Adventures Ashore Port Guide ATHENS About Your Port Guide >> An Overview of Athens This is your guide to Athens, specially New cities in the world are as rich in population to colonize other parts of the prepared by Princess Cruises. This guide is history and culture as Athens. Although region, spreading its own institutions and intended to assist you if you are on a shore it is a bustling modern capital city, customs even further. Athenian settlements excursion, touring independently or doing Athens still holds the ancient Acropolis extend throughout the Aegean, Sicily, both. and all of its history high enough for Southern Italy, Asia Minor and even the In some cases, the information included here, everyone to remember. Black Sea. such as currency exchange and transportation fares, is general in nature. In such cases, more The core of the city is built on a lofty hill Through Greek eyes, the unique traits of specific and current information is included in with steep sides, providing an excellent Athens disclosed a special relationship the Princess Patter. defensive site. It is protected by a ring of with both Poseidon, god of the sea, and lower hills, and by two rivers that flow into Athena, goddess of wisdom. Athena’s the sea nearby. The Athenian port of characteristic owl was a frequent symbol Piraeus is only six miles away. Very early in on Athenian coins and her olive tree, its history, Athens gained attention among signifying peace and harmony, commonly neighboring city-states for its strong appears on decorative works. Though maritime commerce and the wealth which technically dedicated to the goddess, that overseas trade generated. This Athens did not want to neglect the commercial success, in turn, convinced the powerful god of the sea, which dominated Athenians that an open-minded, tolerant their commerce. The beautiful approach toward all people was good for Erectheion on the Acropolis hedges the business, and frequently eliminated the bet quite nicely: shrines to Poseidon and petty causes of antagonism and warfare that Athena share the same temple building. might disrupt trade. There is also a stunning Temple of Since there never seemed to be enough Poseidon atop the headland of Cape skilled workers to keep up with the demand Sounion, overlooking the Aegean Sea. for goods, the merchant classes saw that it The Golden Age of Athens began with the was in their interests to form a working social reforms of the philosopher Solon and Greece At A Glance >> partnership with artisans, farmers, sailors the strong direction of leaders like and day-laborers. And since those who did Peisistratos in the 6th-century B.C. SIZE 51,146 square miles, about the size of the lion’s share of working, fighting and Imposing public buildings and temples on Alabama sailing were valued members of the society, the Acropolis replaced earlier ones, and the POPULATION 10,042,000, about one-third the basis for small-scale democracy was Agora or marketplace district expanded the population of California founded upon practical needs. Those several times over. LANGUAGE Greek workers were granted political and civil Athens secured the leadership of many CAPITAL Athens rights, ensuring their loyalty to a city that Greek states, especially those who opposed TYPE OF GOVERNMENT Presidential protected them. Persian expansion. During the Persian Parliamentary Republic Slavery was uncommon during the first Wars (circa 400 B.C.), the city was CURRENCY Euro, formerly Greek Drachma centuries of Athenian life; on the contrary, captured and destroyed; but Athens and TIME ZONE GMT +3 escaped slaves from other places found their her allies ultimately expelled their Persian way to Athens for safety and refuge. There foes from Europe. The glorious battles of was work available, and the steady influx of this period include the lopsided victory at outsiders hoping to begin a new life was Marathon, followed by the famous 26-mile taken for granted. Like many other Greek run to communicate the news of victory. states, Athens exported its surplus History also records the heroic defense of Thermopylae by 300 Spartans, and the crushing naval victory constructed a fine Odeon, or small theater, and rebuilt the at Salamis. stadium nearby. Following the defeat of the Persians, the great statesman Athens remained part of the Roman-Byzantine empire even after Themistocles built new fortifications to protect the city. There was the fall of Rome in the West. Along with the rest of Greece, it was also much to be rebuilt inside the city; the form of the Acropolis conquered by the Turkish army in the 1450s and remained part of that we see today took shape at this time. the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century. The spellbinding orator Pericles devoted himself to designing Monuments in the modern city honor the memory of two non- the perfect city, with advice from the sculptor Pheidias. Gray- Greeks: Lord Byron and Heinrich Schliemann. Byron supported white marble from the quarries at Pentele was hoisted to the the Greeks’ struggle for independence with his military skill, but hilltop in huge quantities. The Propylaia, the Erectheion, the even more with his writing. Although he died long before final Temple of Athena Nike, and the Parthenon were all designed at victory, he is much loved even today. Schliemann was a German one time to complement one another. The shops and squares of businessman with a passion for ancient history. He shocked the the Agora and most of the lower town were also rebuilt and archaeological world by looking for legendary sites, like Troy, expanded during the same building program. Pericles also built which some scholars had dismissed as mythical. When his the legendary Long Walls, a sort of fortified corridor connecting searches were successful, he sparked a new wave of study, which Athens with Piraeus. brought to light previously unknown cultures like the Mycenean Not far from the Acropolis is the Pnyx, a small crowded and Minoan civilizations. His house in Athens is a museum amphitheater where the Assembly met and debated political today. issues. Since each citizen had the right to speak and vote, the The Plaka quarter is a lively shopping district at the foot of the Pnyx is the true home of Athenian democracy. The much larger Acropolis, established in the 19th-century. More modern Theater of Dionysus is one of the oldest and most impressive additions to the city include the impressive Olympic Stadium, Greek dramatic structures. built in 1895 for the first Olympic Games in modern times. After the city went into decline, it was ruled in turn by Sparta, Syntagma or Constitution Square is an elegant space in front of Thebes, Macedonia, and Rome. The Roman Emperor Hadrian the Parliament. That palace, formerly built for the kings of loved Athens and all things Greek. He added a new walled Greece, also hosts the monument to the Unknown Soldier. quarter to the city, complete with library, gymnasium, new Omonia Square, also known as Concord Square, is a delightful aqueducts, and the striking Hadrian’s Arch. He also completed traffic hub, full of creative noise and commotion. One of the the Olympian Temple of Zeus, started centuries before by streets from there leads to the gracious buildings of the University, Peisistratos. About the same time, the wealthy Herodes Atticus the Academy, the National Library, and ultimately to Schliemann’s former house. Places of Interest in Athens The Acropolis - "High City" The Hill of the Muses The heart of ancient Athens and the site of the Parthenon, the A site near the Acropolis where, it is said, Socrates drank the fatal Propylea, Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erectheion; a true cup of hemlock for allegedly corrupting Athenian youth with his testament to the Golden Age of Greece and to the Greek advanced ideas on religion leader Pericles National Archaeological Museum Acropolis Museum The world’s most outstanding collection of Greek antiquities are Collection of sculpture and other artifacts from the Acropolis; displayed in this popular museum. also located on the Acropolis The Odeon of Herodes Atticus Ancient Agora Originally built in A.D. 160, this beautifully restored Greek The commercial and public center of ancient Athens; today it is theater is now home to the summer-long Athens Festival scattered with Greek and Roman fragments and ruins The Parthenon Erectheion Architectural masterpiece and main temple of the Acropolis built Beautiful temple to Athena and Poseidon, god of the sea; best between 447 B.C. and 438 B.C. by Iktinos and Kalikratis; it was known for its Karyatid Porch supported on the heads of six dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom maidens (Karyatids) Plaka Hadrian's Arch The restored 19th-century shopping district at the foot of the Marble gateway built by the Roman emperor Hadrian Acropolis a in s To Athens Propylea t e R u s lo Ancient gate and secular building leading thinon Peiraio e A Faliron iz Piraeus n Train Station e Train Station V to the Parthenon; designed by the f. o Leo e f. Poseid L architect Mnesicles onos Leof. Syngrou “Peace and Princess Berth Town Hall Friendship” Syntagma Square - Constitution at Piraeus Stadium Archaeological Square Museum Elegant and popular square in front of Piraeus Marine Princess Anchorage Museum at Marina the Parliament and near to the Tomb of Flisvos L e Kalamáki o the Unknown Soldier and the Plaka f . P ose ido no Temple of Athena Nike or s Temple of Wingless Victory Graceful all-marble temple near the Parthenon dedicated to the Goddess of Victory, “Nike” Theater of Dionysus Seating 17,000 people, this impressive structure is the oldest of the Temple of Olympian Zeus Greek theaters Majestic temple begun in the 6th century B.C.