Public reading hall of Aristoteleio University

Enjoy the sun while taking a break outside

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The outside view

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A small part of the inside space

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People outside the entrance having a short break

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• Are you an Erasmus student in Thessaloniki?
• Are the exams on their way?
• Are you bored studying at home?
• Do you want to meet new people while having a break of your studying?

Then you should live the experience of studying at least one time at the reading hall of the Aristoteleio University (AUTH). Located inside the campus - which is in the center of the city - across the faculty of Law, the library will become your favourite place to study if you cannot concentrate at home. It is open during the whole year (except public holidays) and in the exam periods, it is usually open 24 hours a day.

In Greek universities, the exam periods are three: One in January/February, one in June and one in September. So all these months you can easily recognize the reading hall due to the crowd that is always outside talking or downstairs at the cafeteria.

It is a very big place with big tables, and also has a one plug on each table (so if you are studying from your laptop, you should go to grab a seat in the morning, because during the exam period it gets really crowded). Also, there is a room with 15 to 20 computers for the students to use, you just have to be a student of Aristoteleio University to be able to log in.

To get there, you can walk from the central square (Kamara) towards the campus, or take from Kamara station all the buses (except 8) and get down after two stations (AXEPA is the name of the station).

So, after some important information, grab your books, one friend and go there!

Firstly, start your day with a coffee at the cafeteria of the reading hall. After you collect the amount of energy that you need, walk the stairs and get inside to start the studying! If you go after 12 in the morning, it will be crowded, so it may take you a while to find a seat. If you don't find a seat in the first round, don't worry, just go for a second coffee, the day is long!

After the second coffee, it is finally time to study. So you found a seat for you and your friend! After a couple of hours, it is time to eat something! I suggest you to go to the student's restaurant which is ten minutes by walking. You can choose between two or three different meals for lunch and in the evening for dinner. Food there is for free, so enjoy!

After your stomach is full of food, I can understand that you feel sleepy. You can handle one more coffee at the cafeteria before round two of studying. You will see a lot of people at the cafeteria, laughing, taking, meeting each other, or discussing about their courses and exams! If you want to meet them, just talk to them, everyone is a little bit "depressed" of the studying, so talking about something irrelevant is the best medicine.

Ok now, the break is over. Go up again and now it is time to study hard! The next 3 hours will be full of concentration... And they passed so easy. Let's take a short break again.

Outside the library you will see dozens of people smoking or just standing for a short break to take some fresh air or talk on the phone. In summer and autumn exam period, you will see also people having their breaks on the grass and some of them even studying when it is too hot inside!

One last effort to go inside for some hours and then you are free to go for a beer!

PS: To use the toilets you should have your own paper and soap with you because they never have.

PS2: When you go out for a break, take your bag (and of course your laptop) with you, because when it is crowded you never know what can happen.