Ghostly atmosphere in empty Athens streets amid coronavirus pandemic

If you happened to take a stroll to the centre of Athens and expected to experience the normally bustling streets and tourist-packed sites of downtown Athens on a sunny Sunday, you would have been disappointed.

This Sunday it was a completely different story, as you were immediately gripped by an unnatural feeling of concern and isolation, even fear. The coronavirus pandemic and the government’s advice for people to stay indoors resulted in the capital being virtually empty of people and vehicles.

We walked from Syntagma Square and the Greek Parliament, where the sight of hundreds of tourists trying to snap the Presidential Guards would be a common sight, and moved into the famous Monastiraki square, usually chock-a-block with tourists and locals mingling and music bands of all flavours. Both were eerily empty, as were main roads like Panepistimiou and Stadiou. While recording the video the howling winds heightened the already ghostly ambience.