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.
01 Panoramic view of Agora and Acropolis 02 Panoramic view of Agora and Acropolis
03 Panoramic view of Agora and Acropolis 04 Temple of Hephaistos 05 Temple of Hephaistos
06 Ruins 07 Agora ruins and Lykavittos hill 08 Ruins
01 Panoramic view of Acropolis 02 Panoramic view of Acropolis 03 Path to Acropolis
04 Herodes Atticus theatre audience stands 05 Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre 06 Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre 07 Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre 08 Western entrance
09 Western entrance 10 Propylaia gate under restoration 11 Parthenon 12 Parthenon 13 Erechtheion
14 Erechtheion 15 Caryatids of Erechtheion temple 16 Caryatids of Erechtheion temple 17 Statue of lioness savaging bull 18 Western Acropolis
19 Dionysos theatre 20 Parthenon 21 Parthenon 22 Parthenon
23 Parthenon at night 24 Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre at night 25 Panoramic view of Acropolis at night
26 Panoramic view of Acropolis 27 Panoramic view of Acropolis at night 28 Theatre of Dionysus
29 Theatre of Dionysus 30 Temple of Nike 31 Herodes Atticus theatre 32 Olympieion 33 Olympieion 34 Olympieion
35 Olympieion 36 Olympieion 37 Olympieion 38 Acropolis ruins
39 Acropolis ruins 40 Acropolis ruins 41 Acropolis ruins 42 Acropolis ruins 43 Acropolis ruins
01 Evzone at Monument of Unknown Soldier 02 Evzone marching at Monument of Unknown Soldier 03 Evzone marching at Monument of Unknown Soldier 04 Evzones marching at Monument of Unknown Soldier 05 Evzone marching at Monument of Unknown Soldier 06 Evzone at Monument of Unknown Soldier
07 Evzones marching at Monument of Unknown Soldier 08 Evzones marching at Monument of Unknown Soldier 09 Evzones 10 Evzones marching at Monument of Unknown Soldier 11 Evzone at Monument of Unknown Soldier
01 Pedestrian area with shops 02 Pedestrian area with shops 03 Paintings for sale 04 Pedestrian area with shops 05 Dried fruits for sale 06 Souvenir shop
07 Pedestrian area with shops 08 Restaurant on alley at night 09 Restaurant on alley at night 10 Akamantos cafe 11 Akamantos cafe 12 Akamantos cafe
13 Cafe tables and chairs 14 Apostolou Pavlou street 15 Apostolou Pavlou street 16 Monastiraki square 17 Monastiraki square
18 Cafe restaurant at night 19 Cafe restaurant at night 01 National museum
02 National museum 03 National museum bronze statues 04 Moschato tram stop 05 Tram carriage
06 Parliament and Syntagma square 07 Hotels on Syntagma square 08 Syntagma square 09 Syntagma square 10 Bus at bus stop
11 Mitropoleos square 12 Omonoia square
13 Omonoia square 14 Pigeon
15 Pigeons 16 The eldest cemetery in Athens 17 The eldest cemetery in Athens 18 The eldest cemetery in Athens
01 Panoramic view with Acropolis and Agora 02 Panoramic view with Acropolis and Agora
03 Panoramic view of Athens 04 Panoramic view of Athens 05 Lykavittos hill
06 Panorama view of Athens at night 07 View of Athens 01 Faience models of sacral knots - Minoan culture 02 Beak-spouted jug - Late Helladic period
03 Jewellery - Late Helladic period 04 Marble statue of man playing instrument - Cycladic period 05 Female marble statue - Cycladic period 06 Frying pan vessels - Cycladic period 07 Marble female figurines with folded arms - Cycladic period
08 Bronze daggers and spear heads - Cycladic period 09 Marble statue of Kouros - Cycladic period 10 Marble statue of Kore - Cycladic period 11 Marble statue of Kouros - Cycladic period 12 Antelopes fresco - Minoan culture 13 Boxing children fresco - Minoan culture
14 Akrotiri Thera spring fresco - Minoan culture 15 Storage jar from Knossos palace - Minoan culture 01 Jar and amphora 02 Wine cooler 03 Gold death mask of a man
04 Bronze dagger with gold revetment and lilies decoration 05 Golden Mask of Agamemnon 06 Silver bull rhyton vessel 07 Bronze knives and swords
08 Bronze swords 09 Golden diadems 10 Gold knee plates 11 Golden male death mask
12 Gold calyx 13 Bronze dagger with gold nails for shaft 14 Gold plates covering body 15 Circular gold plates
16 Bronze swords 17 Iron dagger with gold handle 18 Gold diadem 19 Gold female deity figurines
20 Mycenaean lady goddess wall painting 21 Female deities ivory statues 22 Wild boar hunt wall painting 23 Wall painting fragments 24 Gold necklaces
25 Boar tusk helmet 26 Figurines 27 Vapheio gold cup 28   Bronze swords 29 Necklaces
30 Glass plaque necklaces and diadems 01 Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon 02 Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon 03 Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon 04 Bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon 05 Kneeling athlete perfume bottle
06 Attic grave amphora 07 Painted amphora 08 Pelike vase with Gigantomachia scene 09 Krater vase 10 Gold wreath with leaves and flowers
11 Sphinx amphora 12 Sphinx amphora 13 Bronze head of victory Nike 14 Bronze Spartan shield 15 Marble Herm head 16 Marble Herm head
17 Terracotta figurines and female protomes 18 Marble votive statue of sphinx 19 Marble votive statue of sphinx 20 Marble statue of kore 01 Sarcophagus
02 Bust of Antinoos 03 Bronze statue of emperor Augustus 04 Marble statues of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros 05 Head of marble statue of Zeus 06 Marble theatre mask 07 Bronze head of boxer
08 Bronze statue of Paris 09 Marble grave stele 10 Marble statue of Aphrodite 11 Marble statue of Aphrodite 12 Marble grave stele 13 Thermopylae arrowheads and spearheads
14 Pitchers 15 Bronze statue of shepherd 16 Head of griffin 17 Tripod stand with Athena, Hermes and Heracles figures 18 Marble statue of Asclepius 19 Marble Hermes head
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