Greece. Athens
At the beginning of June, we flew to Greece to visit the main ancient Greek and natural landmarks of the country. In Athens, we stayed for two nights, dedicating an entire day to exploring the archaeological complex of the Acropolis, the Athenian Agora, the Roman Agora, the Library of Hadrian, and the marble Panathenaic Stadium. Athens was also the main communication hub in our travel plan. We arrived in Athens by flight from Vilnius, then took a train to the town of Kalambaka to see the Meteora monasteries scattered on the rocks... Also, from Athens, we flew to the island of Santorini. Thus, apart from the whole day dedicated exclusively to sightseeing the main attractions of Athens, we spent some time in the city in the intervals between arrivals and departures. This time was enough for us to visit the desired places in the city.
Map of the main locations...
From Athens airport, we took the x95 bus to the city center. The last bus stop is near the Parliament building, guarded by colorful sentries who attract the attention of many tourists...
Syntagma or Constitution Square...
From Syntagma Square, an avenue leads to the main square of the city - Monastiraki, from which the rocky hill on which the Acropolis is located (from the Greek "upper city") is clearly visible...
Ancient landmarks are located just along the central streets...
Almost every place in Athens is shrouded in legends... The Areopagus Hill, which offers a beautiful view of the Acropolis, according to legend, was the place from which Poseidon appealed to the court of the 12 Olympic gods, accusing the god of war Ares of killing his son...
But the best observation deck is the Philopappos Hill, which offers the best view of the Acropolis. We climbed here three times just to photograph the Acropolis in the most beautiful colors...
The day before visiting the Acropolis, we bought a combination ticket, which provided access not only to the entire "upper city" area but also to all the main archaeological sites of Athens, such as the Athenian Agora, the Roman Agora, and the Library of Hadrian. Past the main gates of the Acropolis, we were among the first to enter, even witnessing the guards leaving their post...
We managed to see the main temple of the Acropolis - the Parthenon without a crowd of people around, which began to grow rapidly within minutes. The Parthenon was built around the 5th century BC and was dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos. Parthenos or Parthenon translates from ancient Greek as virgin or maiden, meaning Athena Parthenos literally translates as Virgin Athena...
Next to the Parthenon is the Erechtheion temple (421-406 BC). Its feature is the porch, the main beams of which are supported not by columns but by caryatids - figures of women... This architectural solution is the first case in the history of world art...
Columns of the side of the temple...
Descending from the "upper city" to the slopes, we approached the active amphitheater Odeon, built in 161...
From above, the Theater of Dionysus - the oldest theater in the world - is visible...
The Athenian Theater of Dionysus became the prototype of all ancient and even modern theaters. It was part of a sanctuary dedicated to the god Dionysus and the main venue for the festive celebrations of the Dionysian cult - the Dionysia. During such celebrations, performances were held in the theater, and the most honorable priests had their named seats in the front row, as evidenced by the engraved inscriptions on the marble benches...
Statue of Menander - an ancient Greek playwright, the most prominent representative of the New Comedy, who lived in the 3rd century BC and whose plays were staged in the ancient Greek theater...
Interestingly, most of the citizens of the ancient Greek city-states learned literacy from these engraved texts...
Having completed the tour of the Acropolis, we refreshed ourselves with delicious pastries and went to another location...
The Athenian Agora is the most widely known and the oldest of the preserved ancient agoras. From ancient Greek, agora translates as square or meeting place. That is, it is the main square of the city where Athenians gathered... The main attraction of the agora is the Temple of Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmithing, which was opened as early as 415 BC and is currently the best-preserved of all ancient Greek cult structures...
The Temple of Hephaestus is located on the Agora Hill on the outskirts of the Athenian Agora...
Compared to the Parthenon temple, located in the Acropolis, the Temple of Hephaestus is almost in perfect condition...
From the hill here, there is a beautiful view of the Acropolis and the entire Athenian Agora...
Statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian...
A recently opened monument - sculptures of Socrates and Confucius, as symbols of two different cultures...
Also, in the agora, a model of the ancient Stoa of Attalos has been built. Stoa is the name of a covered promenade, the roof of which is supported by columns. There is now a small museum where you can see samples of ancient Greek sculpture...
It was also interesting to see ancient Greek amphoras, in which the ashes of the deceased were buried...
Having completed the walk through the Athenian Agora, we looked into the Roman Agora, also known as the Roman Forum. The archaeological remains of the square date back to the 19th-11th century BC, the time of Roman rule...
The entrance to the square is through the Gate of Athena...
The main attraction is the Tower of the Winds - a clock tower built in the 50th year BC. In addition to the sundial, a water clock was also installed inside the tower, with water supplied from the Acropolis...
Bench of the Roman Agora...
Near the Roman Agora are the remains of the Library of Hadrian, founded in 132 by the Roman Emperor Hadrian...
We also visited the Panathenaic Stadium, whose name literally translates as "beautifully marble." It is the only stadium in the world built of marble. The first modern Olympic Games were held here in 1896. The stadium is designed for 80,000 spectators and has 50 horizontal marble rows. It is constructed according to the ancient model, thus having an unusual appearance for modern stadiums, and the running tracks no longer meet modern standards...
We watched the evening views of the Acropolis from Philopappos Hill, which became our favorite place in Athens...
Athens left a very pleasant impression precisely because of its ancient landmarks. The combination ticket for entrance to various locations is a very good solution, and one day is quite enough to visit all the main attractions...
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