Viktoria Square

“Everyone in Afghanistan knows Viktoria.”  For all the years I visited Athens, it never crossed my mind to go to Viktoria, even though it is just a short walk from the National Archaeological Museum.  My work volunteering with NGOs serving refugees brought me to the area several years ago – and it has become for me a place I return to often.  There is a vibrancy to the life there – Greeks rushing to and from the Metro or sitting for long coffees in the cafés that line the square, beautiful little shops selling things like stationery and spices, plants, and fruit, Afghan women sitting on the park benches watching their children play.

Of course, there is a dark side also – this square is known to all refugees because for many of them, especially those who arrived in 2015 or early 2016, it was the spot where they camped out before shelter was found for them.  And even today, it is a place to find a smuggler or buy some drugs . 

But it remains a center for agencies providing services to refugees (Melissa Network, Faros, Jesuit Refugee Service, Solomon.gr the most prominent), and it provides a glimpse of how the integration of refugees into Greek society is taking place.  The children playing here will grow up speaking Greek, going to Greek universities, building their lives here.  Now it holds places for refugees to buy clothes, numerous places to go and learn English or Greek, get haircuts, and buy bread and other staples.  I’ve conducted many interviews in one café or another and had many meetings there with people who are working to provide better ways to help people in need.

Of course it is also a place for lost souls to hang out. And so there is always a tinge of sadness as you look at the young refugees who have not yet managed to find a way forward - who have neglected to learn Greek or English because they always thought they were on their way to Germany or Sweden. Others who are discouraged and scared of the future. The poignancy is tangible - such human potential being lost. What can be done to change this?

It’s worth a visit to see all this. It’s the other side of Syntagma or Monastiraki or Plaka or Kolonaki. It will bring you face to face with one of the aspects that color the present of this city and that will have a significant impact on its future.