A previously unknown air-raid shelter has been discovered beneath a construction site in the port city of Piraeus, revealing an extensive network of underground passages whose full extent has yet to be established.
The shelter was uncovered on a plot along Grigoriou Lambraki Street, at the intersection with Distomou and Androutsou streets, during work to build an 11-story apartment building with a swimming pool and three basement levels.
The large underground structure is believed to date to the interwar period and is considered particularly significant because its passages were built using different techniques. Some were cut into the local Piraeus porous limestone, while others are made of concrete or stone.
The network’s full extent remains unknown, with indications that some passages may continue beneath the street. This has yet to be established through an on-site inspection.
Because the structure is considered a material remnant of civilian protection, its potential designation as a modern monument was brought before the joint advisory body of the Central Archaeological Council and the Central Council for Modern Monuments.
The councils postponed a decision, however, wanting to establish whether the passages constitute an actual air-raid shelter rather than simply a network of escape routes. A five-member committee has been appointed to conduct an on-site inspection before a recommendation is made.
The same plot contains another layer of Piraeus’ history. An ancient quarry survives at its northeastern edge and is expected to be incorporated into the surrounding area of the new building.
A City Beneath the City
The discovery adds to evidence of a largely hidden wartime landscape beneath Athens and Piraeus.
By 1940, roughly 12,000 shelters were believed to exist across the greater Athens-Piraeus agglomeration as Greece prepared for the possibility of aerial bombardment in the years leading up to WWII. They ranged from purpose-built shelters to reinforced basements, caves and other underground spaces.
Much of this network has since disappeared as urban landscape expanded. Some shelters were demolished, others incorporated into newer buildings and some converted to different uses. Because there is no comprehensive registry, estimates of how many survive today vary considerably, with around 1,000 identified in Athens alone under some estimates.
The surviving structures provide a physical record of the development of civil defense before and during World War II, when aerial warfare transformed the relationship between cities and their civilian populations.
The Piraeus discovery is therefore significant not only for its possible architectural and historical value but also because it may add to the fragmented record of how the country’s largest urban area prepared for aerial attack.
