Ancient Greece
Athens: A city with a past
Famous for its outstandingly rich history and culture, the Greek capital is full of captivating historic and archeological places to visit. Therefore, we have prepared a short guide to discover Ancient Greece in all its glory throughout the city.
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city and includes the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The word acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”).
The Lyceum was a temple dedicated to Apollo Lyceus.
It was best known for the Peripatetic school of philosophy founded there by Aristotle in 334 BC. Although Aristotle fled Athens in 323 BC, the school continued to function under a series of leaders up until the Roman general Sulla destroyed it during his assault on Athens in 86 BC.
The Panathenaic Stadium or Kallimarmaro, is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens and one of its main historic attractions. It is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble.
It was used for various purposes in the 20th century and was used again as an Olympic venue in 2004.
It is the finishing point for the annual Athens Classic Marathon, while it is also the place where the Olympic flame handover ceremony to the host nation takes place.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus is a former colossal temple at the center of Athens dedicated to “Olympian” god Zeus. Its construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, some 638 years after the project had begun. During the Roman period the temple, which included 104 colossal columns, was renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone Roman theater located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis. The building was completed in 161AD and then renovated in 1950s.
The ancient Agora of Athens) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios Kolonos, also called Market Hill. The Agora’s initial use was for a commercial, assembly, or residential gathering place.
