Walking the streets of Athens, one can observe and see buildings, monuments and corners that most of us ignore or pass by. One of these buildings is the mysterious house with the “clay woman” – otherwise known as the Kolettis house – in Plaka, the mansion where the first prime minister of Greece, Ioannis Kolettis, lived.

The Koletti house is located at the end of Polygnotou Street in Plaka, near the Ancient Agora and at the foot of the Holy Rock of the Acropolis. This neoclassical mansion is an exquisite piece of architecture that stands out even in its abandonment.

The Koletti house had yellow walls, blue windows and there is no denying that it was an ornament of the city – it is no coincidence that it is considered and indeed is one of the most beautiful and at the same time oldest houses in Athens.

In March 1960, by decision of the Ministry of Culture, the two-story mansion was declared a preserved monument. But it was left to its own devices and in the mid-1980s it was one of the first properties in Plaka expropriated by Melina Merkouri.

The earthquakes that hit Athens in 1981 and 1999 have caused serious stability problems.

In April 2023 the Ministry Culture has announced that the relevant Kolleti is part of a program of restoration and promotion of historical buildings of Plaka. The building, at the junction of Polygnotou and Dioskourou streets, will house the great legacy left by the Nobel laureate poet Odysseus Elytis

Colettis and the myth with the monkey

The house is also accompanied by a strange legend from which a phrase has become known. It is one of the most famous sayings, perhaps, since Ioannis Kolettis lived in this house in Plaka and this is the “Monkey of Kolettis”. So what does the urban legend say?

According to what was spread by word of mouth, at some point a friend of Kolettis gave him a monkey as a gift that he had brought from a trip abroad. The monkey proved especially troublesome when the Prime Minister invited people to his house: it took the guests’ gloves, hats and walking sticks and hid them, and on one occasion it had hidden two ticks in a visitor’s hat and coat.

Since then, the expression “Colette’s monkey” characterizes anyone who is annoying.