Metro stations, streets to close for Saturday parade
The Acropolis and Syntagma metro stations will be closed as of 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 24, with the Evangelismos metro station closing one hour later at 9 a.m., as schoolchildren hold a march in Syntagma Square on the eve of the large military parade marking Greek Independence Day on Sunday, March 25.
Traffic will also be off limits in central Athens as the parade gets under way, with Amalias and Vassilissis Olgas avenues, and Panepistimiou, Othonos, Filellinon and Vassileos Georgiou A’ streets closed off completely. Vassilissis Sofias, Stadiou and Syngrou will be partially closed and traffic will be rerouted off sections of the streets that lead toward Syntagma Square.
Other parts of Athens, as well as the rest of Greece, will see traffic disruptions on Saturday in areas where students will be parading.
Meanwhile, authorities have ramped up security for Sunday’s military parade in Athens, following a recent spate of verbal and physical attacks against politicians and other public figures by members of the public, and after crowds last October 28 — commemorating the day that Greece entered World War II — heckled Greek President Karolos Papaoulias during the parade in Thessaloniki, forcing the event to be cancelled.
Metro stations and streets in downtown Athens will be reopened after the end of the parade.
