Position on the problem that was created with them Cinemas Ideal, Astor and Iridabut more generally “the lost sights of the historic center of Athens” were taken by the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

As she points out in a Facebook post, “The abandonment of the stadium hurts us. The burned building that housed the Apollo and Attikon remains an unhealed wound on the fabric of the city. Ideal, Astor, Iris are in danger. We are losing cinemas that introduced us to “the secrets of cinema, like the magic of poetry,” as Andreas Empirikos wrote, introducing us to great creators who are the quintessence of the lyrical essence of life in their images.

At the same time, he points out that the sights of the city are not only its monuments. “These are its houses, cafes, cinemas and theatres, its gardens, its squares, everything that gives the city its identity, everything that contains the history of people, their searches, passions and expectations, what supports its inhabitants. If this unifying thread is cut, the city loses its axis, and each of us loses its connection with our experiences,” emphasizes the President of the Republic.

MD post

“Often walking around the historical center of Athens and living in its heart, I often find myself in front of a paradox: a city with a dense, rich history and brilliant ancient monuments, at the same time being a city in danger of losing its memory, or rather a city that is in a hurry liquidate their newest traces of memory, along with the values ​​that they carry, aesthetic, cultural, social values.

The desolation of the stadium hurts us. The burned building that housed the Apollo and Attikon remains an unhealed wound on the fabric of the city. Ideal, Astor, Iris are in danger. We are losing cinemas that introduced us to “the secrets of cinema, like the magic of poetry,” as Andreas Empirikos wrote, introducing us to great creators who are the quintessence of the lyrical essence of life in their images. We lose the mystique of the room, the charm of the collective experience. We are losing spaces that were not just cinema halls, but arks of culture. As they are cut one by one from the body of the city, like other historical meeting places, old cafes or restaurants that were once the centers of Athenian spiritual life, the memory of the city is also gradually lost.

When I talk about memory loss, I don’t mean historical memory, but living memory, living memory, the present in how we live the present and plan for the future. A memory that has nothing to do with barrenness or the fixation of nostalgia, but with the ability to recreate the past, based on the possibilities of today and the promises of tomorrow. Because the reception of the future does not mean a break with what was before, but a registration in the future. This does not mean the destruction of traces of the past, but their integration into the urban experience, which is enriched by their presence.

A city, any city, is a living organism that is in constant transformation, just like the people who inhabit it. However, it is always looking for its constants. His sights. And these are not only her monuments. These are its houses, cafes, cinemas and theatres, gardens, squares, everything that gives the city its identity, everything that contains the history of people, their aspirations, passions and expectations, what supports its inhabitants. If this unifying thread is cut, the city loses its axis, and each of us loses its connection with our experiences.”

⇒ News today

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