After you have visited Plaka and you are on your way to Keramikos, your way goes through Monastiraki and Thissio, with metro-stations with corresponding names. Speaking of the historical center of Athens, Monastiraki and Thissio are natural continuations to Plaka, the atmosphere, however, being quite different.

In Monastiraki you can visit the so-called flee market on Pandrosu street, which however has almost nothing to do with an actual flee market. There are numbers of souvenir shops, shoes and clothes stores, occasionally an antique store, and stores that sell all kinds of useless trinkets. If you are looking to buy an antique, you'd better go the neighborhood of Psiri- it will be on your right if you are walking down Pandrosu street from Monastiraki square. You only need to cross Ermou street, and you will be in the area of Psiri.

If you wish to enjoy a beautiful view of the Acropolis and the ancient Agora while sipping a coffee at a picturesque alley, then choose one of the little coffee-shops at Adrianou street. It is the first perpendicular, left on Pandrosou.

Walking along Adrianou towards Thissio, on your left appears the entrance to the ancient Agora, where an archeological museum can also be found, with all the Agora's findings, as well as Hephaestus's temple. In ancient times this was the blacksmiths' neighborhood and that is why a temple of the god of fire -Hephaestus-was built there. Later on, however, the neighborhood was named after the Greek hero Theseus, who, according to the legend, was the son of king Aegeus. He is famous for his heroic victory over the monster Minotaur, a horrible animal with a human body and a head of a bull, which used to eat Athenian boys and girls offered as a sacrifice. The Minotaur used to live in a labyrinth under the Crete palace. The king's daughter- Ariadna- fell in love with Theseus and when he was entering the labyrinth, she gave him a ball of red thread. He had to unwind the bowl while entering the labyrinth, find and kill the monster, and then find his way back following the thread.

Thissio is a location that most Athenians and tourists chose for their weekend walks. A lot of coffee shops and parks freshen-up the hot summer nights atmosphere. If you continue walking on Ermou street, which is a pedestrian zone, the ancient neighborhood of Kerameikos will be on your right. The area got its name after the numerous ceramics workshops concentrated there in the past. Kerameikos is actually better known as the Necropolis of ancient Athens. The long Athenian walls that Themistocles raised in 5^th century BC split the area in two parts- "inner Kerameikos" and "outer Kerameikos". The wall had two gates- Dipylon and the Sacred Gate, from which two of the most important procession roads in Athens used to start: the Panathenaic road and the Sacred Way to Eleusina. The Necropolis had been constantly used from 9^th century BC to the late Roman Period.

When you keep walking on the pedestrian zone after having seen Kerameikos, a view of the chimneys of an old gas-producing factory will reveal in front of you on the other side of Piraeus Avenue. It had been working until the 70's of the past century. Today the industrial building has nothing to do with industrial production. The Gazi factory has been entirely renovated and is now being used for housing cultural events such as concerts, exhibitions and festivals. The name, of course, has also changed- Technopolis. After its renovation, the neighborhood of Gazi, named after the factory itself, completely changed its look. From a poor neighborhood of blue-collar workers and immigrants, it turned into the artistic heart of the Greek capital. You can stop and have a rest there, with a cup of coffee, or a glass of beer, depending on the hour, listen to some music and enjoy Gazi's cheerful spirit.

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