Wrapped around one of Athens’ most spectacular monuments, the Panathenaic Stadium or Kallimarmaro, thrives a historic community park on Ardittos Hill.
It is a multipurpose area for citizens and tourists: a hangout spot for the friend group, a place for a picnic with your parents, a date destination with your significant other, a haven for your thoughts, a playground for your dog and a place to work out.
“I love this spot, it’s very quiet, it’s my spot,” 29-year-old Danai tells Kathimerini English Edition. “I used to come here to block out the city and it helps me a lot.” Perched on a slab of marble, Danai reads poet Bertolt Brecht’s work with her headphones on, unbothered by the world around her.
Danai is an aspiring filmmaker who moved out of Pangrati when her rent went up and now lives in Kypseli. By public transportation it takes her around 45 minutes to get to Ardittos Hill, but it’s worth it, she says.
“It’s inside the city, but it feels like I’m not in the city,” she adds.
Before she moved, she lived just three minutes away from Ardittos and came here every day. In Kypseli, like in the rest of Athens, she said, access to green spaces depends on where you live.
“The biggest and greatest problem for the city of Athens is the absence of green spaces, and of spaces that could be turned green,” says the head of the Resilience and Sustainability Department of the Municipality of Athens, Elissavet Bargianni.
Ardittos Hill is an escape from the mayhem in downtown Athens, but it is best avoided during the hottest hours of the day. People who have trouble walking should also be careful as the steep winding paths are in a terrible state of repair. They take you to different lookout points with views of the city and through a woodland of pine, eucalyptus, olive and other types of trees, shrubs and cacti.
The Acropolis, Lycabettus Hill and the Parliament are all visible from this vantage point, which offers a great opportunity to snap some great photographs. Athens’ apartment buildings, bustling traffic and loud city noises become smaller and quieter.
‘The biggest and greatest problem for the city of Athens is the absence of green spaces, and of spaces that could be turned green’
“I love the energy here. The ancient Greeks chose this spot for a reason,” says graphic designer John Podaras, 50, who works in Pangrati but lives in Ano Glyfada.
The park is not just a place of relaxation and exercise, it is filled with mythology and history, and is even within walking distance of Plaka, Syntagma and the Acropolis.
The front entrance is locked because the stairs leading up to the park are worn out and could be dangerous for visitors. However, the back entrance on Archimidous Street is always open and easily accessible, leading you to the running track around the back of the horseshoe-shaped stadium. There’s enough space at this entrance for children to run around and play soccer while their parents keep an eye on them.
Maria Maimaroglou, 51, a language tutor, walks her dog Aliki on Ardittos. She comes often but lately, it’s been too hot. She moved to Pangrati nine months ago from nearby Kolonaki, where she grew up. She prefers her new neighborhood, as it has more public transportation and she finds the residents to be friendlier – it also has more parks, she adds.
Maimaroglou wishes there were more parks in Athens like Ardittos, but unfortunately she understands that there is no space left.
Despite this hurdle, City Hall continues to come up with new ways to provide as much green space as it can for its citizens, Bargianni says.
Since 2020, Athens has been implementing a scheme to develop pocket parks throughout the city. The idea is to turn abandoned and waste-filled areas in dense parts of the city into small public green spaces to cool the surrounding environment and improve citizens’ quality of life.
Bargianni says that City Hall is working on different projects to create a greener environment. For example, her department is working on an ambitious accessibility plan that will provide citizens with green spaces only a 15-minute walk from their homes. In the meantime, the municipal authority is also in the process of planting thousands of trees and will continue to increase their numbers over the coming years.
She also explained the concept of green corridors in certain neighborhoods to “increase the green surfaces of the city.” The Extrema Global app helps citizens get from one location to another within the city through “cool routes, vegetated avenues,” a green route to avoid the heat.
As temperatures continue to rise and congestion with traffic and people in the city center soars, places like Ardittos Hill are an essential sanctuary to disconnect from the chaos beyond and reconnect with nature.
Irene Anastasiadis is a summer intern at Kathimerini English Edition and a master’s student at Boston University.
