Melina

Syntagma & Plaka


A tribute to the great Mercouri, this cafe-bar is decorated with images of the actress and politician who lobbied for the repatriation of the missing Parthenon marbles. Mercouri's most famous for the film Never on Sunday, but in fact that's a great day to come, when it's very busy and prime outdoor seats offer a view of the Plaka parade.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Syntagma & Plaka attractions

1. Church of Agioi Anargyroi

0.03 MILES

Tucked away in Plaka, this 17th-century church is worth visiting any time for its peaceful courtyard and beautiful interior decoration. On the evening of…

2. Church of Agios Nikolaos Rangavas

0.06 MILES

This lovely 11th-century church was part of the palace of the Rangavas family, who counted among them Michael I, emperor of Byzantium. The church bell was…

3. Oldest House in Athens

0.07 MILES

Opened after renovations in 2017, the 17th-century Benizelos home is a typical domestic structure from that period, with dirt-floor downstairs rooms with…

4. Bath House of the Winds

0.07 MILES

One of the few remnants of Athens' Ottoman period, this 17th-century hammam (Turkish bath) is also the only intact public bath building in the city –…

5. Anafiotika

0.07 MILES

Clinging to the north slope of the Acropolis, the tiny Anafiotika district is a beautiful, architecturally distinct subdistrict of Plaka. In the mid-1800s…

6. Museum of Greek Popular Instruments

0.1 MILES

A single avid ethnomusicologist collected almost 1200 folk instruments; the best are on display in three floors of this house-turned-museum. Headphones…

7. Tower of the Winds

0.11 MILES

This Pentelic marble tower within the Roman Agora, likely built in the 2nd century BC, is both beautiful and functional. Devised by Andronicus, a…

8. Museum of Folk Art & Tradition

0.14 MILES

The 1920s mansion of folklorist Angeliki Hatzimichalis (1895–1965), who wrote more than 100 books and articles about Greek traditions, is a window into…