Athens
Detailed Guide to the City of Athens Greece
The
history of Athens begins more then 3000 years
ago when during the prehistoric times its first inhabitants created their first settlement on the rock of Acropolis.
It took hundreds of years until the sacred rock of Acropolis find
its glory during the golden age of Pericles 495 - 429 BC with the
construction of most of its Monuments like the Parthenon by the
famous architects Iktinos and Kallikrates and the Sculptor Phidias.
During those thousands of years Athens went through times of Glory
and times of decline . Finally became the Capital of Greece in 1834
mostly for its location and historical importance. Since then Athens
grew to the city we know today, an important financial European
capital that hosted the last Olympic games with a great success. The
infrastructure of Athens has been developed very fast within the
last 10 years with new highways, a new airport, new metro lines, a
new tram line, a new railway the Proastiakos rail, huge shopping centres,
stadiums and sport centres and the port of Piraeus has been
developed to one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean.
Due to this new infrastructure and the quick access by rail ,metro
and car a kind of dis urbanisation has began in Athens as many
Athenians prefer to live out side of the city centre in suburbs and
areas that a few years ago were holiday resorts. Location: Athens the capital of Greece
since 1834 after Nafplion and Aegina ,situated at the basin of
Attica. As we can see on a Greece
map the Attica basin or (Lekanopedio Attikis) in Greek
surrounded from the North west by the mount Aegaleo, the mountains
of Parnitha and Penteli continue to the North, North east and the
mount Hymettus closes the bow to the south East. The Saronic gulf
finally surrounds the east coasts of Athens and Attica. If we look
on a map
of Greece Athens located almost in the middle of the Greek
mainland between the regions of Sterea Hellas to the north and
Peloponnesus to the South. West of the Attica peninsula is the
island of Evia and further to the east the deep blue Aegean Sea with
its beautiful Greek islands.
Historical centre:
The historical centre of Athens is the most important area of the
city for the thousand of tourists who are visiting the Greek capital
in order to admire the shrine of Democracy the Acropolis, the
Parthenon, the museums and the monuments and theatres from the
glorious past of Athens. The Pedestrianisation of the historic
centre that is surrounded from the triangle between
Plaka, Dionysiou
Areopagitou street and Keramikos includes almost all the magnificent sights of Athens. At Dionyssiou Areopagitou one can go walking from
Syntagma square or by metro to the Acropolis station, a few meters
away is the new Acropolis museum and opposite is the Ancient theatre
of Dionysus, a little bit further is the Herodes Atticus Odeon and
after that is the way on the Acropolis. The hills of Filopapos and
Pnix are near by as well as the ancient Agora, the temple of
Hephestus the oldest neighbourhoods of Athens Plaka, Anafiotika and Monastiraki
on the north west slopes of the sacred rock. An amazing
planning that give the opportunity to the visitor to see within a
few hours the most important sights of Athens. But Athens has more
attractions to offers as we can see in the article about the sights
of Athens.
Sights: Plaka used to be called by the Greeks the neighbourhood of the
gods, today Plaka is one of the main attractions for the tourists,
restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops all can be find here. Anafiotica
is a must see area just over Plaka and under Acropolis to the east .
Anafiotika is like a small island within Athens, builders from the
small island of Anafi build their traditional white washed houses in
the tiny winding streets and steps of this area when they were
building the royal Palace. Today the Palace is the Greek Parliament
and rights on its front is the Parliament square or Plateia
Syntagmatos in Greek , the most central place of Athens. Next to the
Parliament is the National Gardens and the Zapeion exhibition hall.
Not far opposite Zapeion are the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the
Hadrian arch. The Panathinaikon stadium where the first Olympic
games took place located a few minutes walk through the National
Gardens or through Zapeion.
Architecture: Athens has many neoclassical buildings like the Athens Academy,
the National Library, The Historical museum, the Archaeological
museum and many others
mainly at the streets of Panepistimiou, Stadiou, Athinas, Patission (28 October street),
around Omonia square and in the area of Plaka where located the first
university of
Athens and many neoclassical houses .
Transport: Athens has very good transport services, the visitor
can use the bus, trolley tram or the
metro and of course taxi. Since the distances to most of the main
sights of Athens are not far, walking is a good idea and a good way
to get to know Athens. Of course you will not be able to see Athens
within one or two days unless you want to get some pictures of the
Acropolis and pack for the Greek islands, but Athens has a lot of
attractions that someone will need at least one week or more. there
are many museums in Athens like the National Archaeological museum
of Athens one of the most important museums in the world, exhibition
centres, shopping malls, theatres and concert halls and of course
the famous nightlife of Athens equivalent with the nightlife of
Paris and London. There are many places to visit in Athens that
sometimes you can spend the whole day just strolling around. A place
like that, is Monastiraki and its famous flea market with all kind of
old and new stuff, a place that first was used by the rag and bone
men of Athens as their main market place. Just across Ermou street from Monastiraki is the
area of Psiri with numerous restaurants, bars , cafes and taverns
with Greek live music both Monastiraki and Psiri is something like
the Camden market in London. But do not forget the beaches of
Athens. From the Lycabettus hill you can have an amazing panoramic
view of Athens. The coastal road from Faliro to Glyfada, Vouliagmeni and
further until Sounion is full of sandy beaches, yacht marinas,
hotels, sport clubs, a worth seeing Riviera of Athens. From the port
of Athens, Piraeus you can visit the beautiful Greek islands of the
Aegean world famous for their nature, history and tourist
attractions like Crete, Rhodes, Kos,
Santorini, Mykonos and many others.
Shops: Athens is a paradise for shopping, all kind of shops
are to be found in the most famous shopping areas of Athens the
Ermou street, Aiolou street and in the area of Kolonaki. For
books and music instruments the Solonos and Academias street. Many
shops are on the two main streets that heading to the Parliament
square Panepistimiou and Stadiou. But the most famous market place
for the tourist is Monastiraki and the flea market. Worth of a visit
is the Athens market at Athinas street and the small shops at
Evrypidou street.
Eating out :For food in Athens you are in the right place, all kind of
restaurants with local, international and ethnic cuisine,
grill houses, Greek souvlaki shops, pizzerias, hamburger, you name
it, are to be found everywhere in Athens.
Finally not to forget Piraeus the port of Athens where all the
ferries to the
Greek islands departing from, with its
beautiful marinas in Zea, Kastella and Mikrolimano, the wonderful
coastal area of Peiraiki with the fish taverns and the amazing views
to the Saronic gulf and its city centre with the City hall Theatre.
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