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Athens Attractions
Acropolis
Theatre of Dionysos
Ancient Agora
Tower of the Winds & Roman
Agora
National Gardens
National Archaeological
Museum
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No trip to Athens would be complete
without a visit to the Acropolis. It is the most important
ancient monument in the western world. Inspiring as the
monuments are, though, they are but faded remnants of
Pericles' city - a city of temples with colossal buildings,
lavishly coloured and gilded, and of gargantuan statues,
some of bronze, others of marble plated with gold and
encrusted with precious stones.
The Propylaia, which formed the towering entrance
to the Acropolis in ancient times, boasts an architectural
brilliance ranking with that of the Parthenon. The Parthenon,
however, is unsurpassed in its grace and harmony. It is the
largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece, the only one
built completely (apart from its wooden roof) of Pentelic
marble. The Parthenon had a dual purpose - to house the giant
statue of Athena commissioned by Pericles, and to serve as
the treasury for the tribute money that had been moved from
Delos. It was built on the site of at least four earlier
temples, all dedicated to the worship of Athena. Beside the
Parthenon is the Erechtheion, immediately recognisable for
its much-photographed Caryatids, the six maidens who take
the place of columns. The onsite Acropolis Museum houses
a collection of sculptures and reliefs from the site.
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The enormous dimensions of the
Theatre of Dionysos, on the southeastern slope of
the Acropolis, give testament to the importance of
theatre in the life of the Athenian city-state. The
first theatre on this site was a timber affair erected
in the 6th century BC. Here goatskin-clad performers
sang and danced during the Festival of Great Dionysia.
During the golden age of the 5th century, dramas
by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes were commissioned
for the festival. The theatre was reconstructed in
stone and marble by Lycurgus between 342 and 326
BC. The auditorium could seat 17,000; of an original
64 tiers of seats, about 20 tiers still survive.
The 2nd-century reliefs at the rear of the stage
depict the exploits of Dionysos. The two hefty, hunched-up
selini were worshippers of the mythical Selinos of
the oversized phallus, who charged up mountains in
lecherous pursuit of nymphs. He mentored Dionysos
- with whatever energy he had leftover.
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The Agora (market) was the focal
point of administrative, commercial, political and
social activity back in the day. All roads led here,
and it was bustling and crowded. Socrates could be
seen expounding his philosophy, and in 49 AD, St
Paul disputed here daily in an attempt to win converts
to Christianity. A good place to begin an exploration
of the site is in the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos,
originally built in 159-138 BC; its expensive shops
were a popular stamping ground for monied Athenians.
In the vicinity is the Agora Museum, where there's
a model of the Agora upstairs along with a collection
of finds from the site. The Temple of Hephaestus,
on the western edge of the Agora, dates from 449
BC and is the best-preserved Doric temple in Greece.
To the northeast of the temple are the foundations
of the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios, one of the places
where Socrates spoke to the masses.
Near the southern entrance of the market is
the Church of the Holy Apostles, which was built in the early
11th century to commemorate St Paul and his teachings. Have
a look at the Byzantine frescoes inside.
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The octagonal marble Tower of
Winds, built in the 1st century BC by Syrian astronomer
Andronicus, was several monuments in one: it served
as a sundial, weather vane, water clock and compass.
Each side of the monument represents a compass point
and has a relief of a figure floating through the
air, depicting the wind associated with that point.
The weather vane, which disappeared long ago, was
a bronze Triton that revolved upon the top of the
tower.
The Roman Agora, though little more than a
heap of rubble to the average eye, does hold an interesting
nugget or two. Its entrance is through the well-preserved
Gate of Athena Archegetis, flanked by four Doric columns.
To the right of the entrance are foundations of a 1st-century
public latrine, and in the southeast area are the foundations
of a propylon and a row of shops.
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The bad news is that the museum
housing the world's finest collection of Greek antiquities
closed for major renovations in October 2002. The
good news is that the 1874 museum will be transformed
into a modern facility, befitting the guardian of
such a priceless collection, reopening in April 2004
in time for the Olympics.
Despite all the pilfering by foreign archaeologists
in the 19th century, this museum still has the world's best
collection of Greek antiquities. The museum's tour de force,
the Hall of Mycenaean Antiquities, is filled with gleaming
gold. The star attraction is the Mask of Agamemnon. The Neolithic
Collection includes finds from Thessaly, as well as pottery,
figurines and jewellery from Troy, and the Cycladic Collection
includes the largest Cycladic figurine ever found. Other
rooms hold archaic, classical, late classical, Hellenistic
and Roman period sculpture; bronze; pottery; and other exquisite
objects and antiquities, including elaborately decorated
mummy cases. The Thira Exhibition, consisting of spectacular
Minoan frescoes unearthed at Akrotiri on Santorini, have
been returned to the island.
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The delightfully shady National
Gardens, featuring subtropical trees and ornamental
ponds with waterfowl, are a nice refuge from the
heat of the summer months. They were formerly of
royal status and were designed by Queen Amalia. The
botanical museum houses interesting drawings, paintings
and photographs.
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Athens
International Airport
The Athens International Airport
is located 33km southeast of Athens and is easily accessible
via Attiki Odos, a six-lane motorway constituting the Athens
City Ring Road.
Public transport to Athens and
the port of Piraeus is provided by express airport bus connections
on a 24 h basis, ensuring efficient transport for air travelers
and facilitating linkage to key tourist attractions.
Future developments such as
the Suburban Rail and the Metro, to be completed in 2004,
in combination with existing sections of Attiki Odos and
extensions under construction will further improve airport
access and enhance intermodality.
Combine the Attiko Metro with the public bus express services
to the airport.
Metro line 3:
-"Ethniki Amina" station
- Express bus E94
Metro line 2 & 3:
-"Syntagma" station
-Express bus E95.
Athens - Piraeus Electric Subway:
"Stadium of Peace and Friendship" station
- Express bus E96
Public Buses
Four public bus routes serve
exclusively the airport, connecting the greater area of
Athens and Piraeus with the airport.
E92
Kifisia - Athens Airport Express
E93
Kifisos Coach Station - Athens Airport Express
E94
Ethniki Amina - Athens Airport Express
E95
Syntagma - Athens Airport Express
E96
Piraeus - Athens Airport Express
E97
Dafni Metro Station - Athens Airport Express
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Map of Athens
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ATHENS
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History of
Athens
To appreciate Athens,
it's important to be aware of the city's traumatic history. Unlike most capital
cities, Athens' history is not one of continuous expansion; it is one characterised
by glory, followed by decline and near annihilation, and then resurgence in
the 19th century, when it became capital of independent Greece.
Accounts of Athens' early days are inextricably
woven with mythology, making it difficult to be sure
what really happened. We do know, though, that the
hilltop site of the Acropolis, endowed with two copious
springs, drew some of Greece's early Neolithic settlers.
Later, with the rise of city-states, the Acropolis
provided an ideal defensive position, and by 1400 BC,
it had become a powerful Mycenaean city.
Around 1200 BC Greece fell
into a long dark age, of which very little is known,
but in the 8th-century BC a peaceful Athens became
the artistic centre of Greece. Next came a period of
social reform, followed by unrest and subsequent tyranny.
Athens didn't shake off oppression until 510 BC, when
Sparta stepped in to help. Following the defeat of
the Persian Empire, Athens' power grew enormously.
It established a confederacy on the island of Delos,
demanding tributes from islands for protection against
the Persians. The money was used to transform the city.
This was Athens' golden age: monuments were built on
the Acropolis, and drama and literature flourished.
Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; sculptors Pheidias
and Myron; and historians Herodotus, Thucydides and
Xenophon all lived at this time.
Sparta, however, wasn't prepared to
play second fiddle, and increasing hostilities triggered
the Peloponnesian Wars in 431BC. After 27 years of
fighting, Sparta gained the upper hand, and Athens
slid from its former glory. The century wasn't a total
loss, as it did produce three of the west's greatest
orators and philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
Under Roman rule, Athens continued
to be a major seat of learning, and Roman emperors
graced the city with many grand buildings. After the
subdivision of the Roman Empire into east and west,
the city remained a cultural and intellectual centre,
until its schools of philosophy closed in 529 AD. Between
1200 and 1450, Athens was overrun by a motley crew
of opportunists, including Franks, Catalans, Florentines
and Venetians. The Turks invaded in 1456 and settled
in for 400 years.
In the early stages of
the War of Independence (1821-27), fierce street fighting
saw the city change hands several times between Greek
liberators and Turks. In 1834, Athens replaced Nafplio
as the capital of independent Greece, and King Otho
set about repairing the war-torn city. Bavarian architects
created a city of imposing neoclassical buildings (most
of which have since been demolished) and tree-lined
boulevards.
The historical event which,
more than any other, shaped the Athens of today was
the compulsory population exchange between Greece and
Turkey that followed the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne
in 1923. The population of Athens virtually doubled
overnight, necessitating the hasty erection of concrete
apartment blocks to house the newcomers.
Along with the rest of Greece,
Athens suffered appallingly during the German
occupation of WWII and in the civil war that followed.
The expansion of Athens accelerated during the 1950s
and 60s, when the country began the transition from
an agricultural to an industrial nation. The colonels'
junta (1967-74) tore down many crumbling old Turkish
houses and the neoclassical buildings, all the while
failing to tackle the infrastructure problems resulting
from the rapid, chaotic growth of the city. By the
end of the '80s the city had developed a sorry reputation
as one of the most traffic-clogged and polluted in
Europe.
Since the 1980s, fundamental
changes have taken place, the most dramatic in the
'90s. The city's failed bid to stage the 1996 Olympics
served as a wake-up call to authorities, who launched
an ambitious program to prepare the city for the 21st
century. In 1997, the city's bid to stage the 2004
games was successful. Although the Olympics created
a momentum of its own, with confidence riding high
as billions were poured into development, infighting
and bureaucratic red-tape caused delays so great that
in 2000 IOC chairman Juan Antonio Samaranch warned
that the games were in danger. By the end of 2002,
the IOC was more confident about the progress Athens
had made, but still concerned about whether everything
would be finished on time. The years 2003 and 2004
will be critical, with all eyes on the city. In the
long term, the Olympics could prove the greatest gift
for Greece, and Athens, fast-tracking long-overdue
infrastructure improvements. In the short term, they
present the greatest challenge - as events of the last
few years have shown, delivering an event of a scale
the nation has never seen may well exhaust all the
country's resources. |
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Athens |
Peloponnese
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Thessalia
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Epirus
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Central Greece |
Thrace |
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