In many places on the internet, nostalgia is very strong. Many pages remember events from many years ago. Recently, photos from the opening of the Athens Metro became viral online. These photos are from 29 January 2000, exactly 26 years ago. A few days later, there was also a special presentation of the Attiko Metro to famous people, for promotional reasons.

The photos shared again on social media made many people feel nostalgic. Younger people were also surprised, because the first appearance of the Athens Metro looked more like a luxury social event than a normal public works ceremony.

The official opening

The opening ceremony happened in the presence of the state and political leadership of Greece.
The Prime Minister at that time, Kostas Simitis, said that the Metro was a project of national importance and that it would bring Athens closer to the big European capitals.

On the same day, the first 14 stations were given to the public:

• Line 2: Sepolia – Syntagma
• Line 3: Ethniki Amyna – Syntagma

This marked the beginning of the operation of a project that had been planned many decades earlier.

A city entering the 21st century

The images show an Athens that was entering the 21st century with optimism.
Guests were wearing formal clothes. Politicians and well-known people were walking on the platforms and inside the trains, before the Metro became full of everyday passengers.

At the same time as the opening, there was a big party in Syntagma Square, with many events, showing the positive mood of that period.

The Metro at that time was seen as a symbol of progress, modernization, and European normality.

Famous guests

At the presentation of the Metro to famous people of that era, many well-known faces were present, such as:

• Sakis Rouvas (singer)
• Giorgos Vardinogiannis
• Football players of Panathinaikos, including Krzysztof Warzycha
• Sokratis Kokkalis
• Takis Lemonis
• Nikos Sarganis
• Actor and wrestler Apostolos Souglakos

Photos show these people walking through the stations and talking with politicians.

Construction difficulties

The road to the opening was not easy.

The procedures for building the new Metro lines started in the early 1990s, and construction work began in 1992.
There were serious delays, mainly because of important archaeological discoveries. Thousands of objects from the long history of Athens were found during the digging.

Photos from that time show:

• Workers at the Metro construction sites
• The tunnel boring machine (metro “mole”) is reaching different stations
• Works at stations such as Syntagma, Neos Kosmos, and Panormou

First day of operation

At the end of January 2000, the first parts of Lines 2 and 3 were finally opened to the public.

The public reaction was immediate and impressive.
On the first day alone, about one million people visited the Athens Metro. They wanted to see the stations, their design, and the new technology, which until then felt strange and unfamiliar to everyday life in the city.

26 years later

Today, 26 years later, the images from the opening seem almost unreal compared to today’s reality.

The Metro is no longer a tourist attraction or something to admire.
It is now an essential part of daily life for hundreds of thousands of people in Athens.