Historical Sweets Shopping

On a little excursion to the center of Athens I noticed a funny grouping of shops around one corner of Βουλής (Voulis) Street: There are three Ζαχαροπλαστεία (Zaxaroplasteia, pastry shops, places to buy Greek sweets) on or around the same corner, and they all advertise being founded in some distant past...

Let's look at them in chronological order. I did not taste their sweets... yet. Testing their baklavas, pastries, chocolates, etc. will be a new expedition to follow.

1910 - Άριστον (Ariston)

This shop has a lot of customers inside and standing outside. We spotted some cheesecakes in the windows and then stopped to look at the sign. Ariston was founded 1910, which sure is a long time ago, the city must have evolved around them all this time.

1928 - Αριστοκρατικόν (Aristokratikon)

We did not look closer at this one, though the shop front looks nice and old fashioned. Old shops did not have big windows, so the looks of this one make it look possible that they are still where they started out. The year (1928) does not show in the pic, because my camera phone had a bad day.

1944 - Αγαπητός (Agapitos)

This one definitely is not at the same place from the start. Agapitos is a chain of stores, founded in Thessaloniki in the December of 1944. Which makes me wonder: How did anybody found a store for sweets in occupied Greece, in the winter of 1944? People were starving all over the place back then. The company information page gives the dates, but does not tell the story. Definitively interesting.