Ermou Street

An awareness campaign promoting the benefits of vaccinations got under way on Monday in central Athens and will last until November 4.

The main message of the campaign, an initiative of the Panhellenic Pharmacists' Association (PFS), is that vaccinations protect people, families and society.

An event dedicated to one of the world's favorite foods returns to the Amaxostasio venue, located in the old Athens trolley bus depot at the bottom of Ermou Street, from September 14 to 16. Burger fans will be treated to elevated, upscale and creative variations of the fast-food staple created by local chefs. Doors open at 5 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m.

UK-based data analysis company GlobalWebIndex has chosen Athens for its expansion beyond Britain and the US, as it has just opened an office on Ermou Street in the center of the Greek capital.

A gang that robbed tourists and locals in the center of Athens was recently caught by police after many months of systematic surveillance. Among those arrested, mostly Bulgarians and Romanians, were eight minors. 

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall stop to buy a traditional Greek koulouri from a street vendor in central Athens, Thursday. Under tight security, the royal couple visited the 11th-century Church of Panagia Kapnikarea on Ermou Street in the capital's busy shopping district and stopped for an iced coffee at Aghia Eirini Square. [EPA]

The annual Athens Street Food Festival returns to the old bus depot at the bottom of the pedestrianized part of Ermou Street, with food trucks - including some where chefs from top restaurants will be showing off their culinary skills - representing the best of innovative Greek cuisine, traditional Mediterranean, fusion flavors and ethnic food from different parts of the world.

Retail spaces on Ermou, Athens's main shopping street, are being purchased at prices unseen since the outbreak of the financial crisis, as the rebound of property prices in the area (which started in 2016) and the increasing tourism flow to the capital stir memories of better times.

Athens-listed Trastor Real Estate Investment Company reported in a bourse filing on Thursday that it had won the tender for the acquisition of a store on Ermou Street in central Athens covering 109.12 square meters.

The price Trastor agreed to pay amounts to 2.56 million euros.

[Reuters]

In the wake of a spate of vandalism and crime in central Athens, representatives of the business community and the capital's mayor on Thursday called on the government to take action. 

"The state must eventually do its job," said Constantinos Michalos, president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Athens is seriously starting to resemble a city that has surrendered, especially after yesterday's events in the downtown area. 

The rampage on Ermou Street was a vivid reminder that there is no one to protect the properties and livelihoods of the country's citizens, no one to uphold law and order, against the destructive rage of a small yet very determined group of punks.