Plaka, Athens

Plaka is Athens’s old historic neighborhood, spread around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis. Its narrow, winding streets pass through neoclassical buildings and a district built over the residential quarters of ancient Athens. The area is closely associated with archaeological remains, which has earned it the familiar title “Neighborhood of the Gods.”

Adrianou Street runs through Plaka and separates Ano Plaka, beneath the Acropolis, from Kato Plaka, extending between Syntagma and Monastiraki. As you follow the street, the neighborhood feels layered rather than uniform: some routes, including Adrianou and Tripodon, preserve lines that can be traced to antiquity, while later houses reflect the city’s more recent history. Plaka has been inhabited continuously from the Neolithic period to the present, so its monuments represent many eras of Athens.

A fire in 1884 destroyed a substantial part of the district and opened the way for excavations at the Roman Agora and Hadrian’s Library. Archaeological work has continued since the nineteenth century. Today, Plaka is a major destination for visitors, with museums, historic streets, and a dense concentration of sites gathered beneath the Acropolis.