The best running trails around Λυκαβηττός

The Acropolis of Athens stands on a rocky spur at 156 m above sea level and dominates the Greek capital, offering a breathtaking view of the Parthenon. To fully enjoy it, you can visit it in person by booking entrance tickets through the official website of the Ministry of Culture or by using GetYourGuide tours.

The legendary start of the Spartathlon takes place every year at 07:00 in the morning right at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, in front of the evocative Odeon of Herodes Atticus. This moment marks the beginning of one of the toughest and most fascinating ultramarathons in the world, 246 kilometers long.

The work had not only supporters but also opponents who wanted it gone. These opponents became fanatical when it became known that the runner was not to be dismantled after a month but was to stand there permanently. None other than Melina Mercouri advocated for the runner to be placed in Omonia Square. However, subway construction a few years later thwarted the plans. Because an excavation for the subway station was to be dug in the middle of the square, the sculpture had to be relocated. In 1993, the location on the green space between the Hilton and the Evangelismos hospital, diagonally opposite the National Gallery, was chosen. However, since the sculpture was not designed to be dismantled and reassembled, it was taken down and thrown in the trash, and a completely new sculpture with better materials was built, which was supposed to return to Omonia Square after the subway construction was completed. The second runner, erected in 1994 on the square of the Great School of the People, as the square is actually called, has and can have no connection to the original, as it is a statue with great technical difficulties, being made of iron used for submarine construction and glass, and weighing about 50 tons. According to the Greek sculptor himself, the planning (architecture and statics) and production took about a year, with the attachment of the glass alone taking a month. The "transport" was actually only intended to be temporary. Work on the Omonia subway station was completed, but he never returned. Since the square is very central and there is a lot of traffic around it, the runner has to be elaborately cleaned every few years. The University of Stuttgart took on the issue and developed the proper care, and the company Kärcher took over the sponsorship, so that the runner can sparkle in the most beautiful shades of green. I often walk past here and stare at the sculpture for a long time. Especially at night, it glitters beautifully. As a runner, you feel somehow connected to it. As a constant traveler, even more so. It is hard to imagine that there were and perhaps still are people who dislike this sculpture and even hate it.

The Runner is an 8-meter-high statue and sculpture by Kostas Varotsos, created in August 1988 from glass and an iron frame. It was created as part of an artistic action/initiative that took place in the municipality of Athens and was intended to be placed on the fountain in Omonia Square. Like the other works by the artists participating in the action, they were to be exhibited for a month in central locations throughout the urban area of Athens, to familiarize residents with contemporary artists while artistically shaping the urban landscape. Originally, Kostas Varotsos had named the sculpture "Stranger", inspired by the idea of the transient, of a person in constant motion. Like a stranger, whom we often ask: "When did you arrive?" and almost immediately after: "When will you leave?" Omonia Square was a meeting point at the time, a place where everyone passed by, locals and outsiders alike. The work eventually became known as "The Runner", as it was interpreted by the general public. The sculptor accepted the name that had caught on because, as he himself said, this stranger who describes his work is also a runner, a runner of life.

An absolutely essential addition to a visit to the Acropolis.

The air is often clearer and visibility is better in the morning.

In the morning hours, there is a greater likelihood that the view will be clear and not yet obscured by smog.

The Catholic Cathedral of Saint Denis the Areopagite is one of the very few Catholic churches. Services in English are held here on Sundays at 6:30 pm. For more information, visit www.saintdenis.gr