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Hadrian’s library with the Acropolis in the background

 

History of Athens
Birthplace of democracy


Athens was built in the plains of Attika between the Parnitha, Penteli and Hymettos mountains and close to the Saronic Gulf. For ages its important geographic location and its mild climate were de main reasons why people chose to live here. During her very long history, Athens produced a brilliant civilization as well as a contribution of inestimable value to the world's heritage.

Today Athens, with its five million inhabitants, has all characteristics of a modern metropolis but it has kept its very unique ancient atmosphere, an atmosphere that reflects in the Athenians and their way of living. Athens follows the changes of the 21e century and it has made its rhythm faster but it has always made certain that the memories of its valuable past are kept.

First time visitors to Athens are torn between the remnants of the old and those of the new world, between the gods and the shops of Plaka, between the ancient art and the green covered terraces. Returning visitors enjoy all of both worlds, as do the Athenians themselves. Athens has a lot to offer and even more to enjoy.


The birthplace of the concept of democracy

It is hard to imagine that the concept of democracy was born 2.500 years ago at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. This first kind of democracy has evolved into present democracy as we know it now. It is even harder to imagine that the Ancient agora at that time had a parliament, a town hall, a courthouse, a prison, temples, restaurants, meeting rooms, schools, places to do business, laws, festivals, sport events etc.

Take your time to visit the Ancient agora, to walk on the Panathenaic road lined with statues. Visit the completely renovated Stoa of Attallos and its museum. It holds a remarkable collection you will want to see. Find the altar of Zeus Phratrios and the statue of Hadrian and while you are doing so, remember that you are standing in the birthplace of the concept of democracy.

Location map At the foot of the Acropolis. Entrance: Adrianou street.
TopOne of the columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus still standing


Walking with history

Say "Athens" and people will say "The Acropolis".

Yes, of course, you should not leave Athens without having visited the Acropolis with its splendid Parthenon, Erechteion, Temple of Athena etc. However, Athens has much more to offer. The Ancient and the Roman Agora, Plaka, the romantic Anafiotika area, the Panathenaic Stadium, Lykavittos and Philopappou Hill, the tens of museums, Psirri, Syntagma, Monastiraki etc. There is a lot to see in Athens and it is worth while seeing it.

With every corner you turn, Athens will surprise you with its history and its special atmosphere. Athens is a smile for you to enjoy. Top


Origin and setting

The history of Athens is the longest of any city in Europe: Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 3.000 years. It became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC. Its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western civilization. During the Middle Ages, Athens experienced decline and then a recovery under the Byzantine Empire. Athens was relatively prosperous during the Crusades, benefiting from Italian trade. After a long period of decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent Greek state.

The name of Athens in Ancient Greek was Athenai (pronounced roughly At-he-na). This is a plural form: the city was called (in what would translate into English as) "The Athenses" since it was originally a group of villages which coalesced into a city. The name has no definite etymology in Greek. The Greeks believed the city was named for its protectress, the goddess Athena, but it is equally possible that the goddess took her name from the city.

The start of the history of Athens is lost in time and legends. It is assumed  it began its history as a Neolithic hill-fort on top of the Acropolis ("high city"), some time in the third millennium BC. The Acropolis is a natural defensive position which commands the surrounding plains. The settlement was about 8 kilometres inland from the Saronic Gulf, in the centre of the Cephisian Plain, a fertile plain surrounded by hills.

Parnitha, one of the mountains protecting Athens, also is a National ParkAthens is protected by a ring of mountains: Hymittos, Aegaleo, Penteli and Parnitha. In ancient times, the River Cephisus flowed through the city. Ancient Athens occupied a very small area compared to the sprawling metropolis of modern Athens. The walled ancient city encompassed an area measuring about 2 kilometres from east to west and slightly less than that from north to south, although at its peak the city had suburbs extending well beyond these walls.

The Acropolis was just south of the centre of this walled area. The Agora, the commercial and social centre of the city, was about 400 meters north of the Acropolis, in what is now the Monastiraki district. The hill of the Pnyx, where the Athenian Assembly met, lay at the western end of the city.

The Parthenon atop the AcropolisOne of the most important religious sites in Athens was the Temple of Athena, known as the Parthenon, which stood atop the Acropolis. Two other major religious sites, the Temple of Hephaestus (which is still largely intact) and the Temple of Olympian Zeus or Olympeion (once the largest temple in Greece but now in ruins) also lay within the city walls.

However, the most important religious site was the Erechteion, named after a legendary Athenian king. It was considered the most important, religious-wise, as it housed many sacred shrines. Next to it is the legendary olive tree which Athene planted herself to win the devotation of the Athenian people.

At its peak in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, Athens and its suburbs probably had approximately 300.000 inhabitants. Of these a large number were slaves or foreign residents (known as metoikoi or metrics), who had no political rights and paid for the right to reside in Athens. Perhaps only 10 or 20% of the population were adult male citizens, eligible to meet and vote in the Assembly and be elected to office. After the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC the city began to lose its population as Greeks migrated to the newly-conquered Hellenistic empire in the east.

Read more on the long and interesting history of Athens through the ages using the left links on this page.

Timeline of Ancient Greek History
Timeline of Ancient Greek History
click to enlarge

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  HISTORY OF ATHENS

       Birthplace of Democracy
  PRE-HISTORIC

    ATHENS DURING
    PRE-HISTORIC TIMES
  HISTORIC TIMES

    ATHENS DURING  HISTORIC
    TIMES

       Cylon and Draco
       Solon
       Peisistratos’ tyranny
       Cleisthenes
    PERSIAN WARS
    DELIAN LEAGUE
    PELOPONNESIAN WAR
    336 BC to 267 AD
       Lycurgus of Athens
       Beginning of Macedonian rule
       Demetrius the Besieger
       Macedonian rule to neutrality
       On the side of Rome
       Mithridates and Sulla
       Roman rule in Athens
  MIDDLE AGES

    EARLY MIDDLE AGES
        Neo-Platonic Academy
        Christianity in Athens

    MIDDLE BYZANTINE PERIOD
    FRANKISH OCCUPATION
  MODERN TIMES

    15th-17th CENTURY
    18th CENTURY

    GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
        Beginning of the revolution
        Foreign intervention
        The Kingdom of Greece
        Athens and the war
    1834-1911
        3 September revolution
        Troubled times
        Athens grows
        Greco-Turkish War
        Modernization
    1912-1949
        The Balkan Wars
  WWI PERIODE

    WORLD WAR I
    GRECO-TURKISH WAR
    ASIA MINOR CAMPAIGN
       Greek expansion
       Outcome of the Greek offensive
       Turkish offensive
       Asia Minor catastrophe
  MID-WAR PERIOD

    REFUGEES RESETTLEMENT
    THE MILITARY COUP OF 1923
    SECOND HELLENIC REPUBLIC
    FIRST REPUBLICAN GOVERN-
    MENT

    PANGALOS DICTATORSHIP
    THE LAST VENIZELOS
    GOVERNMENT

    PERIOD OF INSTABILITY
    METAXAS DICTATORSHIP
  WORLD WAR II PERIOD

    THE SECOND WORLD WAR
       Greco-Italian War
       Battle of Greece
       Occupation
       Resistance
       Liberation
  GREEK CIVIL WAR

    CIVIL WAR
    FIRST CONFLICT
    FROM AGREEMENT TO CON-
    FRONTATION
    DEKEMVRIANA
    INTERLUDE
    CIVIL WAR
    END OF THE WAR

  POST-WAR PERIOD

    SUCCEEDING GOVERNMENTS
    REGIME OF THE COLONELS
       Operation Gladio
       Coup of 21 April
    ROLE OF KING CONSTANTINE
    KING CONSTANTINE’S
    COUNTER-COUP
    REGENCY AND REPUBLIC
    ANTI-JUNTA MOVEMENT
    POLYTECHNIC UPRISING
    CYPRUS DISPUTE AND FALL
       EOKA CAMPAIGN AND
       CREATION OF TMT

       CONSTITUTIONAL BREAKDOWN
       PEACEMAKING EFFORTS
       TURKISH INVASION

       RETURN TO DEMOCRACY

  RECENT DECADES

       November 17
       Junta Members' sentences
    GREEK HEADS OF STATE
    GREEK PRIME MINISTERS
    MAYORS OF ATHENS


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