Athens Visit
Athens is the capital of Greece and the largest city with a population of over three million (including metro area). I grew up in Athens and lived there until I was twenty-three before moving to the US. During this trip, we spent a fair amount of time in Athens. This blog focuses on the ew days we spent in the center of Athens. The rest of our time in Athens was with family in the suburbs which I may cover at a later post (you are welcome to reach out if you want to know more about what to do in Athens). We visited all the places discussed in this blog on foot (with the exception of Lycabettus) because we enjoy walking. There are subways, buses, and trams that are easy to use for people that don’t enjoy walking as much. I describe the various places we went to basically in the sequence we visited them. I’m skipping some that are more of personal interest (for example the place I lived until I was 6, the University I went to, the parks my mom used to take me to and so on).
The Parthenon is of course the most famous place in Greece and one that you have to visit if you ever go to Greece. We do visit there every time we go to Greece. There is a bit of a climb to get to the Parthenon and you are typically exposed to the sun with no protection but it is always a great experience. Not only do you get to see the Parthenon but you also get the opportunity to see all of Athens from a higher elevation and get a real sense for the city. The Parthenin was a temple built for the Greek goddess Athena and completed in 438 BC. It is an enduring example of the Greek architecture of the time. It is incredible that the monument has survived for close to 2,500 years. Part of its aesthetics is the utilization of the golden ratio for proportions which you may have heard about in math. One of the most interesting stories I have heard about the Parthenon that explains its importance for Greeks is that during the Greek revolution against the Turks in 1821, when the Greeks were trying to liberate Athens, the Turks were surrounded and took positions inside the Parthenon. During the fight, the Turks run out of bullets and started taking the lead that held the columns of the Parthenon together. When Greeks saw that, they provided the Turks with bullets under the promise that the Turks will not touch the columns at the Parthenon. Eventually, the Greeks were able to liberate Athens and the Parthenon survived.
Another interesting place around the Parthenon is an ancient theatre called Odeon of Herodes Atticus or simply Herodion. It sits at the bottom of the hill where the Parthenon sits (we took the picture while visiting the Parthenon). The Herodion was built in 161 AD and has been kept in very good shape. It is still being used today for performances. In one of our earlier trips, we saw a phenomenal performance there of the ballet Swan Lake performed by the famous Russian Bolshoi ballet. Not only was the performance amazing but we were lucky to see the performance on a beautiful night with the full moon overlooking the stage. I don’t really like the ballet but I still enjoyed this performance and we will never forget the experience. You can get tickets at https://www.ticketservices.gr/en/herodeion/ . Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find an interesting performance while we were in Athens this time. It seems like several performances are targeting Greek audience and were not of interest to us.
One place that I had not heard of until recently is Anafiotika. It’s a tiny neighborhood next to Plaka (Athens’ old town) at the bottom of the hill where Parthenon is located. It was established by refugees that came from a Greek island called Anafi to help with construction of King Othon’s palace in the eighteen hundreds. Anafiotika has a number of very small houses still inhabited today with very narrow paths in-between. There is a bit of a climb going up the stairs to get to it but it is definitely worth it. You also get to see some beautiful views from there. Google Maps has some great pictures of the views from Anafiotika if you search for the location
Plaka is also a great place to visit in Athens. It is the old town of Athens with some beautiful buildings (including the oldest building in Athens). It is very touristy though and full of stores selling things for tourists. It’s a must see but you have to be prepared for big crowds. Another similar neighborhood is Monastiraki which nearby. You can walk from Plaka to Monastiraki without realizing it. One of the interesting things we usually do in Plaka is to have lunch at a restaurant called “Ta Giouvetsakia.” Giouvetsi (or youvetsi) is a great Greek food (basically meat with orzo and tomatoes). It has been our kids favorite food for many years. You can find various versions of the recipe online. However, we didn’t actually eat there this time because it was very crowded and because the last time we were there the food was not as good. Plaka is very close to one of the main squares in Athens called the Syntagma square (Syntagma means constitution) where the parliament stands. You can see the changing of the guards at the monument of the unknown soldier in front of the parliament which is a popular experience. The Greek soldiers wear the uniform that Greek soldiers wore during the revolution for Greek independence from the Turks in 1821 which is quite a spectacle.
Not that far from Syntagma is the old Olympic Stadium where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896. It is now called the Panathenaic stadium (also called Kalimarmaro) since a new Olympic stadium was built to host the Olympics of 2004. The old stadium is in the center of Athens and close to the Parthenon. Definitely worth the visit. We used to be able to walk in it for free but was very disappointed to see this time that you have to pay to get in (we passed on that). If you get it, you get of course to walk in a very historic place but we had done it several times and it was not worth the money for the three of us. The new stadium is quite far out from the center of Athens. It is a beautiful building but out of the way and it requires too long of a trip and probably not worth the time.
On the way to the old Olympic Stadium we first passed through the National Garden (nothing spectacular). Inside the garden is the Zappeion Hall where the government holds many important events (see picture). You can get inside it and see a small part of the building. Worth visiting if you have the time. We also dropped by the Presidential Palace which is very close to the old Olympic Stadium (another beautiful building worth visiting if you have time).
There are many beautiful buildings in the center of Athens. One of them is the Academy of Athens (see picture) and, if you visit there, as a bonus you get to see the National University building which is next to the Academy and the National Library which is next to the University. The three buildings have similar architecture but the Academy is the most beautiful in my opinion.
A little further out is the National Museum which is also a beautiful building but not my favorite since I had an unfortunate memory there. I broke my leg when I was 6 playing in front of the building.
One other interesting place we always go to when visiting Athens is the hill of Lycabettus (see picture). You get to see beautiful views of Athens (there is a place on the top of the hill for lunch or drinks if you’d like). You can walk or drive up the hill but we always take the funicular. We used to do that when my kids where really young and they loved it. It has remained on our list of places to visit each time we are in Athens as a tradition. The picture of the Lycabettus is taken from the Parthenon.
Obviously, Athens is a very large city with an incredible number of interesting places to visit. You are welcome to reach out if you have questions or would like to know about more places to visit.
