This Upper Hive, from the Caucasus and beyond, unfolds like a black and white film. I see it as a story of life in once-hard-to-reach parts of the city, in permanent additions dating back to the 1930s, in former ruins, in tenements occupied until the 70s. That big imaginary triangle between Corfu and Evelpidon is another beehive, dense and charming, that you’ll discover as you walk between concrete stairs, tall tenements, and small two-story houses. Up and down Lachan Street and its surroundings, you are in a part of this world, which the more you immerse yourself in it, the more it seems. Niches and holes in city mines. Going down the steps of Skopelou Street, I looked a little to the right and found myself on the same level with an old gentleman who was reading a newspaper on a narrow balcony on the ground floor. This impressive proximity and density does not interfere with maintaining a kind of privacy and at the same time leaves a special atmosphere in the air.

I tried to find words to describe this atmosphere. The old apartment buildings of the 70s seemed grotesquely tall, but they were not alone. Two-story buildings from other times took place and allowed light and currents to surround you. As I was walking along the Lahana street near Castalia, I surrendered myself to the autumn sun, which gilded everything around, and some medieval houses began to disturb me more and more with their frequent presence, until I saw in the courtyard an unusual female figure watering flower pots. elevated two-story house. I have been to Nea Kipseli. Good morning spontaneous. Respect and joy. Then Skopelos pulled me in like a funnel, but I deviated, winding through the small streets. Prinopoulou Street is known to the locals as a peaceful street, but I stopped to see a trilogy of two-story houses supporting each other. Of the three houses, only the middle one, with the brown faux one, untouched since 1935, was closed and lay in ruins. Art Deco on the rise and fall of Kypseli. Who built it in those years and what were the dirt roads like when it rained?

But this area of ​​the Bauhaus touched with its harsh beauty. Further up and down, I saw a few more houses, not ostentatious, but mostly experiential and conventional in appearance, but valuable for reading the history of housing. I saw two-story houses built not only in the 1950s, but also after the 1960s, like that very special house on Lachan Street, 59. In the same place, within the radius of the Exaltation of the Cross Church, there is Lazaradona Street with the usual facades of tall apartment buildings. But at the beginning and near the church there are smaller houses, two on the right and one on the left. I was intrigued by the house on the left side of Lazarades due to its dereliction and impromptu courtesy. It looked like a small country mansion with an archway at the entrance and an Art Deco door. Little house, pretty, it would once have overlooked the little houses across the street and would have been one of the few built on the heights of the Hive. I could see it in his chest. He’s already received his last kiss. I saved his photo.