Bookbar by Kaktos

An aesthetic cultural space, BOOKBAR by Kaktos is the café-bookstore of Kaktos Publications in the center of Athens, where you can find the books of Kaktos Publications and enjoy a delicious beverage, a glass of fine wine, a delectable dessert, or a specialty dish.

BOOKBAR opened its doors in December 2023 at the corner of Aiolou 39 and Voreou, in a wonderfully preserved building. Following the book café concept, it combines a refined bookstore with an elegant café space.

The building housing Bookbar has a 100-year history. With its high ceilings, monumental iron door, and the face of Hermes, the god of commerce, on the pilasters of the facade, it inspired us to maintain the neoclassical elements inside, combined with the cozy atmosphere that every book lover cherishes.

As for the tall wooden bookshelves that reach the ceiling, they are a trademark of all the bookstores in the history of Kaktos Publications.

A book café in Athens city center

The book café concept is widespread abroad, and in Greece, you can also find beautiful spaces where books and dining coexist. Our new bookstore in the center of Athens is a welcoming refuge for every book lover who knows that a good book needs its own space and time.

At the BOOKBAR…

…you will find the entire collection of Kaktos Publications: ancient Greek literature, contemporary editions, children’s books, and books in English. The bookstore is enriched with selected titles from other publishers. Additionally, you will find carefully chosen gifts that speak to the heart of every book lover: fabric bags, handmade book sleeves, book-scented candles, and handmade ceramic mugs.

…you can enjoy a fine coffee, warm up with hot chocolate or aromatic tea, recharge with a smoothie, relax with a glass of wine, indulge in one of our amazing desserts, or satisfy your hunger with a sandwich or a pinsa. The choice is yours!

…we host book presentations from Kaktos Publications or other publishers, themed cultural evenings, book clubs, and other events. A place of culture, entertainment, knowledge, and reading, BOOKBAR is the beloved literary hangout, hosted by a historic publishing house.

All this in the most vibrant neighborhood of the city, in the heart of Aiolou Street.

Aiolou street: where the history of modern Athens unfolds

Aiolou street is the first avenue laid out in Athens when it became the capital of the Greek State, and also the first to be paved in 1906! With an unobstructed view of the Acropolis, known as the “Castle” in olden times, and starting from the elegant Horologion of Kyrrhestos from the 2nd century B.C., the iconic Tower of the Winds, Aiolou then connected the center of Athens with Patissia (the current Patission Street did not exist at that time).

The street, named after Aeolus, the father of all winds, continued for many decades to be a street of “first times”:

The first hotel of the Athenian capital was built there, the first European-style café “The Beautiful Greece” was established there, the first elevator in Greece operated in one of its office buildings, and one of the first traffic lights was installed at the corner of Aiolou and Stadiou.

In May 2023, the bookstore of Kaktos Publications at 46 Panepistimiou, which was housed next to the Ideal cinema (and previously next to the famous Ideal restaurant), had to leave the premises, after almost 30 years. Since December 2023, our new bookstore welcomes you on the ground floor of a building that about 100 years ago housed… the Ideal Hotel, one of the first “sleeping hotels” in Athens. From one historical street to the other, we always follow meet our ideals…

Today, at the corner of Aiolou and Voreou, where Aeolus meets his most prominent northern wind, Voreas, Hermes smiles from the pilasters and invites you to the BOOKBAR…