On the occasion of yesterday’s, viral on the Greek internet, opening of the long-awaited opening of the city’s Metro by the people of Thessaloniki, another nostalgic post has been making the rounds of the internet in the last few hours: photos from the opening of the Athens Metro in 2000, i.e. before 24 years.

In the epic photos remembered and posted by EPIK, waiters in tuxedos welcome the guests with champagne while a crowd of people, ministers of the government at the time and artists stroll along the docks and on the wires.

The post has generated a lot of laughter and thousands of comments from netizens, especially those who clearly remember the opening season.

See the photos

The Simitis couple together with Costas Laliotis and Christos Verelis take the first walk smiling

adjunct

Lakis Lazopoulos, Sakis Rouvas and Ilias Psinakis ala Matrix

metro asst

Kostas Karamanlis and Vangelis Meimarakis take a tour of the docks

meter ext

Family photo on the scrolls – Lina Mendoni in the background

For the story…

In January 1991, the Government of the New Republic started the tender process for the selection of the contractor for the construction of the new sections of the metro:

  • Line 2: Sepolia – Dafni, with 12 stations

  • Line 3: Kerameikos – National Defense, with 9 stations.

The Athens Metro began construction in November 1992 and was delivered after many delays due to the number of archaeological discoveries and protests by Greek and foreign archaeologists.

Finally, on January 29, 2000 they were inaugurated and operated the first two sections of the new lines.

The number of people who visited the subway on its first day of operation reached 1,000,000. The reception of the public was enthusiastic and the “cleanliness and aesthetics of the stations, as well as the speed of the medium” caused an impression.

The rest is history.