What I can see

There used to be an islet with rich planting between 2 streams. This pattern has been preserved in the later configuration of the linear square that we see today, with two pedestrian streets on either side of the central green, which also includes sculptures and fountains. Fokionos Negri starts from Kypseli Square and ends at Ioannou Drosopoulou Street. It is considered the centre of Kypseli. This is indeed where most of the district’s activities are concentrated. The use of the square is timeless. Many people today go for shopping, drink coffee and eat. This is exactly what the Athenians of earlier times also did. Even today it resembles a Parisian boulevard with many cafes, restaurants, patisseries, traditional taverns and clothing and shoe stores. Of great architectural importance are many of the apartment buildings along the square, typical examples of modernism, such as the Lanaras apartment building.

What I can't see

The name of the square comes from the first Athenian president of the Academy of Athens and politician, Fokion Negris. It was a typical area of the “Athens bourgeois” of the mid-20th century, with many artists and movie stars frequenting here. It was a sought-after neighbourhood during the 1960s, with very expensive rents and many famous people, who made Fokionos Negri “fashionable”. Among the most famous stores were “Select”, “Quinta” and “Igloo”. Kypseli belongs to the most densely built regions of Europe. It suffered a huge decline during the 1980s. Many of the old residents of Kypseli moved to the northern suburbs and especially to Kifissia, because Kypseli became so densely built that Fokionos Negri was the only green space. During the 1990s, many Albanian immigrants and later Africans settled. Despite the problems of coexistence with the Greek residents, most immigrants made good use of empty buildings, which prevented the worst for the district. In recent years, the decline of the last decades has begun to reverse, regardless of obvious problems (eg, problematic sidewalks, buildings and roads, litter). Fokionos Negri and the Municipal Market of Kypseli “lead” this change.

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