Beautiful Athens - myths, sights and complicated history. Museums. Which are worth a visit. Athens - holidays with children
Athens is the capital of Greece, its largest city, which attracts many tourists from all over the world. Acquaintance with Greece to start with Athens has already become a tradition. And there are many reasons for this.
This is the oldest city in the country, which has experienced and seen a lot: luxury and need, prosperity and decline, majesty and insignificance. Despite such changes, the entire civilized world symbolizes modern Athens with freedom and democracy.
The name of the capital of Greece comes from the name of the goddess of wisdom, Athena. The legend says that the Phoenician Kekrops founded a city on a huge rock in Attica, and the goddess of wisdom Athena and the god of the sea Poseidon fought for the right to patronize him. In order to resolve this dispute, the gods from Olympus invited Athena and Poseidon to make gifts to the city. Poseidon, striking a rock with a trident, gave him water, and Athena, with a blow of a spear on a rock, grew an olive tree. The gods considered the gift of Athena more valuable, so the city was given to the goddess of wisdom.
Athens combines history and modernity, European appearance and ancient harmony. In that romantic city people of art and businessmen fall in love, young and old, married and bachelors. Athens strikes people on the spot with its stunning rhythm of life. And in numerous theaters, restaurants, shops and hotels, you can always take a break from such a rhythm.
Climate and weather
The climate in Athens, like throughout Greece, is Mediterranean. But there is also a difference - low humidity. You will never feel the sweltering heat in Athens, although the average temperature in holiday season reaches +30 °С. The average temperature in winter is +5 °С, almost without snow, but with frequent rains.
Nature
In addition to the magnificent climate, Athens can boast of its rich nature. The Greek capital is located along the coast Aegean Sea and surrounded by mountains on three sides. Throughout the area of Athens there are 12 hills, the most significant of them are the Acropolis and Loukavittos. The most important natural attractions of Athens are olive groves, a variety of flowers, numerous vineyards and, of course, luxurious beaches. Despite such a beautiful appearance, the city still has environmental problems.
Attractions
Traveling around Athens, one cannot fail to visit the symbol of the Greek capital - the Acropolis with its main temple, the Parthenon, the temple of the virgin Athena. It is very popular among tourists Old city, in particular Place de la Concorde, where the Parliament building, the magnificent royal park and the ruins of the temple of Olympian Zeus and the Arch of Hadrian are located. Thanks to the period of prosperity of the Byzantine Empire, Athens had a huge number of churches: the Church of the Holy Apostles, the Church of St. Theodore, Kapnikareya, Panagia Gorgoepikoos, the Church of St. George. Keramikos is the most important monument of ancient Athens, where the ashes of famous Athenians are kept. Also of interest to tourists are the Tower of Fans, the Lantern of Diogenes and, of course, the Arch of Hadrian. All this is just a small list of what is worth visiting in Athens.
Nutrition
IN Greek capital you will find a huge number of taverns, cafes and restaurants. Their highest concentration falls on the areas of Plaka and Psiri - the city center. Here you can find absolutely everything: oriental exotic and European sophistication, small eateries and luxurious restaurants of traditional Greek cuisine.
If you are a little hungry during city tours, you simply don’t have time for long meetings in a restaurant, but you prefer tasty and healthy food, then welcome to Gregory's and Everest, the main Greek fast food chains.
In the evening, after long trips around the city, after swimming and sunbathing, you really want to sit in good place with a cozy atmosphere, delicious cuisine and a generous menu ... A glass of great wine, traditional Greek dishes, excellent music - all this can be combined in one place, the Filistron restaurant, which is located next to the entrance to the city park. A main feature institution is a chic view of the Acropolis! Here you will be offered huge selection dishes of national cuisine. The institution is so popular that sometimes a table is booked here for a month! Therefore, we recommend that you visit it on a normal weekday.
There is one feature in alcoholic Greek drinks. Often they contain anise, which can cause allergic reactions or just discomfort.
Accommodation
The most demanding travelers will be happy to meet the NJV Athens Plaza (Grecotel), located in the city center, from the window of which a magnificent view of the Acropolis opens. The building of the Hotel Grande Bretagne has been standing on the same square for 130 years, which adds a touch of antiquity to the establishment, but the service here is modern and first-class. Not far from the temple of Zeus is a luxurious five-star Royal Hotel Olympic. The leader among the four-star hotels is the Titania hotel, located in the city center between Syntagma and Omonia squares.
Entertainment and recreation
Your vacation in Athens will be filled with an unforgettable contrast. A tour to Athens is quite simple to choose depending on the interests of the tourist. For family vacation children are equipped with playgrounds and waterslides on the beach with shallow sea.
lovers active rest will also be pleasantly surprised by the wide range of entertainment: diving and water jumps, volleyball and tennis fields.
The most popular among tourists are the largest amusement park in Greece, Allou Fun Park, and one of the largest in the world, the Athens Planetarium. The park is divided into two large areas: for adults and children. The park is open from 10:00 to 24:00. In the planetarium, you can watch 3D films about the distant future, space travel and even the ancient Greek past! Planetarium opening hours: 9:30-16:30. The entrance ticket for children is 5-6 €, for adults - 4-8 €.
Purchases
Among lovers of Greek shopping, the most popular places in Athens are the Monastiraki area and the Ermous pedestrian street near Syntagma Square. This is where you can visit the largest number various outlets.
Here is a short list of the most famous stores:
- Hellenic Folk Art Gallery - folk art gallery,
- Stavros Melissinos is a luxury designer shoe store,
- Eleftheroudakis is a unique six-story bookstore located between Omonia and Syntagma squares,
- Mall - the largest shopping center in Athens, located at the Neratziotissa metro station.
And you don’t have to worry about small gifts to friends, because souvenir sellers are always located exactly where there are tourists!
Transport
The fare system in Athens is differentiated depending on your route, its length and type of public transport. The cost of one trip in the metro and bus costs 1 €, tram - --- 0.6 €. A ticket for 24 hours costs 3 €, and for a week - 10 €.
An interesting fact remains that the movement to or from the airport automatically increases the cost of your trip several times. So a single ticket on the metro will already cost 6 €, on the bus - 3.2 €, and the taxi driver automatically adds 3.2 € to the established fare.
The main features of transport in Athens include the following: city buses stop exclusively at the request of passengers, the daily rate for one kilometer taxi trip (0.34 €) doubles at night, you will pay a small surcharge for calling a taxi by phone and heavy luggage .
Connection
Internet services in Greece, and especially in Athens, are excellent. It is enough just to find an Internet cafe or an access point here. For an hour of access to the World Wide Web in an Internet cafe, you will pay from 1.5 to 4 €. But do not rush to quickly pay for the use of this valuable resource! After all, many hotels provide their guests with free access, so do not forget to ask. And Syntagma Square already has a free Wi-Fi hotspot.
Those who wish to stay "always in touch" can purchase a Greek SIM card. SIM cards are sold in the office of a telecom operator, in shopping centers and supermarkets. The cost of the service package can vary from 3 to 20 € depending on the tariff plan. Recharge cards are also easy to buy at any store. Q-Telecom is considered the most profitable operator due to its interesting tariffs, high coverage and various promotions and special offers.
You can also easily use a regular telephone connection. There are telephone booths throughout the city, most of which work with prepaid cards (you can buy them at newsstands). Such a card contains a certain limit of negotiations with any part of the world, its cost is from 4 to 20 €. And in bars and hotels you can find coin operated machines. Their main feature is that they can receive an incoming call.
Safety
Athens can definitely be called a safe city. But still, at some points it’s worth keeping an eye out. Firstly, political life Greece in Lately especially intensified in connection with the crisis. Strikes, rallies and demonstrations often take place in the city. Therefore, be especially careful and careful in the capital, so as not to get into an unpleasant situation in a foreign city and country. Secondly, in Athens there are not entirely favorable areas, which tourists are not recommended to visit after sunset. These areas include Omonia Square, Larissis railway station and its surroundings, Sophocles, Liossion, Metaxourgio and Filis streets. On some of these streets there are brothels allowed in Greece. In addition, these areas have earned their criminal reputation because of the drug trade.
Business climate
Athens is the center of business activity in Greece. And there are two reasons for this: geographical and historical. World practice confirms that in most countries the capital is the leading link in business. And history reminds us that from ancient times the Athenians were merchants, which remains true to this day. Athenians prefer small family businesses to huge corporations. The business “heart of Athens” is the lower part of Omonia Square. The Stock Exchange is located on Sophocles Street.
Real estate
Recently, information about the crisis in Greece has been on TV screens and newspapers. Due to this, many believe that investing in Greek real estate is dangerous and short-sighted. It is impossible not to agree that there is a wise grain in such reasoning. But contrary to all the laws of the economy, the demand for real estate in Athens is growing rapidly! Because of this liquidity, many business people prefer to invest in Greek real estate. This sector of the Greek economy gives a 100% guarantee of winnings if the purchased housing is rented out. Even buying real estate exclusively for yourself will be profitable here.
Obviously, in Athens, real estate is much more diverse than on the islands. Here you can buy houses, villas and apartments in residential complexes. Estimated cost housing in the city - from 1000 to 1500 € per square meter, while the luxurious suburbs set the price up to 10,000 € per square meter.
In Athens, you will have to pay 350-500 € per month for renting a three-room apartment. A resort area capitals will add another 70-80% to this cost during the season.
When relaxing alone, be vigilant when accepting an invitation to drink from an outside company. It is possible that you will be taken to a bar or pub, where you will have to pay the bill, no matter what. In such pubs, this is a common rule, and even the police will not be able to help you with anything. Today, in Athens, almost all such "cunning" establishments are closed, except for two - Pub Love and New York Pub, located in Plaka.
The city of Athens, which is the capital of sunny and beautiful Greece, shrouded in many myths and legends, is located on the plain of Attica, and its coast is washed by the picturesque Saronic Gulf.
The city, at the mention of which amazing ancient Greek myths are recalled with their passions and battles of the gods, is one of the favorite places for travelers from all over the globe. A huge number of cultural monuments, exquisite and unique national cuisine, gentle waters of the Aegean Sea, developed infrastructure entertainment and, of course, the ancient ruins of temples and sanctuaries attract to Athens all, without exception, connoisseurs of ancient sights and tourists who want to have a good and inexpensive rest.
Athens Acropolis
Holiday prices in Greece, in particular in Athens, are really low when compared with holiday prices in other EU countries.
At the moment, the population of the capital of Greece, including small suburbs, is just over 4,000,000 people. In addition, thanks to the availability of jobs, about half a million people from other countries live in Athens intermittently. Greece cannot be called a populous country, more than a third of the population nowadays lives in its capital and nearby suburbs. If you look at the map of Athens, you will notice that from the land the city is surrounded by mountains: Imito, Pendeli and Parnitha.
We can say that the city is located in a kind of pool created by nature itself. On the one hand, this is the natural protection of the city, and on the other hand, the mountains and the Saronic Gulf limit the area of \u200b\u200bAthens and do not allow them to go beyond natural barriers. Due to the city's high population density and technological advancement, Athens suffers from a temperature inversion effect. Summer in Greece is very hot, tourists should definitely remember this, especially those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases. But the winter here is sometimes frosty, and snow is not a novelty for the Athenians.
Temple of Olympian Zeus
The history of the city's name
Most historians say that the name of the capital of Greece comes from the name of the goddess Athena Pallas, although, in fairness, it is worth noting that there is another version. The myth that tells how exactly the city got its name is very interesting. In ancient times, the settlement near the Saronic Gulf was ruled by a king named Kekrops. He was only half human, with a serpent's tail writhing instead of legs. The ruler, born of the goddess Gaia, had to solve a rather difficult task and choose who would be the patron of his village. Thinking, he said that he who of the gods will make the most best gift city, he will become its patron. Immediately, the brother of Zeus Poseidon appeared before the people, and with all his might he struck his trident into the stony soil. A huge fountain soared up from this place: people ran up to it, but immediately returned with gloomy faces: the water in the fountain was the same as in the sea, salty and undrinkable. After Poseidon, the beautiful Athena Pallas appeared to the inhabitants, she showed people an olive tree that quickly grew out of the ground. Kekrop and the population of the city rejoiced and recognized Athena as the patroness of the city.
Temple of the Erechtheion
So, a city surrounded by three mountains and spread out at sea bay, got its name - Athens. After that, Poseidon was angry with Athens, and the lack of life-giving moisture is felt in the city even today (and all this in a subtropical semi-desert climate). Sacrifices, gifts and the construction of the temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion did not help. Some historians do not agree with this myth and insist that the name of the capital of Greece occurred as a result of a slight change in the word "Athos", which can be literally translated into Russian as a flower.
Athens - a bit of history
In the distant 500 BC, Athens flourished: the inhabitants of the city were rich, culture and science developed. The end of the prosperity of the center of Ancient Greece was put by the Great Roman Empire around the beginning of the 300s BC. 500 years after the arrival of the Savior in our world, the Byzantine Empire decided to close numerous philosophical schools in Athens and put an end to the prosperity of pagan cults. It was from this period of time that the capital of Greece from richest city turns into a small provincial town, for which for many centuries there has been a war between the French and Italians. It could not be otherwise, from Athens it was possible to go out to the open sea and conduct profitable trade. The strategic location of the ancient city is difficult to overestimate today.
Academy of Athens
A serious blow to Athens came in 1458, the year the city was captured by the Turks. and included by them in the huge Ottoman Empire. In those days, most of the inhabitants of Athens died from overwork for the benefit of the Ottoman Empire and from hunger. At this time, the Byzantines were trying to regain control of Athens, and the city often became the scene of bloody battles. During them, many priceless monuments of history and architecture were destroyed, in particular, the well-known ancient greek temple Parthenon.
Only 1833 brought relief to the small population of Athens, when the city finally became the capital of the free Greek Kingdom again. By the way, at that moment less than 5,000 (!) people lived in the capital. The population rapidly grew immediately to 2,000,000 people already in 1920, when the descendants of the native Athenians, who were once expelled by the Turks to Asia Minor, began to return to their homeland. The beginning of the 20th century was also marked by an increased interest in the numerous sights of the city: a huge number of archaeologists began to excavate on the territory of Athens, and restorers tried to restore at least a semblance of their former grandeur to the architectural monuments. The work was stopped only during the Second World War: the Nazis needed access to the sea and they occupied Greece in a short period of time.
Temple of Hephaestus
Modern Athens
No matter how strange it may sound, but it is the second World War, or rather its end, marked the beginning of the new prosperity of Athens. Industry is rapidly developing in the capital and there is active trade with many countries of the world. Greece flourished until 1980: a huge number of tourists interested in ancient sights and the history of the country bring significant income to the budget. In 1981, as everyone is well aware, Greece joined the European Union, which brought the Athenians not only the joy of affordable credit and a booming economy, but also problems with overpopulation and movement around the city.
At the moment, Athens attracts travelers from all over the world with its sights, among which are the Theater of Dionysus, the Temple of Hephaestus, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Athenian Agora and, of course, the majestic Acropolis. There are more than 200 large museums in the city, where you can see unique exhibits dating back to 500 BC. The first museum that travel agencies recommend paying attention to is the Benaki Museum, where you can get acquainted with cultural objects and ethnographic materials that will “tell” the history of the once great, powerful, invincible and famous for its philosophers Athens.
Arch of Hadrian
In addition to numerous attractions, the traveler who was brought to Athens will be able to appreciate what the incessant, cheerful and shimmering with thousands of neon lights "nightlife" is. The capital of Greece has a huge number of restaurants, large and small bars, discos and nightclubs. In the city, everything is done so that a tourist who comes to Athens feels as comfortable and relaxed as possible.
Useful information for tourists about Athens in Greece - geographical location, tourism infrastructure, map, architectural features and attractions.
Athens is the capital of Greece and one of the most ancient European cities. The city is located in the southern part of the Attica peninsula, in a valley surrounded from the west, east and north by low mountains. From the south it is washed by the waters of the Saronic Gulf.
Athens got its name from Athena, the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology. The history of the city has several millennia. After the classical golden age of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the city experienced a decline in the Middle Ages. Athens experienced a second birth in 1834 as the capital of independent Greece. It was here in 1896 that the first Olympiad of the Modern Age took place.
Now Athens is a large metropolis with a population of 4.5 million. This is a huge museum of ancient architecture under open sky. Finally, simply amazingly beautiful and hospitable city.
The central part of Athens is divided into a number of distinct areas. Behind the Acropolis, which is the core of the ancient city, lies Plaka, the oldest residential area of Athens. Here you can see monuments of the ancient, Byzantine or Turkish period - such as the octagonal Tower of the Winds, the tiny Byzantine church of the Small Metropolis or the elegant stone door of the Turkish religious school - a madrasah, the building of which has not been preserved.
Most of Plaka's old houses have now been converted into tourist shops, cafes, night bars and restaurants. Descending from the Acropolis in a northwestern direction, you come to the Monastiraki area, where craftsmen's shops have been located since medieval times.
Going from here along University Street in a southeast direction, you can go to the center of the modern city, passing the richly decorated buildings of the National Library, the University and the Academy and get to Syntagma (Constitution) Square - the administrative and tourist center Athens. There is a beautiful building of the Old Royal Palace on it, there are hotels, open-air cafes, many banks and institutions. Further east towards the slopes of Lycabettus Hill are Kolonaki Square, a new Cultural Center, including Byzantine Museum, the Benaki Museum, the National Art Gallery, the Conservatory and Concert hall. To the south are the New Royal Palace, the National Park and the Great Panathenaic Stadium, reconstructed for the revived Olympic Games in 1896.
Today's Athens is a modern city with a dizzying pace of life. Modern and at the same time romantic, with busy streets and squares, with bright multi-colored shop windows, but also with secluded alleys, with quiet and secluded neighborhoods such as Plaka and Metz. In the countless stores of the capital, the buyer will find everything he wants; Athenian restaurants and taverns are able to satisfy any order.
The history of Athens is the history of Western civilization, its origins and its very essence. Everything was invented here: democracy, theater, the foundations of law, philosophy and oratory. The city has been standing on the fertile land of Attica for 9 thousand years, no cataclysms and wars could shake its foundations.
In the ancient heart of Athens - the sacred Acropolis, there are still pagan temples dedicated to the mighty Zeus, the wise Athena and the mighty Hephaestus. Stone stages of ancient theaters still remember the first tragedies of Euripides. The marble steps of the Panathinaikos Stadium are still ready to receive dexterous athletes today.
For thousands of years, Athens flourished, fell into decay, were devastated and revived again. But the city was able to maintain its status as the progenitor and source in which our entire culture was born.
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What to see and where to go in Athens?
The most interesting and Beautiful places for walks. Photos and a short description.
The Acropolis is the heart of Athens, the ancient city where civilization was born thousands of years ago, which gave rise to everything modern Western world. The architectural ensemble of the Acropolis includes buildings of the pre-Hellenistic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods in the history of Athens. Most Interest represent partially preserved walls and columns of ancient temples and theaters. The Acropolis of Athens is one of the most valuable objects cultural heritage humanity.
Greek temple dedicated to the patroness of the city - the goddess Athena. The majestic building was built in the 5th century BC. during the heyday of the city of Athens under the ruler Pericles. The names of the architects of the temple have survived to this day. It is believed that the masters Kallikrat and Iktin worked on the construction, and the great Phidias worked on the sculptural design. The interior of the Parthenon was opulent and pompous, and the facade was painted in different colors.
Temple of the 5th century BC, belonging to the Classical era Greek history. It was erected at the behest of the Athenian ruler Pericles, an outstanding commander and talented politician. The roof of the building is fortified on orderly rows of Doric marble columns, the friezes are made in compliance with the canons of the Ionic style. Interestingly, from the 7th century AD. and until the beginning of the 19th century, the Orthodox Church of St. George was located in the temple of Hephaestus.
According to ancient legend, the Erechtheion was built on the site of a dispute between Athena and Poseidon, during which the gods did not share power over Attica. The temple was erected at the end of the 5th century BC. in the Ionic style, the name of the architect was lost in the thickness of the centuries. The well-preserved portico of the Caryatids, which was added to the temple later. It is a series of female sculptures-columns supporting the roof. Authorship is attributed to the sculptor Callimachus (according to another version - Alkamen).
Stone theater, located on the southern slopes of the Acropolis. The odeon was erected in the middle of the 2nd century BC. It was used to organize theatrical performances and musical performances. The Odeon is perfectly preserved and moreover, it is used for its intended purpose in our days. After reconstruction in the middle of the 20th century, the stage began to host the annual Athens Festival. Over the past time, the best voices of the world stage performed at it.
The grandiose construction of the temple began in the 6th century BC. under the tyrant Pisistratus, but after his overthrow the building stood unfinished for another six centuries. The work was completed under the Roman Emperor Hadrian. In the III century AD. during the sack of Athens, the temple was seriously damaged, and in the 5th century it was completely closed by order of Theodosius II. The final destruction of the temple of Olympian Zeus occurred with the decline of the Byzantine Empire. The remains of the building were discovered during excavations of the 19th century.
An octagonal building made of Pentelicon marble, located on the territory of the Roman Agora. According to one version, it is believed that the tower was built in the 1st century BC. astronomer Andronicus of Kirr. The structure reaches a height of 12 meters, a width of about 8 meters. In ancient times, a weather vane was installed on the top, which indicated where the wind was blowing. The walls of the tower are decorated with images of eight Greek deities who are responsible for the direction of the wind.
The theater is located in the southeastern part of the Acropolis, it was built in the 5th century BC, and is the oldest theater in Athens. The works of Euripides, Aristophanes, Sophocles and Aeschylus were staged on the stage. In the 1st century BC. under the emperor Nero, a large-scale reconstruction of the theater was carried out. The scene fell into disrepair by the 4th century AD. and was gradually abandoned. Today, a large-scale theater restoration project is being carried out.
The ancient city cemetery, where the most worthy representatives Athens until the 4th century. This place has been used as a necropolis since the Bronze Age. Famous military leaders, statesmen and philosophers are buried here, including Pericles, Cleisthenes, Solon, Chrysippus and Zeno. There are many tombstones of the Antique period, tombstone columns and sculptures in the cemetery.
Covered two-story colonnade, built in the 2nd century BC. The structure was built by order of the Pergamum king Atalla, who in his youth was trained in Athens (for young descendants royal families Mediterranean this was a common practice at the time). In ancient times, standing served as a place for the townspeople to walk. From here it was possible to observe the square and streets of Athens, as well as various festive processions.
An ancient stadium made entirely of Pentelicon marble. On its territory, the Panathenaic Games were held - a great sports and religious festival, where athletes performed, festive processions took place and ritual sacrifices were made. At the end of the 19th century, the revived Olympic Games were held at the Panathinaikos Stadium.
The modern building of the museum was created in 2009 according to a joint project of Greek and Swiss specialists. The collection is made up of artifacts belonging to different periods of the history of Athens. Funds were mainly replenished by archaeological sites on the territory of the Acropolis. The new Acropolis Museum became the heir to the old collection of antiquities, which had existed since the middle of the 19th century.
Private collection, which was founded in 1930 by A. Benakis on the territory of his family mansion. The owner collected the collection for 35 years and handed it over to the state. Antonis himself served as head of the museum until his death. The exposition consists of works of Greek art. Ceramics, textiles, engravings, sculptures, jewelry and church utensils are exhibited here. Also in the museum there are several paintings by El Greco.
The museum is the largest collection of objects of ancient Greek culture. The archaeological collection was founded at the beginning of the 19th century; in 1889, a separate neoclassical building was erected for it. Museum exposition subdivided into several collections, which include collections of the prehistoric period, Cycladic art, Mycenaean art, Egyptian art and many others.
The exposition was founded in 1986 on the basis of a frequent collection of the influential Greek Goulandris family. Before the transfer of the collection to the hands of the state, it visited many world exhibitions. The museum building was designed by V. Ioannis. The collection is divided into three parts: Bronze Age, Ancient Greek Art, Art ancient cyprus. It should be noted that the museum contains the most complete collection of artifacts of Cypriot culture.
The museum has a collection of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art spanning 15 centuries. An impressive collection of valuable icons is kept here. The museum was opened in 1914, in 1930 it moved to the former villa of the Duchess of Piacenza. In addition to icons, the museum funds contain statues, church vestments, ceramics, engravings, manuscripts, mosaics, dishes and much more.
The ship-museum, moored to the eternal parking lot in the harbor of Palio Faliro. The ship was built at the beginning of the 20th century in Livorno for the needs of the Italian army, but due to economic difficulties it was sold to Greece. The cruiser took part in the First Balkan War, during the First and Second World Wars, it was captured first by the French and then by the British. In the 50s. the ship was put into reserve. In 1984, it was decided to turn the ship into a museum.
The Academy of Sciences is the main public research institution in Greece. The main building of the building in which it is located was designed by F. von Hansen in 1887. The building is a real masterpiece of neoclassical architectural style. In front of the facade there are sculptures of the thinkers Plato and Socrates, as well as statues of the ancient Greek gods - Athena and Apollo.
The square is located in the modern center of Athens. The place has acquired importance in the 19th century, becoming the center of the commercial life of the city. On the square is the Royal Palace of the mid-19th century, built according to the project of F. von Gaertner. Now the Greek parliament sits there. Syntagma Square is constantly becoming the epicenter of public unrest. Protests, strikes and other mass actions of disobedience often take place here.
The guard of honor is on duty at the walls Royal Palace at Syntagma Square. This is a rather unusual and even funny spectacle, unlike similar ceremonies in other countries. It's all about the unusual uniform of the Greek soldiers, which consists of tunics, skirts, white tights and slippers with pom-poms, as well as non-standard marching during the changing of the guard. This spectacle always attracts a large number of tourists.
One of the oldest Orthodox churches Athens. The temple was erected on the ruins of a pagan sanctuary dedicated to a female deity. The first Christian churches began to appear in the city at the dawn of the Byzantine era, when the city fell into decay, and the new faith almost completely replaced the pagan cults. The Church of Panagia Kapnikarei is built in a typical Byzantine manner, characterized by round domed towers.
The monastery is located 11 km. from Athens next to the Daphne Grove. It was founded in the 6th century on the site of the ruined temple of Apollo and eventually became one of the most revered shrines in Greece. The original appearance of the monastery has practically not been preserved; a building of the 11th century, the heyday of the Byzantine Empire, has survived to this day. In the XIII century, Catholic monks settled in the monastery for a while, but in 1458 the entire complex of buildings was returned to the Orthodox Church.
A hill in the northeastern part of Athens, which is the highest point in the city. It offers panoramic views of the Acropolis and Piraeus port. The hill has two peaks, on one of them there is a church, on the other - a modern theater with an open stage. You can get to the top in three ways: climb the equipped pedestrian road, use the funicular or drive by car.
The hill on which ancient times The highest court of Athens, the Areopagus, met. The name, apparently, comes from the name of the god of war Ares. Until the 5th century BC. The Areopagus served as the city council of elders, but from 462 BC. this body was deprived of political functions and empowered to administer civil and criminal courts. The apostle Paul also preached on the hill.
City hill with a monument on top, erected in honor of the Roman Gaius Julius Philopappus, who more than once helped Athens with money. Since the 2nd century, the place has been better known as Philopappos Hill, previously it was named after the ancient Greek philosopher, poet and musician Musaios (translated as “Muses”). Located on the slopes of the hill natural Park without infrastructure.
The old district of Athens, built up mainly with houses of the XVIII century. Almost all buildings stand on antique foundations. On the territory of Plaka there is the oldest street of the city, which has retained its direction since ancient Greece. A large number of former residential buildings have been converted into museums, souvenir shops and cafes, as residents moved en masse from Plaka in the 19th century.
The city market, located in the district of the same name, is one of the most popular marketplaces in Athens. Monastiraki belongs to the category flea markets. It sells a lot of unnecessary things, homemade shoes, antiques, coins, furniture and other collectible antiquities. In the market, you can look at the unique exposition of Greek life of the past centuries.
A unique quarter in the ancient area of Plaka, which is adjacent to the Acropolis. The winding and slightly crooked streets of Anafiotika are built up with typical white Mediterranean houses. The area was formed as a result of the resettlement of builders from the island of Anafi to Athens. They arrived in the capital on the call of the Greek king Otto in order to build a palace on his special order.
A 16 hectare park located in the heart of Athens. Five hundred species of various plants grow on its territory. Every third tree is over 100 years old. Within National Garden ancient Greek ruins have been preserved - the remains of walls, columns and fragments of mosaics. The garden was created in the 19th century by the will of Queen Amalia. At first, vegetables and fruits for the royal cuisine were grown in it. Now the former garden has turned into a green oasis in the middle of a stone city.
A modern berth for yachts, designed for the simultaneous parking of 200 ships. An excellent infrastructure for tourists has been created on the marina embankment: luxury boutiques, restaurants, a picturesque promenade. On the piers you can admire the luxurious yachts under the flags of different countries, as well as, if you wish, take a refreshing boat trip along the coast.
Age of Athens - two and a half thousand years. The glorious past of the city is now clearly visible: literally from everywhere you can see ancient acropolis towering over the city. Today Athens is a modern metropolis with a population of about four million people. In the twenty-first century this great city has changed. This was partly due to the 2004 Olympic Games. Now Athens is something more than a repository of antiquities. The city has changed a lot and, contrary to ideas about it as a city with a polluted environment and unbearable traffic, leaves an amazing impression.
The building boom after the end of World War II and the increase in population from 700,000 to 4 million turned into an architectural disaster. However, the face of the city is now changing: new roads, subways are being built, and the expansion pedestrian zone in the city center has already relieved Athens of painful traffic jams and even reduced the cloud of smog that literally poisons the metropolitan atmosphere. The cleaner air is evident in the reopening of the views that Athens was once famous for, and despite the skyscrapers and fast food establishments, the city manages to maintain its unique look and charm.
Oriental bazaars rival fashion boutiques and shops stocked with Armani and Benetton merchandise. The rapid modernization is balanced by a sense of homeliness in the air: any Greek will tell you that Athens is the largest village in the country. No matter how often you come to Athens, your attention will be attracted by what has been preserved from the classical ancient city- first of all, these are the Parthenon and other monuments of the Acropolis, as well as the updated one, which presents the best collection of antiquities.
Most of the several million visitors who visit Athens every year limit themselves to visiting these monuments, adding to them only an evening in a romantic setting in one of Plaka's tourist taverns. But in doing so, they miss the chance to see the Athens that the Athenians themselves know and love. Even if you looked into the city for a very short time, this does not justify the desire to see in Athens only a cluster of preserved antiquities and museum exhibits. It would also be worth spending some time getting to know the surroundings of the capital, visiting not far from Athens.
For tourists, the most accessible is probably Plaka - an area in which Turkish, neoclassical and Greek island architecture is mixed. Next are interesting museums dedicated to traditional arts and crafts, from ceramics to music. A little further north are bazaars, almost the same as in the Middle East, and an additional reward are cafes, bars, clubs in Psirri and the booming, as well as the National Park and shady and elegant. Not so far from Plaka are the hills - Likabet and Philopappou, from which the whole city is visible at a glance, and the tram runs (in the summer it will take you to the beach). All of the above sights can be seen during.
But most of all visitors are surprised in Athens by the bustling life of the city. The cafe is always crowded, during the day and after midnight, the streets are not empty until three or even four in the morning, bars and clubs attract night owls. There is also a place to eat, so much so that it will be remembered for a long time: there are many traditional taverns, and chic restaurants await discerning gourmets. In summer, cafe tables are taken out on street pavements, club life moves to the beaches, or you can go to the cinema, attend concerts and open-air performances based on works of classical ancient Greek drama. Shoppers are dizzy: lively colorful bazaars and huge retail spaces in the suburbs, called malls in the American manner, and, of course, boutiques filled with the creations of the most fashionable fashion designers.
And very good - and for the price too - public transport, an inexpensive taxi, so you will not have any special difficulties with the movement. Describing the suburbs of Athens - they and the region as a whole will be discussed in other articles - here attention is paid, first of all, to the monuments of antiquity. The temple of Poseidon in Sounion is most eagerly visited: that wonderful architectural monument is located on a cliff overlooking a cape. The sanctuaries of Ramne (Ramnus), Eleusis (Elefsina) and Vravron, as well as the burial mound at Marathon, which was poured in honor of the great victory, are not so well known and not so often visited.
lovers hiking, perhaps, wish to make ascents - the mountains took the city in a ring, and it is best to climb Mount Parnitha. If it is in the spring, then at the same time you will pick up an armful of a variety of marvelous forest and wildflowers. The beaches of the Attic coast are good enough to attract city-weary Athenians, but if you're going to the islands, familiarity with the local beaches is optional. Getting out of Athens is easy: dozens of ferries and hydrofoils leave daily from the Athens suburban port of Piraeus, and also, less often, from two more Attic ports with ferry berths - Rafina and Lavrion.
A Brief History of Athens (Greece)
Athens is a city where life began over seven thousand years ago. A low rocky hill, which later became the Acropolis of Athens, has attracted people since ancient times as a convenient place for settlement. It rises in the middle of a valley irrigated by the rivers Kephis and Iliss and surrounded by the mountains Hymettes, Penterikon, Parnet and Egalei. The slopes of the hill, whose height is 156 meters above sea level, are impregnable, and therefore it is natural that all these advantages were duly appreciated by the ancient inhabitants of Attica. The Mycenaeans built a palace-fortress on the rock.
Unlike other Mycenaean settlements, during the Dorian invasion (about 1200 BC), Athens was neither abandoned nor sacked, so the Athenians always prided themselves on being "pure" Ionians, without the Dorian "impurity". But the Mycenaean-type state did not survive in Athens. Gradually, the village turned into a policy (ancient city-state) and a cultural center. The rulers of Athens were the kings - the basilei, who then ceded the power to the tribal nobility - the Eupatrides. People's meetings took place at the Propylae of the Acropolis. To the west rose the rocky hill of Apec, named after the god of war. Here, on a leveled peak, the Areopagus gathered - the council of the elders of the noble families of the city, the Areopagites. Athens in those days remained in the shadow of large and powerful policies, such as and.
Athens grew rich, and the increased prosperity contributed to the rapid growth of arts and crafts, especially pottery. But economic growth increased political tensions: the dissatisfaction of farmers and Athenians grew, who were excluded from public life, but paid taxes and filed on land that went to the landed aristocracy. Only the reorganization of society, which was aimed at the laws of Dracon (his "draconian" code was promulgated in 621 BC) and the election of Solon as ruler (594 BC), who was empowered to carry out radical political and economic reforms.
Solon's reforms granted civil rights to broad sections of the population and laid the foundations for a system that eventually developed into Athenian democracy. In the middle of the 6th century BC, Peisistratus seized power. Pisistratus is usually called a tyrant, but this only means that he took power by force: his populist policies won him the loyalty and love of many fellow citizens, he turned out to be a very successful ruler, under which Athens became much more powerful, richer and more influential. His sons Hippias and Hipparchus were not so happy: Hipparchus was killed in 514 BC, after which Hippias tried to establish a dictatorship.
He was very disliked by the people and was overthrown with the help of an army called from Sparta in 510 BC. The new leader Cleisthenes carried out more radical transformations: he introduced a government board of 10 strategists, created territorial phyla instead of tribal ones, and each of them sent fifty representatives to the State Council of Bule. Boulet made decisions on issues discussed in the Assembly. All citizens could participate in the Assembly and it performed the functions of both the legislature and the supreme court. The reforms proposed by Cleisthenes formed the basis of Athenian democracy, which lasted almost unchanged until Roman rule.
Around 500 BC, Athens sent a detachment of warriors to Asia Minor to help the Ionian Greeks who rebelled against the Persian Empire, which provoked a retaliatory Persian invasion of Greece. In 490 BC, the Athenians and their allies defeated the vastly superior Persian forces at the Battle of Marathon. In 480 BC, the Persians returned, captured and sacked Athens and left almost the entire city burned to the ground. In the same year, however, the victory in the naval battle at put an end to the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians, while at the same time securing Athens' position as the leading city-state in the Greek world, and Athens was able to unite the cities of the islands of the Aegean Sea and central Greece the Delian League, also known as the Athenian Maritime League.
The newfound power gave rise to the so-called classical period, during which Athens reaped the fruits of its success and the triumph of democracy along with the flowering of arts, architecture, literature and philosophy, and the influence of this era on world culture is felt to this day. In the second century BC, power passed to the Romans, who revered Athens as a spiritual source, but made little effort to give the city more brilliance.
Christians and Turks in Athens (Greece)
The emergence of Christianity is, perhaps, the most significant milestone in the process of the long decline of Athens, which lost the glory that the city knew in the classical era. At the end of Roman rule, during which the appearance of the city changed little, Athens lost its role as a link in the Greco-Roman world, and the reason for this was the division of the Roman Empire into East and West and the formation of Byzantium (Constantinople) as the capital of the eastern Byzantine Empire. In this empire, the new Christian attitude very soon overshadowed the ethics developed by Athens, although Neoplatonism was still taught in the philosophical schools of the city.
In 529, these lyceums were closed, and Justinian I, who finished with them, ordered at the same time to re-consecrate the city churches, and all of them, including the Parthenon, became Christian churches. Then Athens almost ceases to be mentioned in chronicles and annals, a hint of a revival was outlined only during the reign of foreign rulers and the Middle Ages: as a result of the Fourth Crusade, Athens with the Peloponnese and a large part of the central one fell into the hands of the Franks. The ducal court was located on the Acropolis, and for a whole century Athens returned to the mainstream of European life. The power of the Franks, however, had almost no one to rely on, except for the provincial aristocracy.
In 1311, the Frankish troops fought the Catalan mercenaries, who had fortified themselves in Thebes, and were driven into the swamp. The Catalans, who organized their own principality, were replaced by the Florentines, and then for a very short time by the Venetians, until the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, appeared in 1456. Athens during the period of Turkish rule was a military settlement with a garrison stationed in it, every now and then (and to considerable damage to the buildings of the classical period) being at the forefront of battles with the Venetians and other Western powers.
Ties with the West were severed, only occasionally French and Italian ambassadors appeared in the Sublime Porte. Occasionally rare travelers or inquisitive painters would visit Athens. During this period, the Greeks enjoyed some degree of self-government, the monasteries of the Jesuits and Capuchins flourished. turned into the residence of the Ottoman ruler, and the Parthenon was turned into a mosque. The areas around the Acropolis returned to the distant past, switched to a partial peasant existence, and the port in Piraeus was forced to be content with servicing a dozen or two fishing boats.
Four hundred years of Ottoman rule ended in 1821, when, together with the inhabitants of dozens of cities in the country, the Athenian Greeks revolted. The rebels occupied the Turkish districts of the lower city - this is the current one - and laid siege to the Acropolis. The Turks retreated, but five years later they returned to re-occupy the Athenian fortifications, the Greek rebels had to withdraw deep into the mainland. When in 1834 the Ottoman garrison left for good, and a new, German, monarchy arose, 5,000 people lived in Athens.
Modern Athens (Greece)
Despite its ancient history and the natural advantages of its location, Athens became the capital modern Greece not right away. This honor initially went to Nafplion in the Peloponnese, the city in which Ioannis Kapodistrias developed plans for the War of Independence, and from where he later led it, and where in 1828 the first meeting of the country's first parliament, the National Assembly, took place. And if I. Kapodistrias had not been killed in 1831, it is quite possible that he would have remained the capital, or maybe it would have been transferred from Nafplion to Corinth or - the cities are better equipped and quite large.
However, after the death of Kapodistrias, the intervention of the Western European "Great Powers" followed, imposing their monarch on the country - Otto, the son of Ludwig I of Bavaria, became him, and in 1834 the capital and the royal court moved to Athens. The rationale for the move was reduced to symbolic and sentimental reasons, because the new capital was of little importance. locality and was on the very edge of the territory of the new state - it had yet to include northern, Macedonia and all the islands, except for those already available and.
In the 19th century, the development of Athens had the character of a gradual and completely manageable process. While archaeologists were ridding the Acropolis of all the architectural layers that the Turks and Franks had adorned it with, the city was gradually being built: the streets intersected at right angles, neoclassical buildings in the Bavarian style appeared. Piraeus managed to turn back into a full-fledged port, because until the beginning of the 19th century it was greatly hindered by competitors - the largest ports of Greece on the islands and. In 1923, at the end of the tragic Greco-Turkish War in Asia Minor, a peace treaty was signed, according to which there was an "exchange of population": the Turks moved to, the Greeks to Greece, and nationality was determined solely by religion.
One and a half million Greek Christians from settlements in Asia Minor that existed for many centuries and the Turkic-speaking, but Orthodox population of Anatolia arrived in Greece as refugees. And more than half of this flow settled in Athens, Piraeus and neighboring villages, in one fell swoop changing the face of the capital. The integration of the new settlers and their efforts to survive constituted one of the greatest pages in the history of the city, and this phenomenon itself left deep traces that are visible to this day. The names of the districts located on both sides of the metro line connecting Athens with Piraeus testify to the longing experienced by the new settlers for the forever lost homeland: Nea Zmirni (New Smyrna), Nea Yonia, Nea Philadelphia - similar names are common for city blocks and streets.
At first, these quarters were villages in which immigrants from the same Anatolian town settled, building houses from whatever they had, and it happened that one well or water tap supplied drinking water to two dozen families. The merging of these suburbs with Athens and Piraeus continued until World War II. But the war brought such new worries that all the old ones stepped aside for a while. Athens suffered greatly from the German occupation: in the winter of 1941-1942, according to rough estimates, two thousand people died of starvation every day in the city. And at the end of 1944, when the German occupation ended, the civil war began.
The British soldiers were ordered to fight their recent allies in the Greek Resistance Army EL AS because the army was led by communists. From 1946 to 1949, Athens was an island in the raging sea of war: roads to the north and to the north could only be called passable at a very big stretch. But in the 1950s, after civil war The city began to expand rapidly. A program of powerful investments in industry was implemented - the money was invested mainly by Americans who wanted to convince Greece to enter the US sphere of influence, at the same time the capital survived the influx of immigrants from the impoverished villages devastated by the war.
The wastelands between the blocks began to be built up rapidly, and by the end of the 1960s, Athens had become a major city. Often new buildings look dull. Old buildings were demolished, with particular force the element of destruction raged in 1967-1974, during the junta. Homeowners instead of demolished buildings built multi-apartment residential buildings up to six floors high. The central streets look like canyons - narrow streets seem to be cut between concrete high-rise buildings. A thriving industry took over the outskirts, and the combined efforts of urban planners and industrialists quickly turned Athens into a polluted megalopolis, suffocating from the poisonous fog descending on it, which is called nephos here.
Since the 1990s, in the course of preparations for the Olympics, measures were finally taken to improve the situation in the city. Although Athens is still far from or in area green spaces and open spaces, but the results of these efforts are already visible. Everything that survived from the urban architectural heritage is being restored, public transport is clean, construction of houses is controlled, new buildings of interesting ultra-modern architecture have appeared (for example, some buildings erected for the Olympics and the unfinished new Acropolis Museum), and the air is not so polluted, like before. It is to be hoped that changes in this direction will continue.
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