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The
earliest settlement, dating from before 3000 BC, was situated on
the summit of the Acropolis, protected on all sides except the west by
its steep slopes. Named for the city's patron goddess, Athena, the
ancient city developed mainly to the north of this hill, around the
Agora, or marketplace. Parallel walls, called the Long Walls, made a
protected thoroughfare between the city and its port of Piraeus. The
most glorious period in the city's history was the 5th century BC, when
it was the cultural and artistic center of the classical world.
Although overshadowed by the rise of Rome, it remained a city of social
and intellectual importance during the Roman Empire. St. Paul visited
Athens, and the Emperor Hadrian lavished money on its public buildings.
Thereafter the city declined in importance. It was subject to attack by
Slavs and was reduced to a petty provincial town in the Byzantine
Empire. In 1204, Athens was occupied by the Crusaders and remained
under Western rule until its capture by the Turks in 1456. Greece
gained independence from the Turks in the war of 1821-32, and in 1833,
Athens became the capital of Greece. In 1833, Athens was a small urban
settlement of fewer than 4,000 people located north of the Acropolis in
a district known today as the Plaka. Modern Athens developed to the
north and east of the old city. The architect Eduard Schaubert laid out
a network of wide, straight boulevards that converge at Syntagma
(Constitution) Square and the Royal Palace, lying to the east of the
early city.
Athens is
renowned mainly for its history, its monuments
like the Acropolis and the Parthenon, its
Philosophers like Socrates and Plato,
its great leaders like Pericles, its
dramaturgists like Sophocles, Aeschylus and Aristophanes and its
great sculpturers like Phidias and Praxiteles, but it is
also the cradle of democracy.
The city
has a lot of contrasts creating an unique atmosphere that no
other European
town has. Brand new skyscrapers next to neoclassic mansions,
department stores and fancy boutiques next to Byzantine churches and
ancient monuments.
Athens is
also noteworthy for its fine archaeological collections,
especially those contained in the National
Archeological Museum and the Acropolis
Museum. The
town's important cultural remains, however, are
its numerous architectural monuments, dating from ancient times and
later periods. Fore among these is the Acropolis, the ancient fortified
hill on which stand the Erechtheum, Parthenon, and Propylaea, all of
the 5th century BC. To the south of the Acropolis are the Theater
of
Dionysus and
the Odeon
of Herodes Atticus, and to
the west, the Areopagus (council
chamber) in which St. Paul spoke. The agora is
partially excavated. The stoa, or
colonnaded walk, of Attalos, which is
located there, has been reconstructed and now holds a sizable
collection of Greek antiquities all connected with the Athenian
Democracy. The town of Athens also contains a number of fine Orthodox
churches of the Byzantine period.
Useful
Information
http://www.athensguide.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens |
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