Photo: Orestis Seferoglou

Rebels with, and quite often without, a cause have earned Exarchia a reputation as the turf of anarchists and radicals.

A Tradition of Counter-culture

Despite the large numbers of transients Exarchia attracts, this jumble of pre-war townhouses and ageing post-war apartment buildings preserves a strong sense of community and tradition, with publishing houses, bookbinders, the city’s liveliest farmers’ market, rembetiko tavernas, punk boutiques, old-fashioned coffee houses, bars, a self-managed park, the National Archaeological Museum and delightful Epigraphic Museum, all within its boundaries. Inexpensive rents account for the district’s popularity among students and anti-gentrification fifty-somethings who bask in the memories of their own rebelliousness. Built into the slopes of Lycabettus Hill, Neapoli, the city’s second oldest neighbourhood after Plaka, acts as a buffer zone between Kolonaki, disdained by Exarchia’s denizens as the bastion of the bourgeoisie. (Keep in mind that confrontations with police do erupt spontaneously at times in Exarchia, and protests can flare into street clashes.)
 

Kallidromiou Street on a laiki day.

Photo: Orestis Seferoglou

Kallidromiou Street

“Site of the 1973 student uprising that precipitated the collapse of Greece’s dictatorship.”

National Technical University of Athens

The extravagant Agios Nikolaos Pefkakia.

Photo: Orestis Seferoglou

Agios Nikolaos Pefkakia

Panellinion

Head to this kafenio if you're looking for a classic Athenian atmosphere.

Photo: Orestis Seferoglou

Artwork at Parko Navarinou.

Photo: Orestis Seferoglou

Parko Navarinou