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Athens Αθήνα
From upper left: the Acropolis, the Hellenic Parliament, Panepistimiou Street, the Acropolis Museum, Monastiraki Square, Athens by night.
Location
Athens
Coordinates	37°58′N 23°43′E / 37.967°N 23.717°E / 37.967; 23.717Coordinates: 37°58′N 23°43′E / 37.967°N 23.717°E / 37.967; 23.717
Government
Country:	Greece
Periphery:	Attica
Prefecture:	Athens
Districts:	7
Mayor:	Nikitas Kaklamanis  (ND) (since: 1 January 2007)
Population statistics (as of 2001[1])
City
- Population:	745,514
- Area:	38.964 km2 (15 sq mi)
- Density:	19,133 /km2 (49,555 /sq mi)
Urban
- Population:	3,130,841
- Area:	411.717 km2 (159 sq mi)
- Density:	7,604 /km2 (19,695 /sq mi)
Metropolitan
- Population:	3,686,371
- Area:	2,928.717 km2 (1,131 sq mi)
- Density:	1,259 /km2 (3,260 /sq mi)
Other
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (min-max):	70 - 338 m (230 - 1109 ft)
Postal:	10x xx, 11x xx, 120 xx
Telephone:	21
Auto:	Yxx, Zxx, Ixx (excluding ZAx and INx)
Website
www.cityofathens.gr

Athens (pronounced /ˈæθɨnz/^[2]; Greek: Αθήνα, Athina, IPA: [aˈθina]), the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years.

The Greek capital has a population of 745,513 (in 2001) within its administrative limits^[1] and a land area of 39 km² (15 sq mi).^[3] The urban area of Athens extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3,130,841 (in 2001)^[1] and a land area of 412 km² (159 sq mi).^[3] According to Eurostat, the Athens Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) is the 8th most populous LUZ in the European Union (the 4th most populous capital city of the EU) with a population of 4,013,368 (in 2004).^[4] A bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis, Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece and it is rated as an alpha- world city.^[5] It is rapidly becoming a leading business centre in the European Union. In 2008, Athens was ranked the world's 32nd richest city by purchasing power ^[6] and the 25th most expensive^[7] in a UBS study.

Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum,^[8][9] It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy,^[10][11] largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then known European continent.^[12]

The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by a number of ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, widely considered a key landmark of early Western civilization. The city also retains a vast variety of Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of remaining Ottoman monuments projecting the city's long history across the centuries. Landmarks of the modern era are also present, dating back to 1830 (the establishment of the independent Greek state), and taking in the Hellenic Parliament (19th century) and the Athens Trilogy consisting of the National Library of Greece, the Athens University and the Academy of Athens. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[13]

Etymology

Statue of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens.

See wiktionary: Athens for the name in various languages.

In Ancient Greek, the name of Athens was: Ἀθῆναι IPA: [atʰɛ̑ːnaɪ], related tο name of the goddess Athena (Attic Ἀθηνᾶ [atʰɛːnȃː] and Ionic Ἀθήνη [atʰɛ́ːnɛː]). The city's name was in the plural, like those of Θῆβαι (Thēbai), Μυκῆναι (Mukēnai), and Δελφοί (Delphoi).

In the 19th century, Ἀθῆναι (Athinai / [aˈθinɛ]) was formally re-adopted as the city's name. Since the official abandonment of Katharevousa Greek in the 1970s, Αθήνα (Athína / [aˈθina]) has become the city's official name.

History

The Caryatides on the Temple of the Erechtheion.

The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennium BC.^[14] Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years.^[15][16] Classical Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the 5th century BC, with its cultural achievements laying the foundations of Western civilization. It was eventually overcome by its rival city-state of Sparta.^[17] By the end of Late Antiquity the city experienced decline followed by recovery in the second half of the Middle Byzantine Period (9th-10th centuries AD), and was relatively prosperous during the Crusades, benefiting from Italian trade. In 1453 it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and entered a long period of decline.

Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent Greek state. In 1896 Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games. In the 1920s a number of Greek refugees, expelled from Asia Minor after the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), swelled Athens' population; nevertheless it was most particularly following the World War II, and from the 1950s and 1960s, that the population of the city exploded, and Athens experienced a gradual expansion in all directions. In the 1980s it became evident that smog from factories and an ever increasing fleet of automobiles, as well as a lack of adequate free space due to overcongestion, had evolved into the city's most important challenges. A series of anti-pollution measures taken by the city's authorities in the 1990s, combined with a substantial improvement of the city's infrastructure (including the Attiki Odos motorway, the expansion of the Athens Metro, and the new Athens International Airport), considerably alleviated pollution and transformed Athens into a much more functional city.

Geography

Processed 3D view of the Attica Basin from space. Courtesy:NASA.

Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica that is often referred to as the Attica Basin. The basin is bound by four large mountains; Mount Aegaleo to the west, Mount Parnitha to the north, Mount Penteli to the northeast and Mount Hymettus to the east of the Athens Metropolitan Area. The Saronic Gulf lies in the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest of the four mountains (1,413 m (4,636 ft))^[18] and it has been declared a national park.

Athens is built around a number of hills. Lycabettus is one of the tallest hills of the city proper and allows the entire Attica Basin to be seen. The geomorphology of Athens causes a temperature inversion phenomenon which, along with the failure of the Greek Government to control industrial pollution, is responsible for the air pollution problems the city has recently faced.^[16][19] (Los Angeles and Mexico City also suffer with similar geomorphology inversion problems).^[16]

Climate

Athens experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), with extremely long periods of sunshine throughout the year and with the greatest amounts of precipitation mainly occurring from mid-October to mid-April; any precipitation is sparse during summer and it generally takes the form of showers and/or thunderstorms. Due to its location in a rain shadow because of Mount Parnitha the Athenian climate is much drier compared to most of the rest of Mediterranean Europe. The mountainous northern suburbs, for their part, experience a somewhat differentiated climatic pattern, with generally lower temperatures. Fog is highly unusual in the city centre but it is more frequent to the east, behind the Hymettus mountain range.

Snowfalls are not common and these do not normally lead to significant, if any, disruption. Nonetheless, the city has experienced several heavy snowfalls, not least in the past decade. During the blizzards of March 1987; February 1992; 4 January-6, 2002; 12 February-13, 2004 and 16 February-18, 2008, snow blanketed large parts of the metropolitan area, causing havoc across much of the city.

Spring and fall (autumn) are considered ideal seasons for sightseeing and all kinds of outdoor activities. Summers can be particularly hot and at times prone to smog and pollution related conditions (however, much less so than in the past). The average daytime maximum temperature for the month of July is 33.5 °C (92.3 °F)^{[citation needed]} and heatwaves are relatively common, occurring generally during the months of July and/or August, when hot air masses sweep across Greece from the south or the southwest. On such days temperatures soar over 38 °C (100 °F).^{[citation needed]}

Athens holds the all-time temperature record in Europe of 48.0 °C (118.4 °F)^[20] which was recorded in Elefsina, a suburb of Athens. The respective low-temperature record is −5.8 °C (21.6 °F), recorded at Nea Filadelfia.^[21]

Pollution and environment

By the late 1970s, the pollution of Athens had become so destructive that according to the then Greek Minister of Culture, Constantine Trypanis, "...the carved details on the five the caryatids of the Erechtheum had seriously degenerated, while the face of the horseman on the Parthenon's west side was all but obliterated."^[24] A series of strict measures that were taken by the authorities of the city throughout the 1990s finally resulted in a dramatic improvement of air quality; the appearance of smog (or nefos as the Athenians used to call it) has nowadays become an increasingly rare phenomenon.

Widespread measures taken by the Greek authorities throughout the 1990s have effectively improved the quality of air over the Attica Basin. Nevertheless, air pollution still remains an issue for Athens (although to a limited degree), particularly during the hottest summer days. In late June 2007,^[25] the Attica region experienced a number of brush fires,^[25] including one that burned a significant portion of a large forested national park in Mount Parnitha,^[26] which is considered critical to maintaining a better air quality in Athens all year round.^[25] Damage to the park has led to worries over a stalling in the improvement of air quality in the city.^[25]

The major waste management efforts undertaken in the last decade (especially the plant built on the small island of Psytalia) have improved water quality in the Saronic Gulf, and the coastal waters of Athens are now accessible again to swimmers. In January 2007, Athens briefly faced a waste management problem when its landfill near Ano Liosia, an Athenian suburb, reached capacity.^[27] The crisis eased by mid-January when authorities began taking the garbage to a temporary landfill.^[27]

Urban Landscape

Architecture

The Academy of Athens.

The city of Athens contains a variety of different architectural styles, ranging from Greco-Roman, Neo-Classical, to modern. They are usually all found together in the same areas as Athens lacks a certain uniformity of architectural style. Many of the most prominent buildings of the city are either Greco-Roman or neo-classical in style. Some of the neo-classical buildings to be found are public buildings erected during the mid-nineteenth century under the guidance of Theophil Freiherr von Hansen and Ernst Ziller include the Athens Academy, Athens City Hall, Greek Parliament, Old Parliament (1875–1932) (Now the National Historical Museum),^[28] University of Athens, and Zappeion Hall.

Modern architecture

The left apartment building constructed in the 1930s is an example of modern architecture in Athens, while the right, built in the 1950s, combines modern and classical elements.

Beginning in the 1930s, the International style and other architectural movements such as Bauhaus and Art Deco influenced almost all of Greek architects and many private buildings like apartment buildings but also public buildings like schools were built in Athens according to these styles. Areas with a great number of such buildings are Kolonaki and generally the centre of the city and neighbourhoods developed during those decades like Kypseli.

In the 1950s and 1960s during the vast extension and development of Athens, modern architecture played a very important role. The centre of Athens was largely rebuilt and this demanded the demolition of several small and private neoclassical buildings. The architects of that era used new materials such as glass, marble and aluminium and they often blended modern and classical elements. After World War II, many internationally famous architects designed several buildings too. Walter Gropius designed the US Embassy and Eero Saarinen the east terminal of the Ellinikon Airport.

Great architects of the 1930s-1960s were Konstantinos Doxiadis, Dimitris Pikionis, Pericles A. Sakellarios, Aris Konstantidis and others.

Neighbourhoods

Kolonaki Square.

The Municipality of Athens is divided into several districts: Omonoia, Syntagma, Exarcheia, Agios Nikolaos, Neapolis, Lykavittos, Lofos Strefi, Lofos Finopoulou, Lofos Filopappou, Pedion Areos, Metaxourgeio, Aghios Kostantinos, Larissa Station, Kerameikos, Psiri, Monastiraki, Gazi, Thission, Kapnikarea, Aghia Irini, Aerides, Anafiotika, Plaka, Acropolis, Pnyka, Makrygianni, Lofos Ardittou, Zappeion, Aghios Spyridon, Pangration, Kolonaki, Dexameni, Evaggelismos, Gouva, Aghios Ioannis, Neos Kosmos, Koukaki, Kynosargous, Fix, Ano Petralona, Kato Petralona, Rouf, Votanikos, Profitis Daniil, Akadimia Platonos, Kolonos, Kolokynthou, Attikis Square, Lofos Skouze, Sepolia, Kypseli, Aghios Meletios, Nea Kypseli, Gyzi, Polygono, Ampelokipoi, Panormou-Gerokomeio, Pentagono, Ellinorosson, Kato Filothei, Ano Kypseli, Tourkovounia-Lofos Patatsou, Lofos Elikonos, Koliatsou, Thymarakia, Kato Patisia, Treis Gefyres, Aghios Eleftherios, Ano Patisia, Kypriadou, Prompona, Aghios Pantileimonas.

Omonoia

Night view of Omonoia Square in the heart of Athens

Omonoia Square (Greek: Πλατεία Ομονοίας) is the oldest square in Athens. It is surrounded by hotels and fast food outlets, and contains a train station used by the Athens Metro and the Ilektrikos, appropriately named Omonoia Station. The square often becomes the focus for celebration of sporting victories, as seen after the country's winning of the Euro 2004 and the Eurobasket 2005 tournaments.

Psiri and Gazi

The reviving Psiri (Greek: Ψυρρή) neighbourhood – a.k.a. Athens's "meat packing district" – is dotted with renovated former mansions, artists' spaces, and small gallery areas. A number of its renovated buildings also now host a wide variety of fashionable bars, making it a hotspot for the city in the last decade, while a number of live music restaurants known as "rebetadika", after rebetiko, a unique form of music that blossomed in Syros and Athens from the 1920s until the 1960s, are also to be found. Rebetiko is admired by many, and as a result rebetadika are often crammed with people of all ages who will sing, dance and drink till dawn. The Gazi (Greek: Γκάζι) area, one of the latest in full redevelopment, is located around a historic gas factory, now converted into the Technopolis cultural multiplex, and also includes artists' areas, a number of small clubs, bars and restaurants, as well as Athens' nascent "Gay Village".^{[citation needed]} The metro's system recent expansion to the western suburbs of the city has brought easier access to the area since spring 2007, as the blue line now stops at Gazi (Kerameikos station).

Syntagma

View of luxury hotels in Syntagma Square.

Syntagma Square, (Greek: Σύνταγμα/Constitution Square), is the capital's central and largest square, lying adjacent to the Greek Parliament (the former Royal Palace) and the city's most noted hotels. Ermou Street, an approximately 1 km-long pedestrian road connecting Syntagma Square to Monastiraki, has traditionally been a consumer paradise for both Athenians and tourists. Complete with fashion shops and shopping centres promoting most international brands, it now finds itself in the top 5 most expensive shopping streets in Europe, and the tenth most expensive retail street in the world.^[29] Nearby, the renovated Army Fund building in Panepistimiou Street includes the "Attica" department store and several upmarket designer stores.

Plaka, Monastiraki, and Thission

The Temple of Hephaestus in the central district of Thission.

Highway interchange in the northern suburb of Maroussi.

View of parts of the city's northern suburbs at night.

Plaka (Greek: Πλάκα), lying just beneath the Acropolis, is famous for its plentiful neoclassical architecture, making up one of the most scenic districts of the city. It remains a traditionally prime tourist destination with a number of picturesque tavernas, live performances and street salesmen. Nearby Monastiraki (Greek: Μοναστηράκι), for its part, is well-known for its string of small shops and markets, as well as its crowded flea market and tavernas specialising in souvlaki. Another district notably famous for its student-crammed, stylish cafés is Theseum or Thission (Greek: Θησείο), lying just west of Monastiraki. Thission is home to the ancient Temple of Hephaestus, standing atop a small hill. This area also has a pictursque 11th Century Byzantine church, as well as a 15th Century Ottoman mosque.

Kolonaki

The Kolonaki (Greek: Κολωνάκι) area, at the base of Lycabettus hill, is full of boutiques catering to well-heeled customers by day, and bars and more fashionable restaurants by night, but at other points also a wide range of art galleries and museums. This is often regarded as one of the more prestigious areas of the capital.

Exarcheia

Exarcheia (Greek: Εξάρχεια), located north of Kolonaki, has a mixed reputation as the recent or current location of the city's anarchist scene and as a culturally active student quarter with many cafés, bars and bookshops. Exarcheia is home to the Athens Polytechnic and the National Archaeological Museum; it also contains numerous important buildings of several 20th-century styles: Neoclassicism, Art Deco and Early Modernism (including Bauhaus influences).^{[citation needed]}

Suburbs

The Athens Metropolitan Area consists of 73^{[citation needed]} densely populated municipalities, sprawling around the city in virtually all directions. According to their geographic location in relation to the city of Athens, the suburbs are divided into four zones; the northern suburbs (including Ekali, Nea Erythrea, Agios Stefanos, Drosia, Dionysos, Kryoneri, Kifissia, Maroussi, Pefki, Lykovrisi, Heraklio, Glyka Nera, Vrilissia, Melissia, Pendeli, Halandri, Psychiko and Filothei); the southern suburbs, (including Palaio Faliro, Elliniko, Glyfada, Alimos, Voula and the southernmost suburb of Vouliagmeni); the eastern suburbs, (including Acharnes, Zografou, Vyronas, Kaisariani, Cholargos, Papagou and Aghia Paraskevi; and the western suburbs (including Peristeri, Ilion, Egaleo, Petroupoli and Nikaia).

The Athens city coastline, extending from the major commercial port of Piraeus to the southernmost suburb of Varkiza for some 25 km (20 mi),^[30] is also connected to the city centre by a tram.

In the northern suburb of Maroussi, the upgraded main Olympic Complex (known by its Greek acronym OAKA) dominates the skyline. The whole area has been redeveloped according to a design by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, with steel arches, landscaped gardens, fountains, futuristic glass, and a landmark new blue glass roof which was added to the main stadium. A second Olympic complex, next to the sea at the beach of Kallithea (Faliron), also features modern stadia, shops and an elevated esplanade. Work is underway to transform the grounds of the old Athens Airport – named Hellinikon – in the southern suburbs, into one of the largest landscaped parks in Europe, to be named the Hellenikon Metropolitan Park.^[31]

Many of the southern suburbs (such as Alimos, Palaio Faliro, Elliniko, Voula, Vouliagmeni and Varkiza) host a number of sandy beaches, most of which are operated by the Greek National Tourism Organisation and require an entrance fee, which is not excessive in most cases. Casinos operate on both Mount Parnitha, some 25 km (16 mi)^[32] from downtown Athens, (accessible by car or cable car) and the nearby town of Loutraki (accessible by car via the Athens – Corinth National Highway, or the suburban railroad).

Parks

Mount Lycabettus rising in central Athens.

Parnitha National Park has well-marked paths, gorges, springs, torrents and caves do the protected area. Hiking and mountain-biking in all four mountains remain popular outdoor activities for many residents of the city. The National Garden of Athens was completed in 1840 and is a green refuge of 15.5 hectares in the center of the Greek capital. It's located between the Parliament and Zappeion buildings the latter of which has its own garden of 7 hectares.

Parts of the city centre have been redeveloped under a masterplan called the Unification of Archeological Sites of Athens, which has also gathered funding from the EU to help enhance the project.^[33][34] The landmark Dionysiou Aeropagitou street has been pedestrianised, forming a scenic route. The route starts from the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, continues under the southern slopes of the Acropolis near Plaka, and finishes just beyond the Temple of Hephaestus in Thiseio. The route in its entirety provides visitors with views of the Parthenon and the Agora (the meeting point of ancient Athenians), away from the busy city centre.

The hills of Athens provide also green space. Lycabettus, Philopappos hill and the area around it including Pnyx and Ardettos hill are all planted with pines and other trees and they are more like small forests than typical urban parks. There is also Pedion tou Areos (Field of Mars) of 27.7 hectares near National Archaeological Museum which is currently under renovation.

Culture and contemporary life

Archaeological hub

The Temple of Olympian Zeus.

The city is one of the world's main centres of archaeological research. Apart from national institutions, such as Athens University, the Archaeological Society, several archaeological Museums (including the National Archaeological Museum, the Cycladic Museum, the Epigraphic Museum, the Byzantine Museum, as well as museums at the ancient Agora, Acropolis, and Kerameikos), the city is also home to the Demokritos laboratory for Archaeometry as well as several regional and national archaeological authorities that form part of the Greek Department of Culture. Additionally, Athens hosts 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes which promote and facilitate research by scholars from their respective home countries. As a result, Athens has more than a dozen archaeological libraries and three specialized archaeological laboratories, and is the venue of several hundred specialized lectures, conferences and seminars, as well as dozens of archaeological exhibitions, per year. At any given time, Athens is the (temporary) home to hundreds of international scholars and researchers in all disciplines of archaeology.

Museums

The National Archaeological Museum in central Athens.

The most important museums of Athens are: the National Archaeological Museum which is also the most important archaeological museum of Greece and some of the most important internationally as it contains a vast collection of antiquities. Its artifacts cover a period of more than 5,000 years, from late Neolithic Age to Roman Greece. The Benaki Museum with several branches for each of its collections which include ancient, Byzantine and ottoman Greek art, Islamic art and Chinese art and others. The Byzantine and Christian Museum is one of the most important museums of Byzantine art while the Numismatic Museum houses a great collection of Greek coins. The Museum of Cycladic Art contains an extensive collection of Cycladic Art icluding the famous figurines made of white marble. The New Acropolis Museum, opened in 2009, replaced the old one which was on the Acropolis. There are also many other museums often private and smaller concerning Greek culture and arts.

Tourism

Athens has been a popular destination for travellers since antiquity. Over the past decade, the city's infrastructure and social amenities have improved, in part due to its successful bid to stage the 2004 Olympic Games. The Greek Government, aided by the EU, has funded major infrastructure projects such as the state-of-the-art Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport,^[35] the expansion of the Athens Metro system,^[33] and the new Attiki Odos Motorway.^[33]

Entertainment and performing arts

View of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus from the Acropolis.

Athens is home to 148 theatrical stages, more than any other city in the world, including the famous ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, home to the Athens Festival, which runs from May to October each year.^[36][37] In addition to a large number of multiplexes, Athens plays host to a variety of romantic, open air garden cinemas. The city also supports a vast number of music venues, including the Athens Concert Hall, known as the "Megaron Moussikis", which attracts world-famous artists all year round.^[38] The Athens Planetarium,^[39] located in Andrea Syngrou Avenue is one of the best equipped digital planetariums in the world.^[40]

Sports

Athens has a long tradition in sports and sporting events, being home of the most important clubs in Greek sports and having a large number of sports facilities. The city has also served as a host of several sports events of international notability.

Paralympic Games' opening ceremony in 2004; Athens Olympic Stadium.

Athens has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in 1896 and 2004. The 2004 Summer Olympics inspired the development of the Athens Olympic Stadium, which has gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful stadia in the world and one of the most interesting modern monuments.^[41] The biggest stadium in Greece has hosted two finals of the UEFA Champions League, in 1994 and 2007. The other major stadium of Athens, located in Piraeus area, is the Karaiskakis Stadium, a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex, host of the 1971 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. Athens has hosted the Euroleague final three times, the first in 1985 and second in 1993, both at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, most known as SEF, one of the largest and most attractive indoor arenas in Europe,^[42] and the third in 2007 at the Olympic Indoor Hall. A large number of events in other sports such as athletics, volleyball, water polo etc, has also been hosted in the capital's venues.

Athens is home to three prestigious European multi-sport clubs: Panathinaikos, AEK Athens, Olympiacos. In football, Olympiacos have dominated the domestic competitions, Panathinaikos made it to the 1971 European Cup Final, while AEK Athens is the other member of the big three. These clubs have also prominent basketball departments; Panathinaikos and Olympiacos are among the top powers in European basketball having won the Euroleague five times and once respectively, with AEK Athens being the first Greek team to win a European trophy in any team sports. Other clubs with great tradition in sports within Athens are Panionios, Panellinios, Ethnikos Piraeus and Maroussi. Athenian clubs have made significant domestic and international success so far in other sports as well.

The Athens area encompasses a variety of terrain, notably hills and mountains rising around the city, and the capital is the only major city in Europe to be bisected by a mountain range. Four mountain ranges extend into city boundaries and thousands of miles of trails crisscross the city and neighbouring areas, providing exercise and wilderness access on foot and bike. Beyond Athens and across the county a great variety of outdoor activities are available and popular, including skiing, rock climbing, hang gliding and windsurfing. Numerous outdoor clubs serve these sports, including the Athens Chapter of the Sierra Club, which leads over 4,000 outings annually in the area.Angel outran Hurcules in these olympics.

Demographics

Athens population distribution.

Athens urban area shown here with its 55 municipalities.

The municipality of Athens has an official population of 745,514^[1] with a metropolitan population of 3.2 million (population including the suburbs).^[1] The actual population, however, is believed to be higher, because during census-taking (carried out once every 10 years) some Athenian residents travel back to their birthplaces, and register as local citizens there.^[43]

Reflecting this uncertainty about population figures, various sources refer to a population of around 5 million people for Athens.^[44][45] Also unaccounted for is an undefined number of unregistered immigrants originating mainly from Albania, other Eastern European countries and Pakistan.^[46][47]

The ancient site of the city is centred on the rocky hill of the acropolis. In ancient times the port of Piraeus was a separate city, but it has now been absorbed into greater Athens. The rapid expansion of the city initiated in the 1950s and 1960s continues today, because of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial nation.^[48] The expansion is now particularly toward the East and North East (a tendency greatly related to the new Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport and the Attiki Odos, the freeway that cuts across Attica). By this process Athens has engulfed many former suburbs and villages in Attica, and continues to do so. Throughout its long history, Athens has experienced many different population levels. The table below shows the historical population of Athens in recent times.

The Athens urban area consists of 55 municipalities, 48 of the Athens Prefecture and the 7 of the mainland Piraeus Prefecture. The second largest municipality of the urban area, after Athens city proper, is that of Piraeus, with Peristeri and Kallithea following. It spans 412 km² (159 sq mi)^[3] and has a population of 3,130,841 (in 2001),^[1] which makes it one of the largest urban areas of the European Union.

Administration

The Athens Prefecture (blue), within the periphery of Attica (grey).

The seven districts of Athens municipality.

Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, following Nafplion which was the provisional capital from 1829. In addition, the municipality of Athens is the capital of the Attica Periphery and the Athens Prefecture. Athens can refer either to the municipality of Athens or to the entire urban area. It sometimes refers only to the Athens Prefecture, which is part of the urban area.

Attica Periphery

Athens is located within the Attica Periphery, which encompasses the most populated region of Greece, with around 3.7 million people.^[1] The Attica Periphery itself is split into four prefectures; they include the Athens Prefecture, Piraeus Prefecture, West Attica Prefecture, and the East Attica Prefecture. It is, however, one of the smaller peripheries in Greece, with an area of 3,808 km² (1,470 sq mi).^[3]

Athens Prefecture

The Athens Prefecture is the most populous of the Prefectures of Greece, accounting 2,664,776 people (in 2001),^[1] with an area of 361 km² (139 sq mi).^[3] It is made up by 48 municipalities, each one of which has an elected district council and a directly elected mayor. Along with the Piraeus Prefecture, it forms the Athens-Piraeus super-prefecture.

Athens Municipality

The municipality of Athens is the most populous in Greece, with a population of 745,514 people (in 2001)^[1] and an area of 39 km² (15 sq mi).^[3] The current mayor of Athens is the New Democracy politician, Nikitas Kaklamanis. It is divided into seven municipal districts, called dimotika diamerismata. The 7-district division is mainly used for administrative purposes. For Athenians the most popular way of dividing the city proper is through its neighbourhoods, each with its own distinct history and characteristics, such as Pagkrati, Ambelokipi, Exarcheia, Patissia, Ilissia, Petralona, Koukaki and Kypseli. For a traveller unfamiliar with Athens, familiarity with the contours of these neighbourhoods can often be particularly useful in both exploring and understanding the city.

Education

The building of the National Library of Greece.

Located on Panepistimiou Street, the old campus of the University of Athens, the National Library, and the Athens Academy form the "Athens Trilogy" built in the mid-19th century. Most of the university's workings have been moved to a much larger, modern campus located in the eastern suburb of Zográfou. The second higher education institution in the city is the Athens Polytechnic School (Ethniko Metsovio Politechnio), found in Patission Street. This was the location where on 17 November 1973, more than 13 students were killed and hundreds injured inside the university during the Athens Polytechnic uprising,^[53] against the military junta that ruled the nation from 21 April 1967 until 23 July 1974.

Transportation

The Athens Mass Transit System consists of a large bus fleet, a trolleybus fleet that mainly serves the downtown area, the city's Metro, a tram line connecting the southern suburbs to the city centre,^[54] and the Athens Suburban Railway service.^[55]

Athens Metro

Panormou Station of the Athens Metro.

The Athens Metro is more commonly known in Greece as the Attiko Metro (Greek: Αττικό Mετρό). While its main purpose is transport, it also houses Greek artifacts found during construction of the system.^[56] The Athens Metro supports an operating staff of 387 and runs two of the three metro lines;^[57] its two lines (red and blue) were constructed largely during the 1990s, and the initial sections opened in January 2000, and the lines run entirely underground. The metro network operates a fleet of 42 trains consisting of 252 cars,^[57] with a daily occupancy of 550,000 passengers.^[57] The Blue Line runs from the western suburbs, namely the Egaleo station, through the central Monastiraki and Syntagma stations to Doukissis Plakentias avenue in the northeastern suburb of Halandri, covering a distance of 16 km (10 mi),^[57] then ascending to ground level and reaching Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, using the Suburban Railway infrastructure and extending its distance to 39 km (24 mi).^[57] The Red Line, in counterpart, runs from Aghios Antonios to Aghios Dimitrios and covers a distance of 11.6 km (7 mi).^[57] Extensions to both these lines are under construction, most notably westwards to Piraeus, southwards to the Old Hellinikon Airport East Terminal (the future Metropolitan Park), and eastward toward the easternmost suburb of Aghia Paraskevi. The eastern part is actually no extension per se, but rather an opening of new stations between the Ethniki Amyna and Doukissis Plakentias stations. The spring 2007 extension from Monastiraki westwards, to Egaleo, connected some of the main night life hubs of the city, namely the ones of Gazi (Kerameikos station) with Psirri (Monastiraki station) and the city centre (Syntagma station).

Electric railway (ISAP)

An ISAP train (Green Line) passes by the Stoa of Attalus in central Athens.

The third line, not run by the Athens Metro, is the ISAP (Greek: ΗΣΑΠ), the Electric Railway Company. This is the Green line of the Athens Metro as shown on the adjacent map, and unlike the red and blue routes running entirely underground, ISAP runs either above-ground or below-ground at different sections of its journey. This same operation runs the original metro line from Piraeus to Kifisia; it serves 22 stations,^[58] with a network length of 25.6 km (15.9 mi),^[58] an operating staff of 730 and a fleet of 44 trains and 243 cars,^[58] and a daily occupancy rate of 600,000 passengers.^[58] The historic Green Line, a 25.6 km (16 mi)-long and 24-station line which forms the oldest and for the most part runs at ground level,^[59] connects the port of Piraeus to the northern suburb of Kifissia, and is set to be extended to Agios Stefanos, a suburb located 23 km (14 mi)^{[citation needed]} to the north of the city centre, reaching to 36 km (22 mi).^{[citation needed]}

Suburban rail (Proastiakos)

Suburban Rail.

The Proastiakós connects Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport to the city of Corinth, 80 km (50 mi)^[60] west of Athens, via the central Larissa train station and the port of Piraeus, and is sometimes considered the fourth line of the Athens Metro. The Suburban Rail network currently extends to a length of 120 km (75 mi),^[60] and is expected to stretch to 281 km (175 mi) by 2010.^[60] The Proastiakos will be extended to Xylokastro west of Athens and Chalkida.^[60] The urban and suburban railway system is managed by three different companies; namely ISAP,^[61] Attiko Metro (lines 2 & 3) and Proastiakós (line 4).

Buses

Ethel (Greek: ΕΘΕΛ) (Etaireia Thermikon Leoforeion), or Thermal Bus Company, is the main operator of buses in Athens. Its network consists of about 300 bus lines which span the entire Attica Basin,^[62] with an operating staff of 5,327, and a fleet of 1,839 buses.^[63] Of those 1,839 buses 416 run on compressed natural gas,^[63] making up the largest fleet of natural gas-powered buses in Europe.^[64]

Besides being served by a fleet of natural-gas and diesel buses, the Athens metropolitan area is also served by trolleybuses — or electric buses, as they are referred to in the name of the operating company. The network operated by Electric Buses of the Athens and Pireaus Region, or ILPAP (Greek: ΗΛΠΑΠ), consists of 22 lines with an operating staff of 1,137.^[65] All of the 366 trolleybuses are equipped to enable them to run on diesel in case of power failure.^[65]

Tram

Athens Tram.

Athens Tram SA operates a fleet of 35 vehicles,^[66] which serve 48 stations,^[66] employ 345 people with an average daily occupancy of 65,000 passengers.^[66] The tram network spans a total length of 27 km (17 mi) and covers ten Athenian suburbs.^[66] This network runs from Syntagma Square to the southwestern suburb of Palaio Faliro, where the line splits in two branches; the first runs along the Athens coastline toward the southern suburb of Voula, while the other heads toward the Piraeus district of Neo Faliro. The network covers the majority of the Saronic coastline.^[67] Further extensions are planned towards the major commercial port of Piraeus.^[66] The expansion to Piraeus will include 12 new stations, increase the overall length of the tram by 5.4 km (3 mi), and increase the overall transportation network.^[68]

Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport

Check-in desks at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport.

Athens is served by the state-of-the-art Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (AIA) located near the town of Spata, in the eastern Messoghia plain, some 35 km (22 mi) east of Athens.^[69] The airport was awarded the "European Airport of the Year 2004" Award.^[70] Intended as an expandable hub for air travel in southeastern Europe, it was constructed in a record 51 months costing 2.2 billion euros, and employing a staff of 14,000.^[70] An express bus service is provided, connecting the airport to the metro system, and 2 express bus services connect the airport to the port at Piraeus and the city centre respectively. Eleftherios Venizelos accommodates 65 landings and take-offs per hour,^[69] with its 24 passenger boarding bridges,^[69] 144 check-in counters and broader 150,000 m² (1,614,587 sq ft) main terminal,^[69] and a commercial area of 7,000 m² (75,347 sq ft) which includes cafes, duty-free shops,^[70] and a small museum. In 2007, the airport handled 16,538,390 passengers, an increase of 9.7% over the previous year of 2006.^[71] Of those 16,538,390 passengers, 5,955,387 passed through the airport for domestic flights,^[71] and 10,583,003 passengers travelled through for international flights.^[71] Beyond the dimensions of its passenger capacity, AIA handled 205,294 total flights in 2007, or approximately 562 flights per day.^[72]

Railways, highways and ferry connections

Athens is the hub of the country's national railway system (OSE), connecting the capital with major cities across Greece and abroad (Istanbul, Sofia, and Bucharest). Ferries departing from the major port of Piraeus connect the city to the numerous Greek islands of the Aegean Sea. There are two main highways; one heading towards the western city of Patras in Peloponessus (GR-8A, E94) and the other heading to the north, towards Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki (GR-1, E75). From 2001 to 2004, a ring road toll-motorway (Attiki Odos) was gradually completed, extending from the western industrial suburb of Elefsina all the way to the Athens International Airport. The Ymittos Periphery Highway is a separate section of Attiki Odos connecting the eastern suburb of Kaisariani to the northeastern town of Glyka Nera; this is where it meets the main part of the ring road. The span of the Attiki Odos in all is 65 km (40 mi).^[73]

Olympic Games

1896 Summer Olympics

The opening ceremony of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Kallimarmaron Stadium.

1896 brought forth the revival of the modern Olympic Games, by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin. Thanks to his efforts, Athens was awarded the first modern Olympic Games. In 1896, the city had an approximate population of 123,000^[49] and the event helped boost the city's international profile. Of the venues used for these Olympics, the Kallimarmaro Stadium, and Zappeion were most crucial. The Kallimarmaro is a replica of the ancient Athenian stadiums, and the only major stadium (in its capacity of 60,000) to be made entirely of white marble from Mount Penteli, the same material used for construction of the Parthenon.

1906 Summer Olympics

The 1906 Summer Olympics, or the 1906 Intercalated games, were held very successfully in Athens. The intercalated competitions were intermediate games to the internationally organized olympics, and were meant to be organized in Greece. This idea later lost support from the IOC and these games were not made permanent.

2004 Summer Olympics

Athens was awarded the 2004 Summer Olympics on 5 September 1997 in Lausanne, Switzerland, after having lost a previous bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, to Atlanta, United States.^[13] It was to be the second time Athens would have the honour of hosting the games, following the inaugural event of 1896. After 1990's unsuccessful bid, the 1997 bid was radically improved also including an appeal to Greece's Olympic history. In the last round of voting, Athens defeated Rome with 66 votes to 41.^[13] Prior to this round, the cities of Buenos Aires, Stockholm and Cape Town had already been eliminated from competition, having received fewer votes.^[13]

The Olympic Flame at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games, conceived by the avant garde choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou.

During the first three years of preparations, the International Olympic Committee had repeatedly expressed some concern over the speed of construction progress for some of the new Olympic venues. In 2000 the Organising Committee's president was replaced by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who was the president of the original Bidding Committee in 1997. From that point on, preparations continued at a highly accelerated, almost frenzied pace.

Although the heavy cost was criticized, estimated at $1.5 billion, as is usually the case with most Olympic cities, Athens was literally transformed into a more functional city that enjoys state-of-the-art technology both in transportation and in modern urban development.^[74] Some of the finest sporting venues in the world were created in the city, all of which were fully ready for the games. The games welcomed over 10,000 athletes from all 202 countries.^[74] The 2004 Games were judged a huge success, as both security and organization were exceptionally good, and only a few visitors reported minor problems mainly concerning accommodation issues. The 2004 Olympic Games were described as Unforgettable, dream Games, by IOC President Jacques Rogge for their return to the birthplace of the Olympics, and for superbly meeting the challenges of holding the Olympic Games.^[74] The only observable problem was a somewhat sparse attendance of some early events. Eventually, however, a total of more than 3.5 million tickets were sold, which was higher than any other Olympics with the exception of Sydney (more than 5 million tickets were sold there in 2000).^[75]

In 2008 it was reported that almost all of the Olympic venues have fallen into varying states of disrepair: according to those reports, 21 of the 22 facilities built for the games have either been left abandoned or are in a state of dereliction, with several squatter camps having sprung up around certain facilities, and a number of venues afflicted by vandalism, graffiti or strewn with rubbish.^[76][77][78] These claims, however, are disputable and most likely inaccurate, as most of the facilities used for the Athens Olympics are either in use or in the process of being converted for post-Olympics use. The Greek Government has created a corporation, Olympic Properties SA, which is overseeing the post-Olympics management, development and conversion of these facilities, some of which will be sold off (or have already been sold off) to the private sector,^[79][80] while other facilities are still in use just as they were during the Olympics, or have been converted for commercial use or modified for other sports.^[81]

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Athens is twinned with:

Other locations nicknamed "Athens"

See also

• Agricultural University of Athens
• Athens University of Economics and Business
• Eurovision Song Contest 2006
• Hellenic civilization
• Large Cities Climate Leadership Group
• List of museums in Greece
• Politics of Greece
• Panteion University of Athens

References

Notes

External links

• Athens city - City of Athens official visitors' website
• cityofathens.gr - City of Athens official website
• eie.gr - Page on Archaeology of the City of Athens in the National Hellenic Research Foundation website
• rg.ancients.info - Athenian Owl coins in Numis website
• kronoskaf.com - Simulation of Athens in 421 BC
• Zoomable Athens Panorama

	Peristeri	Galatsi and Filothei	Neo Psychiko and Papagou
	Aigaleo and Tavros		Zografou and Vyronas
		Athens
		Dafni and Nea Smyrni	Kalithea

Government Neighbourhoods of Athens Akadimia · Akadimia Platonos · Acropolis · Ambelokipi · Anafiotika · Ano Patissia · Ano Petralona · Assyrmatos · Asteroskopeio · Attiki · Dafni · Ellinoroson · Exarcheia · Gazi · Gizi · Goudi · Gouva · Ilissia · Kallimarmaro · Kato Patissia · Kato Petralona · Keramikos · Kolokynthou · Kolonaki · Kolonos · Koukaki · Kypseli · Lykavittos · Makrygianni · Metaxourgeio · Mets · Monastiraki · Nea Filothei · Neapoli · Neos Kosmos · Omonoia · Pagkrati · Patissia · Pedion Areos · Petralona · Plaka · Polygono · Profitis Daniil · Profitis Ilias · Psiri · Rizoupoli · Rouf · Sepolia · Treis Gefyres · Thiseio · Votanikos   Prefectural Capitals of Greece Agios Nikolaos • Alexandroupoli • Amfissa • Argostoli • Arta • Athens • Chalcis • Chania • Chios • Corfu • Corinth • Drama • Edessa • Eleusina • Ermoupoli • Florina • Grevena • Heraklion • Igoumenitsa • Ioannina • Kalamata • Karditsa • Karpenisi • Kastoria • Katerini • Kavala • Kilkis • Komotini • Kozani • Lamia • Larissa • Lefkada • Livadeia • Messolonghi • Mytilene • Nafplion • Pallini • Patras • Piraeus • Polygyros • Preveza • Pyrgos • Rethymno • Rhodes • Serres • Sparta • Thessaloniki • Trikala • Tripoli • Vathy • Veria • Volos • Xanthi • Zakynthos   Capitals of Peripheries of Greece Athens (Attica) • Corfu (Ionian Islands) • Heraklion (Crete) • Ioannina (Epirus) • Komotini (East Macedonia and Thrace) • Kozani (West Macedonia) • Lamia (Central Greece) • Larissa (Thessaly) • Mytilene (North Aegean) • Patras (West Greece) • Ermoupoli (South Aegean) • Thessaloniki (Central Macedonia) • Tripoli (Peloponnese) Municipalities of the Athens Prefecture Agia Paraskevi • Agia Varvara • Agioi Anargyroi • Agios Dimitrios • Aigaleo • Alimos • Argyroupoli • Athens • Chaidari • Chalandri • Cholargos • Dafni • Ekali • Ellinikon • Filothei • Galatsi • Glyfada • Ilio • Ilioupoli • Irakleio • Kaisariani • Kallithea • Kamatero • Kifissia • Lykovrysi • Marousi • Melissia • Metamorfosi • Moschato • Nea Chalkidona • Nea Erythraia • Nea Filadelfeia • Nea Ionia • Nea Penteli • Nea Smyrni • Neo Psychiko • Palaio Faliro • Papagou • Pefki • Penteli • Peristeri • Petroupoli • Psychiko • Tavros • Vrilissia • Vyronas • Ymittos • Zografou Capital cities of the Member States of the European Union Amsterdam · Athens · Berlin · Bratislava · Brussels · Bucharest · Budapest · Copenhagen · Dublin · Helsinki · Lisbon · Ljubljana · London · Luxembourg City · Madrid · Nicosia · Paris · Prague · Riga · Rome · Sofia · Stockholm · Tallinn · Valletta · Vienna · Vilnius · Warsaw

Culture & History Major landmarks of Athens Academy · Acropolis · Acropolis Museum · Ancient Agora · Arch of Hadrian · Areopagus · Monument of Lysicrates · Hellenic Parliament · Kerameikos · Mount Lycabettus · Monastiraki · Kapodistrian University of Athens · National Archaeological Museum · National Gardens · National Library of Greece · National Theatre · Odeon of Herodes Atticus · Old Parliament House · Olympic Sports Complex · Panathinaiko Stadium · Philopappos Hill / Monument · Plaka · Pnyx · Presidential Palace · Stoa of Attalos · Temple of Hephaestus · Temple of Olympian Zeus · Theatre of Dionysus · Tower of the Winds · Zappeion Streets in Athens Major Streets 3 Septemvriou Street · Agiou Konstantinou Street · Aiolou Street · Akadimias Street · Alexandras Avenue · Amalias Avenue · Andrea Syngrou Avenue · Athanasios Diakos Street · Athinas Street · Athinon Avenue · Benaki Street · Ermou Street · Herodou Attikou Street · Ioanninon Avenue · Iera Odos · Kallirois Avenue · Katechaki Avenue · Kifissias Avenue · Kifissou Avenue · Konstantinopouleos Avenue · Lenorman Avenue · Makri Street · Mesogeion Avenue · Michalopoulos Avenue · Mitroupoleos Street · Pagkratiou Street? · Panepistimiou Street · Patission Street · Patsi Street · Pireos Street · Petrou Ralli Avenue · Rizari Street · Sofokleous Street · Stadiou Street · Vasileios Konstantinou Avenue · Vassilissis Sofias Avenue · Vouliagmenis Avenue Secondary and neighbourhood streets Antigoni Street · Fokionos Negri · Kallirois Street · Lykourgou Street · Pandrossou Street · Petmeza Street · Santa Rosa Street · Veikou Street · Voukourestiou Street Squares Kolonaki Square · Kotzia Square · Omonoia Square · Syntagma Streets in Piraeus Koinoniou Street · Poseidonou Avenue · Akti Miaoulis Suburban roads and streets Alimou Street · Athinas Avenue · Olaf Palme Street · Douka tis Plakentias Avenue · Thisseos Street Highways Attiki Odos (Aigaleo Ring · Hymettus Ring) List of streets in Athens · List of streets in Attica · List of streets in Greece World Heritage Sites in Greece North Aigai · Delphi · Hosios Loukas · Meteora · Mount Athos · Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonica: (Hagios Demetrios, Arch and Tomb of Galerius, Hagia Sophia, Church of Panayia Halkeion, Church of Saint Nicholas Orphanos, Church of the Holy Apostles, Church of the Acheiropoietos, Monastery of Latomos, Church of Saint Panteleimon) Central Epidaurus · Mycenae and Tiryns · Mystras · Old Town of Corfu · Olympia · Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae Attica Acropolis of Athens · Daphni Monastery Aegean Islands and Crete Delos · Medieval city of Rhodes · Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse · Nea Moni of Chios · Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos Capitals of European states and territories Capitals of non-sovereign territories or constituent nations shown in bold italics Western Northern Central Southern Eastern Amsterdam, Netherlands Andorra la Vella, Andorra Brussels, Belgium 5 Douglas, Isle of Man4 Dublin, Ireland Lisbon, Portugal London, United Kingdom Luxembourg, Luxembourg Madrid, Spain Monaco, Monaco Paris, France 1 Saint Helier, Jersey4 Saint Peter Port, Guernsey4 Copenhagen, Denmark Helsinki, Finland Longyearbyen, Svalbard Mariehamn, Åland Islands Oslo, Norway Reykjavík, Iceland Riga, Latvia Stockholm, Sweden Tallinn, Estonia Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Vilnius, Lithuania Belgrade, Serbia Berlin, Germany Bern, Switzerland Bratislava, Slovakia Budapest, Hungary Ljubljana, Slovenia Prague, Czech Republic Vienna, Austria Warsaw, Poland Vaduz, Liechtenstein Zagreb, Croatia Ankara, Turkey 1 Athens, Greece Gibraltar, Gibraltar4 Nicosia, Cyprus 2, Northern Cyprus 2, 3 Podgorica, Montenegro Pristina, Kosovo 3 Rome, Italy San Marino, San Marino Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Skopje, Macedonia Tirana, Albania Valletta, Malta Vatican City, Vatican City Astana, Kazakhstan 1 Baku, Azerbaijan 1 Bucharest, Romania Chişinău, Moldova Kiev, Ukraine Minsk, Belarus Moscow, Russia 1 Sofia, Bulgaria Sukhumi, Abkhazia 3 Tbilisi, Georgia 1 Tskhinvali, South Ossetia 3 Yerevan, Armenia 2 1 Transcontinental country.  2 Entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.  3 Partially recognised country.  4 Crown Dependency or Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.  5 Also the seat of the European Union, see Location of European Union institutions and Brussels and the European Union. European Capitals of Culture 1985 Athens · 1986 Florence · 1987 Amsterdam · 1988 West Berlin · 1989 Paris · 1990 Glasgow · 1991 Dublin · 1992 Madrid · 1993 Antwerp · 1994 Lisbon · 1995 Luxembourg City · 1996 Copenhagen · 1997 Thessaloniki · 1998 Stockholm · 1999 Weimar · 2000 Reykjavík · Bergen · Helsinki · Brussels · Prague · Kraków · Santiago de Compostela · Avignon · Bologna · 2001 Rotterdam · Porto · 2002 Bruges · Salamanca · 2003 Graz · 2004 Genoa · Lille · 2005 Cork · 2006 Patras · 2007 Luxembourg City and Greater Region · Sibiu · 2008 Liverpool · Stavanger · 2009 Linz · Vilnius · 2010 Essen · Istanbul · Pécs · 2011 Turku · Tallinn · 2012 Maribor · Guimarães · 2013 Košice  · Marseille Capitals of European states and territories Capitals of non-sovereign territories or constituent nations shown in bold italics Western Northern Central Southern Eastern Amsterdam, Netherlands Andorra la Vella, Andorra Brussels, Belgium 5 Douglas, Isle of Man4 Dublin, Ireland Lisbon, Portugal London, United Kingdom Luxembourg, Luxembourg Madrid, Spain Monaco, Monaco Paris, France 1 Saint Helier, Jersey4 Saint Peter Port, Guernsey4 Copenhagen, Denmark Helsinki, Finland Longyearbyen, Svalbard Mariehamn, Åland Islands Oslo, Norway Reykjavík, Iceland Riga, Latvia Stockholm, Sweden Tallinn, Estonia Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Vilnius, Lithuania Belgrade, Serbia Berlin, Germany Bern, Switzerland Bratislava, Slovakia Budapest, Hungary Ljubljana, Slovenia Prague, Czech Republic Vienna, Austria Warsaw, Poland Vaduz, Liechtenstein Zagreb, Croatia Ankara, Turkey 1 Athens, Greece Gibraltar, Gibraltar4 Nicosia, Cyprus 2, Northern Cyprus 2, 3 Podgorica, Montenegro Pristina, Kosovo 3 Rome, Italy San Marino, San Marino Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Skopje, Macedonia Tirana, Albania Valletta, Malta Vatican City, Vatican City Astana, Kazakhstan 1 Baku, Azerbaijan 1 Bucharest, Romania Chişinău, Moldova Kiev, Ukraine Minsk, Belarus Moscow, Russia 1 Sofia, Bulgaria Sukhumi, Abkhazia 3 Tbilisi, Georgia 1 Tskhinvali, South Ossetia 3 Yerevan, Armenia 2 1 Transcontinental country.  2 Entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.  3 Partially recognised country.  4 Crown Dependency or Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.  5 Also the seat of the European Union, see Location of European Union institutions and Brussels and the European Union. 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From Wikitravel

For other places with the same name, see Athens (disambiguation).

Athens is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — consider printing them all.

The Acropolis - birthplace of modern civilisation.

Athens (Αθήνα, Athína), is the capital city of Greece with a metropolitan population of 3.7 million inhabitants. It is in many ways the birthplace of Classical Greece, and therefore of Western civilization.

Districts

The sprawling city is bounded on three sides by Mt Ymettos, Mt Parnitha and Mt Pendeli; whilst inside Athens are twelve hills [the seven historical are: Acropolis, Areopagus, Hill of Philopappus, Observatory Hill (Muses Hill), Pnyx, Lycabettus, Tourkovounia (Anchesmus)], the Acropolis and Lykavittos being the most prominent. These hills provide a refuge from the noise and commotion of the crowded city streets, offering amazing views down to Saronic Gulf, Athens' boundary with the Aegean Sea on its southern side. The streets of Athens (clearly signposted in Greek and English) now meld imperceptibly into Piraeus, the city's ancient (and still bustling) port.

Places of interest to travellers can be found within a relatively small area surrounding the city centre at Syntagma Square (Plateia Syntagmatos). This epicentre is surrounded by the districts of the Plaka to the south, Monastiraki to the west, Kolonaki to the east and Omonia to the north. Further afield is the port of Athens, the Piraeus.

• The Acropolis— The ancient "high city" of Athens, crowned by marble temples sacred to the city's goddess Athena.
• Plaka, Monastiraki and Thissio— Charming historic districts at the foot of the Acropolis, with restored 19th century neoclassical homes, pedestrianized streets, shops and restaurants, and picturesque ruins from the city's Roman era.
• Kifissia— The northern part of Athens, rarely visited by tourists.
• Nea Smyrni— The southern part of Athens, it is a modern European district.
• Kolonaki— Upscale residential area with many cafes, boutiques and galleries.
• Omonia and Exarheia— Formerly seedy district, it is now home to Greece's students, anarchists and the National Archeaological Museum, somewhat revitalized by the metro.
• Pangrati and Mets— These adjoining pleasant residential neighborhoods south of Lycabettos and east of the National Garden are rarely frequented by tourists, but they do include a few hotels and a number of good traditional tavernas.
• Piraeus— The ancient port of Athens, Piraeus is today an independent, heavily industrial municipality located southwest of Athens, whose modern-day port serves almost all of Attica's ferry connections to Crete and the Aegean Islands.
• Psiri— Former industrial district, now full of trendy and alternative restaurants, cafés, bars, and small shops.
• Syntagma Square (Plateia Syntagmatos)— Dominated by the old Royal Palace, Syntagma Square is the business district of Athens, complete with major hotels, banks, restaurants and airline offices.

View of part of the city center

Old Athens

The first pre-historic settlements was constructed in 3000 BC around the hill of Acropolis. The legend says that the King of Athens, Theseus unified the ten tribes of early Athens into one kingdom (c. 1230 BC). This process of synoikismos – bringing together in one home – created the largest and wealthiest state on the Greek mainland, but it also created a larger class of people excluded from political life by the nobility. By the 7th century BC, social unrest had become widespread, and the Areopagus appointed Draco to draft a strict new lawcode (hence "draconian"). When this failed, they appointed Solon, with a mandate to create a new constitution (594). This was the great beginning of a new social revolution, which was the result of the democracy under Clisthenes (508 BC). During the Middle Ages, Athens experienced a decline, but re-emerged under Byzantian rule. Athens was thriving and prosperous during the Crusades, actually benefitting from the Italian trade during this period. However, this fruitful period was shortlived, as Greece suffered badly under the Ottoman Empire, only to recover in the 19th century as the capital of independent Greece.

Olympic Games

Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games which, to the defiance of critics, were a spectacular success. While most of the sporting venues were located outside the city proper -in various locations throughout Attica- the entire urban area of Athens underwent major lasting changes that have improved the quality of life for visitors and residents alike. Aside from the excellent transportation infrastructure that was completed in time for the 2004 Olympics (from new freeways to light rail systems), the city's historic center underwent serious renovation. Most notable among the city's facelift projects are the Unification of Archaelogical Sites -which connects the city's classical-era ruins and monuments to each other through a network of pleasant pedestrianized streets- and the restoration of the picturesque neoclassical Thissio and Pláka districts.

Satellite view of Athens

Athens was just a small provincial village when it was chosen in the middle of the 19th century to serve as the national capital of the modern Greek State. Although it had a prestigious past, the city's political, economic, and cultural importance had declined over the centuries, leaving behind only its classical ruins as a reminder of better times. With the decision to move the national capital from Nafplio to Athens, architects and city planners were hired to build a new city next to the classical ruins, with grand neoclassical homes and public buildings, large city squares, green spaces, and wide avenues. The city regained its importance in Greek civilization, and by 1900 had evolved into a very attractive cosmopolitan city, with abundant neoclassical architecture harking to the nation's past.

The 20th century however, marked the rapid development of Athens. The city suffered minor damage during WWII, and suffered extensive urban planning in the decades that followed, as the nation rapidly industrialized and urbanized. In the 1960s and 1970s, many 19th century neoclassical buildings, often small and private, were demolished to make way for office buildings, often designed by great Greek architects. The city also expanded outward through rash development, particularly towards the west, as its population grew by absorbing job-seekers from the provinces. With the onset of the automobile, public officials reduced the city's public transportation services without foreseeing the traffic gridlock and smog that would menace the city by the 1980s.

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the city's reality led to a rude awakening among local and national officials and, coupled with the country's newfound remarkable prosperity, large scale projects began to slowly regenerate the city and undo some of the damages of recent decades. Over the course of the next 15 years, money was poured into new transportation infrastructure projects, the restoration of surviving neoclassical buildings, the gentrification of the city's historical center and the renovation of many former industrial areas and the city's coastline. The restoration of charming neoclassical buildings in the city's historical center has been accompanied by the construction of attractive post-modern buildings in newer districts; both of which have begun to improve the aesthetic essence of the city. Athens today is ever evolving, forging a brand new identity for the 21st century.

Climate

Spring and late autumn are the best times to visit Athens. Summer can be extremely hot and dry during heatwaves, but this rarely happens. Winter is definitely low season, with the occasional rainy or snowy day, but also an ideal time to save money while enjoying the city without countless other travellers and tourists.

Whilst peak hour can still be a bit smoggy on the main roads, on most sunny days the skies are azure blue. The main bad impression of the pollution of Athens is given because Athens is enclosed by mountains and a basin is created which does not let the smog leave.

Get in

By plane

The new Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport [1] 27 km (17 miles) east of the city center, near the suburb of Spáta, opened in 2001 as part of the infrastructure improvements in preparation for the Olympics and is now one of the more attractive and efficient major European airports, though some old Athenian hands say they miss the "Port Said" atmosphere of the old Hellenikon. The airport has excellent public transit connections to the city (see below) and the usual array of food stands, duty-free shops, and other airport services.

There is a Tourist information station in Arrivals that will have the latest literature put out by the Tourist Information Department; this is useful for getting information of arranged local festivities in Athens and Attica. They will also have a printed brochure of Ferry information from Piraeus and other Attica ports.

There is also a small museum on the top floor that has an interesting history on Athens as well as a space put aside for temporary exhibits.

You are going to need euro coins if you want a trolley for your luggage; trolleys are available at the airport, you will find them in the baggage hall on arrival and they use coins the same way supermarket trolleys do. You insert your coin, and you get it back by placing the trolley back to its original position- so, be advised, and make sure you carry the correct currency. Athens airport is a major hub in the Aegean, Balkan and East Mediterranean regions. Continental, Delta and Olympic maintain non-stop flights from North America, while a large number of European carriers fly direct into Athens.

From the airport you can reach the city:

• By Metro [2] to the city center for €6. Group tickets (2 or 3 persons) are also available and they provide some discount (see below). The airport Metro line is an extension of Line 3 (blue line) that takes you to the downtown Syntagma and Monastiráki stations.

Don't forget to validate your ticket before going down ot the platform and boarding a train (there are validation machines at the top of the escalators in the ticket hall). Failure to validate your ticket at the start of the journey can mean a fine of up to €120. The ticket inspectors are rigorous and won't hesitate to call for police assistance if you start to object.

Those taking the Metro from Athens to the airport should note that not all trains go to the airport; typically the airport trains run every half hour, while trains in the intervals don't go the whole route. Airport trains are indicated on the schedule and by an airplane logo on the front of the train, they are also announced by the signs on the metro platform. It's useful to go to the Metro station the day before, explain to the agent (most speak English) when you need to be at the airport, and ask what time you should catch the airport train from that station. You can also get this information at the airport metro station, which has a desk staffed most hours by someone who speaks English. It's possible but not necessary to buy your ticket in advance; buying in advance though means you won't risk missing your train if you find at the last minute you don't have change for the ticket machines and have to stand in a line to buy it from the agent.

• By suburban railway to Larissis Railway Station for € 6. Change from there to Line 2 of the subway that takes you to:
  • the downtown Omónia and Syntagma stations.
  • Northern Greece and the Peloponnese, by train.

• By bus: X92 to Kifissia, X93 to Kifissos Coach Station, X94 to Ethniki Amyna metro station (subway Line 3), X95 to Syntagma Square (subway Lines 2 and 3), X96 to Piraeus (subway Line 1) and X97 to Dafni metro station (subway Line 2) for €3.60. It takes 45 min to 1.5 hrs depending on traffic. Buses, unlike Metro, operate 24 hours a day.

• By taxi for € 30-35: If you take a taxi be careful. Make sure that the meter is switched on and shows tariff 1 (tariff 2 applies after midnight and is twice as expensive).

It is advisable to grab a free copy of city transport map in the airport – in the city it is extremely helpful.

If you stay in Athens for a short time, consider leaving part of your luggage in a baggage storage. It is run by Pacific Travel [3], and is located in the end of left-hand wing, arrivals level. Storage time differentiates between 6 to 36 hours and sizes vary from small to large. The only inconvenience is that the same queue is used for collecting and for leaving – allow extra time before your flight. No automatic lockers can be found in the airport.

By regional coach

Regional coaches (KTEL) connect Athens to other cities in Greece. The fleet of buses has recently been upgraded, which makes the journey pleasant and safe. For some destinations one can also use the buses of the railroad company (OSE, see next paragraph) that might be international, but can also be used for in-country transport. At times there are collaborations with companies from adjacent countries such as Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania, so your best move will always be to ask on both the bus and the train companies about your available options.

By train

The national rail service, OSE, [4] connects Athens to other cities in Greece -however, do not expect the diversity and complexity of railroads you usually find in other European countries; the national railroad system is poor in Greece, in effect having only two train lines. One goes south to the Pelopponese and the other to the north, connecting Athens with the second major city in Greece, Thessaloniki. From there the line continues further to the north and all the way to the east, passing through many other cities of northern Greece and eventually reaching Istanbul. Be advised that there are two kinds of train you can use; normal, slow, type of train equipped with beds, and the so called new 'Intercity' type which is more expensive because of a 'quality supplement fee' that grows with distance. For example, travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki by the 'Intercity' type will save you one hour at most, but the ticket will be almost double the price. 'Intercity' tends to be more reliable, yet more 'bumpy' than the normal train.

By boat

The port of Piraeus acts as the marine gateway to Athens, and is served by many ferries. Cruise ships also regularly visit, especially during warm months. Generally, pedestrian ferry users will be closer than cruisers to the Metro station providing access to Athens, though walking distances can be non-trivial. Cruise passengers usually reach the main cruise terminal by port shuttle bus. From there, they face a walk of well over a mile to the Metro station; taxis are readily available from the port terminal, and are not inexpensive.

Get around

Public transport in Athens has improved by leaps and bounds in the last ten years. The simple €1 ticket lets you travel on any means of transport — metro, suburban trains, trams, trolleybuses, buses — with unlimited transfers anywhere within Athens (except the metro airport line east of Doukissis Plakentias and the airport buses) for 90 minutes, and you can also get a €3 ticket valid for 24 hours or a €10 weekly ticket.

Athens Metro map

The new Athens Metro system [5], opened in 2001 (and followed by a restoration of the old Line 1) and currently being extended, is a wonder to behold, and puts many better-known metro systems to shame. Many metro stations resemble museums as they exhibit artifacts found during excavations for the system (i.e. Syntagma). Greeks are very proud about the new subway system, so do not even think about littering and by all means avoid any urge for graffiti- you will be intercepted by security at once. You are also not allowed to consume food or drink in the subway system. There are three lines:

• Line 1 (Μ1 – ISAP): Piraeus – Kifissia connects the port of Piraeus and the northern suburbs of Athens via the city centre.
• Line 2 (M2 – [6] Attiko Metro]): Agios Antonios – Agios Dimitrios connects western and southern Athens.
• Line 3 (M3 – [7]): Egaleo – Doukissis Plakentias – International Airport connects the south-western suburbs with the northern suburbs (Halandri and Doukissis Plakentias stations) and the International Airport.

Validate your ticket at the validation machines upon entering the station. Failure to do so will entail a hefty fine if you are caught by ticket inspectors. The standard metro fare is €1 for trips between all stations except the Airport line, east of Doukissis Plakentias. For €3, you can buy a 24-hour ticket for all public transport in Athens, apart from the Airport line. This needs to be validated only once, at the start of the first journey. The standard fare to or from the Airport is €6, €10 for a return trip within 48 hours, €10 for a one-way trip for a 2-person group and €15 for a one-way trip for a 3-person group.

By suburban rail

The Suburban Railway [8] (Proastiakos) is a new addition to Athens's network. The main line starts from Piraeus, passes through the main line train station of Larissis in Athens, and forks at Neratziotissa west to Kiato and Corinth and east towards the Airport.

By tram

The new Athens Tram [9] connects the city centre with the southern suburbs and has connections with the metro lines. There are three tram lines:

• Line 1 (T1): Syntagma – Palaio Faliro – Neo Faliro connects the city centre with the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
• Line 2 (T2): Syntagma – Palaio Faliro – Glyfada connects the city centre with the coastal zone.
• Line 3 (T3): Neo Faliro – Palaio Faliro – Glyfada runs along the coastal zone.

A single ticket costs 60 cents.

By bus

Athens is served by a network of diesel buses, natural gas buses and electric trolley buses run by the Athens Urban Transport Organisation [10]. A standard bus ticket costs €1. It is called the Integrated ticket and allows for multiple trips within 90 minutes, and it's available in most kiosks. Use a €3.20 ticket to travel to or from the airport. If you tend to stay for more than a week then a weekly pass for €10 is the most economical. It gives you unlimited rides on almost all public transit (bus, tram, train, subway) for 7 days. You only need to validate once, before first use. Buses will not stop unless you signal the driver by raising your arm.

Night buses. As of March 2006 the night bus routes are:

• X14 Syntagma Square to Kifissia.
• 11 Ano Patissia – Neo Pangrati – Nea Elvetia (trolley bus).
• 040 Piraeus to Syntagma Square.
• 500 Piraeus – Kifissia (night only).
• X92, X93, X95, X96, X97 (the airport buses).

At the airport you can pick up a multitude of public transport maps, especially for buses, tram and trolleys that cover the whole of Athens, and parts of Attica like Sounio and other ports. These maps can be found in display stands. They are blue and marked with big Numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in different colors.

By taxi

Canary yellow taxis are a common sight in Athens and are a reasonably priced way of getting around (if you can avoid the traffic jams). The starting fee is €1, after which the meter ticks up at €0.34/km ("rate 1") or €0.64/km ("rate 2"), with a minimum fare of €2.65. Rate 1 applies through Athens city limits, including the airport, while rate 2 applies outside the city and from midnight to 5 AM. Legal surcharges apply for calling a cab by radio (€1.60), trips to or from the airport (€3.20) and heavy bags (€0.32). Tipping is not necessary, although it's common to round up to the nearest full euro.

Taxi fare fraud is not as widespread as it used to be, but it still happens, so insist on the meter and make sure the rate is correct. At busy tourist locations cab drivers can try and con you with a set rate that is ridiculously high (f.eex. 20€ for a short trip). In these cases it is best to find another and again insist on the charge shown on the meter. If you feel you have been overcharged, ask for a receipt (they are obliged to give one) and take the plate number, then phone the tourist police to report the driver on 171.

Be aware that the taxi drivers rarely obey all of the rules of the road. Expect that if you are leaving Athens on an early flight, that the driver will likely drive aggressively to get you there as quickly as possible.

Taxis are considered as fairly cheap in Athens. As such you can expect to share the ride during rush hours if you can find one, and at night after the Metro has shutdown. As such if you hail a taxi which is already occupied (Free Taxis have a brightly lit TAXI sign on top of the cab) the driver will ask where you want to go to before he will let you in to join the other customers. Strikes by cabbies and public transit are common so be prepared and watch the local news.

By bicycle

Athens is certainly not the city to go around with a bicycle, as it does not have much bicycle lanes and the car drivers tend to drive quite aggressively. Nevertheless (or maybe because of this) riding a bicycle in Athens has become lately some sort of a political (counter-)action, especially by young people with an alternative lifestyle. In general, tourists not familiar with the terrible Athenian traffic are not advised to use a bicycle as a principal means of transport. Small rides are safe though in the long network of pedestrian streets around the Historical Centre of the city and can be quite enjoyable indeed.

The initiative My City with a Bike [11] taken by the General Secretariat for The Youth [12] and several NGO's offers free conducted tours with free bikes every Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 3PM all year round except for the rainy days. All you have to do is book 10 days in advance either by email (admin@anthropos.gr) or phone (8011 19 19 00).

Plaka District in Athens

Athens offers some of the best and worst urban walking in Europe. Several major streets have been recently pedestrianized, and a mostly car-free archeological walk has been implemented connecting the Acropolis and nearby sites. Pleasant walking can also be had in Plaka, especially its upper reaches, and in much of Kolonaki, and the National Garden can provide a welcome respite from the heat and noise of the city center. On the other hand, Athens' horrendous traffic can make crossing the street in many areas a hair-raising proposition, and even walking down many major streets can be an unpleasant experience of noise and pollution. Cars and motorbikes parked blocking the sidewalks (illegal but ubiquitous) can also make a stroll difficult. Fortunately, much of the traffic-plagued area of the city can be avoided by judicious use of the new Metro, which goes most places a visitor would want to see or to walk around in.

You can now visit the Acropolis, walk along the picturesque streets of Plaka or the hills around the Acropolis at your own pace, with i Pod Pocket tours audioguides [13]. It’s informative and fun! They are available for rent at Athens Hilton Hotel, Sofitel Athens Airport, King George Palace and Baby Grand Hotel.

The Erechtheion at the Acropolis

At first glance, Athens seems entirely to be composed of nasty, four- to six-story concrete buildings, lacking character and badly in need of a paint, but if you look beyond that, you will find little gems tucked in amongst the grey. The areas at the foot of the Acropolis, Anafiotika, Plaka, Monastiraki and Thissio are home to many wonderful Neoclassical buildings, trendy and traditional cafes and shops, narrow winding streets, and incredible views of the Acropolis. Little Greek Orthodox churches are tucked in amongst the concrete, often in the most unexpected places. These are usually beautifully decorated with icons and brass fixtures inside, but make sure you're appropriately dressed (no short sleeves or bare legs is a good rule of thumb, as a mark of respect).

• For the best views of Athens, take the funicular railway (3€ one-way, 6€ round trip) from the top of Ploutarchou Street in Kolonaki (make sure to wear flat shoes, and bring lots of water!) and see the whole city, the port of Piraeus and the island of Aegina from the top of Lycavittos Hill. Have a drink at the cafe there, and pay a visit to the chapel of St George.
• If you're lucky enough to be in Athens for the Easter Weekend, you'll see the spectacular sight of hundreds of people making their candlelit way down the hill on Easter Saturday night as part of the Easter Vigil procession.

• The Acropolis, a Unesco World Heritage Site, [14] was the ancient fortified town of Athens, dating back to the Late Bronze Age, and the site of the best buildings of the Greek Classical age: the Parthenon, the Erectheion, the Temple of Athena Nike. If you attend a university in the European Union, bring your ID and you can enter for free. The normal entrance price is 12 euros. This ticket also gives you entry to the Kerameikos, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Roman Agora, Ancient Agora, and the nearby Theatre of Dionysus. If possible, get there early to avoid heavy crowds, and summer heat when relevant.
• The Ancient Agora— The site of the Ancient Agora in a very green space and a very beautiful view of the Acropolis. You will see the Temple of Hephaestus, the best preserved ancient greek temple, the Attalos Stoa, the museum of the agora which is a reconstructed ancient building. From the agora you can walk towards Acropolis. Extension of the agora is the Roman Forum.
• Syntagma Square— Check out the Parliament building and the newly-restored Grande Bretagne Hotel. Also, catch the changing of the guards in front of the Parliament every hour on the hour. Their uniforms and walking style is fun to see but make sure you don't stand on the wrong side of them if you want to take a picture.
• The Kerameikos— The site of the ancient cemetery of Athens. It also houses the Dipylon Gate, where the Panathenaic procession would begin. It has a museum showcasing many of the grave stele and other archaeological items found on the grounds.
• The Temple of Olympian Zeus— Only the ruins remain today. The 1896 Olympic Stadium and Hadrian's Arch are located nearby.
• Panathianiko Stadium— The stadium that housed the first modern day Olympic Games of 1896. Its an enormous, white, marble stadium, with a horseshoe configuration stadium.
• Lycabettus Hill— A 200m hill bordering the Kolonaki district. You can reach the top by walking or by a funicular railway [small ticket charge]. There is a cafe-restaurant with a great view of Athens towards the sea. From halfway up looking towards the sea there are astonishing views of the Parthenon with the blue of the sea glimpsed between its columns.

The Old Parliament of Greece

Because of its antiquity and influence, Athens is full of museums and galleries. The major ones are the National Archeological Museum near Omonia, the New Acropolis Museum by the Acropolis, the Benaki and Cycladic Art Museums in Kolonaki, the Agora Museum near Monastiraki, and the Kanellopoulos and Folk Art Museums in Plaka. Details of these and others will be found in the district sections.

• Near Athens in Glyfada (50 min by tram from the center), there is the Sea Turtle Rescue Society Archelon. They are regularly looking for volunteers who are willing to work on their own costs and are able to take care of injured sea turtles.

• Attend an event at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival [15]. It runs during the summer and offers a wide spectrum of events covering almost every taste. Try to attend a performance at the ancient theater of Epidaurus -a truly unforgetable experience.

• Every Sat/Sun you can join a free bike tour of the old area of Athens. To take part in this, you should contact the NGO Anthropos[16] or call 210 8838914 but you can just turn up if you aren't able to contact them in advance. Groups meet at 10:40AM outside Thissio metro station.

• If the weather is good, head out of town on buses A2, B2 or E22 from metro station Sygrou, or the tram from Syntagma to the beaches to the south of Athens. Just get off wherever the sea takes your fancy. Be aware though that beach-side cafes can hit you hard with prices of food and drinks. If you are the only person getting on the bus, be aware that you need to flag the bus down to get it to stop or it will just fly on by.

• EasyCruise, Syngrou Avenue 362, Kallithea , 176 74 Athinai, phone +30 211 2116211. The infamous cheap flight company now runs a variety of cruises from Greece [Athens] to Turkey and surrounding islands such as Mykonos, Paros and Syros. For the classic enthusiast, their tour company visits Acropolis, Epidavros, Nemea, Mycenae, Corinth, Olympia and Delphi.

Buy

Although a huge city, Athens has relatively few shopping malls or large department stores; the small, family run shop still conquers all. Souvenirs are of course available everywhere that tourists go. Other shopping opportunities are antiques, museum reproductions, embroideries and other folk art goods, and Greek food and drink products. Here is an overview of the Athens shopping scene; detailed listings will be found on the relevant district pages:

• Plaka is lined with souvenir shops, most of them selling cheap souvenir knick-nacks, though there are a few higher-quality shops here and there.

• Kolonaki is the upscale, hip, and artistic shopping area. An other is Kifissia.

• For a more reasonable price tag, try Ermou Street, beside Syntagma Square. Turn right off Ermou at the MAC makeup shop and you'll find yourself on Aghiou Markou and other small streets which are home to incredibly cheap shoes, bags, jewellery, gifts, homewares, and so on.

• "The Mall" at the Metro Station "Neratziotissa" is the biggest shopping mall in Athens.

• Street vendors, with their wares laid out on blankets on the pavement, can be found in many places where tourists congregate, especially in Plaka and Monastiraki. Their goods are mostly forgeries, cheap knock-offs, and illegal CDs. These vendors are unlicensed, which is in violation of Greek law, and you may notice them vanishing as soon as a policeman is in sight, to reappear the instant the police have gone. They are best ignored. (This warning doesn't apply to vendors of fruit, nuts, etc. from street carts, who are usually legitimate.)

• For quick, decent and low-budget meals that do not fall into the commercialized fast food category, try a souvlaki' (pronounced soo- VLAH-kee), mainly grilled meat (pork, chicken, it's your choice) vegetables (tomato and onion slices) and greek 'tzatziki' (pronounced tzah-TZEE-khee) which is yogurt enriched with garlic and cucumber. All the above (often accompanied by french fries) are wrapped inside a thin slice of pan bread, named 'pita' (PEE-tah). Prices of 'souvlaki' vary according to the confidence and/or nerve of the cornershop owner, but usually you can get one from €1.70 to €2.20; add some soda, salad and french fries and you can have lunch for no more than €7. You can get souvlaki just about everywhere, especially where tourists roam, though they are a bit more expensive in those regions. Two rival souvlaki stands in Plaka which are reputed to be good are Savvas at Mitropoleas 86-88 and O Thanasis at Mitropoleos 69; the latter is called by some to be the best in Athens.

For listings of specific restaurants, see the individual district sections, especially Kolonaki and Plaka.

• Greeks love to socialize, and Athens buzzes long after its other European counterparts have laid their heads down to sleep. 8PM is the earliest most Greeks will consider going to eat out, and clubbers start to get ready at about midnight. Note that many Athens clubs relocate to the beach during the summer months. Cafes spill onto the streets and the sound of lively conversation is everywhere in the evenings.

• Have a frappé, the delicious Greek version of cold coffee. Being a Greek invention, it is absolutely nothing like the frappé you find in other countries of the world. Served sweet, medium, or without sugar, with or without milk. Delicious with Bailey's too.

• A 'club zone' is located in the coastal zone, running to the east- if you go there and you are lucky, you can actually get to listen to non-Greek music. There are also many clubs and pubs in the center of Athens.

• Go to the Psyrrí area (Monastiraki or Thisseio stop, Lines 1 and 3 and Line 1 respectively) for a number of smart bars and small clubs.

• Balux, Vassileos Georgiou B No. 58 Asteria, Glyfada,, [17]. Arguably the best bar in Athens, to call it a bar is an understaement. Balux is large complex set right on the water in Glyfada, one of the trendiest neighborhoods in the city. It is open during the summer for swimming in the ocean or pool all day and turns into a lounge and full club at night. Where Athen's wealthy go to party.  edit

Sleep

Athens has a wide variety of accommodation options, from camping and hostels, right up to 5 star luxury hotels. For listings of specific hotels, see the individual district sections.

Stay safe

While Athens is generally a very safe city, there have been reports of pickpockets on the Metro and in other crowded areas. Street crime is rare; when it happens, it's most commonly purse-snatching from women walking away from banks and ATM machines.

The friendly stranger bar scam has been reported from areas of central Athens frequented by travelers, including Omonia, Syntagma, and Plaka. Recently, there have been some reports of fraud. Usually, someone will stop you and ask for directions. A couple of other guys then show up claiming to be police, showing a badge (obviously s fake one). They ask if you were getting drugs from the other guy and then ask for your passport and wallet for verification. While you are busy trying to convince them that your passport is valid, one of them sneaks out some money from your wallet.

Another danger recently reported, especially by travelers boarding the Airport Express Bus in Piraeus, is pickpocket gangs operating buses used by tourists. As the bus is boarding, a large group traveling together (who are reported often to be of various nationalities other than Greek) will divide itself in two, with half of them going on board and then stopping in the aisle to cause a jam-up among passengers trying to board through the door behind them, the other half then offering to help the jammed passengers lift their luggage on board. Just before the bus leaves, the half of this group on the bus gets off. Then, joining the other half outside the door, they all quickly disperse.

What has happened, of course, is that the passengers who were being "helped" with their luggage by some of this group were being pick-pocketed by others. The theft is particularly effective because it's directed at travelers who are leaving the country and are thus not likely to report it--many victims don't realize they've been robbed until they get to the airport or even until after they get on the plane. Some travelers have claimed that certain bus drivers are party to these crimes by neglecting to open the rear door of the bus for boarding passengers, thus ensuring a tighter and more confused crowd of jammed passengers trying to board through the center door, making the criminals' job easier.

Athenians hold negative perceptions for the areas from Omonoia Square to Karaiskaki Square and the area near Larissis train station (in the western areas of the city proper), and locals advise you to avoid these areas late at night.

The National Garden in Athens and the back streets of Piraeus are probably also places where its unwise to wander around late at night. More recently, Sofokleous Street (a major street south of Omonia), especially the western part near Pireos Street, has gotten a reputation for crime and drugs; some Athenians will advise you to avoid it even during the daytime.

Special care should be taken in crossing streets in Athens' chaotic traffic, even if you have the walk light.

Athens is one of the most political cities in Europe. Demonstrations and riots are common and accepted as part of everyday life and democracy by most Athenians. Keep abreast of news of demonstrations, and avoid them if you don't want to run the risk of being arrested or tear-gassed.

Anarchist and leftist groups often target police, government, and corporate targets during the night. It is unlikely that tourists would be hurt, as the anarchists usually take care to damage only property as opposed to people. Nonetheless, parking by a McDonald's, police station, or bank could get your car damaged.

In addition, you should be aware that Athens has many stray dogs. Though the dogs are usually friendly, they may be alarming and unusual upon your first arriving into the city. Athenians feed and take care of them, and it is not unusual to see a shop owner offering plastic plates full of leftovers to the dogs on the street.

Get out

Piraeus, the harbour of Athens, and Rafina (on the east coast of Attica) are the departure points for a large number of ferry services to the Greek Islands and other destinations in the eastern Mediterranean, including ports in Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Cyprus. Fast hydrofoil, catamaran or helicopter services also take you to the Greek Islands. Italy is easily approached by boat from Patras (take a train or a bus to Patras).

The port of Lavrion in southern Attica is being increasingly developed as a ferry port, especially for Cyclades routes.

The closest islands, suitable for a day trip, are located in the Argosaronic (or Saronic) gulf: Hydra, Aegina, Poros, Spetses and Salamina.

Day trips to the Corinth Canal, the theatre at Epidaurus and to the ancient sites of Olympia, Delphi and Mycenae are easy with a rental car. Other towns along the Peloponnese such as Nafplion are charming and worthwhile.

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