By type of crime
- 21Overall safety
- 25Property crime
- 17Violent crime
Kerameikos scores 17 out of 100 (modelled estimate, Eurostat 2021–2024) for violent crime — high crime, on a scale where 50 is the average for Greece. Kerameikos has no police figures of its own. Its estimate starts from Athens's rate — Athens scores 23 for violent crime — and is adjusted for documented local reporting about Kerameikos. An estimated 3,210 people live there: the 2021 census counts the surrounding community as a whole, and this is its share by area.
The score is absolute, not a ranking: 50 is the offence rate of Greece as a whole and every doubling of the rate costs the same points, so any two places compare directly. How the scores are made
Updated · police figures: Eurostat 2021–2024 · What's new
What Kerameikos is actually like
Kerameikos is the strip between Psyrri and Gazi, named for the ancient potters' quarter and the cemetery excavation at the foot of Ermou. It runs from Pireos west to Konstantinoupoleos, with the Line 3 station dropping you straight into the Gazi square. It functions as Gazi's quieter half: bars, small restaurants, boutique hotels, the ancient site and ordinary residential blocks between.
After dark
Busy and well used - the bar crowd starts here and drifts west to Gazi. The stretch of Pireos and the industrial blocks north towards Metaxourgeio are dead and unlit, which is where the district's remaining problems sit.
What to watch for
- Listed in the Hellenic Police 'second sector' alongside Omonia, Metaxourgeio, Agios Pavlos and Vathi Square, targeted for drug dealing and petty crime (Sept 2026)
- Named in a January 2026 Ta Nea report on gang and drug activity in the western centre, with Kolonos, Koumoundourou and Kolokynthou
- The unlit industrial blocks along Pireos and north towards Metaxourgeio are the weak point, not the bar streets
- April 2026: a gunman opened fire at a social security office in Kerameikos, wounding an employee, in an isolated incident by an 89-year-old man who also attacked a courthouse in Ambelokipi
Staying here
A good pick if you want the nightlife without sleeping above it, and the metro station makes airport and Piraeus runs easy. Not for anyone who wants quiet before 2am at weekends, or wants to walk to the Acropolis in five minutes.
Reputation against reality. Kerameikos is routinely sold as a separate 'neighbourhood' by hotel marketing but is better understood as the eastern half of Gazi plus the archaeological site. Its name appearing on the police drug-operation list is about the Pireos/Kolonos side, not the bar streets around the metro, and readers who see the two facts side by side usually draw the wrong conclusion.
Streets and squares: Ermou (western end) · Pireos · Konstantinoupoleos · Salaminos · Kerameikos metro station · Iera Odos
Sources
- Proto Thema - Hellenic Police special plan for central Athens (Sept 2026)
- Ta Nea - Crime and fear in central Athens (20 Jan 2026)
- This Is Athens (official city guide) - Gazi & Keramikos neighbourhood guide
- Athens Tourism Guide - Gazi-Kerameikos neighbourhood guide (2026)
- Wikipedia - 2026 Athens shooting
Other neighbourhoods in Athens
Nearby municipalities
Questions people ask
Is Kerameikos safe?+
SafetyMap estimates Kerameikos (Κεραμεικός) at 17 out of 100 for violent crime — high crime, on a scale where 50 is the Greek average. It is a modelled estimate, not a count of crimes recorded there: it comes from the estimate for Athens, adjusted for documented local reporting about Kerameikos; there are no police figures for Kerameikos itself. As a rate, the estimate comes to roughly 2,200 property and 270 violent offences per 100,000 residents a year. The written notes on this page class it as “Ordinary precautions”.
Is Kerameikos safe at night?+
Busy and well used - the bar crowd starts here and drifts west to Gazi. The stretch of Pireos and the industrial blocks north towards Metaxourgeio are dead and unlit, which is where the district's remaining problems sit.
How does Kerameikos compare with the rest of Athens?+
Kerameikos has no police figures of its own. Its estimate starts from Athens's rate — Athens scores 23 for violent crime — and is adjusted for documented local reporting about Kerameikos.