Trouba, the infamous red light district of old in Piraeus, Greece, will relive its “glory” moments tonight as part of the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The most infamous neighborhood of Piraeus that went down in history for its brothels, cabarets and seedy bars, will see the red lights turned on once more as two bars that currently operate in the area will stage a theme night for tonight’s turn of the year.
The theme is, of course, a revival of the 1950s and 1960s where the cabarets of the area were at full swing and seafarers jumped from one seedy joint to another. Entitled “Red Light District New Years Eve 2015,” the event is sponsored by Mahayana Records and the area will glow with red lights. Troubar and Lola’s Bar are the two bars where people can welcome the new year dancing and drinking.
The history of Trouba began a little after the German occupation with the appearance of the first brothels. The port of Piraeus and the ever-changing rabble of seafarers was conducive to creating a red light district in the area.
Trouba flourished in the 1950s and the 1960s with most common visitors being seafarers, shady characters and the sailors of U.S. 6th Fleet. Cabarets such as the famous “John Bull” or “Black Cat” promised all kinds of pleasures to hungry seamen. The brothels of the area made many panderers rich and generated folk-lore stories of suffering prostitutes with hearts of gold. The 1963 movie “The Red Lights” is a good depiction of Trouba and the characters who inhabited it.
The arrival of the military junta in 1967 changed all that. Piraeus Mayor Aristides Skylitsis shut down all the seedy places, Trouba was reconstructed and most new buildings started housing shipping companies.
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