By Zora O’Neill
Metaxourgeio – “silk factory” in Greek – sits just west of central Athens. Contrary to its elegant-sounding name, it’s still in the very rough stages of regeneration. A few concrete-and-rebar skeletons may suggest a building boom, but in fact these are abandoned building projects, casualties of the Greek debt crisis. Elsewhere, lush graffiti covers crumbling mansions, 1960s apartment blocks, and corrugated steel fencing.
Plateia Avdi is edged with outdoor cafes. Nearby, an astoundingly good restaurant, Seychelles (Kerameikou 49), serves dozens of Greek cheeses and other regional products, such as saffron from Kozani and tuna from Kalymnos, to a David Bowie soundtrack.
Across the plateia, the former silk factory is now the Municipal Gallery of Athens. Built by Danish architect Hans Christian Hansen in 1833, the grand building exhibits beautiful realist oil paintings of Athens in the 1930s and 1940s.
The silk factory closed in the late 1800s, unable to compete with the growing Chinese silk industry. A century later, Greece saw a spike in immigration; among the newcomers were Chinese immigrants whose wholesale clothing shops began to revive the area.
On Saturdays, a Chinese farmers’ market occupies the corner of Millerou and Agisalaou, crowding the pavement with heaps of gai lan, crates of duck eggs, boxes of pork carcasses, and a street cart selling noodles. Nearby, a small restaurant (at Akadimou 4) is signed only in Chinese.
Photo credit sirylok/Picfair