Kolonaki (, ), literally "Little Column", is an upscale neighborhood in central

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is located on the southern slopes of

Mount Lycabettus Mount Lycabettus (), also known as Lycabettos, Lykabettos or Lykavittos ( el, Λυκαβηττός, ), is a Cretaceous limestone hill in the Greek capital Athens. At 277 meters (908 feet) above sea level, its summit is the highest point in Cen ...

. Its name derives from the two metre column (located in

Kolonaki Square Kolonaki Square ( el, Πλατεία Κολωνακίου, ) is located in central Athens, Greece. Kolonaki itself is named after the small ancient column in the center of the square; the modern official name of this square is Plateia Filikis Et ...

) that defined the area even before the area's urbanization.

Description

Kolonaki is a wealthy and upmarket district. As one of the capital's leading shopping areas, it includes a number of high-end boutiques from young adult to casual fashion to prestigious

haute couture ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

from Greek and international designers. One of its main shopping streets,

Voukourestiou Street Voukourestiou Street (Greek: Οδός Βουκουρεστίου, ''Odos Voukourestiou'') named after the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, which ended the Second Balkan War, is a rather narrow street in the Kolonaki district of Athens known for its h ...

, is now known for its jewelry.

Museums A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

and galleries also abound in Kolonaki. The

Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...

, inside a preserved neoclassical manor house, and the

Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art The Nicholas P. Goulandris Foundation - Museum of Cycladic Art is a museum of Athens. It houses a notable collection of artifacts of Cycladic art. The museum was founded in 1986 in order to house the collection of Cycladic and Ancient Greek art ...

and are two of the finest private collections in the country. Two smaller museums to be found in Kolonaki are the Museum of the History of Greek Costume and the Theater Museum, both highly specialized in their respective areas. A walk across the street from

Vasilissis Sofias Avenue Vasilissis Sofias Avenue () is a major avenue in the east side of Athens, the Greek capital. The avenue was originally part of the Kifisias Avenue. The part from Syntagma Square to the intersection with Alexandras Avenue was renamed after Que ...

are the

Byzantine Museum The Byzantine and Christian Museum ( el, Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο, links=no) is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914, and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rare ...

, and the War Museum of Athens. There is a plethora of available options for

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, c ...

, including bars, ouzeries, and tavernas. Outdoor seating on pedestrian walks is typical, creating a lively atmosphere at night. The main

(with the small column) is surrounded by cafes and restaurants. The Lycabettus Funicular, a

funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

, links Kolonaki to the summit of

. Kolonaki also hosts two metro stations, Evengelismos and Megaro Mousikis.

Parks & Squares

Besides nearby Lycabettus, the residents benefit from other small parks and open spaces: * Kolonaki Square * Dexamini, named after Hadrian's Reservoir. Dexamini has a small square where young children often play football, a playground and a popular cafe. * Plateia Katsiki * Parko Eleftherias * Garden of Megaro Mousikis

Gallery

File:Colonne1852.png, Detail from "Plan d'Athènes" 1853. Origins of the name of Kolonaki shown, with the location of the Column (Colonne) now in Kolonaki Square File:Kolonaki Kolonakiou.jpg, The little column in Kolonaki Square File:Athina kosciol sw Mikolaja.jpg, St. Nicholas church File:Kolonaki_Square_3.jpg, View of

File:Athens earlymodernism01.JPG, Early modern buildings

Notable people

Miranda Xafa Miranda Xafa ( el, Μιράντα Ξαφά, ) is a Greek economist, formerly Greece's representative at the IMF Executive Board and chief economic adviser to the Prime Minister of Greece, and currently CEO of an Athens-based advisory firm. She ...

References

{{Athens Shopping districts and streets in Greece Neighbourhoods in Athens Museum districts Art gallery districts