Ermou Street ( el, Οδός Ερμού, ''Odos Ermou'', "

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

Street") is a one and a half kilometer-long road 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 ...

, connecting

Kerameikos Kerameikos (, ) also known by its Latinized form Ceramicus, is an area of Athens, Greece, located to the northwest of the Acropolis, which includes an extensive area both within and outside the ancient city walls, on both sides of the Dipylon ...

archaeological site with the Syntagma Square through

Monastiraki Monastiraki (Greek: Μοναστηράκι, ''Monastiráki'', , literally ''little monastery'') is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. The area is home to cloth ...

Psiri Psyri or Psiri or Psyrri or Psirri ( el, Ψυρή or Ψυρρή,Probably derived from Ψυρής "inhabitant of Psara" (formerly known as Psyra or Psyrii). ) is a gentrified neighbourhood in Athens, Greece, today known for its restaurants, bars, ...

and

Thiseio Thiseio or Thissio ( el, Θησείο, ) is a traditional neighbourhood in the old city of Athens, Greece, northwest of the Acropolis, and surrounded by the archaeological sites of the Agora, Keramikos and Pnyx. The name refers to the Temp ...

. It consists of three sections: The east (from Filellinon Street to

Aiolou Street Aiolou Street (also Eolou Street; el, Οδός Αιóλου) is a street in downtown Athens, the Greek capital. It is named after Aeolus, the god of winds in Greek mythology. The street is one-way and originally ran entirely southbound but sin ...

, app. 700m long) which is a

pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

and the city's best-known and busiest shopping street, the middle (from Aiolou Street to Agion Asomaton str.) and the west (from Agion Asomaton to

Peiraios Street Peiraios Street ( el, Οδός Πειραιώς, ''Odos Peiraios'', "Piraeus Street") is a main road in Athens, Greece linking the center of the city with the port of Piraeus. It is part of the system of national roads, as number 56 ( el, Εθνι ...

) a pedestrian zone also. With fashion shops and

shopping centres A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

promoting most international brands, it is in the top five most expensive shopping streets in Europe, and the tenth most expensive retail street in the world. Nearby, the renovated Army Fund building in

Panepistimiou Street Panepistimiou Street ( el, Οδός Πανεπιστημίου, "University Street", named after the University of Athens, the central building of which is on the upper corner) is a major street in Athens that has run one way for non-transit v ...

includes the "Attica"

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

and several upmarket designer stores.

One of the oldest churches in Athens, the Byzantine

Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea The Church of Panagia Kapnikarea ( el, Εκκλησία της Παναγίας Καπνικαρέας) or just Kapnikarea (Greek: Καπνικαρέα) is a Greek Orthodox church and one of the oldest churches in Athens. History It is estima ...

is in a small square, on the east section of Ermou Street. The western section of the road which was remodeled for the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

constitutes the ending of the ''Grand Promenade'', the pedestrian walkway around the Acropolis, part of the city's Archaeological Unification Project. Ermou Street is twinned with the Okurayama Street in Kanagawa Prefecture - Japan since August 1, 1988.

History

The street was one of the first roads designed in modern Athens and one of the main axes of Athens’ first town plan made by the architects Kleanthis and Schaubert in 1833. In contrast to the section from Syntagma Square to

which until now is a base for

retail trade Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

, public services cafes and hotels, and a

since 1997 (the pedestrianization started in 1996), the section of the street from Agion Asomaton street to Peiraios Street was linked with the industrial land use of Peiraios Street in the 19th and 20th century, with

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

, the operation of

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

and the arterial roads Peiraios Street and Iera Odos Street.

2003 section remodeling

To improve the image of the area and enhance the archaeological site of

and its integration with city life, the section from Agion Asomaton street to Peiraios street was remodeled into a pedestrian way as part of the ''Grand Promenade'' project, which is subsumed under the general work for the unification of the archaeological sites of Athens. The remodeling started by the Unification of Archaeological Sites of Athens S.A. on Wednesday 9 July 2003, and now the section constitutes the ending of the ''Grand Promenade'' that begins at

Panathinaiko Stadium The Panathenaic Stadium ( el, Παναθηναϊκό Στάδιο, Panathinaïkó Stádio, ), as spelled by Philostratus. or ''Kallimarmaro'' (Καλλιμάρμαρο, , lit. "beautiful marble") is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens, Greece. O ...

(Vasilissis Olgas Av.) and continues through Dionysiou Areopagitou and Agiou Pavlou streets.

Intersections

Major intersections from west to east: *

* Agion Asomaton (Agion Asomaton Square) *

Athinas Street Athinas Street ( el, Οδός Αθηνάς) is a street in downtown Athens in Greece. It is named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The street runs from Ermou Street north to Omonoia Square through the Psiri neighborhood. Its total length ...

* Filellinon Street ( Syntagma Square)

References

External links

"Ermou Street: The commercial heart of Athens"
Kathimerini feature in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

.
Old Photos of Ermou street

Guide for stores in Ermou Street

{{Streets in Athens Streets in Athens Shopping districts and streets in Greece

History

2003 section remodeling

Intersections

See also

References

External links