Accompanied by strong police forces, the construction site in Exarchion Squarefor the construction of the station of the same name underground. As expected, there has been a backlash and there has been tension from time to time, although there was a protest in the area yesterday afternoon.

The contracting company (ERETVO, undertook part of the preparatory work in all places where metro stations of the 4th line will be built) was notified a month ago of “readiness”. And this is because at the government level it was decided to start work on two fronts in Exarchia, on the square and on the Strefi hill (see “K” 1.8.2022). According to the information, successive meetings were held over the weekend between the Ministry of Infrastructure, Attico Metro and the police, and the date of the intervention was finalized. The contractor was only notified last night so as not to leak information.

Finally, the operation, as the brigade was accompanied by a strong police force, began yesterday at 4.30 am. Approximately 20 vehicles and 30 workers from the company and its subcontractors moved the concrete blocks used as the base for the fences, the fences themselves and the toilets on the site. It should be noted that two 20-meter works by artists KEZ and Leonidas Yiannopoulos, commissioned by “Attica Metro” (two more will be placed at the construction site of the Academy).

As expected, with the first rays of the sun, reactions began. Groups of citizens attempted to block development on the construction site, with tension also caused by the cutting of branches from trees, which prevented the installation of the fence. At times, the police even used chemicals to push back the protesting citizens.

According to Attico Metro, 76% of trees and shrubs will be replanted in autumn.

The installation of the site fencing was completed yesterday at about 11 am, and the contractor’s crews again left, accompanied by the police. The police presence remained very strong not only around the construction site, but also in the wider area, and, by all appearances, it will remain so, since, according to the police, the protests will not end there. However, to protect the workers, today it is planned to begin the installation of a second, internal mesh fence, the height of which will reach 5 meters (usually reaches 1.9 m).

Process

What will be the sequel? The first in a series of works is the removal of everything “urgent” (sculptures, lamps, benches, etc.), which are handed over to the municipality for safekeeping. Then search areas begin for the presence of archaeological finds, followed by work on moving engineering networks.

OUR “K” turned to Attico Metro., raising the main issue (as was revealed in the case of Kolonaki Square) about the cutting down of trees in Exarchia Square. “On Exarchia Square, all types of existing trees were recorded and photographed, as well as their sizes were completely recorded. The vast majority of trees and all shrubs are species that can be successfully replanted and will be replanted by specialized teams at the locations indicated by the Greening Authority of the Municipality of Athens, in accordance with the urban green space protection study prepared and forecasts. environmental impact studies.

»In particular, it is planned to replant 123 trees and shrubs out of 161, which is 76%. Also, according to the memorandum of cooperation between Attico Metro, the Municipality of Athens and Anaplasi S.A. – for the first time in the construction of the metro in Greece – 2000 trees will be planted at the stations of line 4 at the initial stage of work in places to be specified by the municipality. In addition, when restoring the square, after the completion of the work, it is planned to plant new trees and shrubs, according to a phytotechnical study that will be prepared in order to achieve additional plantings outside the protera, “the company’s response says. As already noted, it is impossible to replant in the summer , therefore, all plants to be transplanted are removed in the fall.Until then, the construction site will occupy the remaining area.

Line 4

Exarchia is the penultimate “front” of the 4th line. What remains is the transfer of the construction site to Rizari Park, to Evangelismos, which was removed last year after protests over the upcoming cutting of trees. During this period, the transfer of engineering networks to Galatsi, at the “entrance” to the agglomeration (Veikou, Exarchia and Evangelismos – three points that are several months behind schedule) is being completed. On the other front, Katehaki and GNA, preliminary work has already been completed and the construction site has been handed over to the consortium that will build the main project (AVAX – Ghella – Alstom). At other stations and wells, the picture is generally the same. Construction sites have been created on all fronts, archaeological research is being carried out. At the same time, archeological excavations were completed in three major locations – Kolonaki, the Academy and Dikastiriya – and engineering networks were launched. It is recalled that in October-November, two Metropontian ships should arrive in Greece from Germany, which will dig simultaneously from opposite directions. The goal is to start tunneling in early 2023. Metro Line 4 will be 12.8 km long and will consist of 15 stations and 9 intermediate or terminating trunks.

From the Quiet Neighborhood of Napoleon Lapatiotis to Airbnb

Exarchion Square, as we know it today, is not one of the old squares of the city. It took its current form in the mid-60s with the demolition of some of the few houses that existed on its territory. At the time when the Exarchia region began to be created, in 1870-1880, today’s square was “a nameless, bare plateau, blown by the winds and regularly dug by streams tending down the Lycabettus” (“ABC of Exarchia 1840-1975”) . , a useless guide to the sunken mythical state and neighboring settlements, Yiannis Fountas, ed. Colleagues’ editorials).

“Roughly in the 1960s, Exarchia was a quiet area. There are few residential buildings, mostly old two-story buildings with wooden doors and marble balconies. Almost every house had a small or larger plot of land with a little greenery, you could see an orange tree, a palm tree, and abundant flowers everywhere in the yards, on the stairs, on the balconies,” says D. Petsetidis in “Kafenio” (“Athens: according to City on the Basis of History and Literature”, Tan. Jochalas, Tonia Kafetzakis, Estii ed.

Since the end of the 19th century, well-known clergymen have gathered in the area (Nikos Gizis, Dim. Philippotis, Jann. Chalepas, Io. Kollaros, Fod. Vellianitis, Nikos Skalkotas, Nap. Lapatiotis and many others). Thanks to the presence of the Polytechnic Institute and the Faculty of Law, the area has already acquired a youthful character as a place of residence and recreation for students since the interwar period. The area remained a refuge of the intelligentsia and a haven of freethinking during the dictatorship, and the events of the Polytechnic contributed to the formation of a policy of physiognomy and a culture of civic participation, which, to some extent, has survived to this day.

Field of conflict

From time to time, the area of ​​​​the square experienced a serious problem of drug trafficking and crime in general, while it often became a field of conflict, often politically motivated. Today, many scholarly studies document its changing character as a neighborhood thanks to the rapid expansion of Airbnb-style short-term rentals—characteristically, in the iconic Blue apartment building (an area landmark and one of the finest examples of modernism in the city), most apartments are currently rented this way.