Athens is the capital of Greece and with 750000 inhabitants (greater Athens: 3.3 million inhabitants) its largest city. It is the political, cultural and economic centre of Greece, and with the nearby Piraeus harbour and international airport also its transportation and travel hub.
Athens has been continously inhabited for the past 3000 years. It became the leading city of ancient Greece in the first millennium BC. With its cultural achievements during the classical period in the 5th century BC it laid the foundations of Western civilization. After being annexed to the Roman empire in 146BC Athens lost a lot of its importance. It later became a peripheral city of the Byzantine Empire, then of the Ottoman Empire. Athens became the capital of the newly founded Greek state in the 19th century.
Despite its huge significance for the development of Western civilisation, Athens has relatively few historical sites worth visiting, compared for instance to a city like Rome. Among them are primarily the Acropolis with the Agora and surrounding temples and the museums with the archaeological artifacts. The Plaka is the old town centre with many souvenir shops and restaurants.

Central Athens
Ancient Agora photo gallery  - 8 pictures of Ancient Agora
Acropolis photo gallery  - 43 pictures of Acropolis
Change of the guard photo gallery  - 11 pictures of Change of the guard
8 photos of the ruins of the Agora, the political and economic centre of ancient Athens
43 photos of the Acropolis of Athens, with the Parthenon, Erechtheion and other ruins
11 photos of the change of the guard in front of the Parliament on Syntagma square
Plaka photo gallery  - 19 pictures of Plaka
Miscellaneous photos photo gallery  - 18 pictures of Miscellaneous photos
Panoramic views photo gallery  - 7 pictures of Panoramic views
19 photos of the Plaka district, the pictoresque historical centre of Athens
18 miscellaneous photos of Athens
7 panoramic photos of Athens

Archeological finds
Aegean civilisation photo gallery  - 15 pictures of Aegean civilisation
Mycenaean period photo gallery  - 30 pictures of Mycenaean period
Classical period photo gallery  - 20 pictures of Classical period
Roman period photo gallery  - 19 pictures of Roman period
15 photos of artifacts of the Aegean civilisation (3000-1450BC)
30 photos of artifacts from the Mycenaean period (1600-1100BC)
20 photos of artifacts of the Classical period (Ancient Greece, 800-323BC)
19 photos of artifacts of the Roman period (146BC - 324AD)
Gallery with all images
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©Copyright Alfred Molon