Kypseli, Athens

Kypseli Κυψέλη
Neighborhood
Kypseli Square with Kanaris Statue in 2013
Kypseli
Coordinates: 38°00′09″N 23°44′29″E / 38.00250°N 23.74139°E / 38.00250; 23.74139Coordinates: 38°00′09″N 23°44′29″E / 38.00250°N 23.74139°E / 38.00250; 23.74139
Country	Greece
Region	Attica
City	Athens
Website	www.cityofathens.gr

The historic Fokionos Negri Street, now pedestrianised with numerous cafés and a park along its length, runs through the middle of the district.

Kypseli (Greek: Κυψέλη) is a neighbourhood which forms much of the 6th municipal department in the centre of Athens, the capital of Greece. The population of the area is around 50,000.^[1]

Boundaries

The boundaries of Kypseli are set by Patission Street at the west, by Tourkovounia hill at the east, by Galatsi Municipality at the north and by Pedion Areos park at the south. Extensions of Kypseli are Nea Kypseli which ends at Gyzi neighbourhood and Ano Kypseli ("Upper Kypseli") which borders with Attiko Park, Papandreou neighbourhood and Galatsi.

History

One of the many apartment buildings that can be found in Kypseli, built in the 1950s and early 1960s. These buildings tend to be made up of large apartment units and very rarely surpass six storeys in height.

Kypseli was bounded differently from today in 1908 after a study by the county engineer Athanasios Georgiadis.^[2]

The clearly urban development of Kypseli began in the 1930s with the construction of family houses and of the first modern apartment buildings in Athens. The development of apartment buildings was contemporary with Kolonaki and other central areas with influences of the era such as Bauhaus and Art Deco. Near large green areas such as Pedion Areos and Fokionos Negri Street pushed Kypseli to become an upmarket district with many apartment buildings built during the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s that addressed to the middle and upper-middle class. Moreover, the shops by the streets helped Kypseli become a major shopping centre. Shopping districts were Kypselis Square, Patission Street, Kypselis Street, Fokionos Negri Street and Amerikis Square.

Beginning in the 1980s many residents of Kypseli moved to the northern suburbs and, later, immigrants started using the basements and the small apartments of the buildings as cheap residences. Consequently, the value of real estate decreased even if high apartments on Fokionos Negri Street can be sold more expensively in comparison to the rest of the district. Several areas have remained commercial such as Patission and Fokionos Negri Streets.^[1]

Trivia

The popular chillwave duo Keep Shelly In Athens is named after a pun on Kypseli.^[3]

Sports

Kypseli is the seat of the sport club Panellinios G.S.,^[4] one of the oldest Greek clubs, founded in 1891, with many Panhellenic titles in various sports. Another club based in Kypseli is Athinaida F.C., a football club founded in 1938^[5] with earlier presence in the championships of Gamma and Delta Ethniki.^[6]

Gallery

References

1. 1 2
   • Ντίνα Βαΐου, Το αστικό τοπίο της πολυεθνικής Κυψέλης [Dina Vaiou, The urban landscape of multinational Kypseli]. (Greek)
2. ↑ Great Greek Encyclopedia, Vol. XV, page 65, 1930.
3. ↑ Roebuck, Ian (16 March 2011). "Keep Shelly In Athens". Loud And Quiet. Music Is A Potion 3 (26): 19. Retrieved 21 April 2012. 
4. ↑ "address". panelliniosac.gr. Retrieved 16 April 2015. 
5. ↑ "Greece Team Colors". rsssf.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015. 
6. ↑ "Η Ελληνική ποδοσφαιρική βίβλος". gazzetta.gr. Retrieved 16 April 2015. 

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