Villa Amalia is the name of the building that hosted the former Second High School of

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 ...

. It is located on the corner of Acharnon and Heiden streets, near Victoria metro station. It was an anarchist squat before its eviction in 2012. It reopened as a school in 2016.

Social center

Villa Amalia was occupied since 1990, making it one of the oldest Greek squats. In its lifetime as a squat, the center organized cultural events such as political debates, film screenings and concerts. The authorities claimed that violent protesters were protected within the villa after anti-austerity demonstrations. Villa Amalia was evicted in December 2012. The police claimed to have found materials to make 1500

molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

s. The center was one target in a police campaign to evict up to 40 known squats throughout Greece. ''(in Greek)'' SYRIZA was critical of the eviction, blaming the government for using it as a distraction from bigger scandals. 150 anarchists attempted to reoccupy the building on January 9, 2013. They regained possession and were then evicted again by the police with 92 arrests. Protesters gathered with banners pledging solidarity and occupied the offices of Greek social-democratic party DIMAR. The police then raided another squat nearby and in response people blockaded the entrance of a building where Prime Minister

Antonis Samaras Antonis Samaras ( el, Αντώνης Σαμαράς, ; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek politician who served as 14th Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. A member of the New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samaras ...

was supposed to give a talk. Thousands of people soon took to the streets in support of the arrestees. The crowd, estimated at 8,000 people by the organizers and at 3,000 by the police, marched through central Athens to the law courts. All 92 arrestees were charged with trespassing on public property and then released.

School

The Mayor of the City of Athens

Giorgos Kaminis Georgios Kaminis ( el, Γεώργιος Καμίνης; born 15 July 1954) is a Greek American parliamentarian and professor of constitutional law. He was the Greek Ombudsman from April 2003 until September 2010 and Mayor of Athens from 2011 u ...

announced in February 2013 that the building would be transformed back into a school or cultural center. It had been sealed off to prevent reoccupation by anarchists. It reopened as a high school in September 2016.

References

External links

Blog of the former squat
''(in Greek)'' Schools in Greece Anarchist organizations in Greece Anarchist communities Squats {{Anarchism-stub