Plaka Residents Sound Alarm Bells, Warn of Action

Plaka in Athens. Photo © Anastasios71 / Shutterstock

The Plaka district in central Athens is in danger its residents say, calling on the government to put a stop to an amendment of a bill that foresees change of property use.

Andrianou Street in Plaka. Photo © Maria Theofanopoulou

In a recent letter by the Plaka Residents’ Initiative Committee to Environment minister Yiannis Maniatis, vice president of the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage Yiannis Michael warned that planned amendments to a bill regarding urban planning and property use will inevitably lead to the destruction of Athens’ primary tourist district, located at the foot of the Acropolis.

“We believe that what the state has safeguarded with so much knowledge, diligence, hard work and costs, should not be destroyed by the shortsighted selfish interests of the few,” he concluded in his letter and invited all Plaka residents and professionals to take action.