I'm in Athens, in awe of the ruins and while I understand why one would want to keep the citadel like Acropolis high on the hill, I'm still puzzled about nearby districts like Plaka or Monastiraki. Like, who in their sane mind would think it's a good idea, the surface is so steep there, the sheer effort to build a house, provide it with water, food, sewage, etc. must be enormous at those times. As with most of the things in live, there must be some sort of economical rationale behind that I'm not aware of. High ground in case of attack? Idk.
P.S. Aren't you afraid that cats will seize the power of this city one day? Was laughing my ass off, there are like 10 of these chonky behemoths per square meter, lol.
I lived in Plaka for a while. The only neigbhorhood in the area that is built into the rocky surface around the Acropolis is the nieghnorhood of Anafiotika.
There are the small white-washed homes that look similar to the ones you find in the Cycladic Islands, Mykonos, etc.
The reason that neighborhood exists is because it was the location of the camps of the immigrant construction workers who built the neo-classical homes around Plaka.
At the time, there was a law saying any construction completed between sunset and sunrise was owned by whomever built it. So the workers built homes that reminded them of their own ones in the Cycladic Islands. And also because at the time, the real estate was considered both cheap...and within walking distance to their construction in Plaka.
The rest of the neighborhoods in the area around Syntagma Square are relatively flat. Monastiraki, Psiri, Koukaki, etc., are all pretty flat.