Площа Омоніа Omonia Square

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According to the first plan of the city of Athens, drawn up by the town planners Cleanthes and Schaubert in 1846, the square that later became Omonia Square was originally formed to house palaces, and was therefore called Palace Square. For his part, the German architect Ludwig Lange proposed plans for the construction of a magnificent church dedicated to the Savior on the square, but the exorbitant amount of money required to implement this project ultimately led to its failure.
During the reign of George I, the square was ennobled, planted with trees and covered with a lot of greenery, the first fashionable hotels, confectioneries with orchestras, cafes offering pasta and other Western-style sweets, as well as newspapers for reading, were built. A marble platform was placed on the square, on which a military band played on Sundays to the delight of the locals.
In the 20th century, the square was repeatedly reconstructed, including in connection with the construction of a metro station in the 1990s and the hosting of the Olympics in 2004. The last reconstruction under the leadership of Costas Nikoyannis was completed in 2020. A brief history of the square is set out in English and Greek on the ceiling installed in the square.
The fountain appeared in May 2020 along with the general reconstruction of the square. Its diameter is 30 meters, it has 13 water jets, 188 water beams and 90 underwater spotlights. The central jet throws water to a height of 20 meters, 4 jets, within a radius of 12 meters, raise the water to a height of 14 meters, another 8, within a radius of 17 meters, launch water to a height of 8 meters. 188 water jets with a peak height of 5 meters are installed in a 30-meter circumference through a circular pipeline.
Adjacent to the southern part of the square are the buildings of the hotels "Megas Alexandros" and "Bageion", which were built in the late 1880s and are considered representative works of the architect Ernst Ziller. They are part of the donation of Ioannis Bagas to the Greek state. The buildings operated as class A hotels, with a clientele mainly of wealthy Greeks from the countryside. On the first floor of the Bageion in the 1920s, there was a cafe of the same name, which was one of the most famous places of rest for writers and scientists of that time. On the other side is the Kaftancoglu mansion, a four-story building in the neoclassical style. The facade is decorated with stucco molding, columns, balconies, balustrades. It was built in the early 20th century, probably also according to the plans of the architect Ernst Ziller, and its floors housed the Victoria Hotel, which was renamed the Excelsior in 1929. Today, the property belongs to the National Bank of Greece, and its ground floor is home to a chain of cosmetics stores.