The Day the First Car Appeared in Athens

The first car appeared in Athens in 1897, more than a decade after its invention in 1886 by German inventor Carl Benz, who patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

Athenians were astounded and amazed by the sight of a self-propelled vehicle. The concept of a horseless carriage was completely novel and revolutionary, challenging the established norms of transportation at the time.

Electric trams were introduced in Athens in 1904, but in the late 1890s, horse-drawn carriages were still the common mode of transportation.

It is a far cry from modern Athens which is clogged with traffic.

According to a book titled “I Lived in the Athens of Belle Epoque” by Miltos Lidorikis, until 1897 cars were unknown in Greece. Only those who were reading foreign newspapers and periodicals were aware of their existence.

In any case, he says, it would have been impossible to drive in the city and the outskirts.

“How could it be possible to drive a machine of such fine composition on roads that were not only unsuitable but also dangerous?” he writes in the book written at the beginning of the 20th century.

He claims that the first car was brought to Greece by Nikolaos Kontogiannakis, a relative of a prominent politician of the time.

“I remember it because it coincided with the [Greco-Turkish] war of 1897. [Kontogiannakis] was a good friend and he drove me to his beautiful mansion to take a photo dressed as an Evzonas before I was transferred to the border,” Lidorikis recollects.

The first car was useless in Athens

He says that Kontogiannakis traveled very short distances in Athens and suffered from dust, mud, and terrible pits.

In the end, he returned the car to its manufacturers in Europe because it was “useless in Athens”.

A year later, a second car, a two-seater, appeared. The owner was a theater director named Kostas Christomanos.

“I remember him trying to drive the vehicle to Faliro [south of Athens] without ever reaching his destination,” Lidorikis writes. Christomanos’ car had the same fate as Kontogiannakis’. It was returned to the manufacturers.

These two vehicles were exceptionally noisy, raising unimaginable dust clouds when they were driven. “That’s why the Athenians when hearing them approaching, dispersed right and left to avoid the dust.”

Many Athenians at the time were fearful or skeptical about the safety and reliability of the new invention. They were concerned about the potential risks associated with the higher speeds and unfamiliar technology.

But in 1900, Athenians watched with admiration the arrival of a new electronic car that was silent, with rich lighting and seven seats, which had been brought over by the then director of the Electricity Company, K. Nicolaides.

The driver of this car was Alekos Bahaouer, the first professional chauffeur in Greece who worked in the profession for almost 40 years.

In 1901, Lidorikis writes, Leonidas Arniotis appeared in the Greek capital with a car that made unbelievable noise and became a spectacle for the Athenians.

Arniotis intended to make a triumphant visit with his vehicle to his hometown Sparta. He transported the car on a train to Tripoli. But before he reached Sparta, a mechanical failure canceled the journey. The vehicle was returned unceremoniously to Athens by train, writes Lidorikis.