Athens is one of Europe's most surprising urbex cities — a capital where a former international airport with jumbo jets on the tarmac sits 7km from the Acropolis, where an abandoned military hospital barracks decays in a residential district and where the 2008 financial crisis left a specific layer of commercial dereliction across the city's peripheral neighbourhoods. The contrast between the tourist Athens of ancient monuments and the derelict Athens of crisis-era closures and institutional abandonment creates an urbex depth that most visitors never encounter. Discover the 5 best abandoned places in Athens, selected from our Greece Urbex Map — 60+ verified GPS locations.
Why Athens Has a Hidden and Underexplored Derelict Heritage
Athens's abandonment reflects both the 2008 financial crisis — which left shop fronts, hotels and office buildings empty across entire districts — and a longer history of institutional dereliction: military barracks and hospital complexes from the 19th and early 20th centuries abandoned as Greek institutions modernised and relocated.
1. Ellinikon Airport – Glyfada, Athens — Opened 1938, Closed 2001, Olympic Airways 747, Eero Saarinen Terminal, 2004 Olympic Venues in Decay, Redevelopment Underway (Known Location)
Ellinikon Airport served Athens for 60 years before closing 28 March 2001, unable to meet Greece's dynamically increasing tourism needs. During WWII it served as a Luftwaffe base; in its peak year it handled 13.5 million passengers. Years of neglect followed the 2004 Olympics; the site was further frozen by the 2008 financial crisis. It contains abandoned Olympic Airways aircraft including a 1973 Boeing 747, and the Eero Saarinen-designed East Terminal. Redevelopment began in 2020.
🔗 Sources: CNN – The Greek Airport Left to Fall Apart | The Points Guy – Exploring Ellinikon
2. Abandoned Military Hospital Barracks – Halandri, Athens — 19th-Century Stone Barracks Complex, Listed Heritage, Plans for Reconversion Pending, Derelict and Decaying (Known Location)
In Halandri there are some plans to list the abandoned military barracks complex as a historic place and to reconvert its buildings, as it already happened for similar old stone buildings in the nearby Liberty Park, but so far the barrack complex is still abandoned and decaying — the perfect location for an urban exploration. The stone construction, the institutional scale and the residential neighbourhood contrast make this one of the most atmospheric derelict military complexes in Attica.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Greece →
3. Crisis-Era Abandoned Factory – Athens Industrial Belt, Attica — Post-2008 Closure, Concrete Modernist Construction, Peripheral Athens Setting
The 2008 financial crisis closed dozens of factories, warehouses and light industrial facilities across the Attica industrial belt — facilities that were operating in 2008 and bankrupt by 2012. Several large post-war factory complexes in the ring between central Athens and the port of Piraeus stand derelict: concrete modernist construction, production signage still legible and the peripheral Athens setting of abandoned industry between active commercial zones. All GPS in our Greece Urbex Map.
4. Derelict Neoclassical Mansion – Athens Historic Neighbourhoods — Late 19th-Century Athenian Residence, Crisis-Era Abandonment, Ornate Facade Intact (Our Map Only)
Athens's historic neoclassical districts — Metaxourgeio, Kerameikos, Gazi and the streets behind Omonia — retain numerous late 19th-century neoclassical residential buildings in states of crisis-era dereliction: ornate facade detail intact while the interior has collapsed, the courtyard garden consumed by vegetation. The specific Athenian neoclassical style — plaster relief work, tall shuttered windows, the classical pediment — creates a heritage abandonment experience specific to the Greek capital. GPS in our Greece Urbex Map.
5. Abandoned 2004 Olympic Venue – Athens — Post-Olympic Dereliction, Brutalist Sports Architecture, Overgrown Since 2005, Attica Setting (Hidden on Our Map)
The 2004 Athens Olympics produced several sporting venues that were used for two weeks and then progressively abandoned — the baseball and softball stadium, fencing and kayaking venues constructed from the Ellinikon site and other facilities whose post-Olympic programming never materialised. Overgrown with vegetation, their grandstands cracked and their scoreboards still in place, these post-Olympic derelictions create a specific Athens urbex typology of institutional short-term purpose meeting long-term abandonment. Find them on our Greece Urbex Map. Find them on our Greece Urbex Map.
Safety Tips
- Ellinikon redevelopment: active construction operations and security on site — always assess perimeter conditions before approaching
- Neoclassical facade risk: ornate plaster facade detail in crisis-era dereliction can detach without warning — never stand directly under cornices
- Olympic venues: post-2004 abandonment has created unstable concrete in grandstand structures — assess each section before ascending
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and share your location
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned place in Athens?
Ellinikon Airport — the former Athens international airport with an Olympic Airways 747 on the tarmac, the Eero Saarinen terminal and 2004 Olympic venues in decay, 7km south of the city in Glyfada. Redevelopment is underway — visit the accessible perimeter while it remains.
Are there abandoned places in central Athens?
Yes — the historic neoclassical districts of Metaxourgeio, Kerameikos and the streets behind Omonia hold numerous late 19th-century buildings in crisis-era dereliction. Our Greece Urbex Map covers verified central Athens locations with GPS and access notes.
Did the 2008 crisis create abandoned places in Athens?
Extensively — the financial crisis closed factories, shops, hotels and office buildings across Attica. The peripheral industrial belt between central Athens and Piraeus holds significant post-2008 derelict factory infrastructure. Several central neoclassical buildings entered institutional ownership limbo during the crisis and have remained derelict since.
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