Stadiou Street is Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

' major street linking the Omonoia

Omonoia Square

Omonoia Square is a central square in Athens. It marks the northern corner of the downtown area defined by the city plans of the 19th century, and is one of the city's principal traffic hubs...

 and Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square , is located in central Athens, Greece. The Square is named after the Constitution that King Otto was forced to grant the people after a popular and military uprising, on September 3, 1843....

s. It runs diagonally and is one-way from northwest to southeast. The street is named after the ancient Panathenaic Stadium located about 3 km southeast of the downtown core and is aligned directly with the ancient stadium.

This street had existed during ancient times

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

. The modern street was originally designed to extend all the way to the stadium. The project was cut short for lack of funding, but the name remained. The street was officially renamed "Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

 Street" after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in honor of the British prime minister, but Athenians remained faithful to the traditional name of the street. The same is true of the other two main throughfares of downtown Athens, which run parallel to each other and to Stadiou Street: "Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...

 Street" and "Roosevelt Street" were likewise never adopted by the public, which insisted on the traditional University

Panepistimiou Street

Panepistimiou Street is a major street in Athens that runs one way for non-transit vehicles since 2002 from Amalias Avenue, Syntagma Square and Vassilissis Sofias Avenue to Omonoia Square in which is now a pedestrian crossing and before an intersection...

 and Akadimias

Academy of Athens (modern)

The Academy of Athens is Greece's national academy, and the highest research establishment in the country. It was established in 1926, and operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Education...

 Street

Akadimias Street

Akadimias Street is a major street in Athens that runs parallel to Panepistimiou Street from Vassilissis Sofias Avenue to Kanningos Square in the area of Exarcheia. Its total length is about 1.2 km. It has three lanes and runs almost diagonally from southeast to northwest...

, respectively.

Famous buildings on the street are the Bank of Greece

Bank of Greece

The Bank of Greece is the nationalcentral bank of Greece, located in Athens on Panepistimiou Street, with several branches across the country. Founded in 1927...

 building, and the Old Parliament

Old Parliament House, Athens

The Old Parliament building at Stadiou Street in Athens, housed the Greek Parliament between 1875 and 1932. It now houses the country's National Historical Museum .-History:...

. Klauthmonos Square is a square that is located off the central part of this street; its name literally means "Lamentation Square" (from Κλαυθμών, Klafthmōn, weeping or lamentation) and the Ministry of the Interior is located by it. In the 19th century, Greek public servants were not permanent, but could be hired or sacked on a minister's whim. Following each election, they would gather at this square in order to find out what the election results were: in case of victory of a party other than the one which hired them, they would lament their impending unemployment. Abiding with the aforementioned tradition of downtown Athens, Klafthmonos Square was officially renamed "National Reconciliation Square" but it retains its popular name in almost every context.

History

The modern street was first rebuilt in the early to mid-19th century. The street was later paved. Streetcars and trolleys were added in the 20th century and the street was mainly two-way. Old two and three storey neo-classical buildings were located in this street. After the Greek Civil War

Greek Civil War

The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...

, it became one-way with three lanes and parking spaces. In the 1990s several buildings were demolished and eight and ten storey buildings were built in their place; several neo-classical buildings survive. It is mainly a shopping street, with upscale shops clustering towards Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square , is located in central Athens, Greece. The Square is named after the Constitution that King Otto was forced to grant the people after a popular and military uprising, on September 3, 1843....

 and lower scale ones towards Omonoia Square

Omonoia Square

Omonoia Square is a central square in Athens. It marks the northern corner of the downtown area defined by the city plans of the 19th century, and is one of the city's principal traffic hubs...

. Shopping traditionally focused on clothing and tailoring, which spread from intersecting Aiolou Street

Aiolou Street

Aiolou Street is a street in downtown Athens, the Greek capital. It is named after Aeolus, the god of winds in Greek mythology. The street is one-way and originally ran entirely southbound but since the closure of Athinas Street in the late-1990s as part of the renovation plan, the part north...

, while the area around and off Klafthmonos Square was in earlier decades the hub of the electrical appliance market.

Intersections

• Aiolou Street
  Aiolou Street
  Aiolou Street is a street in downtown Athens, the Greek capital. It is named after Aeolus, the god of winds in Greek mythology. The street is one-way and originally ran entirely southbound but since the closure of Athinas Street in the late-1990s as part of the renovation plan, the part north...
  
  
• Santaroza Street
• Stavrou Street
• Pesmatzoglou Street
• Dragatsanou Street
• Korai Street (walkway)
• Paparrigopoulou Street
• Lada and Edward Law Streets
• Omirou Street (no access)
• Amerikis and Kolokotroni Streets
• Voukourestiou Street
  Voukourestiou Street
  Voukourestiou Street named after the Treaty of Bucharest, which in 1913 ended the second Balkan War, is a rather narrow street in the Kolonaki district of Athens known for its high-end boutiques...
  
  (no access)