Panepistimio Metro Station
Line 2
We exit from the “Akadimia” exit of the “Panepistimio” metro station using the stairs. We turn right and get off the pavement.
We now step onto the protected area for the pedestrians that forms part of the “Great Athens Walk”. We turn right once again, so that we move in parallel with the street and in the same direction as the cars, having the pavement on our right.
On our right, while we remain on the pavement, we have 3 emblematic edifices of the city centre, appearing from right to left: the Academy of Athens, the central building of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and the National Library.
The National Library (Vallianeion)
Completed in 1902, this glorious neoclassical monument to the written word once housed over 2 million books and manuscripts (including hand-written renditions of works by Aristotle and Plato). The collection now has a new state of the art home at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre but the Vallianeion building still serves the public as a reading room.
This particular building is accessible but not open to the general public. The base of the National Library has been transferred to Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, a fully accessible space, with tactile pavings, elevators with voice output, audiobooks library, braille printers and reading magnifiers.
In front of us, is Ippokratous Street which we will vertically cross. We continue straight, still using the curbside of the right pavement for orientation.
In front of us we now find and vertically cross Charilaou Trikoupi Street. We continue straight, with the assistance of the curbside. A little bit further down the road, on our right, the entrance of the National Theatre - Rex can be located on the pavement (48 Panepistimiou Street).
After our visit to the museum, we retrace the itinerary backwards, until we reach the junction of the two avenues, Patission and Panepistimiou. At this point we locate the pedestrian crossing and we turn right, crossing Patission Ave. and proceeding on the opposite pavement of Patission. We leave the buildings on the interior side of the pavement on our right and we continue straight, being on the pavement of Panepistimiou Ave. now, having the street on our left.
We continue straight and we seek outthe tactile paving. We follow it towards the right to reach the Panepistimiou entrance of the Omonia metro station of lines 1 and 2.
Omonia Square
Emblematic Omonia Square is not just a traffic thoroughfare but a social one too: it’s the nostalgic symbol of the modern city, where migrants from the provinces arrived, and football fans celebrate their team’s championship victory. This popular meet-up point has had many makeovers over the decades and its latest redesign was May 2020 when its iconic fountain was restored.
Omonia Metro Station
Lines 1&2
- Omonia metro station has many exits with elevators. For this specific itinerary we use the Panepistimiou exit and its elevator.
- Line 1 provides tactile pavings in its interior.
- It is fully accessible and features elevators with voice output.
- It is equipped with an adapted toilet, which can be opened upon request.
