The classic Athens

Millions of years of history are still lovingly and skilfully preserved in the heart of Athens, housed in one of the most beautiful archaeological parks of the world. The 140 acres of land in the centre of the city are used as parks and archaeological sites, creating a stark contrast with the rest of the crowded urban conglomerate!

The park takes us back in time, and has the best concentration of Greek architecture styles. We can see the Acropolis with its splendid temples, the theatres of Herodotus Atticus and Dionysus, the agora with its Stoà and the hill of the Pnice where the ancient citizens of Athens met to make the first democratic decisions of history. Not to be missed in the old city is also the Olimpion, the temple dedicated to Zeus, its few remaining enormous columns are a testimony of its huge size and the great Kalimarmaro, the first Olympic stadium in the world that was faithfully rebuilt in 1896 for the first Olympics of modern times held in Athens.

It's an unforgettable experience, as unforgettable as the streets inside the old quarters, adjacent to the park that are not only well preserved, but still offer new exciting experiences. The old area is a labyrinth of alleyways and small historical houses built on the north side of the Acropolis hill. Wandering along the ancient pathways makes you re-live different periods of Athens' history, the Roman and Hellenistic periods, with the Roman agora, Hadrian's library, the wind tower and the monument to Lysicrates; the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, with their ancient Orthodox churches embellished with treasures and works of art. What were once Muslim mosques nowadays house lay museums and there are many little old shops of eastern influence.

Despite its difficult history of devastation and oppression, ancient Athens is still here among us, with its fascinating monumental areas and its historical commercial, institutional and residential ones, as a witness of the greatness of Classical Greece, but also of millenniums of long and hard struggles.