42 Sights in Athens, Greece (with Map and Images)

The Areopagus is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares". The name Areopagus also referred, in classical times, to the Athenian governing council, later restricted to the Athenian judicial council or court that tried cases of deliberate homicide, wounding, and religious matters, as well as cases involving arson of olive trees, because they convened in this location. The war god Ares was supposed to have been tried by the other gods on the Areopagus for the murder of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius.

Wikipedia: Areopagus (EN)

The Pnyx is a hill or hillside in central Athens, the capital of Greece. Beginning as early as 507 BC, the Athenians gathered on the Pnyx to host their popular assemblies, thus making the hill one of the earliest and most important sites in the creation of democracy.

Wikipedia: Pnyx (EN)

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape.

Wikipedia: Socrates (EN)

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a top thinker in Philosophy. Plato founded the Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism. The philosopher was an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy. He was a system-builder. He also raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy.

Wikipedia: Plato (EN)

Metaxourgio Square is a square in Athens and the most historic of the homonymous district. It is located at the intersection of Lenorman and Achilles streets, about the center of the district. It is important to note for those who are not familiar with the city of Athens that Metaxourgio Square should not be confused with Karaiskakis Square, the largest and most famous in the area where the metro station is located. The square became known by this name from a silk fabric plant founded there in 1835, which remained over time for the whole area. The plant was installed at the unfinished mansion of Prince George Kantakouzenos, which still exists today on streets of Alexandrou, Myllerou and Yatrakou. From Metaxourgio Square, the carnival attractions of the old city of Athens, such as the Gaitanaki, also started. Once the square was twice as high as today. But the widening of Achilles Street, which was a small narrow road, with the aim of communicating Athens with the Athens -Corinth Highway, resulted in about half the square disappearing.

Wikipedia: Πλατεία Μεταξουργείου (EL)

Helicon or Alepotrypa is a low hill of Athens, located in Kypseli district, north of Kypseli Square and on the borders with the Municipality of Galatsi. It is located east of Patision Avenue, at the end of Amorgos and Anafi streets. It is a small hill at an altitude of 184 meters, which occupies an area of about 140 acres. It is surrounded by the streets of Travllandonis, Amorgos, Megisti, Astypalaia, Harmony and Helicos from which the hill has been named. In the past, the ownership quarries of the Kourousis brothers have worked. Since 1934 he has been declared a reforest. In the late 1980s it was built on part of the youth hill that includes sports facilities, located by the Athenian football team. Underground from the hill will cross the Metro Line 4 and near the hill, at the park at the intersection of Hopf Streets, Parnithos and Agia Glyceria, will be the Helikos Metro Station, which will have the name of the hill.

Wikipedia: Λόφος Ελικώνας (EL)

The Epigraphical Museum of Athens, Greece, is unique in Greece and the largest of its kind in the world. Its collection comprises 14,078, mostly Greek, inscriptions, which cover the period from early historical times to the Late Roman period, primarily in Greece. It is situated in the south wing of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. It comprises an internal and external courtyard (atrium), a lobby, eleven rooms, a large hypostyle Pi-shaped corridor, a gallery, offices, a laboratory for the conservation of inscribed stone monuments and lavatories. Only the courtyards, lobby and four rooms are open to the public, while the rest is reserved for researchers. A full photographic archive of the collection is being assembled for future visitors.

Wikipedia: Epigraphical Museum (EN), Website

Agios Georgios is a medieval church in Attica, located on top of Lycabettus Hill. In the depictions of travelers, it seems that there was a temple in this area in the past. Also, thanks to two inscriptions found, we know that originally there was the "cemetery of Anastasios Harkeos and Ev. Orandas" as well as "Cemetery of interest". When the first church fell into ruins, a new single-aisled, basilica temple was built on the same foundations for Agios Georgios. On the floor there is an inscription indicating that the chapel of Agios Georgios was established by the Metropolitan of Athens Benedict (1782-1785). Later the church was expanded with the addition of two chapels, Prophet Elias and Agios Konstantinos.

Wikipedia: Άγιος Γεώργιος (Λυκαβηττού) (EL)

Eleusinion, also called the City Eleusinion was a sanctuary on the lower part of the north slope of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, dedicated to Demeter and Kore (Persephone). It was the central hub of Eleusinian Mysteries within Athens and the starting point for the annual procession to Eleusis, in the northwest of Attica. Religious activity is attested in the area from the 7th century BC and construction took place throughout late Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. The sanctuary was enclosed within the new city walls built after the Herulian sack of Athens in AD 267 and it remained in use until the late fourth century AD.

Wikipedia: Eleusinion (EN)

Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos was a Cretan Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. He is noted for his contribution to the expansion of Greece and promotion of liberal-democratic policies. As leader of the Liberal Party, he held office as prime minister of Greece for over 12 years, spanning eight terms between 1910 and 1933. During his governance, Venizelos entered in diplomatic cooperation with the Great Powers and had profound influence on the internal and external affairs of Greece. He has therefore been labelled as "The Maker of Modern Greece" and is still widely known as the "Ethnarch".

Wikipedia: Eleftherios Venizelos (EN)

Agios Georgios tou Karykis or Karytsi is a Christian church in Athens, Greece. The original medieval church was destroyed during the revolution of 1821 and was roughly rebuilt under King Otto. It was then reconstructed from the ground up and with larger dimensions in 1845-1849, designed by Lysandros Kaftanzoglou. He did not retain any trace of the old temple. The architecture of today's church is of Greek Byzantine style, while it is characterized by the distinct central pillar of gray marble, on top of which there is a white bell tower. In 1849 the dome collapsed and struts were added to the side walls for additional support.

Wikipedia: Άγιος Γεώργιος του Καρύκη (EL)

The theater in the old printing house of the front or EMPROS Theater is a theatrical site in the Psiri district of the Municipality of Athens, in a preserved building built in the 1930s, which initially served as a printing house in the newspaper EMPROS. From 1988 to 2007 it operated for the first time as the theater. Although it belonged to the Ministry of Culture, in 2011 it was occupied by the artistic "Mavili Movement" and has since been used as a self -managed theater. In March 2022 the site was granted by the Public Real Estate Company to the Municipality of Athens and continues to operate as a self -managed space.

Wikipedia: Θέατρο Εμπρός (EL)

The Numismatic Museum of Athens is one of the most important museums in Greece and it houses a collection of over 500,000 coins, medals, gems, weights, stamps and related artefacts from 1400BC to modern times. The collection constitutes one of the richest in the world, paralleled by those of the British Museum in London, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Bode Museum in Berlin, and the American Numismatic Society in New York. The museum itself is housed in the mansion of the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, formally known as Iliou Melathron.

Wikipedia: Numismatic Museum of Athens (EN)

Evangelos or Evangelis Zappas was a Greek patriot, philanthropist and businessman who spent most of his life in Romania. He is recognized today as one of the founders of the modern Olympic Games, which were held in 1859, 1870, 1875, and 1888 and preceded the Olympic Games that came under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee. These Games, known at the time simply as Olympics, came before the founding of the International Olympic Committee itself. The legacy of Zappas, as well as the legacy of his cousin Konstantinos, was also used to fund the Olympic Games of 1896.

Wikipedia: Evangelos Zappas (EN)

The Dipylon was the main gate in the city wall of Classical Athens. Located in the modern suburb of Kerameikos, it led to the namesake ancient cemetery, and to the roads connecting Athens with the rest of Greece. The gate was of major ceremonial significance as the starting point of the procession of the Great Panathenaea, and accordingly it was a large, monumental structure, "the largest gate of the ancient world". Erected in 478 BC as part of Themistocles' fortification of Athens and rebuilt in the 300s BC, it remained standing and in use until the 3rd century AD.

Wikipedia: Dipylon (EN)

The Library of Pantainos was a building in ancient Athens. It was located at the southeast end of the Agora of Athens, south of the Stoa of Attalus, on the left side of Panathenaion Street. It was built by the Athenian philosopher Titus Flavius Pantainos between 98 and 102 AD, during the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan. The library building was dedicated to Athena Archegetis, with Trajan himself and the people of Athens, according to an inscription on the lintel of the main entrance, which is preserved embedded in the late Roman wall,.

Wikipedia: Library of Pantainos (EN)

Karaiskaki Square is an important urban hub of Athens. It is located 500 meters west of Omonia Square, with which it communicates through Agiou Konstantinou Street. Karaiskaki Square is located in the district of Metaxourgeio and below it is bounded the homonymous station of metro line 2. As the square is the largest and most famous of the district, many mistakenly call it Metaxourgeio Square, which is actually two blocks to the west, at the junction of Lenorman and Achilleos streets.

Wikipedia: Πλατεία Καραϊσκάκη (Αθήνα) (EL)

Constantine I was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece expanded to include Thessaloniki, doubling in area and population. The eldest son of George I of Greece, he succeeded to the throne following his father's assassination in 1913.

Wikipedia: Constantine I of Greece (EN)

Stoa Basileios, meaning Royal Stoa, was a Doric stoa in the northwestern corner of the Athenian Agora, which was built in the 6th century BC, substantially altered in the 5th century BC, and then carefully preserved until the mid-second century AD. It is among the smallest known Greek stoas, but had great symbolic significance as the seat of the Athenian King Archon, repository of Athens' laws, and site of "the stone" on which incoming magistrates swore their oath of office.

Wikipedia: Stoa Basileios (EN)

Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of what was later named benzylpenicillin from the mould Penicillium rubens has been described as the "single greatest victory ever achieved over disease". For this discovery, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.

Wikipedia: Alexander Fleming (EN)

Adamantios Korais or Koraïs was a Greek scholar credited with laying the foundations of modern Greek literature and a major figure in the Greek Enlightenment. His activities paved the way for the Greek War of Independence and the emergence of a purified form of the Greek language, known as Katharevousa. Encyclopædia Britannica asserts that "his influence on the modern Greek language and culture has been compared to that of Dante on Italian and Martin Luther on German".

Wikipedia: Adamantios Korais (EN)

Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, known, especially in English, as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy, was a Greek poet, journalist, and civil servant from Alexandria. A major figure of modern Greek literature, he is sometimes considered the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century. His works and consciously individual style earned him a place among the most important contributors not only to Greek poetry, but to Western poetry as a whole.

Wikipedia: Constantine P. Cavafy (EN)

Alexandros Panagoulis was a Greek politician and poet. He took an active role in the fight against the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974) in Greece. He became famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13 August 1968, but also for the torture to which he was subjected during his detention. After the restoration of democracy, he was elected to the Greek parliament as a member of the Centre Union (E.K.).

Wikipedia: Alexandros Panagoulis (EN)

The Badminton Theater is a venue utilized for the staging of medium- and large-scale multiplex events. Situated inside the metropolitan park of Goudi in Athens, Greece, the theater was originally designed to host concerts, plays, dance performances and musicals. As of 2012, conferences, meetings, presentations and corporate events are also held at the venue due to the construction of additional facilities.

Wikipedia: Badminton Theater (EN)

The National Observatory of Athens is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece. The Observatory was the first scientific research institute built after Greece became independent in 1829, and one of the oldest research institutes in Southern Europe. It was built around the same period as the United States Naval Observatory.

Wikipedia: National Observatory of Athens (EN)

The Athens Polytechnic uprising occurred in November 1973 as a massive student demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. It began on 14 November 1973, escalated to an open anti-junta revolt, and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of 17 November after a series of events starting with a tank crashing through the gates of the Athens Polytechnic.

Wikipedia: Athens Polytechnic uprising (EN)

The Academy was founded by Plato in c. 387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years before founding his own school, the Lyceum. The Academy persisted throughout the Hellenistic period as a skeptical school, until coming to an end after the death of Philo of Larissa in 83 BC. The Platonic Academy was destroyed by the Roman dictator Sulla in 86 BC.

Wikipedia: Platonic Academy (EN)

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, established in October 2000, is a national institution focused on collecting and exhibiting contemporary Greek and international art in Athens. Anna Kafetsi, Ph.D was appointed founding director of EMST. Previously, Kafetsi served as curator for the 20th century collection at the National Gallery of Athens.

Wikipedia: National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EN), Website

Mount Lycabettus, also known as Lycabettos, Lykabettos or Lykavittos, is a Cretaceous limestone hill in the Greek capital Athens. At 277 meters (908 feet) above sea level, its summit is the highest point in Central Athens and pine trees cover its base. The name also refers to the residential neighbourhood immediately below the east of the hill.

Wikipedia: Mount Lycabettus (EN)

The National Historical Museum is a historical museum in Athens. Founded in 1882, is the oldest of its kind in Greece. It is located in the Old Parliament House at Stadiou Street in Athens, which housed the Hellenic Parliament from 1875 until 1932. A branch of the National History Museum has been organized and operated there since 2001.

Wikipedia: National Historical Museum, Athens (EN), Website

Egypt Square was a historic square at the old northern end of the 1st Municipal Unit of Athens, on the way to the former holiday destination of Patissia. The square was in a position between Patision Street and the Areos Field, near business and educational buildings erected by many Greek Egyptians, above Omonia and along the road.

Wikipedia: Πλατεία Αιγύπτου (Αθήνα) (EL)

William Ewart Gladstone was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-consecutive terms beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times, for over 12 years.

Wikipedia: William Ewart Gladstone (EN)

The Kerameikos Archaeological Museum is located in Kerameikos, Athens, Greece and was built in 1937. It houses many important early Geometric art pieces that date as far back as 860 BC. It was expanded in the 1960s by the Boehringer brothers of Boehringer Ingelheim fame. Its official address is Ermou, Athens 125, Greece.

Wikipedia: Kerameikos Archaeological Museum (EN)

The small district of Psirri is located in the historic center of Athens and is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. It spreads around Psirri Square or Heroes Square, leading the five major roads of the district: Miaouli Street, Karaiskaki Street, Agioi Anargyroi Street, Aristophanes Street and Aeschylou Street.

Wikipedia: Ψυρή (EL)

The Arrephorion or House of the Arrephoroi is a building conjectured to have been on the Acropolis of Athens based on a passage in Pausanias. The discovery of the foundations of a substantial building on the north-west edge of the Acropolis has led to the identification of this structure with the Arrephorion.

Wikipedia: Arrephorion (EN)

The Pompeion was a large building of ancient Athens located between the Dipylon and the Holy Gate, west of the Ancient Agora, the first building of the inner Kerameikos. This building was built around the beginning of the 4th century BC, while its construction seems to have begun in the 5th century BC.

Wikipedia: Πομπείον (EL)

Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius. He wrote poetry in Ukrainian and prose in Russian.

Wikipedia: Taras Shevchenko (EN)

George Canning was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the last 119 days of his life, from April to August 1827.

Wikipedia: George Canning (EN)

The Hellenic Motor Museum is a car museum in Athens. It is owned by the Theodore Charagionis Foundation and opened in March 2011. The museum is situated in central Athens near the National Archaeological Museum, on the three top floors of the Athenian Capitol shopping mall.

Wikipedia: Hellenic Motor Museum (EN), Website

Giorgakis Olympios was an armatole and military commander during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. Noted for his activities with the Filiki Eteria in the Danubian Principalities, he is considered to be a leading figure of the Greek Revolution.

Wikipedia: Giorgakis Olympios (EN)

Kostis Palamas was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called New Athenian School along with Georgios Drosinis and Ioannis Polemis.

Wikipedia: Kostis Palamas (EN)

The sculptural complex "Theseus saving Hippodamia" is located in Viktoria Square in Athens and is a sculptural creation of great artistic value. It is considered one of the most important outdoor sculpture works of the 20th century in Athens.

Wikipedia: Theseus saving Hippodamia (EN)