The long-awaited Monastiraki metro station opened just north of the Acropolis on Tuesday, effectively connecting the old urban rail line – from Piraeus to northern Kifissia – with the Syntagma-Ethnikis Amynas metro line.
 The roughly one-kilometer-long metro tunnel linking Syntagma station -- across from the Greek Parliament building -- to Monastiraki had been plagued by delays over the past few years due to subterranean soil erosion and concerns for monuments above-ground, including the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral, as well as efforts to preserve the remnants of continuous human settlement dating back some 3,000 years.
 The metro line from Monastiraki is being expanded westwards to reach the Aegeleo district in western Athens.
 Of particular interest to archaeology buffs will be an underground exhibition showing a portion of the Iridanos riverbed – to be more precise, a torrent repeatedly mentioned in accounts of ancient Athens. Work on that project is expected to be completed in six months.
 Finally, actual images of galaxies and other heavenly bodies -- transmitted by a radio telescope -- will be projected onto the station concourse’s ceiling, according to officials from Attiko Metro, the quasi state-run agency that manages the system.

Source: Athens News Agency

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