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Fact·Ancient Greece·Classical Athens, 5th–4th century BCE

Public Urinals for Men Only

Athenian men had public urinals—women, not a chance.

Public Urinals for Men Only

George E. Koronaios — "The excavated area of the North side of the Ancient Agora of Athens on August 13, 2020", CC0

Athenian Men Got Special Bathroom Seats

In Classical Athens, men could relieve themselves in public urinals set along the marketplace. Rows of stone benches, built low to the ground and cut with drainage channels, lined the heart of the city.

No Facilities for Women

There is no archaeological or textual evidence for public toilets for women in Athens. If you were a woman, you waited—or risked being seen sneaking behind a column. Hygiene was public, but only for half the city.

Archaeologists have found rows of low stone benches with drainage channels lining the agora in Athens. These were public urinals, reserved for men. Women had to improvise or wait until they got home—no official facilities for them, ever.

Three minutes a day.

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