Viktoria (underground station)
Viktoria or Victoria is a metro station on Line 1 of the Athens Metro . Like the square above it, the station is named after the English Queen Victoria , who visited Athens in 1843.
History and design
From 1889, there was a stop for the Athens-Piraeus suburban railway in the immediate vicinity of today's station. From 1904 this was expanded to the subway. The operation was switched from steam to electric and the route through the city center was lowered. Due to the construction work for the underground station, the stop had to be closed in 1926. As part of the subsequent redesign, the square was given a sculpture by the sculptor Johannes Pfuhl from 1906; this was previously set up on Syntagma Square , where it had to give way to traffic.
The last inner-city stop was Victoria near the National Archaeological Museum . It is relatively close under the road. Stairs lead directly to the platform. The station was modeled on the Berlin subway stations; The enamel signs and tiles were also made in Berlin. The station is very similar to the Ernst-Reuter-Platz station in Berlin. The underground station was officially inaugurated in 1948 after it was kept closed due to the war .
The square and the old station were named after the former Athens mayor Panagis Kyriakos from the end of the 19th century to the 20th century. The name “Platia Kyriakou” was still in use for a long time after the name was changed.
In 1995 Dimos Skoulakis painted the staircase: the picture shows the gloomy lighting situation at the time. It hangs in the National Gallery in Athens today .
In 2002 the station was listed as a historical monument, and restoration followed two years later. All equipment has been overhauled, tiles have been cleaned, some have been replaced. In contrast to the original condition, the tarred floor was tiled; the lighting was switched from hanging lamps to fluorescent tubes. The new lighting in particular now makes the once rather dark station appear very bright.
literature
- ETZ: Elektrotechnische Zeitschrift: Ed. A., Volume 52, Part 2, 1931
Web links
- ATTIKO METRO AF - Overview map of Athens metro stations
- Illustration of the picture "Staircase" by Dimos Skoulakis'
Individual evidence
- ^ Petros Markaris , Across Athens, Zurich 201, p. 90
- ↑ List of monuments of the Greek Ministry of Culture
Coordinates: 37 ° 59 ′ 35.1 ″ N , 23 ° 43 ′ 48.5 ″ E