The
oldest inhabited city in the world, the cradle of democracy
and Western civilization as we know it today, was begun as a
small fortified village built on top of the Acropolis rock as
far back as 3.000 years B.C. Its first name was Kekropia deriving
from its mythical founder and first King Kekrops until such
time as the competition between the god Poseidon and the goddess
Athena, as to who would become protector of the young and rising
city, was won by Athena, who offered the gift of the olive tree
and gave the city her name.
The Acropolis
The
city of Athens grew from a small fortified habitation on top of
the Acropolis rock into one of the most powerful city-states of
the ancient world and produced some of the most famous philosophers,
artists and writers, their names world famous through the history
of the human race. There are few who dont know the names of Socrates,
Plato, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Phidias, Pericles and
many, many more. Through the centuries, Athens absorbed the nearby
smaller towns, finally dominating the whole of Attica, creating
one of the most powerful alliances in ancient Greece. In time,
Athens abolished royalty and became the first democracy in the
world, a fact that helped it to grow even more, becoming so powerful
that was able to fight off foreign invaders like the ancient Persians
and with the assistance of other Greek cities, to win famous battles
such as those of Marathon and Salamis, a preamble to the final
conquest of Persia by one of the world's greatest soldiers and
statesmen, Alexander the Great. As is natural, Athens is full
of museums and archaeological sites of the utmost interest, as
more or less, is all of Greece, and one can almost follow the
glory that Athens was through a visit to the Acropolis museum,
the National Archaeological museum, the museum of Keramikos and
naturally the ancient Acropolis where one of the architectural
wonders of the world, the Parthenon, the temple devoted to the
goddess Athena, can be seen and admired.
After
the conquest of Greece by the Romans, the importance of Athens
started to wane and by the time the 1,100 year Byzantine Empire
fell to be succeeded by 400 years of Turkish rule, Athens became
little more than a village. As an example, the population of Athens
in 1834, when it was declared capital of the newly liberated state
of Greece, was about 12.000. From then on, Athens grew steadily
to the very large city that it is today boasting a population
for the whole area of around 4 million. Modern Athens, as you
will see in the pages that follow, is a cosmopolitan city which
offers the foreign visitor unlimited possibilities for excursions,
sightseeing, night life - you name it, Athens has it. Literally
thousands of traditional eating places, tavernas, with or without
music but always good, inexpensive food can be found in the city
and its suburbs, along with hundreds of restaurants of every style
and nationality. Numerous nightclubs vie for the visitor's attention
with the uniquely. Athenian type of open-air cinemas and theatres.
All types of shopping is available, from the famous Athens flea
market, Monastiraki, to the most sophisticated boutiques. Thousands
of bars, pubs, and snack-type eating places, including the famous
souvlaki stands, are to be found, ready to service the needs of
a great variety of customers. Today's Athens, is a modern city,
but it still has its aura of ancient glory which becomes evident
when one takes an evening stroll in the old city. Athens is a
place to see and experience. It may not be what it once was, but
it still has a lot of unique experiences to offer, especially
to those ready, willing , and able to understand and appreciate
its unalterable beauty.
