imagine Greenwich Village without Washington Square or Boston without the Commons.

It was a large public square with tree shaded walkways and benches and cafes where Athenians and travelers could talk politics, sports or whatever it is people talk about when they are hanging around in squares.


At the top of Syntagma, which means Constitution, is the Parliament Building, formerly the King's Palace, built between 1836 and 1840 by King Otto and financed by his father Ludwig I of Bavaria.

The original idea was to put the king's palace on the Acropolis but luckily this never happened.

The classical style of architecture, known as neo-classical which originated in Greece and is the dominant style of all the old public buildings, houses and mansions of Athens, was actually re-imported into Greece in the late eighteen hundreds from Europe and then modified (improved) by Greek architects.


The tomb of the unknown soldier is guarded by Evzones, the elite soldiers who also guard the Palace and are chosen for their height and strength. They are like the guards at Buckingham Palace with the big furry hats and are treated the same way by tourists who come to take their pictures and see if they blink. Every so often they do a little march and dance to break the monotony of standing still all day and they occasionally do this little kick step with their sarouchi shoes with the pom-poms. The pleated skirt, called a fustinella is Albanian in origin and was introduced by King Otto.

At 6 pm you can see the changing of the guard while dodging pigeons. If you have children they will probably enjoy feeding them with the nuts that are sold there.


To the left of the square is the Grande Bretagne a hotel as historically significant as it is elegant and a great place to go in for a coffee in the beautiful lobby or the bar.

It is considered the best place to stay in Athens and has been since it was built in 1862 to accommodate Heads of State, for which purpose it is still used. It is one of the most well known hotels in the world.

At the bottom of Syntagma is the McDonalds which replaced the popular Papaspyros. The cafe was the meeting point for travelers to Greece going east and west, since it was downstairs from American express where everyone got their mail and cashed their travelers checks, in the sixties and seventies. It is also the beginning of Ermou Street, closed to auto traffic and Athen's main shopping district which leads down to the Flea market at Monastiriki. An important thing to remember, just like in America when you are on the road and you want to stop to use a clean bathroom, the first place you think of is McDonalds, the same goes for Greece. But if it is too crowded you can use this contraption, one of the new toili-tubes that are being placed around Athens.

The only problem is there are other tubes that look almost exactly the same that do not have toilets in them. So before you heave a sigh of relief in an emergency situation, make sure the tube you are using has a door.


You may notice that next to the Grande Bretagne is what looks like a building, or a mural of a building painted on a piece of canvas several stories high. This is the old King George Hotel, a former landmark that was one of the casualties of the Koskotos fiasco of the early nineties.

If you don't know the story, a fellow named Koskotos bought the Bank of Crete. The story goes that he went to the owners and told them he wanted to buy the bank. He did not have any money so he convinced them to give him the bank and he would pay them tomorrow. They gave him the bank and he took the money from his new bank and used it to pay the owners the money he owed them. Not a bad plan really. I mean I could buy a bank too if I was allowed to pay for it like that. Then taking his money he proceeded to build a very short-lived empire, apparently with help from some of his new friends in the government.

He even started his own newspaper called 'Simera' which means today, and bore a remarkable resemblance to the USA Today. As often happens in these situations one lousy card made the whole deck collapse and Mr. Koskotas now languishes in a Massachusetts prison, probably the safest place on earth for him judging from the opinion of the Greek people who were stuck cleaning up his mess. The King George is perhaps the most visible remnant of his disastrous journey through Greek economic history and the plan is to rebuild it, since right now it stands as a monument to greed and short-sightedness. They should have done this years ago. But I may still be saying this years from now

Used with permission from Matt Barrett's Athens Survival Guide