History of Athens Greece

Historical information about the Ancient City Of Athens Greece

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Around 3000 BC the history of Athens begins, according to Greek mythology, Poseidon and Athena competed against each other to become the protectors and deities of the city. They challenged each other and the prize for the winner was the city of Athens.

Ancient Athens occupied a very small area compared to the sprawling metropolis of modern Athens. The walled ancient city encompassed an area measuring about 2km from east to west and slightly less than that from north to south, although at its peak the city had suburbs extending well beyond these walls. The Acropolis was just south of the centre of this walled area. The Agora, the commercial and social centre of the city, was about 400m north of the Acropolis, in what is now the Monastiraki district. The hill of the Pnyx, where the Athenian Assembly met, lay at the western end of the city.

The most important religious site in Athens was the Temple of Athena the Virgin, known to us as the Parthenon, which stood atop the Acropolis, where its evocative ruins still stand. Two other major religious sites, the Temple of Hephaestus (which is still largely intact) and the Temple of Olympian Zeus or Olympeion (once the largest temple in Greece but now in ruins) also lay within the city walls.

Athens was the most important city in Greece during the 1st millennium BC. During the Golden Age of Greece from 500 BC to 300 BC it was the Western world's leading cultural and intellectual centre, and it was from these ideas and practices of Ancient Athens that is what we now call "Western civilization" originated. After its days of greatness, Athens continued to be a prosperous city and a centre of learning until the late Roman period. St. Paul visited Athens, and the Emperor Hadrian lavished money on its public buildings.

Greece gained independence from the Turks in the war of 1821-32. In 1833, Athens then became the capital of Greece. Just over 100 years ago, Athens was a small urban settlement of less than 4,000 people located around the base of the Acropolis in a district known today as the Plaka. Modern Athens developed to the north and east of the old city. During World War II the city was occupied by the Germans. After the war ended Athens slowly started to grow again.

Athens today is a thriving bustling modern city which will satisfy even the most demanding visitor. Athens has its own style and beauty, that contrasts modern buildings next to neoclassic mansions, department stores and fancy boutiques next to Byzantine churches and ancient monuments.