A cat of the Acropolis that has become an attraction on Google Maps

“If Athens ever had a king, it would be him,” reads a comment on Google Maps. “It’s as lazy and stoic as a Greek god, the most impressive of all ancient sites,” continues another. “The Acropolis; the Parthenon; please. You must see Titan first,” says a third. As for the most overrated review we’ve ever read? “I traveled from Italy to see him and it was definitely worth it and I will definitely be back.”

So far, Counts 423 reviews from users who have searched its tracks and shared their experience. Some found him, some did not. But almost everyone showed their interest in hunting the most famous cat of the Acropolis.

It’s about “Titan”, for whom the happy, white and honey cat A site created with a rating of 4.9 – Tourists record their experience and share the photos they took when they saw him. There are people who videotape the entire experience of searching for it.

Testimony from Google Detectives informed us that he was surrounded by a security team consisting mostly of cats of different colors. “We couldn’t get past his guards. But one of them is an orange person, and we will photograph him in his place,” says one.

Others rated the location with five stars. After three or four attempts, they find him lying behind bushes or posing in placa houses, but avoiding human contact. He is even thought to be very distant. “It is clear that the cat did not approach us in recognition of its superior status. But he did not run far, instead, leaving us to admire his beauty from a distance. It was the highlight of our trip.”

Some of the audience’s skills exceeded expectations. “There was an incredible tension in the air as we approached the area where the giant was supposed to be. We let our eyes wander for a moment, and indeed, there he was; Lying in all his glory, he was successfully going about his day. What an impressive sight how this Colossus casts its evening shadow on the Acropolis.”

Looking for Titan

So, fueled by our curiosity and enthusiastic comments, we went hunting. We walked from the Acropolis metro station to Thrasillo Street, and in five minutes, we took a turn on our right and approached the neighborhood of Titan.

Next to where tourists buy tickets to enter the rock, next to a restaurant playing classical folk songs to invite the first visitors of the day to lunch, a Google Maps alert went off to let us know we had reached our destination.

We thought that the contribution of the eaters at that time and the treat they gave him must have been decisive for the cat’s “fullness”. The first clues came from the ruins of a building: two cats were looking for food – and their color told us that neither of them was what we were looking for.

@JessicaCoxWiana Titan the Cat should be at the top of your Athens itinerary 😉🐈 Titan is part of a colony managed by Nine Lives Greece, which helps stray cats in Athens by feeding, vetting, neutering and adopting them. So no need to bring him treats (he might be too strong!) but water is fine 💕 #AthensTravel #Visitathens #Athensitinary #ItsShittenGems #titangate ♬ Amma Mia – ABBA

Another appeared next to me, Honey, meowing in front of an empty food box, looking at passers-by. Whatever the similarity, it doesn’t seem to us that this is the legend we’re looking for. The difference in physique was great. We searched the area for a while and in the shadows and surrounding alleys, we came face to face with friendly cats and some aloof cats whose laziness immediately piqued our interest. Our attempt was unsuccessful. Acropolis is none other than the audience’s favorite protagonist.

After we left the place, we looked at Google Maps again and that’s when we found some more comments. Among them is the idea of ​​a group of volunteers called “Nine Lives Greece,” a network of volunteers with the goal of reducing the overpopulation of stray cats through sterilization-catch programs.relocation. On the team side, it helps sterilize more than 1700 stray cats in Athens every year, while improving the quality of life of more than 500 cats with daily feeding and veterinary care programs. It seems Titan also belongs to her colony of cats.

We contacted Eleni Kefalopoulou, founder of the association and in charge of the Acropolis colonies, where 500 animals are sterilized and 200 are fed daily.

“Fat,” as we call him, belongs to one of our colonies. He was always curmudgeon but 2 years ago he started gaining weight. We took him straight to the vet to check for heart, diabetes and fluid retention. Eventually all the tests came back good and the vet told us we were feeding him too much. We believe one of the neighbors put a can on top of him and fed him kibble or rice, as he was eating what the other cats in the group were feeding once a day. We talked to the neighbors about not feeding him and lately volunteers have been going during the day and feeding him good quality food so that he is always full and doesn’t eat junk food. So the situation improved. The publicity intensified the problem as tourists sought him out and offered him skates, croquettes and food from restaurants. We told them not to worry, we were taking care of the kittens, and we asked them not to leave the food. Fat is doing much better, with almost half remaining.”

Despite the union’s advice to the public, his searchers were eager, as Ms. Kefalopoulou says, “to take a picture, to say they were there, they saw the Titan,” which was unpleasant.

We rushed back to where we had been a moment ago and got ready to read the Candidate Puranas again, but the cats had disappeared. Perhaps, our paths briefly met. Maybe, as we speak, he is lying under some leaves, enjoying life, building his reputation through opinion, maybe he is hiding from annoying guys who glare at him every day, or enjoying their love and playing with them in a corner. Nothing is certain about this enigmatic fort guard. It just needs more.