Piazza Monastiraki
أثينا
Monastiraki Square is the heart of the Athens market. It has a Byzantine church, a mosque from 1759 and a large metro station, all side by side.
A crossroads of eras
Many stories meet in this square. The Pantanassa church dates from the tenth century. It is all that remains of the buildings that gave the neighbourhood its name.
The mosque on the south side was built in 1759 by Mustafa Agha Tzisdarakis. It stood in the Kato Pazari, the main market of Ottoman Athens.
What to look at
Look at the mosque: above the door, carved words recall when it was founded. Then look south. Above the rooftops rises the rock of the Acropolis.
Adrianou Street and Pandrossou Street start here and are full of shops. Adrianou follows the line of a street of the ancient city.
Life today
Two metro lines, 1 and 3, cross beneath the square. That is why Monastiraki is always full of people, by day and in the evening.
In the nearby district of Psirri there are workshops making leather sandals, and walls covered in paintings. In the evening, café tables fill the narrow streets.
