Astoria Hotel

What I can see

The former Astoria Hotel consists of basement, ground floor, mezzanine and 5 floors, the last of which is a later addition. It has characteristic cornices and is divided into three horizontal axes, while the tower-shaped corner is elevated. It is an eclectic building with morphological borrowings from French classicism and the Seconde Empire (3rd Napoleonic period) and at the same time it is full of art nouveau and art deco elements. The interior layout is characterized as rational, with more rooms and fewer common areas than it was used to. The spaces are organized around an interior glass-roofed atrium. The building today houses shops and offices, while in the past it also functioned as a clinic and conservatory.

What I can't see

After the fire of 1917, there were no serious changes in the location of the hotels. The number of floors of the buildings was determined by the value of the plot. The Astoria Hotel was one of the few that had bathrooms in some rooms. Reinforced concrete was used for its construction, a relatively new way of constructing buildings those years. It also had central heating and elevators, facilities that were rare then. It reopened as a hotel after the war, as the Germans had requisitioned it during World War II. American CBS journalist George Polk stayed here shortly before he was murdered (1948) and his body was found floating on the sea. He was a correspondent of the Greek civil war and severely criticized both warring sides. His murder was never solved and there are still many theories about it.

Info

• Address: Tsimiski & Aghias Sophias St.

Bibliography