I compare Exarchia to a huge art canvas. Everyone that has passed through Exarcheia has left a mark there, on the walls, streets or just in the air, regardless of how long or brief their stay. My first time in Athens I was staying in a charming hotel in Exarcheia, so it was a love at first sight. The air is full of music, love, people, this strange feeling that there is so much life in this world, big philosophical discussions over beer and small chit-chat while you eat ice cream or pancakes on the small central square around the statue of Eros. This small neighborhood is like a unique masterpiece, it is everything but socially passive and peaceful and you can bet that it will get under your skin without even noticing.
It's the alternative place in Athens, the home and refuge of modern revolutionaries, home of the bohemians, students, politicians, anarchists, well known professors, artists, you name it- it's there for sure. You will run into old people walking slowly with their pet dog and leaving food for the stray cats and dogs on the street, young people wandering around with their cameras trying to capture simple, yet priceless moments of love, sadness, solitude, girls that sleep during the day and perform at blues bands at night, sad images of homeless people sleeping in their sleeping bags on the pavements. Or a couple in love that stands under the street light kissing under the rain for one hour. And young artists in their rented studios, half of the space taken by a dusty old piano, and to the left a huge red wall with a Guernica reproduction.... the floor is covered with paint, paint brushes, and when you take a peek through the balcony door you see their neighbors have a bicycle hung on the wall... and just across the narrow street a purple old building, where the shutters are always closed as it just happens to be a brothel.
From hip modern and very comfy bars and cafes to old, abandoned and dark ghost-houses, Exarcheia is the small and the grand, the ugly and the beautiful, the enthusiasm and initiatives, a mirror-image of the beginning and end of hope.
The media present it as the dodgy place in Athens, especially during protests-season as some of the heavy protests will start and end in Exarcheia. It is without the shadow of a doubt the rebellious heart of Athens. It was marked as such since the first clash of students with the police in 1985. Most of the faculties were around Exarheia so it is no wonder they sought and still seek for their refuge after harsh protests.
Exarcheia is constantly transforming through projects and actions by the citizens. You don't really need a museum here, just a simple stroll through the streets will give you and idea of the place and a conversation with the people on the squares and parks will teach you everything you need to know about the history and present of the place. Prepare to fall in love with the street art that varies from simple tags to actual works of art, love letters and poems written on the walls of the 4-floor buildings. Ah, and did I mention there are numerous open-air cinemas showing old movie classics and relaxing roof-bars where you can go to forget about the unbearable the summer heat?
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