Kallidromiou street Exarchia Athens

Kallidromiou street Exarchia Athens a street to admire…

Sunday morning and with the two kids we are driving to Athens center for our beloved Playing-with-food activities. So here we are in Kallidromiou street in the area of Exarchia and just getting ready for cooking! The game begins and this is the right moment for the mom to spend 5 minutes to enjoy a coffee. So I start walking in the street to get a hot coffee from the coffee shops close to us. And there she was… a gorgeous painted lady, with amazing natural hair and with wonderful colors! I have been in this street so many times and I have to confess that this was the first time I realized the beauty of the area. So many beautiful graffiti in the walls, the buildings, the doors, the parking doors. Color and art!

I always adored the graffiti, but you know the graffiti that actually have something to share and not just to make dirty the wall. I consider this street art really “pure” , an art that is hiding to many feelings and messages. From complaints and revolutionary ideas, to expression of love and secret dreams! And Kallidromiou street is a neighborhood  with all of these in its walls and doors and everywhere!

Ok, I have to admit that even though I really like this area, I had no idea about the history behind. The only thing that I was admiring in every walk was the beautiful traditional old houses, the cute little shops, but mostly the little book stores. When I first moved to Athens, this area was the first that I tried to discover and I loved it! Even being in the center of Athens, there are too many beautiful hidden places to discover and one thing is for sure, only one walk is not enough! Actually, there is nothing better than just walking around and having your camera with you.

So I checked about the history or at least more information about the place and this street specifically. Kallidromiou street in Exarchia Athens ,  is considered the place of artists in the Exarchia area! With its unique style, it was the place that many artists were having their houses or spent their time. Too many people from art or politics were here like the compositor Nikos Skalkotas, the politician Leonidas Kirkos, the poet John Chondrogiannis and many more. My favorite Nikos Asimos was having a small store in the corner Kallindormiou and Themistokleous and actually he was leaving in the attic. I could never imagine how many discussions and ideas have been taken place in this neighborhood!

In this area is located the Theater of Kallidromiou and the actors school of George Armeni, but also too many book stores, publishing houses and stores of art. Small coffee shops with amazing decoration in a vintage style, can give you the idea of Athens of the previous century, that are just perfect to enjoy a coffee and read your newspaper or your book.

Colors and paintings that actually can travel your mind.. for me this is really important and unique, considering how much grey this city has! Colors and more colors to make us smile. Even small additions, like the painted blocks on the street, can impress you!

I am looking forward for my next walk and this time I will try to have more free time to spend discovering Exarchia… you never know what else might be “hidden”!

Have fun!

mats mouts