Omonia Square (Photo: Dimitris Labrou)
A trip to Athens towards the end of the civil year and during it, allows the traveler to enjoy the beauty of the illuminated city, the decorated squares, the abundance of holiday markets, the traditional foods and of course the endless range of accommodation options that the city offers.
Three central squares surround the touristic and historical heart of Athens, and above them rises the temple of the gods, the Acropolis, which historically challenges all the construction and renewal booms that have taken place in the city in recent years.
Choosing Athens as a destination for a winter holiday and the end of the civil year is the ultimate choice close to home and gives full value for the prices of flights and accommodation.
DAVE RED – son of a Brown (photo: Vangelis Paterakis)
DAVE RED – son of a Brown (photo: Vangelis Paterakis)
Syntagma
Square Syntagma Square is the center of the touristic and political life of Athens.
The parliament building overlooking it from above, the large shopping street (ERMOU street) draining into it, the main cultural sites around it and of course the holiday decorations that turn it into an endless party of light and beauty at night together with the thousands of people who fill it to overflowing.
Already two weeks before the holiday, the city employees have been working on putting up the big fir tree, decorating the square and preparing it for the defining moment of the Rosh Hashanah holidays that turn Athens into the new city of lights.
For those who love shopping, the square area does a great favor with the many hotels surrounding the square and along the ERMOU shopping street, and one small, boutique, classic-style hotel is right in the heart of the scene, and it is the Villa Braun Ermo hotel, from which you can reach not only shopping but also the surrounding historical sites.
Brown Lighthouse Hotel (Photo: Pygmalion Karatsas)
Omonia Square celebrates and renews
One of the three largest squares in the city is Omonia Square, which is located on the thin border between the crowded tourist area and the residential neighborhoods in the metropolis, which receives a significant portion of the 35 million tourists who visit the country every year.
Omonia in Greek is the 'oath of peace', and in the place where the leaders of the political factions in Greece swore to end hostilities between them in 1862, there is a large square, which is one of the main transportation and commercial junctions in Athens.
In the past, the square was the center of the social, commercial and cultural life of Athens, but urban, geopolitical and traffic processes bit into the splendor and shifted the tourist weight to the nearby Acropolis area.
In recent years, the square has been changing its face.
A large and bright new fountain in the center and the neo-classical houses around it are the setting, along with new cafes, taverns and hotels that bring a fresh breath that makes the area more and more sought after.
Brown Acropolis Hotel (Photo: Paterakis)
This year the Municipality of Athens in collaboration with the 'Brown' hotel chain established for the first time in years a new Christmas market in the heart of the square that promises to become a tradition in the years to come.
Along with the party atmosphere that the market offers (and will offer even after New Year's Eve, until January 1, 2023), there is a party scene on the rooftops of Brown hotels around Omonia Square and in the event halls within them.
These also attract a local crowd that is young, fashionable, up-to-date and looking for entertainment and pleasure.
Brown Acropolis Hotel (Photo: Paterakis)
The Brown Acropolis Hotel, with its spacious rooms and vintage design, overlooks the Great Square and hosts the rooftop parties that have become popular among the city's youth.
The Brown Lighthouse Hotel, from the balconies of its rooms designed in a unique style, overlooks the square in all its splendor and together with the rooftop bar and the wading pool give the urban landscape of Athens an interesting face.
A minute's walk from the square is the DAVE RED - son of a Brown hotel located in a building that used to be the offices of the Communist Party.
This is a bold and fun hotel, young in character and design and suitable for those looking for affordable and affordable prices.
Do you like electronic music?
Below the hotel there is an underground club that hosts DJs from all over the world.
Finally, Omonia Square is a wonderful place for a walk and wander of curiosity, shopping, tasting and getting to know an area that is part of the core of tourism in Athens.
Brown Acropolis Hotel (Photo: Paterakis)
Monstraki
Square is a popular and lively square in the heart of the tourist scene of Athens and surrounding small neighborhoods with a unique character where the traveler can choose between a flea market, traditional taverns, cafes and pastry shops with traditional foods, access to the Acropolis, lots of alleys and souvenir shops and of course a jump across the street to the colorful Pasiri neighborhood The cafes, the taverns that accompany their guests with the sounds of bouzouki and its young and kicking character that reminds a little of Florentine.
My recommendation: stand in the middle of the square and look at the rooftops around you.
On almost every roof you will find a cafe overlooking the Acropolis.
You said Monstraki Square, you said the roofs of Athens, so all that's left for you is to choose a roof, take the elevator and everything else, a feast for the eyes and the soul.
Villa Brown Armo (photo: Vangelis Paterakis)
Christmas events and recommended places to visit
• The Night of All Wishes - December 24 - lighting candles and lighting the sky in the city hall square (Kotsia), next to Omonia square.
• Christmas Factory - the central Christmas fair in the Technopolis courtyard in the Gazi neighborhood.
• The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center hosts children and families, who are invited to enjoy a spectacular musical water fountain show and ice skating.
• A visit to the crazy dessert Little Kook which spans an entire alley in the Pasiri neighborhood and is currently decorated for Christmas.
It's like drinking coffee with Santa Claus.
• Until December 28, three musical street performances in Syntagma Square.
• A visit to the large BENAKI sweets shop, which is like a visit to the sweets museum and enjoy the traditional holiday sweets.
• Jump to the future park of Athens the Ellinikon 40 minutes from the city.
Free entry to an experience of urban renewal and futurity.
• On December 31 at 22:00 in Syntagma Square a show to welcome the New Year.
It is recommended to wait until midnight for the kiss that opens the new year.
The writer was a guest of Brown Hotel Collection in Athens.
Amnon Gopher, an expert on the cultural, musical and culinary scene of Athens www.greektrip.co.il
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