Walking along Thucydides Street, I turned into that dead end, from the invisible, with which Athens constantly bestows you. It is between Admiral Nikodim and Kekropos that little alley that resembles the old courtyards, and ends at the backyard of the Athens Association. And so they remained there, at a dead end, a couple of dilapidated houses, as if forgotten forever. There used to be rumors that they would come to life, but I saw them open to light and air. They could be in any Athenian quarter built around 1920-25, gems of a life that ended. From one outside door, I saw the interior, beautiful paneled doors, a sense of green coloring everything around …

You walk along the Rue Thucydides with the pride of history. Beauty envelops you. Beyond the Metropolis, the atmospheric Hypatia Street also leads to Apollo, and from there Thucydides begins. There is an aura of osmosis between Plaka and the city’s Athens Syntagma, a pre-1950s residential area, so I also like to see city apartments next to neoclassical houses. Only on Tukidido, the doors of urban apartment buildings of a certain age, numbered 10 and 10A, show the historical end of the 20th century.

However, it is not a few city apartments that set the tone. Everything else is so much and important. From Apollonos, if you look down the spreading road, on the left you will see a wonderful neoclassical house at number 7 with German shutters and a modest balcony, probably from the time of Otho. Right next to the warm colors of The Hill School, in the newest building that is connected to the oldest, all the way down to Admiral Nikodim. A world with its roots in 19th century Athens. I can’t help but think of the generation of 1880, Georgios Drosini and his peers, who plowed Athens…

Opposite is a majestic neoclassical two-storey house housing the University Publications of Crete. Nearby, on a still undeveloped site with traces of excavations, I am looking in vain for wild wisteria this year. The road will change. Directly ahead is the Athens City Palace of Fine Arts, built by the architect Alexandros Nikoloudis. Opposite, the historic corner of the Hill. How Athens fills the lungs.

But the further you walk down Thucydido to its end at Kekropos Street, the more the sense of uniqueness intensifies. On the opposite corner from the Hill, another majestic neoclassicist is wrapped in woods, but right next to him, at number 13, it is worth admiring the ancient Athenian beauty of the National Bank Educational Institution with seven floor-to-ceiling windows. I remember when it was built from the very beginning, the then ruins of pre-revolutionary Athens, in the type of houses with a closed courtyard, which were recorded and appreciated by Aris Konstantinides. The headquarters of MIET was revived many years ago thanks to the architects Alexandros Kalligas and Aristides Romanos and has been the property of Athens ever since.

Next door is another beautiful neoclassical mansion. From the mature age of Athenian classicism, synonymous with urban architecture of 1880-1910. But by the time you get there, you will already see another great building at number 12, opposite the dead end corner. This is an imposing house with a semicircular end, also an example of mature neoclassicism. Athens has now infiltrated all traveler resources. Next to this mansion is another pink house, towards Kekropos and around the other corner are some of the most charming ruins.

This is a trace of old city life, with faded signs from an old furniture store, which may also be signs of old cafes, taverns, grocers. It is crowned with a toothless acroceramic garland. Ocher deep…