I think of it as Athens ‘secret garden’, its shady pathways green and full of surprising beauty.
First opened in 1837, the cemetery has many of the country’s major historical figures buried in its extensive grounds. Heroes of the Greek Revolution, politicians, poets, artists, intellectuals and shipping magnates all have tombs and memorials here. Melina Mercouri, Andreas Papandreou, Aliki Vouyouklaki, Odysseas Elytis, George Seferis and Sofia Bellou are just some of the well-known twentieth century names that are interred within its boundaries. Many foreigners are buried here, too, and it’s possible to find some illustrious names from the nineteenth century such as Heinrich Schliemann, Ernst Ziller and Sir Richard Church. (British General fought with the Greek army during the Greek Revolution and was later elected to Greek parliament)
Take a few hours to wander round the well-tended walkways and you’ll find a collection of some of the most eclectic funerary sculpture anywhere. Touchingly, many of the tombstones are very personal. A scout hat marks the grave of the founder of the boy scouts movement in Greece, Masonic symbols, ships, books, animals, even an airplane…each portraying the aesthetic and interests of the departed.
Some of the finest examples of nineteenth and twentieth century Greek sculpture are on display and one of the most famous monuments is the Sleeping Maiden. This touching and beautiful work by sculptor Yiannoulis Halepas was created for the tomb of Sofia Afentaki and, to me, seems to encapsulate the faraway, otherworldly feel of the cemetery through a figure that represents death as an eternal dreamless sleep.
A walk through Athens First Cemetery would probably not be top on anybody’s “must see” list but take my advice and visit as it is a fascinating and emotional experience that can offer a deeper understanding of this city and it’s inhabitants.