Destination: GREECE

* Agorá
* Akrópoli
* Ethnikó Archaiologikó Mouseío
* Ethnikós Kípos
* Goulandris Mouseío Kykladikís Téchnis
* Lykavittós and Kolonáki
* Monastiráki
* Mouseío Akrópoleos
* Olympíeion Zeus and Pćyli Adrianoú
* Piréas
* Pláka
* Platéia Syntagmatos

The Akrópoli (Acropolis) should top your sightseeing list. This naturally defensible rock was the sacred focal point of ancient Athens, and what you see today dates mainly from the fifth century BC, an era of peace and prosperity and the true “Golden Age” of Greece.

You reach the summit through the Propylaia, a magnificent stepped gateway, with the graceful little temple of Athena Nike to your right. Ahead rises the great Doric temple of the Parthenón; built using no perpendicular lines, its columns actually taper, giving the whole structure a feeling of lightness. It was decorated by leading Athenian sculptors and dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos, whose statue by the sculptor Pheidias stood inside. To the left of the Parthenón stands the Erechtheion, shrine to Athena and Poseidon, and said to be the place where the goddess created the first olive tree. The roof of the south portico is supported by six caryatids, stately maidens dressed in pleated tunics.

At the foot of the Acropolis you can see two Roman theaters, the Théatro Iródou Attikoú and the Théatro Dionysou.

Address: Akrópoli
Phone: 210 321 0219
Open: Daily 8-6:30, Apr. 1 to mid-Oct.; 8-2:30, rest of year.
Restaurant: Psaras
Bus: 1, 5, 9, 230, 231
Metro: Akropoli
Admission: more than €4
Info: Acropolis Sound and Light, in English nightly, Apr.-Oct.; tickets from Athens Festival Box Office Address: 4 Stadiou Phone: 01 322 1459
Greece (Mainland)

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