It’s the next best thing to a time machine: an exhibition recreating old storefronts and streets in Athens from the early 20th century to the interwar years. 'A Stroll through Old Athens' is small but definitely worth the visit for the building alone: the former Pil-Poul hat factory.

Founded in 1886, the Pilopio Poulopoulos factory not only supplied the hats of well-dressed Athenians, but also employed hundreds of workers and exported its wares to Egypt, Bulgaria, and beyond. The 1,500-square metre building today houses the Melina Mercouri Cultural Centre, which hosts cultural events and the Haridimos Shadow-Puppet Theatre, dedicated to the traditional karagiozis puppet shows—ostensibly for kids, but laden with metaphors about Ottoman rule.

Since it was pedestrianised, the lower half of Ermou Street has emerged as a showcase for street culture - music, dance, graffiti art. This pale neoclassical mansion might seem at odds with the cutting-edge vibe, yet is very much a part of it.

The headquarters of the Greek archaeologists’ association, it’s one of the city’s least-known cultural venues. Conferences, workshops, and lectures about archaeology connect with pop and contemporary culture through a range of occasional activities, from crafts shows to Greek folk dance classes. A summer treat that has become tradition: film screenings in the gorgeous walled garden that follows the building’s curved contours.

Evening visitors to the National Observatory are rewarded with a peek at the Athenian sky through the 40-centimetre lens of a 1902 telescope (organized by appointment). Even in full daylight, there’s plenty to draw your gaze at the National Observatory, from the building’s stunning architecture and collection of scientific instruments to a full-on view of the Acropolis. Anyone who values punctuality will especially appreciate the “Time Room” where a 19th-century telescope that was used to set official Greek time until 1964 is kept.

Strolling the Apostolou Pavlou pedestrian path is one of the simple joys of life in Athens. The idea of a monumental walk to the south and west of the Acropolis had been formulated as early as 1847 and started to be realized in the early 1860s.

Now one of the most glorious urban promenades in Europe, the full length was dedicated for pedestrian traffic in time for the 2004 Olympics, marrying the ancient city and the contemporary metropolis. Street artists, skateboarders, campaigners touting a cornucopia of causes, artisans and sightseers make up the colourful crowd, harking back through the centuries to the orators and merchants who once milled around the Pnyx and Agora.

A modern landmark worth noting: the open-air Cine Thissio at No. 7, which has operated since 1935.

This open-air theatre perfectly captures Petralona’s village ambience. It has been at the centre of local community life since the early 1930s when it staged revues and shadow puppet shows.

Like the surrounding neighbourhood, this arthouse cinema has evolved slowly: from an impoverished, marginalised district that settled Greek refugees fleeing Asia Minor, Petralona has blossomed into a charming pocket of stone cottages with walled gardens and mid-20th century dwellings, where residents still sit on the stoop exchanging gossip as they watch the comings-and-goings at the area’s tavernas.

Psirri was a neighbourhood with a strong Jewish presence already from the 19th century. The two synagogues attest to this history. Just around the corner is the official Holocaust Memorial, a minimalist sculpture of a torn apart Star of David at the intersection of Euvoulou, Ermou and Melidoni Street.

Efforts to create the synagogue began in 1840, but the site wasn’t finally purchased until 1903. The growing population of Sephardic and Romaniote Jews, as well as their custom differences, led to the establishment of a second synagogue just across the street.

Both synagogues remain on Melidoni Street, though they are rarely open to the general public. The older Romaniote synagogue at no. 8, is known as the Ioanniotiki, reflecting the community’s roots in the northern Greek city of Ioannina. The newer, a marble-clad 1930s structure renovated in 1970, stands at no. 5.

Ermou Street runs from Syntagma Square right through the city centre, ending rather ingloriously in a vast open space. Just to the side is a small square below street level that hosts the late-11th-century church of Agion Asomaton (another name for the archangels in the Orthodox faith).

It is worth noting elements of the temple inspired by Islamic architecture, such as the ceramic decoration above the windows of the dome imitating Arabic script or the arch on the north door of the temple. These elements testify to the period's tendency to imitate eastern decorative elements but are also linked to the presence of a small Arab trading community in the area during the 10th and 11th centuries.

The ongoing revival of the area was spurred by the opening of the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art a few blocks away.