23/05/2023
Anafiotika:
The district was created in the mid-19th century, when workers from Anafi, who had come to Athens to work as masons in the reconstruction of the city and the construction of the palaces of Othon, settled in the area. They originally lived in the Zoodochos Pigi area on Akadimias St., where the state had allotted them small plots of land for them to settle as a family on a permanent basis. But soon the prices of land and houses rose too much and since these workers had no intention of moving far away they decided to settle illegally on the Sacred Rock. A carpenter (G. Damigos) and a mason (M. Sigalas) from Anafi are mentioned as the first settlers. They transported the construction materials to Vrachos with the necessary secrecy that the circumstances demanded and in a single night with collective work they built the first two houses in the neighborhood. A few days later, some Athenians from Rizokastrose reported the arbitrary buildings and called the Town Planning Department, but until the person responsible was identified and duly acted upon, other Anaphites followed the example of the two, with the result that the residences were multiplied, while the authorities did not take drastic measures. Most of Anafiotika was built mainly during the period of Otto's eviction and the interregnum.
The district was built following the Cycladic architecture. Along with their settlement, the Anafiotes restored the two churches that had been in the area since the 17th century, the Church of Agios Simeon and Agios Georgios of the Rocks.
