A stunning, historic district, in the heart of Athens that you will love for ever! 

Pole of attraction for tourists and Athenians! The flea market and the sights classify the area into one of the most beautiful of Athens, respective and discrete!
Monastiraki is the name of district around the homonymous square and takes up a large part of  Plaka district.

History
The first name of the area was "Monastirion", which comes from an old church of Athens, located in this area, at the junction of Athenas and Ermou str. A Metro station is located on the square.

The Church
On the square is located the former Catholic church. During the Frankish domination was Nicholas Bonefatsi’s private monastery. During the Turkish domination is referred as an estate of the monastery of Karea on Ymettus mountain. In later years became a parish church, in honor of the Assumption.

The mosque
The mosque was built by the Turkish voivod Tzistarakis in 1759 using material gotten from old buildings of the area. The 17th marble column of the Temple of Olympian Zeus was blown to use the dust as stucco for the mosque. The Athenians believed that under each column of the temple was trapped a curse and that was confirmed by the outbreak of famine in the city. According to the same legend, the temple of Zeus bemoaned the destruction of the column so loud, that no one slept in Athens that night. The lament calmed after the voivod’s assassination! After the Greek revolution in 1821 the building was used for gatherings and in 1924 was converted into a folklore museum. G. Drosinis offered to the museum two valuable collections, the Danish K. Pelf  offerd furniture, utensils and icons and Gr. Manos offered the Japanese vases. The mosque was renamed to National Museum of Decorative Arts. Today the mosque houses ceramic collections.