Most streets of Athens have not retained the initial name given to them and have changed names through time. Various persons or events have contributed to this. One of these streets is the once-called Acacia Street. Which street of Athens has taken its place today? It is Stadiou Avenue of course. Where are the acacias? It’s a special story…
The Acacia tree Street in Old Athens and its history
It was around the middle of the 19th century when the center of Athens crossed a stream that was coming down from Lycabettus hill, Voidopnichtis (the oxen-choker). In 1859 the stream was covered and the dirt roads became main avenues. The aim was to completely overhaul the center of the newly created capital to give it a European look. Among other things, main roads had to be designed in order to connect two squares, the Syntagma and the Omonia squares. One of those streets was Akakion Street. It was originally planned to reach the Panathinaiko Stadium (the Ancient Stadium that is in Vasilissi Sofias also known as Kalimarmaron) but ended up in Syntagma Square. In order to give a different aesthetics and looks of a European capital, acacia plants were planted on the pavements of the street. So it became known as “Acacia Tree Street (the street of the acacias)”.
Acacias were first planted in Greece, especially in cities such as Athens, for decorative reasons, in the 19th century. These deciduous trees with small flowers come mainly from Africa and Australia. However, they were not meant to stay on these sidewalks for long. Someone thought they should be removed.
A few years later, in 1911, in particular, the municipality of Athens uprooted them. Something that the Athenians really didn’t like, because they admired this image. It was a road characterized by its trees. The poet Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos, in fact, had written a poem about this. “For the sake of the movement and of our noble feet, we cut down the acacias into the Stadiou Street. They were the poor acacias (meaning “not evil” in Greek) and they were considered unnecessary; but if they were evil as well, we would have never cut them down” (the poet is making a word play here because the word “acacia” means “not evil” in greek and the for evil is “cacia” in greek and has a similar sounding)
The road was later called Stadiou Avenue, a name that was given to it from the original urban plans. As I said, it was planned to extend to the Ancient Stadium of Panathinaia (also known as the Kalimamrmaron).
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Frequently Asked Questions
Akakion Street, also known as the Street of the Acacias, was a famous street in 19th-century Athens known for the acacia trees planted along its pavements. These decorative trees from Africa and Australia gave the street a distinctive European appearance during Athens' modernization in the mid-1800s. The street is now known as Stadiou Avenue.
Acacia trees were planted on Akakion Street in the mid-19th century as part of Athens' urban renovation project to give the newly created capital a European aesthetic. The trees were chosen for decorative purposes to enhance the appearance of the main avenue connecting Syntagma and Omonia squares.
The acacia trees were removed from Akakion Street (now Stadiou Avenue) in 1911 by the Athens municipality. This decision was unpopular with Athenians, who admired the tree-lined appearance of the street. The removal even inspired a poem by poet Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos protesting the loss of the beloved acacias.
Akakion Street is now called Stadiou Avenue in Athens. The name 'Stadiou' comes from the original urban plans, as the street was designed to extend to the Panathinaiko Stadium (also known as Kalimarmaron), the ancient Olympic stadium located on Vassilissi Sofias.
The name 'Akakion' comes from the acacia trees that lined the street. In Greek, 'acacia' means 'not evil,' which inspired a famous wordplay poem by Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos about the removal of the trees. The poet humorously noted that if the acacias had actually been evil, they would never have been cut down.
