Athens

   The city is located on peninsula Attica, near Aegean Sea, in the picturesque hilly valley, two of hills – the Acropolis and Lykavittos dominate over a city. The valley is surrounded by mountains from three parties, opened from Saronic Gulf that creates conditions for stagnation of polluted air (a smog is typical for Athens).                                

   Athens has received the name in honor of Athena, goddesses of wisdom who on a legend has won this city as a prize in a duel with Poseidon. The City history totals some millenia, and Athens by right are considered as a cradle of the western civilization, democracy and philosophy, art and architecture here have arisen. After the classical Golden Age in which lived Socrate, Platon and Aristotle, the city has endured decline in the middle Ages then Athens represented a small city with several thousand the inhabitants, located in colorful area, now this area is known as Plaka. Athena Rebirth has endured in 1834 as capital of independent Greece.  

   Athens – a city which Greeks like to hate, complaining that it the expensive, too polluted and that here is too much to people. About 40 % of all Greece (5 million persons) lives here, forcing a city to go to pieces. In Athens of 150 thousand taxis, but it is difficult enough to find free, and in streets it is so much stoppers that seems that all five millions Athenians have cars. The most part of sights can be bypassed on foot; they are located in the central area, round the Acropolis. Walks on foot are the best way to incorporate atmosphere of Athens.                            

   As the best sights of Athens by right are considered the Acropolis is the citadel of ancient Greece towering over a city on the flat stone basis. This that place with which Athens and a classical Greek civilization have begun, here is the whole series of the fine temples mostly devoted to the goddess of wisdom to Athena. The age of ruins goes back to IV in BC; the most part of constructions has been erected at Pericle after Persians have destroyed much of initial buildings of the Acropolis.                                            

   The bottom Acropolis has other sight Ancient Greek Agora (Ancient Agora), the ancient centre of a trading and civil life of Athens where once walked and conducted conversations great philosophers Socrate and Platon. In the southwest Agora, in the prison, the dishonored and despaired Socrate has committed suicide, having accepted poison. The space of Agora is covered by numerous ruins of ancient buildings, including Theatre Dionis where took place the first representations of products of Eschil, Sofocle and Evripid.                        

   In a city there is a monastery of Dafni, a place which forces to reflect on a long history of this spiritual place. At the time of antiquity here there was a temple where worshipped to Apollo. From that temple one column near to an input has remained only, but the name "Dafni" (on the Greek means "the laurels", Apollo's favorite plant) honors till now this god.                 

   The tremendous private collection containing subjects since an epoch of a neolith till 20 centuries is in Museum Benaki. The meeting of subjects of the folk art is excellent, including magnificent suits and icons, admiration two rooms in which conditions of northern Greek private residence of a XVIII-th century are completely recreated also deserve. In the Museum of Benaki (Benaki Museum) it is possible to look Ancient Greek products from bronze, gold bowls, and rare textile products of early Christianity.                                    

   In capital there are many museums, however the National Archaeological museum (National Archaeological Museum) is the most important museum in Athens, its collections is contained by the brightest works of art created during the different periods of an ancient Greek civilization.

   In heart of modern Athens there is an Area the Syntagma / the Consent area which places on itself a building of the Parliament constructed in 1840 as the Royal palace. From the Consent area it is easy to reach the main sights of Athens, especially many museums are located along street Vasilissis Sofias, including Museum Benaki, the Museum of Cyclad both Greek Ancient art and the Byzantine Museum.                                        

   Athens always possessed unique charm; live character of a city draws every year ten thousand visitors. The street markets, the taverns covered with grapes, souvenir racks and ancient monuments near to new constructions – all it forms that the quarter of Greeks calls the house.