Athens Historical Walking Tour

The triumphal arch lies on an ancient street that led from the old city of Athens to the new, Roman section, built by Hadrian. It was constructed by the Athenians in A.D. 131, in honor of their benefactor emperor. Two inscriptions are carve... Read more

The construction of this temple started in the 6th century BC and its designs were appointed to the architects Antistates, Callaeschrus, Antimachides, and Porinus. At first, it was intended to be built out of limestone in the austere Doric ... Read more

One of the most important museums in the world, houses the findings of only one archaeological site, the Athenian Acropolis. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on the surrounding slopes, from the Greek Bron... Read more

The Sanctuary of Dionysus in Athens played host to one of the largest Theatrical festivals in the ancient world. Its influence shaped the spread of theatre to many other areas of the world and pioneered the genres and format of theatrics th... Read more

It is built on the south slope of the Acropolis hill, originally part of the sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator). The first orchestra terrace was constructed on the site around the mid- to late-sixth century BC,... Read more

It was the sanctuary built in honour of the gods Asclepius and Hygieia, located west of the Theatre of Dionysos and east of the Pelargikon wall on the southern escarpment of the Acropolis hill. It was one of several asklepieia i... Read more

It was built in 161 AD by the Greek Herodes Atticus in memory of his Roman wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped theater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon�... Read more

The Beulé Gate is the late Roman defensive entrance to the Acropolis which leads to the stairway up to the monumental Classical Greek gateway of the Propylaia. It is unique among Athens' ancient monuments in being named after an archaeo... Read more

In ancient Greek architecture, a propylaea, propylea or propylaia is a monumental gateway. The prototypical Greek example is the propylaea that serves as the entrance to the Acropolis of Athens. The Greek Revival, Brandenburg Gate... Read more

Dedicated to the goddesses Athena and Nike. Built around 420 BC, the temple is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis. It has a prominent position on a steep bastion at the south west corner of the Acropolis to the right of... Read more

The Pedestal, now known as the Agrippa Pedestal located west of the Propylaea of Athens and the same height as the Temple of Athena Nike to the south, was built in honor of Eumenes II of Pergamon in 178 BC to commemorate his vic... Read more

The Athena Promachos (Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόμαχος, "Athena who fights in the front line") was a colossal bronze statue of Athena sculpted by Pheidias, which stood between the Propylaea and the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athe... Read more

The Parthenon (/ˈpɑːrθəˌnɒn, -nən/; Ancient Greek: Παρθενών, Parthenṓn, [par.tʰe.nɔ̌ːn]; Greek: Παρθενώνας, Parthenónas, [parθeˈnonas]) is a former temple[6][7] on the Athenian Acropolis, Gr... Read more

A caryatid (/ˌkæriˈætɪd/ KARR-ee-AT-id; Ancient Greek: Καρυάτις, pl. Καρυάτιδες) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablat... Read more

Cool view of athens. Highlights: Ancient Agora, Temple of Hephaistos, Anafiotika Neighborhood, Lykavittos Hill, Syntagma Square. 

Another cool view. Highlights: Temple of Olympian Zues, Theater of Dionysus, Acropolis Museum, Filopappos Hill, &  Aegean Sea

Built in the 5th century BC. The use of the rooms is yet unknown. Its cave-like structure and its proximity to the Athenian Agora must have led to the legend that the building is none other than the Prison of Socrates, or an ancient bath, a... Read more

The monument there now was built in Roman times in 116 AD. Philopappos Hill is also called the Hill of Muses because it is home to a sanctuary dedicated to the poet and prophet Musaeus. According to the Greek mythology, the muses are the 9... Read more

Philopappos died in 116, and his death caused great grief to his sister Julia Balbilla, citizens of Athens and possibly to the imperial family. As a dedication to honor the memory of Philopappos, Balbilla with the citizens of Athens erecte... Read more

Great views on the entire city including the Acropolis and Piraeus harbour.

Recently excavated in 2009. Believed to have been originally used as a place of worship, then as homes, and later as tombs and burial monuments. The name hints at a local legend that the man who resided in this particular stone cut structur... Read more

5th century BC Athenian statesman and victor in the Battle of Marathon, Cimon, lies buried in the rock-cut tomb.. Cimon (/ˈsaɪmən/;[citation needed] c. 510 – 450 BC) or Kimon (/ˈkaɪmən/; Greek: Κίμων, Kimōn)[2] was... Read more

Agios Demetrios is a beautiful 12th c. small church of the vaulted single-aisle basilica type. The construction of the chapel is probably associated with the final phase of the fortification wall (12th c. A.D.). Inside the church, the fres... Read more

The Dipylon gate was built, along with the neighbouring Sacred Gate, in 478 BC as part of Themistocles' fortification of Athens following the Persian Wars. The new circuit was much wider than the old one that was destroyed by the Persi... Read more

The Pnyx was used for popular assemblies in Athens as early as 507 BC, when the reforms of Cleisthenes transferred political power to the citizenry. The Pnyx was the official meeting place of the Athenian democratic assembly. It was then ou... Read more

Entrace to the Ancient Agora of Athens. The word "agora" applies to an assembly of people and by extension marks the gathering place. In modern Greek the term means "marketplace". Remained in use either as an assembly, as a commercial, or ... Read more

The Stoa of Attalos (also spelled Attalus) was a stoa (covered walkway or portico) in the Agora of Athens, Greece.[1] It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon, who ruled between 159 BC and 138 BC. The current b... Read more

Stoas, in the context of ancient Greek architecture, are covered walkways or porticos, commonly for public usage. This stoa is approximately in the middle of the Agora and dividing it into north and south areas. Built 175 BC - 150 BC ...

This capital once stood here atop a colossal column. It was one of a dozen columns that lined the entrance to a huge therater - the Odeon of Agrippa. Carved in the 4th century BC

Early 5th century BC: Drain with width and breadth of 1 m., its side walls of polygonal masonry with a tiled bottom and large covering slabs. Its purpose was to convery to the Eridane River waste from the buildings of the Agora and rainwate... Read more

Built in 470 AD. The south half of the west side was given over to the major administrative buildings used to run the Athenian democracy. The buildings are poorly preserved, but the identifications are secure thanks to the account of the ... Read more

After the battle of Plataea, the Greeks swore never to rebuild their sanctuaries destroyed by the Persians during their invasion of Greece, but to leave them in ruins, as a perpetual reminder of the war. The Athenians directed their funds... Read more

The two-story auditorium seated around 1,000 spectators and was equipped with a raised stage and marble-paved orchestra. On three sides it was surrounded by a subterranean cryptoporticus with stoae above. The building was decorated e... Read more

East of the East Building and Mint we arrive once again at the Panathenaic Way, which in this area is lined along its eastern side by a massive wall built in the 3rd century A.D. (Fig. 42). The wall was constructed in the years following ... Read more

The church is particularly significant as the only monument in the Agora, other than the Temple of Hephaestus, to survive intact since its foundation, and for its architecture: it was the first significant church of the middle Byzantine ... Read more

The original Agora was encroached upon and obstructed by a series of Roman buildings, beginning with the imperial family's gift to the Athenians of a large odeion (concert hall). The Odeon of Agrippa was built by him in around 15 BC, and... Read more

The Tower of the Winds or the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower in the Roman Agora in Athens that functioned as a horologion or "timepiece". It is considered the world's first mete... Read more

The Plaka is the oldest section of Athens. Though it is quite commercialized it is still a neighborhood and arguably the nicest neighborhood in central Athens.