The Keramikos neighborhood seems to live in a unique world all its own – a compelling mix of Greece’s storied past and its complex, spirited present – and on the day of the weekly street market, it comes alive in a riot of sights, smells and flavors. Famed in ancient times for its pottery – hence the area’s name – made from mud collected on the banks of a sacred river that once ran through it, in the last few decades Keramikos was better known as a run-down working-class neighborhood of closed factories and abandoned properties. The neighborhood’s struggles have paradoxically proven to be its savior. In recent years Keramikos’s low rents and old-time Athens feel have lured creative young Athenians to the area, where they have opened up inventive restaurants, bars and cafés along with galleries and theaters. Joining Keramikos’s rich trove of existing old-school establishments, these new spots have helped create one of the Athens’ most exciting dining and cultural scenes. On this tour through Keramikos, we’ll get a taste of the creativity and tradition that reside here, visiting neighborhood institutions both old and new. As the streets fill with stands and shoppers, our day will begin nearby with coffee and fresh pastries. We will then continue our way through Keramikos, dropping by neighborhood stalwarts, from an old bakery that sells bougatsa – a type of savory phyllo pastry – to a hole in the wall run by two friends whose tiny kitchen turns out superb renditions of Cretan dishes rarely found on the mainland. We’ll also stop by some of the area’s enticing newer spots, including a cozy food shop that procures artisanal products from across Greece, where among other things we’ll taste goat’s milk yogurt drizzled with wild thyme honey, and a meze restaurant where classic Greek regional recipes are being both lovingly revived and cleverly updated. We’ll also walk through the neighborhood’s lively weekly open-air market, tasting what’s on offer from the vendors and getting a sense of the seasonality of Greek produce and how that shapes neighborhood menus. Over the course of our tour we’ll also explore the cultural and historical side of things, visiting two of the area’s defunct 19th-century industrial landmarks, an old gas works and a silk factory, which have been turned into vibrant arts centers and neighborhood gathering spots. And, as we work our way through a few of Keramikos’s small back alleys, we’ll even stop by some still-functioning ceramics workshops, which serve as a living link to the neighborhood’s – and Athens’s – ancient history. Things may be changing in Keramikos, but at its heart, the neighborhood remains firmly rooted to its past – which is just how both the old-timers and newcomers here like it.
Read More
