Athens

Athens, the capital of Greece with population of over 3 million people, is recognizable by its widely visible symbol of the Acropolis, the notion of classical Greece. In the agglomeration of Athens is about one - third of the total population of Greece. Athens is its economic, political and cultural center located on the Attica peninsula. This is city of contradictions: on one hand, the chaos in the traffic jams daily, on the other, magnificent testimonies of antiquity that are concentrated in the southern part of the wider city. Its ports are famous since antiquity: Piraeus, as trade, and Faleron, as military port.

In the ancient times, it was the capital of Attica and gradually became the cultural center of the political divided ancient Hellas. The oldest part of the ancient city is on the hill - Acropolis (it is on the list of world cultural heritage by UNESCO), where the most famous monuments of ancient Hellenic architecture are situated. In about 800 BC, the Acropolis was turned into a shrine dedicated to the goddess Athena, the patron of Athens. It is situated on the platform of 156 meters high, steep, rocky and limestone hill and it was an important refuge for its residents in time of trouble and danger. The walls of the first fortifications date back to the 13th century BC. Since the Persians destroyed the archaic temple in 480 BC, in the time of Pericles (first half of the 5th century BC) was built a complex of monumental, marble edifices with a grand approach way named Propylaea, a small temple of Athena Nike, the huge Doric Parthenon (from 447 till 432 BC) and ion Erechtheion, whose court is held by caryatids. The Parthenon was damaged the most in the 17th century, when the Venetian grenade hit the Turkish gunpowder warehouse placed inside it and blew his top up.

Around the Acropolis developed the Lower City, also rich with memorable buildings. The most interesting sights beneath the Acropolis are the Theatre of Dionysius, where world - famous Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles' dramas were performed in front of 17,000 spectators, and the Roman Odeon, which was built in 160 by wealthy Athenian Herod Atticus. The most important sculptures and reliefs are exhibited in the Acropolis Museum.

According to the legend, Theseus made Athens the capital of Attica. Up until 683 BC, it was ruled by kings and then archons were elected. The Solon's law was adopted in 594 BC. Later on, tyrants started to rule and, especially, Pisistratus who reigned from 560 up to 527 BC. After the Cleisthenes’s reforms in 508 BC, Athens became a slave - owning democratic polis by its character. This city had the upper hand in divided Hellas during the wars against the Persians, where the famous Battle of Marathon occurred in 490 BC. In 5th century BC, Pericles was able to gain citizens of Athens for an ambitious construction project: construction of the famous Acropolis, where originally were the three temples. The Acropolis was a huge tax burden for the residents of Athens, as the total construction cost amounted to 2,000 talents of ancient gold, which was for the city - state that size a vast sum. Athens, however, made it to the peak of power exactly at the time of Pericles from 460 until 431 BC (named the Athenian maritime state) and this period in history is called the Golden Age of Athens. Never the less, an unfortunate outcome of the Peloponnesian War, which lasted from 431 up to 404 BC, caused its gradual decline. When the Romans, under the leadership of Sulla, took it over and robbed it in 86 BC, it was politically reduced to a Roman, and subsequently a Byzantine, city district.

During the Fourth Crusade in 1205, for some time it was the capital of the homonymous duchy founded by the crusaders. However, it fell under the Turks in 1456, and remained for centuries completely insignificant and neglected. It was first released in 1822, during the Greek uprising, but, in 1827, it fell again under the rule of the Turks.

For the capital of newly formed Hellenic Kingdom, it was declared on December 25th 1834, after which it began to develop rapidly. Even better upswing it got thanks to the expansion of Greece after the Balkan wars and the First World War. Even the frequent political convulsions and catastrophes could not stop this. After the defeat in the war in Anatolia (1921-1922), the influx of a large number of Greeks from Asia Minor to Athens and Piraeus, increased the number of new business enterprises there.

In the Second World War, the Germans occupied Athens on April 27th 1941. It was liberated by the Greek and British Army on October 14th 1944.

Around the Agora, ancient market square from 600 BC and centuries-old center of public life, are grouped Doric Temple of Hephaestus or Theseion (449 - 440 BC), The Stoa of Attalos - before in the central crafting district (with excavations of the ancient Agora), an octagonal tower of winds from the 1st century BC, the former water and lunar clock with weather vane, a Roman agora from the time around the birth of Christ and the nearby Fethiye, which dates from the late 15th century. In Plaka, the old, picturesque quarter with narrow streets, small shops, cafes and taverns, are many Byzantine churches, such as the beautiful little church Mitropoli (12th century) and the oldest church, the Basilica Kapnikarea from the 11th century, located in the busy Ermou Street. What are also interesting are the basilica of Panagia Geogepikos (12th century) at the Mitropoleos square, as well as, a small mosque and the remains of Hadrian's Library from the Roman period at the Monastiraki square.

In modern Athens, around the traffic Syntagma square are situated the Parliament building (built in 1842, based on a design of architect Friedrich von Gartner), the National Park from 1836, with exotic plants, the Numismatic Museum in the house of Heinrich Schliemann (the scientist who discovered the remains of the city of Troy in Asia Minor), the ancient stadium Kallimarmaro (reconstructed in 1896 for the first Modern Olympic Games), the remains of Hadrian's Gate and the Olympieion - Temple of Zeus from the Roman times, the National Archaeological Museum with a unique collection of ancient Greek art, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Byzantine Museum and the Benaki Museum (with the exhibits of Byzantine craft art and Coptic textiles). In the vicinity are located the Byzantine Monastery Kaisariani with the Church of Saint Maria (built in about 1 000) and of Daphne (from 11th century, with mosaics of gold foil in the main church - the UNESCO World Heritage). In addition, what should not remain unmentioned is the Athens University (founded in 1837), the Polytechnic Institute (in 1836), the Institute of Archaeology, the Greek Maritime Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the National Gallery and the National Library, the Theater and other institutions.

Attractive tourist sites in the vicinity of Athens are Cape Sounion with the temple of Poseidon (67 km away), the islands in the Saronic Gulf of Aegina with the Temples of Apollo and Aphaea, the island of Paros with its splendid, natural beauties and the island of artists - Hydra.