Aerides ( ) is a small

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

of the center of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

surrounding the

Tower of the Winds The Tower of the Winds, known as the in Greek, and by #Names, other names, is an octagonal Pentelic marble tower in the Roman Agora in Athens, named after the eight large reliefs of wind gods around its top. Its date is uncertain, but was compl ...

, from where it takes its name. It is a subdivision of

Plaka Pláka () is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residential areas of the ...

History

Aerides was considered the centre of Athens during the reign of King Otto (1832-62). A market was located here and the so-called 'Plane Tree Square' (πλατεία του πλατάνου) which was a barracks in which the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

camped.

Aiolou Street Aiolou Street (also Eolou Street; ) is a street in downtown Athens, the Greece, Greek capital. It is named after Aeolus, the god of winds in Greek mythology. The street is one-way and originally ran entirely southbound but since the closure of ...

starts at the small park in which the Tower of the Winds is located and at the crossroads with

Ermou Street Ermou Street () is a one and a half kilometer-long road in central Athens, Greece, connecting Kerameikos archaeological site with the Syntagma Square through Monastiraki, Psiri and Thiseio. It consists of three sections: The east (from Filellin ...

was where most of the city's commercial traffic gathered. To the north, a market called Abatzidika opened, dealing in coarse fabrics. The

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

of Athens (Μεντρεσές Αθηνών) is found on the north side of the park in which the Tower is located. This

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

holy school became a prison during Otto's reign. Those who were being executed used to greet the

plane tree ''Platanus'' ( ) is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. The type ...

in the adjacent square named after it. This is the origin of the Greek phrase "Greet the plane tree for us" (χαιρέτα μας τον πλάτανο), said when someone doesn't believe what the speaker has said will happen. With the move of military quarters elsewhere, over time this once busy neighbourhood became quiet. On 1 May 1965, Aerides became part of

, which it remains to the present day.

Aerides Bath

The

Aerides Bath The Aerides Bath or Bath House of the Winds () is the only surviving Ottoman-era public Turkish bath surviving in Athens, Greece. Located at Kyrristou 8, near the Tower of the Winds The Tower of the Winds, known as the in Greek, and by #Name ...

(Λουτρό των Αέρηδων) is a

Turkish bath A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

left over from the

Ottoman rule The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

. The bath remained opened until 1965.

Transport

Monastiraki metro station Monastiraki (, ) is an interchange station on the Athens Metro, between Lines 1 and 3. The original surface station on Line 1 opened on 17 May 1895. It became an interchange point of the network when the underground station of Line 3 opened on ...

Line 1 Line 1 or 1 line may refer to: Public transport Africa * Line 1 (Algiers Metro), Algeria * Cairo Metro Line 1, Egypt Asia China * Line 1 (Beijing Subway) * Line 1 (Changchun Rail Transit) * Line 1 (Changsha Metro) * Line 1 (Changzhou Metro) * ...

and Line 3 is the nearest station of the

Athens Metro The Athens Metro () is a rapid transit system serving the Athens urban area in Greece. Line 1 opened as a single-track conventional steam railway in 1869 and was electrified in 1904. Beginning in 1991, Elliniko Metro S.A. constructed and ext ...

References

Neighbourhoods in Athens {{Athens-geo-stub