An article exploring the discovery of a Roman tomb hidden beneath a Zara store in Athens. The article highlights the city's continuous history and how modern life often overlaps with ancient ruins.
Surrounded by baby clothes and frilly cardigans, it’s hard to believe I’m here to learn about Greek history. But beneath the children’s department of Zara on Stadiou Street lie the remnants of a Roman tomb. There isn’t a label or signpost in sight. Nothing to say who built it, why it’s here or when it was discovered. Above my head is a reinforced glass panel, on which dozens of shoppers unwittingly walk over a mysterious, most likely 2,000-year-old artefact.
A five-minute walk leads us to Aiolou Street, where Tina shows me another stark dialogue between old and new. The National Bank of Greece Administration Building — just off Kotzia Square — is made with sand-coloured poros stone and black, unpolished granite. It sits virtually on top of remnants of the city’s fifth-century BCE walls, which once enveloped the Acropolis, the Agora public space and the Temple of Zeus.
The semi-circular, 5,000-seater Herodeon stands staunchly on the southwest side of the mighty Acropolis and was built by Athenian rhetorician Herodes Atticus in 161 CE, a date my heat-dilapidated mind — it’s 9pm and 30C — struggles to comprehend.
Herodeon’s architecture is typically Roman, with elaborate arches and a two-storey, semi-circular orchestra pit. In the 1950s, it was restored using Pentellic marble from Mount Pentelicus, the same material used to build much of the Acropolis. Since then, it’s continued to serve its original purpose: entertainment. Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, Elton John and Sting have all performed here, and Coldplay recently shot their video for Feels Like I’m Falling in Love inside the historic venue.
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