A calligraphic inscription about the cinema has been preserved on Vouliagmenis Avenue. “Metropolitan” Daphne met with glory. It has been closed for many years, and its inscription stands like a pillar of memory. Cenotaph.

The attraction caused by this inscription is so strong that the look clings, the feelings are warmed up. They recall the old inscription of the neighboring “Merveig” and recall the names of the cinemas on the Vouliagmeni axis, “Gardenia”, near Agios Ioannis, “Norma”, further down, “Mari” towards Argiroupoli. And here are the shots from Nana and Atlantis. A whole world… every neighborhood had its own movie theaters. But the Metropolitan is not hiding in the bowels of the district. It is located in the window of the boulevard and now, clouded by exhaust fumes and disuse, looks like a fortress of memories. It is not yet known how long he will be there…

He would have a place in the museum of inscriptions. And this museum will be a vivid and evocative gallery, like a tunnel in the caves of time, where the visitor will remain almost mesmerized by the lure of ecstasy. The names of the dead cinematographers will live there for eternity, Hesperus and Orpheus, Attis and Ellenis, Achilles and Ares… And together the culture of the film campaign, the blue-and-white program, the curtain, the advertising, the softness of the drinks. A dark room.

Abandoned in this way in this morgue, the Metropolitan carries a disproportionately heavy legacy on its shoulders. Because the gaze enveloping him is also looking for other beloved dead from the world of popular entertainment and affordable entertainment. He admits, looking, that this inscription plays the role of an altar of a way of life that is no longer there. And Daphne’s “Metropolitan” is an unwitting representative of this former phantasmagoria of feelings. The history of the twentieth century, especially after 1950 for the districts and after 1910 for the center of Athens, is also shaped by reading the world of spectacle. When cinema was the cheapest, most accessible, most popular entertainment. And once, and twice, and three times a week. And often from noon until late at night. Showings from 16:00 to 18:00. And yet they were crowded… And “Soon” in the windows outside, and “Today”, and “Not suitable for minors.”

This world, with all its variations and nuances, had a role to play. He unclenched, contracted, relaxed. The sociability of going to the movies was more universal, you penetrated the blood vessels of the city, even if you went alone to squeeze into a chair.

The stories of old cinemas in all districts and in all cities of the country are stories of growing up. These are stories of how thousands of people have opened themselves up to other worlds, and this has been done in the intimate, soothing cocoon of a central hall or chamber. The screen, the chime music, the curtains, the crimson seats, the bar, and the taxi rank with programs advertising the entire neighborhood had the sanctity of a spontaneous ritual.

These images, these memories are evoked by the sign “Metropolitan”… It stands, beckons passing drivers.