Palamas house, Historic house museum in Plaka, Athens, Greece
Palamas house is a two-storey building erected in the 1920s–1930s on Periandrou Street 5 in Plaka, facing the Columns of the Olympian Zeus. It has the features of an interwar neoclassical urban house: acroteria along the cornice and iron railings on the balconies. The poet occupied one of the two second-floor flats, sharing the building with other tenants.
The poet Kostis Palamas made this house his home beginning in 1935, residing there until his death in 1943 under German occupation. The residence became a significant literary hub during a period of profound upheaval in Greece.
A marble plaque above the main entrance reads that the national poet Kostis Palamas died in this house on 27 February 1943. His funeral procession on 28 February drew crowds to Periandrou Street and the surrounding streets, and the service at the First Cemetery of Athens was led by Archbishop Damaskinos.
The house is situated in Plaka, an area easily reached on foot from central Athens with plenty of nearby historic sites to explore. Visitors can see the commemorative plaque above the entrance while wandering through the neighborhood's narrow streets and older buildings.
Thousands of Athenians gathered outside the house during the poet's funeral procession to sing the national anthem as an act of defiance against Nazi occupation. This spontaneous outpouring made the funeral one of the most powerful public demonstrations of the war period.
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