Athens
Anafiotika is a small district of white houses below the rock of Athens. It was built in the nineteenth century by workers who came from the island of Anafi.
An island below the rock
When Athens became the capital, many workers were needed to build the new city. Many came from the island of Anafi, in the Aegean Sea.
They built their houses on the slope, where land was cheap. They made them like those back home: small, cube-shaped and white. That is how Anafiotika was born; the name means “the people of Anafi”.
What to look at
Walk slowly through the lanes. Look at the colourful doors, the pots full of flowers and herbs, the painted low walls. Many little streets have no name.
The district lies between two seventeenth-century chapels. To the east is St George of the Rock, to the west St Simeon. From the terraces you can see the city from above.
A fragile neighbourhood
In the twentieth century some of the houses were demolished for archaeological digs. Only a few dozen homes remain.
Real families live here, with washing hung out and doors open. Silence and respect are the best way to visit. Stop for a moment on the steps and listen. Within a few paces the noise of the city seems far away.
