Athens Unveiled: A Portrait of Late 19th-Century Athens Through Her Streets and Neighborhoods

In the late 19th century, Athens was a city of neoclassical buildings, wide avenues, literary salons, music, aristocracy, scholars, architects, commoners, criminals, prostitutes, Greek refugees, and intellectuals. It was a place where the future of the newly founded nation was planned, philosophy, literature, and art were discussed, and neoclassical buildings still stand next to abandoned mansions, brothels, and old factories. Athens Unveiled pays homage to the people, streets, and neighborhoods of this era.

Format: Hardback
Length: 300 pages
Publication date: 20 March 2023
Publisher: Oro Editions

Every year, millions of travelers flock to Athens, eager to glimpse the ancient city and savor its classical heritage. However, what about the late nineteenth-century Athens, with its neoclassical buildings, wide avenues, and literary salons? An Athens where music wafted from King Otto's palace and the aristocracy waltzed under crystal chandeliers. A city of dignitaries, scholars, and architects drawing plans and reworking them, leaving their mark on every dimension of the young capital.

An Athens where commoners hovered around dimly lit fires and children played in the mud amidst the ancient ruins. Where criminals settled disputes with drawn knives and prostitutes roamed the ports luring sailors into filthy, smoke-filled taverns. Where Greek refugees lived in wind-swept streets with no sewers or running water, singing about their troubles under the stars.

An Athens where intellectuals, writers, poets, and artists converged in local cafés, planning the future of the newly founded nation, discussing philosophy, literature, and their shared passion for reclaiming Greece for the Greeks.

Athens Unveiled pays homage to the people, streets, and neighborhoods of late nineteenth-century Athens, where some of the finest neoclassical buildings still stand next to abandoned mansions, brothels, and old factories; where people still bargain the prices of clothes and produce on the old streets of commerce and where young artists create powerful murals, bringing everything about the city into sharp focus.

Weight: 900g
Dimension: 186 x 216 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781957183039