The sun is dropping over the Acropolis, flooding those inscrutable colonnades with a blush of soft golden light, when we stumble upon Athens’ Holocaust memorial. Ironically, here in the Greek capital, where countless relics of ancient times dot the city, it’s not so simple to find.
Set in a wild herb garden, almost smothered by trees and bushes overlooking the sprawling archaeological site of Kerameikos, it’d be easy to miss this symbol of appalling suffering: Greece lost more of its Jewish population, proportionately, than almost any other country in Europe.
Around 65,000 men, women and children were dispatched to their deaths between 1941 and 1944, mostly from Thessaloniki, although an estimated 1,000 Athenian Jews were deported to Auschwitz.
The site of the memorial is close to the synagogue in Melidoni Street — guarded 24 hours a day — where, under a ruse of food hand-outs, the Jews of Athens were trapped and captured by the Germans.
These days there are more Jews in the city than anywhere else in Greece: Athens supports a Chabad restaurant and there are two other kosher takeaways.
It’s also home to the Jewish Museum of Greece, whose 10,000 original artefacts document around 2,300 years of Jewish history and culture in Greece. Indeed, as we idle in front of the rich Ottoman costumes — a cholent pot of glorious influences — it’s fascinating to consider the wardrobes of our ancestry.
Amble through the museum and you also find nuggets of hope amongst our troubled and challenged heritage in this corner of Europe, not least the discovery that the 275 Jews of Zakynthos survived the Shoah, thanks to the actions of Bishop Chrysostomos and Mayor Loukas Karrer, who safely hid the islanders.
The marble Holocaust monument in Athens — a Star of David broken into six individual pieces and inscribed names of cities and towns from which victims were deported — has a healing feel to it too, since the central piece, a massive hexagon block, remains intact. We sit and contemplate this sign of enduring survival.
Survival, or rather rebirth, are terms which are now shorthand for today’s Athens. It’s something my husband and I discover as we arrive in the Greek capital, to find it enjoying a booming renaissance after the years of austerity.
With more young people living in the city, there’s a real buzz to the air that demands a longer taste than purely the classic stopover for cruise liners.
Having flown in directly from Manchester, we arrived late afternoon in time to explore, after dropping our things at the quirkily fabulous boutique hotel, the Asomaton — with a jacuzzi in reception, and only a two-minute walk from the synagogue.
Plunging into an unseasonably warm evening, the nearby pedestrianised streets of Monastiraki, with its flea market and traditional tavernas, are thronging with life.
There are so many artisan shops and funky little stalls to tempt, although as an unashamed tourist, I end up buying a nightshirt with the Acropolis emblazoned across the front.
Of course, we ‘do’ the famous archaeological sites: even though we’ve visited a few times before, it’s impossible to ignore the Acropolis, the ancient hill top crowned by the Parthenon — especially when it’s floodlit at night. Indeed, from the roof terrace of our hotel, where breakfast is served on a gently warm autumn day or over a cocktail at night, we have a bird’s eye view of the ancient citadel.
And the beauty of Athens is that if it gets too hot in the summer or slightly chilly as the seasons turn, there are over 70 museums covering all aspects of Greek history and culture to retreat to.
A favourite for me is the Benaki Museum, the oldest museum in Greece, which houses a stunning array of pieces spanning Greece’s long and fascinating history.
The city is best seen on foot, so after dawdling around the sites, we head to cool off-centre neighbourhoods such as Kypseli, where you can while away hours strolling, eating, drinking and then eating again along the tree-lined Fokionos Negri boulevard.
Another favourite is the cosy, quirky Pangrati neighbourhood, centred around the white marble Panathenaic Stadium — or Kallimarmaro — one of the only stadiums in the world built entirely of marble.
An intriguing mix of neoclassical and modern architecture, we discovered there’s even a deliciously retro open-air cinema, Oasis. Forget multiplexes: the Athenians, it seems, love their big screen experiences under a canopy of stars.
Although Athens bustles, there are also places to go for quiet and peace too. One day we hire bikes and head out of the city on a 20-minute ride to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, home to the National Library and Opera, and a string of music festivals.
It’s a great place to walk and bike; as one of the largest green areas in Athens, the Stavros Niarchos Park even has its own kayaking lake.
Our timing is impeccable since we’re in time for the dancing fountains — 59 vertical water jets and 10 swivelling fountains which turn in an hourly sound and light show in the canal in front of the buildings.
We make a day trip to the top of Mount Lycabettus too, which you can walk up, as well as driving or taking a funicular railway.
This limestone hill, prickling with pine trees and topped with the toothpaste white church of St George, soars 900 feet above the Athenian skyline, with sweeping views to the ancient sites and urban sprawl rippling out to sea.
It’s on the coast where we finish our visit, at the glorious Athenian Riviera. A coastal suburb of Athens, running from Faliro and ending at the promontory of Sounio, it’s crowned by the remains of the magnificent temple of Poseidon — climb this before sunset for the full cinematic effect.
Along this lush stretch of the Saronic Gulf, we find a chain of charming neighbourhoods where smart boutiques, chichi waterfront eateries are backed by blue flag beaches and an improbably blue Aegean sea.
Around 40 minutes from the city, the luxuriously modern Four Seasons hotel has its own private beach, spacious rooms, and a spectacular view of the lush pine-dotted peninsular — not to mention a barman who makes a killer martini.
The area is perfect for walks, and on Shabbat, we explore the paths which wind around the tip of the peninsular, sitting every so often to gaze out to the waves.
One of the great draws in this area is the Vouliagmeni Lake, a small greenish turquoise pool fed by underground currents running through Mount Hymettus. Locals flock here for its naturally restorative waters, said to help everything from eczema to depression, and despite the unexpected feel of little fish brushing past as we swam, we felt energised and yet supremely relaxed when we emerged.
That sensation is surely Athens in a nutshell: a city which promises both to fire you up and help you slow you down.
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