“Between these two hills [Anchesmos and Museum] at the foot of the Acropolis, Athens revealed itself to me: flat roofs intermixed with minarets, cypresses, ruins, isolated columns; the domes of its mosques, crowned with big storks’ nests made an agreeable effect in the sun’s rays,” writes François-René de Chateaubriand in the Record of a Journey from Paris to Jerusalem and Back (1811).
The Onassis Cultural Centre-Athens in collaboration with Big Olive (bigolive.org) invite you to a walk in the footsteps of European travellers who were captivated by Athens before and after the struggle for Independence, in the framework of the exhibition “Strange cities: Athens”.
So if you want to see where they planted tomatoes for the first time in Athens, which the oldest building still in use in the cityis, or where the different neighbourhoods had their hamams during the period of Turkish rule, you just have to follow the “Strange Itineraries: Athens through the eyes of 19th century European travellers”, the guided tours following in the footsteps of the travellers who visited Athens in the 19th century.
Practical information
The tours will take place every Thursday and every Saturday from 9 May to 20 June 2015 from 18:00-20:00. The price is 6 €. The tours will be in English and in Greek.
Groups will consist of no more than 15 and no fewer than 5 people.
Starting point: Diplareios School
Finishing point: Onassis Foundation, Dionysiou Areopagitou
