Syntagma Square
Every hour, Presidential Guards change at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier — at the square named for the Constitution that King Otto was obliged to grant after the 1843 uprising.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Athens offline.
A popular and military uprising on 3 September 1843 obliged King Otto to grant a constitution, and the square takes its name from that event. The neoclassical Old Royal Palace across Amalias Avenue has housed Parliament since 1934. It remains the nerve center of Athenian political and commercial life, and the hourly guard ceremony keeps that weight tangible.
What to look for
- The marble steps on the square's raised eastern side — Syntagma metro station sits directly beneath them, with outdoor cafes at their base
- The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier between the square and Parliament, where the Presidential Guard changes every hour; on certain days an army band accompanies 120 Evzones at 11am
- The mid-19th century water fountain at the square's center, flanked by two shaded green areas to the north and south
Metro lines 2 and 3 intersect at Syntagma station below the eastern marble steps — one of the busiest transit hubs in Greece.
Syntagma Square is one of 36 sights worth the detour in Athens, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Athens pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Athens
- ParthenonA temple built to celebrate a war victory that went on to become a church, a mosque, and a gunpowder depot — blown apart in 1687 and still being reassembled.
- Acropolis of AthensA flat-topped rock 150 m above the city where Pericles spent the 5th century BC erecting the buildings that still define Athens.
- Platonic Academy (Akadimia Platonos)Aristotle studied here for twenty years before leaving to found his own school — and the word "academy" has followed ever since.
- Classical AthensDemocracy was invented here in 508 BC — and it took a bribe at Delphi to get it started.
- Olympic Stadium Athens "Spyros Louis"Santiago Calatrava's white steel roof arches over the same track where Athens opened the 2004 Olympics — and hosted three Champions League finals.
- ErechtheionThe one Greek temple that broke every rule of classical architecture — and scholars still can't agree on what it was actually called.