ATHENS

ATHENS

The Acropolis

Athens  is the capital city  of Greece and  the country's largest city. The population of the municipality of Athens is 664,046 (in 2011).It is the main economic center of Greek political and cultural life.

The history of Athens extends over 3000 years, making it one of the oldest inhabited cities. During the classical period it was a powerful city-state that was instrumental in the development of democracy . It was also a cultural center where many great artists, writers and philosophers of antiquity lived and influenced the developmet of Greece, Rome and the Western culture.

Athens is a city rich in archeaological remains the most famous of which  is the Parthenon   on the Acropolis. Besides constructions of classical Greek era, Roman and Byzantine monuments are also preserved, as well as several notable modern buildings.

The earliest presence of a human population in Athens has been dated  between the eleventh and seventh millennium BC.

Between approximately 500 BC and 323 BC was one of the greatest cultural and intellectual centers of the world and the place of origin of many of the defining ideas of Western civilization, including the concept of Democracy. Athens has suffered many occupations, by the Latin Empire, The Ottoman Empire, the Germans e.t.c.

The Acropolis , with the Parthenon , Erechtheion, Propylaea, Temple of Athena Niki and the museum and remains on the south slope of the Acropolis are some of the most important remains.

You can also visit the following sights.

• Ancient Agora 
• Roman Agora , where you can see the Tower of Winds
• Arch of Adrian 
• Ceramic, old cemetery located next to the ancient walls.
• Filopappos Monument
• Panathinaikos Stadium, also called Kallimarmaro, white marble stadium built in 1895 for the first Olympic Games of the modern era, in the same location where the stadium was in ancient Athens.
• Academy of Plato
• Dafni Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built over a temple of Apollo.
• Plaka
• and much more ( theatres, cinemas, squares e.t.c. )

1. The Parthenon is in .........
a. Athens
b. Thessaloniki
c. Delfi
d. Peraeus

2. Athens was a................... in antiquity.
a. city-state
b. small town
c. village
d. hill

3. Athens was inhabited  .................
a. in modern years
b. some milleniums BC
c. In Medieval Times
d. In Classical Times