A small island in the centre of Athens

Anafiotika is a small neighborhood under the rock of the Acropolis. They are reminiscent of a Cycladic island with the characteristic cobbled alleys, many in width that can fit two people at a time, low whitewashed houses with blue windows and bougainvilleaσ. Anafiotika acquired its current image in the 1860s, when two carpenters from Anafi built two arbitrary houses here. Various fellow citizens found the idea good and they followed their example and so the neighborhood was created.

In 1834 a decree was passed according to which the area was considered an archeological zone, in which any reconstruction was prohibited. A similar ban was in force in ancient Athens of Pericles, which was also violated by refugees from the Peloponnesian War who came and settled here seeking refuge away from the affected municipalities of Attica.

Few houses are left today in Anafiotika, although there were more, many of which were demolished in the 1970s, when the settlement was deemed arbitrary. There are no streets in Anafiotika, each house just has its own number, and that’s it. The inhabitants of Anafiotika and the inhabitants of Plaka had, at the beginning of the 20th century, a great hatred. The inhabitants of Plaka did not let the “villagers” frequent Philomousou Square and the Anafiotes responded by banning the movement of every resident of Plaka in their neighborhood.

The easiest, and most popular, access to Anafiotika is from the steps that start at the side of the church of Agios Georgios. When you start climbing them, you will have the impression that they end up in a dead end, keep climbing, this is how almost all the alley-steps in Anafiotika look like. To reach the church of Ai-Giorgis, the route with the least uphill is the one that starts from Thespidos street, which is a continuation of the noisy Kydathinaion street and then turns right on Stratonos street