Whatever you are shopping for, you can likely find it at Eleonas Flea Market– bed frames, motorcycle parts, hiking boots, silver earrings, canned fish, posters from the 2004 Olympics, icons of Saint George, magazines from former Yugoslavia, film for polaroid cameras, or hand-carved backgammon sets.
This flea market, hosted every weekend, offers a bewildering plethora of options, a collection every object that has ever passed through Athens.
On this episode we spoke with photographer Antonis Theodoridis about his new publication “Lost Things Found,” a collection of photos of Eleonas market. His photos are charming, overwhelming, often absurd amalgamations of the detritus of a city, all on sale.

From “Lost Things Found”, Antonis Theodoridis

 “It’s like sampling the whole city and ending up with an accumulation of things and objects that represent life in the city over decades,” said Theodoridis. “Especially when you grow up here, you look at some things that resonate to your memories, your childhood, things that you recognize from 20, 30 years ago.”

The photos show anachronistic assemblages bursting with color: cardboard cutout of Jesus leaning on a television set that may or may not work; a set of wine glasses, a doll-sized piano, and a set of heavy winter gloves that look to be from the 90s; a pillowcase filled with tennis balls.

From “Lost Things Found”, Antonis Theodoridis

“I think it’s important that places like this exist because sometimes things just vanish otherwise. and you’ll never be able to look back and find all these interesting objects in any other sort of market. So I think in many ways it’s something that is a very vital part of the city,” said Theodoridis.

Listen now to this week’s episode. And for next time follow “Explaining Greece” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and turn on your notifications to be the first to listen to our new episodes every Thursday.

From “Lost Things Found”, Antonis Theodoridis