Pedion Areos Park in Athens, Greece

Pedion Areos (or Pedion tou Areos) is one of the largest public parks within the municipality of Athens, Greece. Established in 1934, it is one of the oldest planned recreation areas in the city. During the past couple of decades, it was left largely neglected. Starting with the 2004 Olympics, the authorities forcibly relocated drug addicts to the park from more central parts of the city; effectively turning it into a junkie concentration camp.

The situation didn’t get any better after the park underwent a complete restoration from 2008 to 2010. Only more recently were the addicts restricted to narrower areas and the park began being trusted again by the Athenian citizens. Today it may be considered a totally safe place to have a stroll in the daytime. Although it is still scarcely visited by tourists. For the most part, tourists will only hear about Pedion Areos Park when they want to catch a bus to Rafina Port.

Pedion Areos Bus Station to Rafina Port

The KTEL bus terminal whence the buses depart for Rafina Port is situated by Pedion Areos’ eastern side, on Mavrommateon Street, which is first parallel to 28th October Avenue, close to the nearby central office of Attica’s KTEL Bus Company and about a 100 meters from the park’s main entrance. The exact coordinates of the Pedion Areos Bus Station are 37.9929-23.7328.

As of 17/10/2019, the buses to Rafina timetable is as follows:

For more up-to-date information you may visit their website or call them on 210 88 08 000.

How to get there

Pedion Areos Park is situated close to Victoria Metro Station on the green line. Walk east from Victoria Square along Cheyden Street, take a right on 3rd October Avenue, a left on Alexandras Avenue (the first major junction you will encounter), and you will see the park’s main entrance after 50 meters.

What to see in the park

Here are some notable sights worth checking out within the premises of Pedion Areos Park.

King Constantine I Statue

This is sort of the park’s emblem: a rather gigantic equestrian brass statue of the dude who was the king of Greece at the beginning of the 20th century. It is situated right after the park’s main entrance.

Athena Statue

This is a marble statue of the goddess Athena standing on a tall marble column by the park’s south entrance. At the foot of the statue, stands a memorial dedicated to Commonwealth soldiers who fought in Greece during World War II.

Greek Revolution Heroes Statues

By either side of the main pathway in the western portion of the park, you can see a collection of statues of the most prominent chieftains who led the Greek War of Independence.

Sacred Band Monument

This is a memorial dedicated to a Greek military unit that fought against the Nazis in northern Africa from 1942 to 1945, after Greece itself got occupied by the Axis forces.

Churches

There are two churches situated within Pedion Areos Park: one of them dedicated to Saints Taxiarches in the center of the park, and one dedicated to Saint Charalampos at its eastern end.

The Grotto of Pan

This a small artificial cave carved out of a rock located inside the park. It was made by a sculptor called Vassalos in 1962 meant to imitate an archaic sacred cave to god Pan. Today its existence is hardly known to anyone other than the park’s homeless folks who make use of it as a shelter.

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Events

Pedion Areos often hosts various events related to arts, culture, and sports. The most renown of them is the annual, summer book festival. Upcoming events in the park are posted here.

History

The area today occupied by Pedion Areos was a popular recreation space since the foundation of modern Athens during the reign of King Otto. In 1927 it was assigned to the newly-formed Athens Committee of Public Parks to be restored and afforested. The committee prioritized other areas of the city and the works only began in 1933. Due to the lack of funding, the works progressed at a very slow pace and they were not yet completed by the time of the German occupation of the city in 1940. However, nearly 50,000 plants were planted during that period. Further works took place after the war ended.

Before the opening of the 2004 Olympic Games, the Greek authorities were especially anxious about presenting Athens as a modern capital city. The police forcibly relocated thousands of heroin-addicts from more central districts of the city to Pedion Areos Park. After the end of the Olympics, the addicts were let to return to their previous hangouts around Omonoia Square. However, the park had already gained popularity as a night shelter among them.

Despite the park being a junkie asylum and nearly a no-go zone by then, the municipality decided to proceed with the park’s complete restoration in 2008. Works were finished in 2010. Thousands of new trees and plants were planted, new paths were paved, and the park’s illumination was significantly improved. However, the park remained scarcely visited during the first years after the restoration.

Over the past few years, addicts have been restricted to small portions of the park during daylight and the park steadily regains its popularity as a recreation area among the Athenians.

Safety in Pedion Areos

Nowadays the park may be considered totally safe in the daytime. At night, though, it remains dodgy. It’s not advisable to be visited in small parties when dark.

Pedion Areos Park Map

Photo Gallery

View (and if you want use) all my photographs from Pedion tou Areos.