Maroussi: the old village
The neoclassical core of ancient Amarousion — narrow streets, the Annunciation church, a potters' town. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Maroussi station and Panagia Nerantziotissa
The M1 stop sits beside *Panagia Nerantziotissa*, the old church under the bitter-orange trees that gave the line its waypoint name. Start here, with your back to the malls and motorway, and walk uphill into the village the suburb grew around.

2. Plateia Evterpis and the old core
The square at the heart of the old village, where the lanes still narrow and bend the way they did before the apartment blocks came. A couple of *kafeneia* (traditional coffee houses) sit under the trees here. Take a Greek coffee and watch the village version of Athens go by.

3. Church of the Annunciation (Evangelistria)
The grand 19th-century church of the Annunciation, the spiritual centre of old Maroussi, its dome visible over the low roofs. Step inside the cool nave for ten minutes. The neighbourhood's festival turns out here every spring.

4. The neoclassical streets
The lanes around the church keep their single-storey neoclassical houses — tiled roofs, shuttered windows, the odd marble lintel — squeezed between the modern blocks. Wander without a plan; the contrasts are sharper the deeper you go.

5. The potters' quarter
Maroussi was a town of potters for centuries, its clay turned into the water jars Athens drank from. A few workshops and a sign or two still mark the trade in the lower streets. Ask in a *kafeneio* if you want to find the last working kiln.

6. Spyros Louis's Maroussi
End knowing the village's odd claim to fame: Spyros Louis, who won the marathon at the first modern Olympics in 1896, was a Maroussi water-carrier. The Olympic stadium named for him stands just down the hill. Then back to the M1.

Maroussi: the old village