Greece · Attica · Athens
Gazi, Athens — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Gazi is a former industrial quarter on the west side of central Athens, named after the coal-gas works that once stood here. The old gasworks house Technopolis, a municipal cultural centre whose brick halls and gasholders anchor the neighbourhood. Since the Kerameikos metro station opened on its edge, Gazi has drawn much of the city's late-night crowd to the bars and restaurants around Persefonis and Voutadon streets. The name is simply Greek for gas.
About Gazi
Where to stay in Gazi
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Gazi suits travellers who want to be out late rather than in bed early. Its draw is the run of clubs, tavernas and rooftop bars packed around Technopolis and the Kerameikos metro square, which stay busy well past midnight. Beds are thinner on the ground here than in Plaka or Koukaki, so most stays are small boutique hotels and short-let flats along Pireos Street and the quieter lanes off Iera Odos.
From the metro it is two stops to Monastiraki and the foot of the Acropolis, which keeps the area workable for sightseeing as well. Light sleepers should book a quiet street.
About Gazi
What are the main landmarks in Gazi?
Gazi's landmark is Technopolis, the municipal cultural complex built inside the old Athens gasworks. Eight of the original brick buildings survive around a courtyard, along with the tall gasholders and the chimneys that still mark the skyline west of the centre. The Kerameikos metro square anchors the bars.
Just to the southeast, along Ermou Street, lies the ancient Kerameikos, the classical cemetery and potters' quarter that gave the area its name. There is no ancient monument inside Gazi itself; its character comes from industry, not antiquity.
What is the history of Gazi?
Gazi began as a factory district. It grew in the 19th century around the municipal gasworks that gave the quarter both its industry and its name. For more than a century the plant burned coal to make the town gas that lit Athens's streets, and the surrounding blocks were working-class and soot-stained.
When the works closed in the late 20th century, the site was listed as an industrial monument and later restored by the Municipality of Athens. The halls reopened as Technopolis, and the bars and clubs followed.
Where is Gazi?
The neighbourhood lies just west of the historic centre, wedged between Pireos Street and the rail lines that run down toward Piraeus. Iera Odos, the ancient Sacred Way to Eleusis, cuts through it from east to west. Kerameikos and its archaeological site border Gazi to the southeast, while Metaxourgeio sits to the north and Thiseio and Petralona lie to the south.
Ermou Street runs east to Monastiraki.
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Updated July 2026