Tall Stories 487: Strolling Athens’ stoas

Summary

The Urbanist – Tall Stories 487: Strolling Athens’ Stoas

Podcast Host: Monocle
Episode Date: December 1, 2025
Contributors: Andrew Tuck (host, A), Paul Logothetis (reporter, B), Anastasia Papa (local expert, C)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Tall Stories explores the hidden yet crucial role of Athens’ historic stoas – commercial arcades or covered walkways – in the urban life, architecture, and social character of the Greek capital. Paul Logothetis, with the guidance of Athens-based publisher Anastasia Papa, takes listeners on a stroll through these passageways, highlighting their origins, architectural significance, decline, and recent revival. The episode spotlights how stoas serve as urban refuges and living archives of the city’s layered history.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Are Stoas & Their Historical Context

• Introduction to Stoas:

  • Athens is “dotted with hundreds of covered walkways” that serve as both practical refuges from the sun and important sites of community and commerce. (A, 00:10)
  • Stoas originated in the 19th century, aligning with building booms and evolving into “commercial arteries for shops, markets and socializing.” (B, 00:45–01:23)

• Architectural Evolution:

  • These passageways, called Meghara in larger office buildings from the 1950s, blur public and private lines:

    “It’s a weird use of private and public space in the same sidewalk. Sometimes they’re just the gap between two buildings… There are many typologies.” (C, 01:57)

2. Stoas Through Time: Flourish, Neglect, and Revival

• Mid-20th Century Glory:

  • Stoas flourished in the 1960s, seen as “the most expensive mont bourgeois place.”

• Decline:

  • The rise of car culture and latter-day economic crises led to their abandonment:

    “Initially, lively stoas fell out of favor in disrepair from the 1980s, and the financial crisis 15 years ago did not help much either…” (B, 01:36)

  • By 2012, many stoas were “mostly empty,” populated by only a few holdout businesses:

    “People shut their stores because of the crisis, because the next generation doesn’t want to follow up and so on.” (C, 03:07)

• Modern Revival:

  • Today, lower rents in central stoas have attracted “small artisans and upstart businesses,” breathing new life into abandoned spaces. (B, 01:49)
  • Artists and entrepreneurs now “grow there,” attracted by the unique character and affordable opportunities. (C, 03:44)

3. Design, Social Significance, and the Visual Record

• Stoas as Capsules of City Life:

  • The passageways house a mix of old and new: third-generation shops next to trendy boutiques, printing presses beside ancient ruins. (B, 05:19)
  • Stoa Emporon is highlighted for its creative revival, with vintage signs from shops of the 1930s–90s displayed as a homage to commercial history:

    “What you see here is actually a capsule of history… This is also a capsule of Greek graphic design history.” (C, 04:37)

  • Stoas can be surprisingly eclectic – some filled with skylights and high-end stores, others quiet, dim, and “have you looking over your shoulder.” (B, 03:54)

• Daily Life & Forgotten Gems:

  • Many Athenians pass through stoas as mere shortcuts, but for explorers, they reveal “small gems like old jewelry shops or chocolate shops,” and untold stories of the city’s trades. (C, 03:07–03:26)

4. Memorable Locations and Personal Stories

• Sinolinos Leather Belt Shop:
  • “One of the few third-generation stores remaining in this stoa,” standing out amid “boarded up gates covered in graffiti.” (B, 03:54)
• Metaxas Hat Shop:
  • A stoa institution “since 1938,” its history evidenced by layered signage that reflects generational change and shifting commercial life:

    “You see the old sign and the new signs here. The new generation wanting to redefine and having new sign and so on.” (C, 05:53)

  • Despite its legacy, daily life goes on and spaces reinvent themselves:

    “He’s excited with the beer place that open at the corner… so now, you know, things revive at the street. Layer first and the rest, you never know what happens.” (C, 05:53)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the unique atmosphere of stoas:

  “It’s all about this city within the city which is actually disappearing now and has a very genuine image so you can find them anywhere...” (C, 01:57)

• On stoas as history capsules:

  “What you see here is actually a capsule of history. You can see what was happening in the center all these decades at the commercial triangle of Athens.” (C, 04:37)

• On the transformation and resilience of stoas:

  “The empty spaces were invitations for people to come in. So artists and, you know, small businesses, they started to grow there.” (C, 03:44)

• On daily life vs. historic value:

  “While we stood to marvel at the history of this space, we were quickly reminded that to many, it’s just part of daily life. Somewhere you walk through and pass to get to where you are going.” (B, 05:19)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:10 – Andrew Tuck introduces the episode’s focus on Athens’ stoas
• 00:45 – Paul Logothetis contextualizes the stoas’ emergence in Athens’ urban fabric
• 01:57 – Anastasia Papa explains the architectural typologies and evolution of stoas
• 03:07 – Discussion on how mass tourism and economic changes have influenced stoas
• 03:54 – Exploration of eclectic stoa interiors and the lasting power of tradition
• 04:37 – Stoa Emporon’s vintage signage project, encapsulating commercial and graphic history
• 05:19 – Stoas as refuges, display of trades, and daily life vignettes
• 05:53 – Metaxas hat shop as an example of evolving, living tradition in the stoas

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Conclusion

Strolling Athens’ Stoas brings listeners on a sensory journey through Athens’ covered passageways, tracing their evolution from ornate arteries of commerce to overlooked but reviving urban gems. With personal stories, lived history, and the palpable presence of past and present trades, the episode elegantly highlights the layers that make Athens a vibrant, ever-changing city. This guide is useful for architects, urbanists, and travelers eager to see beyond the tourist sites and understand the true texture of Athenian life.

Transcript

[A]

Emblematic of the Greek capital, Athens is dotted with hundreds of covered walkways which offer respite from the city's seemingly endless hot summer days. The porticoes offer a place for locals to socialize too, and flashback to a vibrant past, while housing today's more modern amenities. You're listening to Tall Stories, a monocle production brought to you by the team behind the Urbanist. I'm Andrew Tuck. In this episode, Paul Logothetis strolls Athens. Iconic stoas.

[B]

History is all around you in Athens, from the Acropolis to the Olympic stadium to the ancient Agora. But on a recent trip to Greece's capital, I found myself wandering through what you might consider a bit of hidden history in plain sight in discovering the city Stoas. Stoas are those commercial arcades that live within buildings. Sometimes impressive, sometimes nondescript, these inner arcades emerged alongside a building boom in the second half of the 20th century that has given us the sprawling metropolis that Athens is today. Stoas began to emerge here in the 19th century, settling within the bowels of buildings to provide those living or working within these same confines. A commercial artery for shops, markets and socializing. To this day, they provide a quick escape from the blistering summer heat. Athens was in the midst of a summer heat wave when I arrived, and stepping foot inside their marble dotted halls certainly helped provide some refuge to the blow dryer like heat circulating through the city on this July day. Initially, lively stoas fell out of favor in disrepair from the 1980s, and the financial crisis 15 years ago did not help much either as more of them fell out of sight and out of mind. Today, however, some of those central arteries have made a comeback with cheaper rents, allowing small artisans and upstart businesses to get a retail foothold in the heart of the city. I enlisted the guidance of a local expert to help me better navigate them.

[C]

I am Anastasia Papa. I'm a publisher. I make books and magazines about the sense of place, about different cities. And we're here today because I've made a book 10 years ago about the passageways of Athens. It's all about this city within the city which is actually disappearing now and has a very genuine image so you can find them anywhere. But specifically after the 50s, when you have these multi story buildings that they have offices, we call them Meghara the halls. You should create this kind of passageway at the sidewalk. So it's a weird use of private and public space in the same sidewalk. Sometimes they're just the gap between two buildings and some people have Covered it or even not, they just have shops or they have a sign saying store and so on. So it's very random. There's many typologies, but yeah, it goes back to antiquity and is revived, let's say in the 50s with these big multi story buildings.

[B]

To say mass tourism has impacted Athens is, to put it lightly, One of the benefits of this increase in visitors is to make stoas a new interest or curiosity to the architecture and design buff. It's certainly been a boon to Anastasia, whose dedicated into stoics walk through this overlooked part of the city provides insight and access to these less traveled passages.

[C]

In 2012, everything is mostly empty. You know, people shut their stores because of the crisis, because the next generation doesn't want to follow up and so on. So these are neglected spaces and I am feeling attracted to them because they have these small gems like old jewelry shops or chocolate shops and so on. And to them I see this unique character. So all of these places were actually the place to go around the 60s. It was the most expensive mont bourgeois place. But when the car became the king, everybody wanted to move to the street layer and be more impressive and more flashy and so on. The ones that remain, they keep their character. And then the empty spaces were invitations for people to come in. So artists and, you know, small businesses, they started to grow there.

[B]

Anastasia's knowledge takes us to all types of interior retreats, including one where we find Sinolinos, a sliver of a storefront displaying handmade leather belts. One of the few third generation stores remaining in this stoa. Standing out amid boarded up gates covered in graffiti. The passageways provide an eclectic mix of timestamps on Athens, with some showcased like galleries, thanks to skylights spotlighting high end hotels and boutiques along corridors that connect buildings and different streets. Others are shrouded in darkness and have you looking over your shoulder. Nearby, Stoa Emporon is perhaps the most famous one. It became so after hosting a competition which saw vintage and retro signs rediscovered, repaired and mounted to pay homage to the vitality of these arcades. Initially a six month project, the signs remain hanging today.

[C]

So they brought light in this passageway by asking for people in the area to donate their original signs from their shops. Shops that are now shut. And I'm talking about shops from the 30s up to the 90s. So what you see here is actually a capsule of history. You can see what was happening in the center all these decades at the commercial triangle of Athens. Coffee shops, tanners and photocopied places Flowers and radio, almost everything. And to my eyes, because I'm a graphic designer, this is also a capsule of Greek graphic design history. So this is rare to see that many Greek type in the city because the city starts to talk English. So the visual layer is different.

[B]

The Stoas can act as a refuge keeping the busy bustle and street noise out and may have historical ties to different trades. Anastasia's storefront within Stoa Anatolis has its printing history on full display with our own books in the window next door to a fully operational printing press, its machines and workshops wrapped around ancient city ruins that have been partially excavated nearby. Metaxas hat shop is hard to miss with its hand painted sign declaring it has been here since 1938. Yet while we stood to marvel at the history of this space, we were quickly reminded that to many, it's just part of daily life. Somewhere you walk through and pass to get to where you are going.

[C]

This is one of my favorites. This is a hat shop. You see the old sign and the new signs here. So I've seen that quite a few times having, you know, the new generation wanting to redefine and having new sign and so on. He's excited with the beer place that open at the corner. So it's a tiny passageway all about lawyers and type setting and so on. Detectives also. It had, you know, the old professions, but now it's empty, just the beer place at the corner. So now, you know, things revive at the street. Layer first and the rest, you never know what happens.

[A]

Tall Stories is a monocle production from the team behind the Urbanist. This episode was written by Paul Logothetis and produced and edited by David Stevens. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to receive new episodes every week. I'm agituck. Goodbye and thank you for listening. City lovers.