Stroll the Peaceful Avenues of the First Cemetery of Athens
A tranquil and moving walk through the final resting place of some of Greece’s most important figures. And a host of guardian cats.
When getting to know a big city there are certain key locations that are going to help the visitor build a rounded picture of the place. Trips to a park or garden, a food market and a museum quickly give you a sense of the lay of the land, both literally and figuratively. To this I would add the main cemetery. The First Cemetery of Athens is important piece of the puzzle that is Greece’s capital city and a rewarding place to spend a few hours.
The grand marble entrance ushers you into a wide, archaic feeling, courtyard with large and elaborate tombs and mausoleums on either side. Respectfully welcoming attendants nod you in and you are implicitly handed over into the care of the flocks of guardian cats that fill the cemetery with quiet life. Visiting at sundown as I did meant that the low, golden Autumn light was reflecting off gilt detail on many of the statues and facias leading to a kaleidoscopic play of colour when filtered through the green leaves of the Cypresses that line the avenues. Many of the great figures of Greece’s recent history are found here and strolling the paths to find their elaborately decorated tombs feels at once like a trip to an open air sculpture gallery and an act of memorialisation.
The cemetery is the final resting place of the most important Greeks and Greek families as well as some famous philhellenes such as Heinrich Schliemann and Ernst Ziller. For someone who is building their knowledge of the significant figures of the Greek nation a walk through the cemetery can act as a lesson guide as well as you pass the cenotaph for Theodoros Kolokotronis, and tombs for Melina Mercouri, Giorgos Seferis, Andreas Metaxas, and many more.
Once you have left the cemetery, the busy business of a dgnified death continues to thrive down Anapafseos. Flower shops, studios carving marble and statues and a shop selling the distinctive funeral cakes that are carefully iced and sculpted to resemble marble tombstones line the street as well as several cafes and bars to prepare or ruminate on your expedition.
