Automobiles Banned In Heart Of Athens

A ban on traffic has taken decades off the appearance of the historic and commercial heart of Athens.

Traffic was banned beginning Monday in a heavily congested one-square-mile area of the heart of the city of 4 million in an effort to cut down pollution that regularly blankets Athens.

One of the city’s busiest commercial streets, Ermou, was empty of cars as pedestrians made their way from central Constitution square toward the Monastiraki district, adjacent to the Acropolis.

Only residents of the restricted area with special permits will be allowed to enter with their cars. Public buses will transport people free of charge.