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Athens (Athina) is named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who, according to legend, won the patronship over the city after defeating Poseidon in a duel.

Modern Athens was born in 1834, when the city was restored as the capital of a newly independent Greece. After World War II, American money funded a massive expansion and industrialization program. The rapid growth of the post-war years and the high temperatures of its Mediterranean climate, have created a city that can often be polluted.

Excessive traffic creates a gridlock on the streets of Athens and noxious fumes in the air although great efforts are being made to reduce this. Over three million visitors come to the city each year but the majority see the sights as quickly as possible, as if fulfilling some cultural duty, before heading off for the easy hedonism of the Greek islands. They are proven to be wrong.

Athens repays a closer acquaintance. In addition to the celebrated classical sites, the city boasts Byzantine, medieval and 19th-century monuments as well as one of the best museums in the world and areas of surprising natural beauty. Despite the traffic, an appealing village-like quality becomes evident in the cafes, tavernas, markets and the maze of streets around Plaka. Moreover, Athens has the finest restaurants and the most varied nightlife in the country and remains a major European center of culture.

Major projects include the new, now fully functioning, Eleftherios Venizelos international airport, the extension of the Athens metro system, the building of new sports venues and the upgrading of hotel accommodation. In addition, ancient sites within the city center are being linked by a traffic-free archaeological promenade intended to enhance the urban environment for locals and visitors alike.

Athens is a tourists' heaven..... if you are willing to take the time to see it

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= metro station    = trolley          = bus

Printing Athens Info Guide pages
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