The First Cemetery of Athens opened in 1837 in the aftermath of the establishment of the modern state of Greece and independence from Ottoman occupation. The entrance to the cemetery is at the top end of Anapafseos Street, which means Street of Rest. This street features all sorts of grave stonemasons alongside bakeries selling highly decorated funeral cakes, in the past there were also ‘mourning cafes’ where people met before and after burials. At the time of its construction burial was forbidden in the city centre and the municipality had to construct a cemetery at least 100 metres away, the side of the cemetery that faced the city was to be populated with trees and ideally on a hill for ventilation. It is for these reasons that the cemetery is a beautiful large green space dotted with cypress and pine trees. Many craftsmen from the island of Tinos built the burial ground using marble from Athens’ Mount Pendeli. The cemetery has multidenominational burials from Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths. There is a large variety of tombs many of which are unmistakably Greek in style, one of the most famous is that of a dead young girl called ‘I Koimomeni’ (The Sleeping Girl). This headstone was sculpted by Yannaoulis Chalepas whom himself is a very tragic figure also from the island of Tinos. In 1878 one year after completing this sculpture, and at the age of 36, he suffered a nervous breakdown, attempted to destroy many of his sculptures and made several suicide attempts. He was committed to a mental hospital in Corfu from 1888 to 1902, he then lived under his mother’s strict supervision until her death in 1916. His mother blamed sculpture for his illness and prevented him working on his art. After her death he started working again in 1918 to his death in 1938, he is buried at the First Cemetery. His work prior to his illness has been glibly referred to as his ‘pre-sanity era’ and after as his ‘post-sanity era’. The cemetery is the final resting place of some of the most prominent Greeks over the past two centuries. Notable burials include Theodoros Kolokotronis, the leader of the Greek War of Independence, Heinrich Shliemann, the amateur archaeologist who excavated Troy and Napoleon Zervas, Hellenic Army officer and WWII resistance leader to name just a select few. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the First Cemetery of Athens, its unique style and peaceful walkways make it a welcome diversion from the busy tourist attractions of the city.

GPS: 37.96402, 23.73612