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Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
and
largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...
of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates and is the capital of the
Attica region Attica ( el, Περιφέρεια Αττικής, translit=Periféria Attikís, ) is an administrative region of Greece, that encompasses the entire metropolitan area of Athens, the country's capital and largest city. The region is coextensive w ...
and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC.
Classical Athens The city of Athens ( grc, Ἀθῆναι, ''Athênai'' .tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯ Modern Greek: Αθήναι, ''Athine'' or, more commonly and in singular, Αθήνα, ''Athina'' .'θi.na during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) wa ...
was a powerful
city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
. It was a centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, and the home of Plato's
Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
and Aristotle's
Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the ...
. It is widely referred to as the
cradle Cradle may refer to: * Cradle (bed) * Bassinet, a small bed, often on rockers, in which babies and small children sleep Mechanical devices * Cradle (circus act), or aerial cradle or casting cradle used in an aerial circus act * Cradling (paintin ...
of
Western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
and the birthplace of democracy, largely because of its cultural and political influence on the European continent—particularly Ancient Rome. In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2021, Athens' urban area hosted more than three and a half million people, which is around 35% of the entire population of Greece. Athens is a
Beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...
-status global city according to the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershir ...
, and is one of the biggest economic centers in
Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
. It also has a large financial sector, and its port
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
is both the largest passenger port in Europe, and the third largest in the world. The
Municipality of Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
(also City of Athens), which actually constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire city, had a population of 637,798 (in 2021) within its official limits, and a land area of . The Athens Metropolitan Area or Greater Athens extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits, with a population of 3,722,544 (in 2021) over an area of . Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland and the warmest major city in continental Europe with an average annual temperature of up to locally. The heritage of the
Classical Era Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
is still evident in the city, represented by
ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The ''Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 19 ...
s, and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early
Western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
. The city also retains
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
,
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and a smaller number of Ottoman monuments, while its historical urban core features elements of continuity through its millennia of history. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the
Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. T ...
and the medieval
Daphni Monastery Daphni or Dafni (Modern Greek: Δαφνί; Katharevousa: Δαφνίον, ''Daphnion'') is an eleventh-century Byzantine monastery northwest of central Athens in the suburb of Chaidari, south of Athinon Avenue ( GR-8A). It is situated near the f ...
. Landmarks of the modern era, dating back to the establishment of Athens as the capital of the independent Greek state in 1834, include the
Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...
and the so-called "Architectural Trilogy of Athens", consisting of the
National Library of Greece The National Library of Greece ( el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος, Ethnikí Vivliothíki tis Elládos) is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to ...
, the
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...
, and the Academy of Athens. Athens is also home to several museums and cultural institutions, such as the National Archeological Museum, featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, the
Acropolis Museum The Acropolis Museum ( el, Μουσείο Ακρόπολης, ''Mouseio Akropolis'') is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found on ...
, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the
Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...
, and the
Byzantine and Christian Museum The Byzantine and Christian Museum ( el, Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο, links=no) is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914, and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rar ...
. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it hosted the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
, making it one of the few cities to have hosted the Olympics more than once. Athens joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016


Etymology and names

In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was (''Athênai'', in Classical Attic) a plural. In earlier Greek, such as
Homeric Greek Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used by Homer in the '' Iliad'', '' Odyssey'', and Homeric Hymns. It is a literary dialect of Ancient Greek consisting mainly of Ionic, with some Aeolic forms, a few from Arcadocypriot, ...
, the name had been current in the singular form though, as (''Athḗnē''). It was possibly rendered in the plural later on, like those of ('' Thêbai'') and ('' Μukênai''). The root of the word is probably not of Greek or
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...
origin, and is possibly a remnant of the Pre-Greek substrate of Attica. In antiquity, it was debated whether Athens took its name from its patron goddess
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
(
Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
, ''Athēnâ'', Ionic , ''Athḗnē'', and
Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...
, ''Athā́nā'') or Athena took her name from the city. Modern scholars now generally agree that the goddess takes her name from the city, because the ending -''ene'' is common in names of locations, but rare for personal names. According to the ancient Athenian founding myth, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, competed against Poseidon, the God of the Seas, for patronage of the yet-unnamed city; they agreed that whoever gave the Athenians the better gift would become their patron and appointed
Cecrops In Greek mythology, Cecrops ( /ˈsiːkrɒps/; Ancient Greek: Κέκροψ, ''Kékrops''; ''gen''.: Κέκροπος) may refer to two legendary kings of Athens: * Cecrops I, the first king of Athens. * Cecrops II, son of Pandion I, king of At ...
, the king of Athens, as the judge. According to the account given by
Pseudo-Apollodorus The ''Bibliotheca'' ( Ancient Greek: grc, Βιβλιοθήκη, lit=Library, translit=Bibliothēkē, label=none), also known as the ''Bibliotheca'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus, is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, arranged in three book ...
, Poseidon struck the ground with his
trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...
and a salt water spring welled up. In an alternative version of the myth from Vergil's poem '' Georgics'', Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse. In both versions, Athena offered the Athenians the first domesticated olive tree. Cecrops accepted this gift and declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens. Eight different etymologies, now commonly rejected, have been proposed since the 17th century.
Christian Lobeck Christian August Lobeck (; 5 June 1781 – 25 August 1860) was a German classical scholar. Lobeck was born at Naumburg, in the Electorate of Saxony. After studying at the universities of Jena and Leipzig, he became ''Privatdozent'' at the Un ...
proposed as the root of the name the word (''áthos'') or (''ánthos'') meaning "flower", to denote Athens as the "flowering city". Ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb , stem θη- (''tháō'', ''thē-'', "to suck") to denote Athens as having fertile soil. Athenians were called
cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...
-wearers ( grc, Τεττιγοφόροι, links=no) because they used to wear pins of golden cicadas. A symbol of being
autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ' ...
(earth-born), because the legendary founder of Athens, Erechtheus was an autochthon or of being musicians, because the cicada is a "musician" insect. In classical literature, the city was sometimes referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindar's ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι (''iostéphanoi Athânai''), or as (''tò kleinòn ásty'', "the glorious city"). During the medieval period, the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as . Variant names included Setines, Satine, and Astines, all derivations involving
false splitting Rebracketing (also known as resegmentation or metanalysis) is a process in historical linguistics where a word originally derived from one set of morphemes is broken down or bracketed into a different set. For example, ''hamburger'', originally ...
of prepositional phrases. King Alphonse X of Castile gives the pseudo-etymology 'the one without death/ignorance'. In Ottoman Turkish, it was called ''Ātīnā'', and in modern Turkish, it is ''Atina''. After the establishment of the modern Greek state, and partly due to the conservatism of the written language, again became the official name of the city and remained so until the abandonment of Katharevousa in the 1970s, when Ἀθήνα, ''Athína'', became the official name. Today it is often simply called ''ī protévousa''; 'the capital'.


History

The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist, which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years (3000 BC). By 1400 BC, the settlement had become an important centre of the Mycenaean civilization, and the
Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress, whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristic
Cyclopean Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones and with clay mortar or no use of mortar. The boulders typic ...
walls. Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae and Pylos, it is not known whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event often attributed to a Dorian invasion, and the Athenians always maintained that they were pure
Ionians The Ionians (; el, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaea ...
with no Dorian element. However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements, went into economic decline for around 150 years afterwards. Iron Age burials, in the Kerameikos and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from 900 BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region. The leading position of Athens may well have resulted from its central location in the Greek world, its secure stronghold on the Acropolis and its access to the sea, which gave it a natural advantage over inland rivals such as Thebes and Sparta. By the sixth century BC, widespread social unrest led to the reforms of Solon. These would pave the way for the eventual introduction of democracy by
Cleisthenes Cleisthenes ( ; grc-gre, Κλεισθένης), or Clisthenes (c. 570c. 508 BC), was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508 BC. For these accomplishm ...
in 508 BC. Athens had by this time become a significant naval power with a large fleet, and helped the rebellion of the Ionian cities against
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
rule. In the ensuing Greco-Persian Wars Athens, together with Sparta, led the coalition of Greek states that would eventually repel the Persians, defeating them decisively at Marathon in 490 BC, and crucially at Salamis in 480 BC. However, this did not prevent Athens from being captured and sacked twice by the Persians within one year, after a heroic but ultimately failed resistance at Thermopylae by Spartans and other Greeks led by King Leonidas, after both
Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and it ...
and
Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
fell to the Persians. The decades that followed became known as the Golden Age of Athenian democracy, during which time Athens became the leading city of
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
, with its cultural achievements laying the foundations for
Western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
. The playwrights
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
,
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
and Euripides flourished in Athens during this time, as did the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the physician Hippocrates, and the philosopher Socrates. Guided by
Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelop ...
, who promoted the arts and fostered democracy, Athens embarked on an ambitious building program that saw the construction of the Acropolis of Athens (including the Parthenon), as well as empire-building via the Delian League. Originally intended as an association of
Greek city-state ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
s to continue the fight against the Persians, the league soon turned into a vehicle for Athens's own imperial ambitions. The resulting tensions brought about the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), in which Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta. By the mid-4th century BC, the northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In 338 BC the armies of
Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...
defeated an alliance of some of the Greek city-states including Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea, effectively ending Athenian independence. Later, under Rome, Athens was given the status of a
free city Free city may refer to: Historical places * Free city (antiquity) a self-governed city during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras * Free imperial city, self-governed city in the Holy Roman Empire subordinate only to the emperor ** Free City of ...
because of its widely admired schools. In the second century AD, The Roman emperor Hadrian, himself an Athenian citizen, ordered the construction of a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. By the end of Late Antiquity, Athens had shrunk due to sacks by the
Herulians The Heruli (or Herules) were an early Germanic people. Possibly originating in Scandinavia, the Heruli are first mentioned by Roman authors as one of several "Scythian" groups raiding Roman provinces in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea, attacking ...
,
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
, and Early Slavs which caused massive destruction in the city. In this era, the first Christian churches were built in Athens, and the Parthenon and other temples were converted into churches. Athens expanded its settlement in the second half of the Middle Byzantine Period, in the ninth to tenth centuries AD, and was relatively prosperous during the Crusades, benefiting from Italian trade. After the Fourth Crusade the Duchy of Athens was established. In 1458, it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and entered a long period of decline. Following the Greek War of Independence and the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, Athens was chosen as the capital of the newly independent Greek state in 1834, largely because of historical and sentimental reasons. At the time, after the extensive destruction it had suffered during the war of independence, it was reduced to a town of about 4,000 people (less than half its earlier population) in a loose swarm of houses along the foot of the Acropolis. The first
King of Greece The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach between 1832 and 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1863 to 1924, temporarily abolished during the Second Hellenic Republic, and from 1935 to 1973, when it was once more abolishe ...
, Otto of Bavaria, commissioned the architects
Stamatios Kleanthis Stamatios or Stamatis Kleanthis ( el, Σταμάτιος or ; 1802–1862) was a Greek architect. Biography Stamatios Kleanthis was born to a Macedonian Greek family in the town of Velventos in Kozani, Macedonia in 1802. As a youth he moved ...
and
Eduard Schaubert Gustav Eduard Schaubert ( el, Εδουάρδος Σάουμπερτ, translit=Edouárdos Sáoumpert) 27 July 1804, Breslau, Prussia – 30 March 1860, Breslau) was a Prussian architect, who made a major contribution to the re-planning of Athens ...
to design a modern city plan fit for the capital of a state. The first modern city plan consisted of a triangle defined by the Acropolis, the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos and the new palace of the Bavarian king (now housing the Greek Parliament), so as to highlight the continuity between modern and ancient Athens. Neoclassicism, the international style of this epoch, was the architectural style through which Bavarian, French and Greek architects such as Hansen, Klenze, Boulanger or Kaftantzoglou designed the first important public buildings of the new capital. In 1896, Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games. During the 1920s a number of
Greek refugees Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ...
, expelled from
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
after the Greco-Turkish War and Greek genocide, swelled Athens's population; nevertheless it was most particularly following World War II, and from the 1950s and 1960s, that the population of the city exploded, and Athens experienced a gradual expansion. In the 1980s it became evident that smog from factories and an ever-increasing fleet of automobiles, as well as a lack of adequate free space due to congestion, had evolved into the city's most important challenge. A series of anti-pollution measures taken by the city's authorities in the 1990s, combined with a substantial improvement of the city's infrastructure (including the
Attiki Odos Attiki Odos ( el, Αττική Οδός) is a privately owned toll motorway system in Greece. The Attiki Odos motorways form the outer beltways of the Greater Athens metropolitan area. The total length of the motorways is . The Attiki Odos system ...
motorway, the expansion of the
Athens Metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electrif ...
, and the new
Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...
), considerably alleviated pollution and transformed Athens into a much more functional city. In 2004, Athens hosted the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. File:Kylix Theseus Aison MNA Inv11365 n1.jpg, Tondo of the Aison Cup, showing the victory of
Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...
over the
Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...
in the presence of
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
. Theseus was responsible, according to the myth, for the ''
synoikismos Synoecism or synecism ( ; grc, συνοικισμóς, ''sunoikismos'', ), also spelled synoikism ( ), was originally the amalgamation of villages in Ancient Greece into ''poleis'', or city-states. Etymologically the word means "dwelling toge ...
'' ("dwelling together")—the political unification of
Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
under Athens. File:ATTICA, Athens. Circa 545-525-15 BC.jpg, The earliest coinage of Athens, 545–525/15 BC File:Arms of the House of de la Roche.svg, Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Athens during the rule of the
de la Roche family The De la Roche family is a French noble family named for La Roche-sur-l'Ognon that founded the Duchy of Athens of the early 13th century. People * Alice de la Roche, (Unknown-1282) Lady of Beirut, Regent of Beirut *Guy I de la Roche, (1205– ...
(13th century) File:The Roman Agora of Athens with the Gate of Athena Arhegetis.jpg, The Roman Agora and the Gate of Athena in
Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residenti ...
district. File:Temple of Iupiter Olympios in Athens (1821).jpg, The Temple of Olympian Zeus with river Ilisos by
Edward Dodwell Edward Dodwell (30 November 176713 May 1832) was an Irish painter, traveller and a writer on archaeology. Biography Dodwell was born in Ireland and belonged to the same family as Henry Dodwell, the theologian. He was educated at Trinity Colle ...
, 1821 File:Peter von Hess - The Entry of King Othon of Greece in Athens - WGA11387.jpg, ''The Entry of King Otto in Athens'',
Peter von Hess Peter Heinrich Lambert von Hess (29 July 1792 – 4 April 1871) was a German painter, known for historic paintings, especially of the Napoleonic Wars and the Greek War of Independence. Life Peter von Hess initially received training from his fat ...
, 1839. File:Athens Stadiou street 1908.jpg, The Stadiou Street in Central Athens in 1908. File:Tent village in the shadows of the Temple of Theseus, Athens, where Greek refugees make thier (sic) homes LCCN2010650546.jpg, Temporary accommodation for the Greek refugees from
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
in tents in Thiseio. After the
Asia Minor Catastrophe Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
in 1922 thousands of families settled in Athens and the population of the city doubled.


Geography

Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica that is often referred to as the Athens Basin or the Attica Basin ( el, Λεκανοπέδιο Αθηνών/Αττικής). The basin is bounded by four large mountains:
Mount Aigaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( el, Αιγάλεω), and known in antiquity as Poikilon Oros (Ποικίλον Όρος), is a mountain in Athens, Attica, Greece. It lies west of Athens plain, southeast of Eleusis, and east of the island of Salamis. Most o ...
to the west, Mount
Parnitha Mount Parnitha ( ell, Πάρνηθα, , Katharevousa and grc, Πάρνης ''Parnis''/''Parnes''; sometimes Parnetha) is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and ...
to the north, Mount Pentelicus to the northeast and Mount
Hymettus Hymettus (), also Hymettos (; el, Υμηττός, translit=Ymittós, pronounced ), is a mountain range in the Athens area of Attica, East Central Greece. It is also colloquially known as ''Trellós'' (crazy) or ''Trellóvouno'' (crazy mountain) ...
to the east. Beyond Mount Aegaleo lies the
Thriasian plain The Thriasio Plain ( el, Θριάσιο Πεδίο, translit=Thriasio Pedio) is a plain in western Attica, immediately to the west of Athens, in Greece. It is bounded by Mount Egaleo to the east, Mount Parnitha to the north, Mount Pateras to ...
, which forms an extension of the central plain to the west. The
Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf (Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Co ...
lies to the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest of the four mountains (), and has been declared a national park. The Athens urban area spreads over from Agios Stefanos in the north to
Varkiza Varkiza (Greek: Βάρκιζα), also Alianthos (Αλίανθος), is a suburb of greater Athens forming part of the municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni in southern Attica of the Megalo Daktylo (''Large Finger''). It lies approximately 2  ...
in the south. The city is located in the north temperate zone, 38 degrees north of the equator. Athens is built around a number of hills. Lycabettus is one of the tallest hills of the city proper and provides a view of the entire Attica Basin. The meteorology of Athens is deemed to be one of the most complex in the world because its mountains cause a temperature inversion phenomenon which, along with the Greek government's difficulties controlling industrial pollution, was responsible for the air pollution problems the city has faced. This issue is not unique to Athens; for instance, Los Angeles and Mexico City also suffer from similar atmospheric inversion problems. The Cephissus river, the Ilisos and the Eridanos stream are the historical rivers of Athens.


Environment

By the late 1970s, the pollution of Athens had become so destructive that according to the then Greek
Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...
, Constantine Trypanis, "...the carved details on the five the caryatids of the Erechtheum had seriously degenerated, while the face of the horseman on the Parthenon's west side was all but obliterated." A series of measures taken by the authorities of the city throughout the 1990s resulted in the improvement of air quality; the appearance of smog (or ''nefos'' as the Athenians used to call it) has become less common. Measures taken by the Greek authorities throughout the 1990s have improved the quality of air over the Attica Basin. Nevertheless, air pollution still remains an issue for Athens, particularly during the hottest summer days. In late June 2007, the Attica region experienced a number of
brush fires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
, including a blaze that burned a significant portion of a large forested national park in Mount Parnitha, considered critical to maintaining a better air quality in Athens all year round. Damage to the park has led to worries over a stalling in the improvement of air quality in the city. The major waste management efforts undertaken in the last decade (particularly the plant built on the small island of Psytalia) have greatly improved water quality in the Saronic Gulf, and the coastal waters of Athens are now accessible again to swimmers.


Safety

Athens ranks in the lowest percentage for the risk on frequency and severity of terrorist attacks according to the EU Global Terrorism Database (EIU 2007–2016 calculations). The city also ranked 35th in Digital Security, 21st on Health Security, 29th on Infrastructure Security and 41st on Personal Security globally in a 2017 The Economist Intelligence Unit report. It also ranks as a very safe city (39th globally out of 162 cities overall) on the ranking of the safest and most dangerous countries. As May 2022 the crime index from
Numbeo Numbeo is a Serbian crowd-sourced global database of perceived consumer prices, crime rates, quality of health care, among other statistics. Data on Numbeo is not peer-reviewed, and could be inserted or altered by anyone accessing the website. I ...
places Athens at 56.33 (moderate), while its safety index is at 43.6

According to a Mercer (consulting firm), Mercer 2019 Quality of Living Survey, Athens ranks 89th on the Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranking.


Climate

Athens has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification: ''Csa''). Athens is the hottest city in mainland Europe and according to the
Hellenic National Meteorological Service The Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) ( el, Εθνική Μετεωρολογική Υπηρεσία (ΕΜΥ)) is a government agency responsible for making weather forecasts and observations for Greece. HNMS was founded in 1931 under ...
the Athens Basin is also the warmest area of Greece with an average annual temperature of . The dominant feature of Athens' climate is alternation between prolonged hot and dry summers and mild, wetter winters with moderate rainfall. With an average of of yearly precipitation, rainfall occurs largely between the months of October and April. July and August are the driest months when thunderstorms occur sparsely. Furthermore, some coastal areas such as
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
in the
Athens Riviera Athens Riviera is the coastal area in the southern suburbs of Athens, Greece from Piraeus to Sounio. It is located about from downtown Athens stretching from the southern suburbs of Athens to the southernmost point of Attica, Cape Sounio. Histo ...
, have a
hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(''BSh'') according to the climate atlas published by the
Hellenic National Meteorological Service The Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) ( el, Εθνική Μετεωρολογική Υπηρεσία (ΕΜΥ)) is a government agency responsible for making weather forecasts and observations for Greece. HNMS was founded in 1931 under ...
. However, places like Elliniko, which are classified as hot semi-arid (''BSh'') because of the low annual rainfall, have not recorded temperatures as high as other places in the city. This occurs due to the moderating influence of the sea, and lower levels of industrialisation compared to other regions of the city. Owing to the rain shadow of the
Pindus Mountains The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metre ...
, annual precipitation of Athens is lower than most other parts of Greece, especially western Greece. As an example, Ioannina receives around per year, and
Agrinio Agrinio (Greek: Αγρίνιο, , Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 106,053 inhabitants. It is the economical center of Aetolia-Acarnania, although its ca ...
around per year. Daily average highs for July have been measured around in downtown Athens, but some parts of the city may be even hotter for the higher density of buildings, and the lower density of vegetation, such as the center, in particular, western areas due to a combination of industrialization and a number of natural factors, knowledge of which has existed since the mid-19th century. Due to the large area covered by Athens Metropolitan Area, there are notable climatic differences between parts of the urban conglomeration. The northern suburbs tend to be wetter and cooler in winter, whereas the southern suburbs are some of the driest locations in Greece and record very high minimum temperatures in summer. Heavy snow fell in the Greater Athens area and Athens itself between 14–17 February 2021, when snow blanketed the entire city and its suburbs from the north to the furthest south, coastal suburbs, with depth ranges up to in Central Athens., and with even the
Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. T ...
completely covered with snow. The National Meteorological Service (EMY) described it was one of the most intense snow storms over the past 40 years. Heavy snow was also reported in Athens on January 24, 2022, with reported locally in the higher elevations. Athens is affected by the
urban heat island An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban area, urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human impact on the environment, human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at nigh ...
effect in some areas which is caused by human activity, altering its temperatures compared to the surrounding rural areas,Katsoulis B.D., Theoharatos G.A. (1985). "Indications of the Urban Heat Island in Athens, Greece". Journal of Applied Meteorology, vol. 24, Issue 12, pp.1296–1302 and leaving detrimental effects on energy usage, expenditure for cooling, and health. The urban heat island of the city has also been found to be partially responsible for alterations of the climatological temperature time-series of specific Athens meteorological stations, because of its effect on the temperatures and the temperature trends recorded by some meteorological stations. On the other hand, specific meteorological stations, such as the National Garden station and Thiseio meteorological station, are less affected or do not experience the urban heat island. Athens holds the official
World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Internat ...
record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe, at , which was recorded in the Elefsina and
Tatoi Tatoi ( el, Τατόι, ) was the summer palace and estate of the former Greek royal family. The area is a densely wooded southeast-facing slope of Mount Parnitha, and its ancient and current official name is Dekeleia. It is located  from t ...
suburbs of Athens on 10 July 1977. Furthermore, Metropolitan Athens has experienced temperatures of 47.5°C and over in four different locations.


Locations


Neighbourhoods of the center of Athens (Municipality of Athens)

The
Municipality of Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
, the
City Centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
of the
Athens Urban Area Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
, is divided into several districts: Omonoia, Syntagma,
Exarcheia Exarcheia ( ) is a community in central Athens, Greece close to the historical building of the National Technical University of Athens. Exarcheia took its name from a 19th century businessman named Exarchos (Greek: Έξαρχος) who opened a larg ...
, Agios Nikolaos, Neapolis,
Lykavittos Mount Lycabettus (), also known as Lycabettos, Lykabettos or Lykavittos ( el, Λυκαβηττός, ), 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 Cen ...
, Lofos Strefi, Lofos Finopoulou, Lofos Filopappou,
Pedion Areos The Pedion tou Areos or Pedion Areos ( el, Πεδίον του Άρεως or Πεδίον Άρεως, , meaning ''Field of Ares'', corresponding to the French ''Champ de Mars'' and the ancient ''Campus Martius'') is one of the largest public parks ...
,
Metaxourgeio Metaxourgeio or Metaxourgio ( ), meaning "silk mill", is a neighbourhood of Athens, Greece. The neighbourhood is located north of the historical centre of Athens, between Kolonos to the east and Kerameikos to the west, and north of Gazi. Metaxour ...
, Aghios Kostantinos,
Larissa Station Athens railway station ( el, Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Αθηνών, Sidirodromikos Stathmos Athinon) is the main railway station of Athens, and the second largest station in Greece. Located in the central quarter of Kolonos ...
, Kerameikos, Psiri,
Monastiraki Monastiraki ( Greek: Μοναστηράκι, ''Monastiráki'', , literally ''little monastery'') is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. The area is home to cl ...
,
Gazi A ''ghazi'' ( ar, غازي, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raiding. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by the Islamic prophe ...
, Thission, Kapnikarea, Aghia Irini,
Aerides ''Aerides'', known commonly as cat's-tail orchids and fox brush orchids, is a genus belonging to the orchid family (Orchidaceae, subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Vandeae, subtribe Aeridinae). It is a group of tropical epiphyte orchids that gro ...
,
Anafiotika Anafiotika ( ) is a scenic tiny neighborhood of Athens, part of the old historical neighborhood called Plaka. It lies in northerneast side of the Acropolis hill. The first houses were built in the era of Otto of Greece, when workers from the isla ...
,
Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residenti ...
,
Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
, Pnyka, Makrygianni, Lofos Ardittou, Zappeion, Aghios Spyridon,
Pangrati Pangrati or Pagrati ( el, Παγκράτι) is a neighborhood in Central Athens, Greece, having an estimated population of 35,173 residents. Named after the ancient sanctuary of Hercules Pancrates ("All Powerful"), its frontage runs from Vasi ...
, Kolonaki, Dexameni, Evaggelismos,
Gouva Gouva ( el, Γούβα ), also known as Agios Artemios ( el, Άγιος Αρτέμιος ) is a neighborhood of Athens, Greece. It is located to the southeast of central Athens between the First Cemetery of Athens and Dafni. The district bui ...
, Aghios Ioannis,
Neos Kosmos Neos Kosmos ( el, Νέος Κόσμος ; meaning "New World") is a neighborhood in Athens, Greece. History In classical antiquity, the area of Neos Kosmos may have been the location of the gymnasium Cynosarges. Geography Neos Kosmos is south o ...
,
Koukaki Koukaki ( el, Κουκάκι or , ) is a southeast neighbourhood of the Municipality of Athens, Greece. Location The general area of Koukaki borders from the north with Makrygianni neighbourhood and the historical district of Plaka (the historic ...
, Kynosargous, Fix, Ano Petralona, Kato Petralona, Rouf, Votanikos, Profitis Daniil,
Akadimia Platonos Akadimia Platonos ( ) literally meaning Plato's Academy, is a neighbourhood located west-northwest of the downtown part of the Greek capital of Athens. History The area is named after Plato's Academy, which he founded in the area in 387 BC an ...
,
Kolonos Kolonos (, ) is a densely populated working-class district of the Municipality of Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to ...
, Kolokynthou, Attikis Square, Lofos Skouze,
Sepolia Sepolia ( el, Σεπόλια ) is a neighborhood north of the center of Athens, Greece. The Sepolia metro station is situated in the neighborhood. Sepolia owes to its name in the Greek phrase ''esopolis'' (έσω πόλις), which means "inside ...
, Kypseli, Aghios Meletios, Nea Kypseli,
Gyzi Gyzi ( el, Γκύζη ); is a neighbourhood of Athens, Greece. Etymology The area was named around 1925 after famous painter Nikolaos Gyzis. By all rights, the neighbourhood should have been called Γύζη (). However, due to the fact that he si ...
,
Polygono Polygono ( ) is a neighbourhood of Athens, Greece. In contrast to surrounding areas, it is not as densely populated, owing to a ban on the construction of multi-storey buildings. The courts for Athens are located in this district. The name of t ...
, Ampelokipoi, Panormou- Gerokomeio, Pentagono, Ellinorosson, Nea Filothei, Ano Kypseli, Tourkovounia-Lofos Patatsou, Lofos Elikonos, Koliatsou, Thymarakia, Kato Patisia, Treis Gefyres, Aghios Eleftherios, Ano Patisia, Kypriadou, Menidi, Prompona, Aghios Panteleimonas,
Pangrati Pangrati or Pagrati ( el, Παγκράτι) is a neighborhood in Central Athens, Greece, having an estimated population of 35,173 residents. Named after the ancient sanctuary of Hercules Pancrates ("All Powerful"), its frontage runs from Vasi ...
, Goudi,
Vyronas Vyronas ( el, Βύρωνας) is a suburban town and a municipality in the southeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. The town is named after George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, the famous English poet and writer, who is a national h ...
and Ilisia. * ''Omonoia'',
Omonoia Square Omonoia Square (, ''Plateía Omonoías'', , "Concord Square", often simply referred to as ''Omónia'' ) is a central square in Athens. Forming the centre of Omonoia. It marks the northern corner of the downtown area defined by the city plans of ...
, ( el, Πλατεία Ομονοίας) is the oldest square in Athens. It is surrounded by hotels and fast food outlets, and contains a metro station, named
Omonia station Omonia ( el, Ομόνοια, ) is an underground station under the Omonoia square of Athens, used by Athens Metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serv ...
. The square is the focus for celebration of sporting victories, as seen after the country's winning of the Euro 2004 and the
EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a ber ...
tournaments. * ''Metaxourgeio'' ( el, Μεταξουργείο) is a neighborhood of Athens. The neighborhood is located north of the historical centre of Athens, between Kolonos to the east and Kerameikos to the west, and north of Gazi.
Metaxourgeio Metaxourgeio or Metaxourgio ( ), meaning "silk mill", is a neighbourhood of Athens, Greece. The neighbourhood is located north of the historical centre of Athens, between Kolonos to the east and Kerameikos to the west, and north of Gazi. Metaxour ...
is frequently described as a transition neighborhood. After a long period of abandonment in the late 20th century, the area is acquiring a reputation as an artistic and fashionable neighborhood following the opening of art galleries, museums, restaurants and cafés. Local efforts to beautify and invigorate the neighborhood have reinforced a sense of community and artistic expression. Anonymous art pieces containing quotes and statements in both English and Ancient Greek have sprung up throughout the neighborhood, bearing statements such as "Art for art's sake" (Τέχνη τέχνης χάριν).
Guerrilla gardening Guerrilla gardening is the act of gardening – raising food, plants, or flowers – on land that the gardeners do not have the legal rights to cultivate, such as abandoned sites, areas that are not being cared for, or private property. It enco ...
has also helped to beautify the area. * ''Psiri'' – The reviving Psiri ( el, Ψυρρή) neighbourhood – also known as Athens's "meat packing district" – is dotted with renovated former mansions, artists' spaces, and small gallery areas. A number of its renovated buildings also host fashionable bars, making it a hotspot for the city in the last decade, while live music restaurants known as "rebetadika", after rebetiko, a unique form of music that blossomed in Syros and Athens from the 1920s until the 1960s, are to be found. Rebetiko is admired by many, and as a result rebetadika are often crammed with people of all ages who will sing, dance and drink till dawn. *The ''
Gazi A ''ghazi'' ( ar, غازي, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raiding. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by the Islamic prophe ...
'' ( el, Γκάζι) area, one of the latest in full redevelopment, is located around a historic gas factory, now converted into the '' Technopolis'' cultural multiplex, and also includes artists' areas, active
nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ci ...
and
night clubs A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gene ...
, small clubs, cafeterias, bars and restaurants, as well as Athens's " Gay village". The metro's expansion to the western suburbs of the city has brought easier access to the area since spring 2007, as the line 3 now stops at Gazi ( Kerameikos station). * ''Syntagma'',
Syntagma Square Syntagma Square ( el, Πλατεία Συντάγματος, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the Constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular and milit ...
, ( el, Σύνταγμα/Constitution Square), is the capital's central and largest square, lying adjacent to the Greek Parliament (the former Royal Palace) and the city's most notable hotels. Ermou Street, an approximately pedestrian road connecting Syntagma Square to Monastiraki, is a consumer paradise for both Athenians and tourists. Complete with fashion shops and shopping centres promoting most international brands, it now finds itself in the top five most expensive shopping streets in Europe, and the tenth most expensive retail street in the world. Nearby, the renovated Army Fund building in Panepistimiou Street includes the "Attica" department store and several upmarket designer stores. * ''Plaka, Monastiraki, and Thission'' –
Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residenti ...
( el, Πλάκα), lying just beneath the Acropolis, is famous for its plentiful neoclassical architecture, making up one of the most scenic districts of the city. It remains a prime tourist destination with tavernas, live performances and street salesmen. Nearby
Monastiraki Monastiraki ( Greek: Μοναστηράκι, ''Monastiráki'', , literally ''little monastery'') is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. The area is home to cl ...
( el, Μοναστηράκι), for its part, is known for its string of small shops and markets, as well as its crowded flea market and tavernas specialising in
souvlaki Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with ...
. Another district known for its student-crammed, stylish cafés is
Theseum The Temple of Hephaestus or ''Hephaisteion'' (also "Hephesteum" or "Hephaesteum"; grc, Ἡφαιστεῖον, ell, Ναός Ηφαίστου, and formerly called in error the Theseion or "Theseum"; grc, Θησεῖον, ell, Θησείο), ...
or Thission ( el, Θησείο), lying just west of Monastiraki. Thission is home to the ancient Temple of Hephaestus, standing atop a small hill. This area also has a picturesque 11th-century Byzantine church, as well as a 15th-century Ottoman mosque. * ''
Exarcheia Exarcheia ( ) is a community in central Athens, Greece close to the historical building of the National Technical University of Athens. Exarcheia took its name from a 19th century businessman named Exarchos (Greek: Έξαρχος) who opened a larg ...
'' ( el, Εξάρχεια), located north of Kolonaki, often regarded as the city's
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...
scene and as a student quarter with
night clubs A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gene ...
, cafés, bars and bookshops. Exarcheia is home to the
Athens Polytechnic The National (Metsovian) Technical University of Athens (NTUA; el, Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, ''National Metsovian Polytechnic''), sometimes known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest higher education institution ...
and the National Archaeological Museum; it also contains important buildings of several 20th-century styles:
Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. ...
,
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
and Early Modernism (including Bauhaus influences). * '' Kolonaki'' ( el, Κολωνάκι) is the area at the base of Lycabettus hill, full of boutiques catering to well-heeled customers by day, and bars and more fashionable restaurants by night, with galleries and museums. This is often regarded as one of the more prestigious areas of the capital.


Parks and zoos

Parnitha Mount Parnitha ( ell, Πάρνηθα, , Katharevousa and grc, Πάρνης ''Parnis''/''Parnes''; sometimes Parnetha) is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and ...
National Park is punctuated by well-marked paths, gorges, springs, torrents and caves dotting the protected area. Hiking and mountain-biking in all four mountains are popular outdoor activities for residents of the city. The
National Garden of Athens National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
was completed in 1840 and is a green refuge of 15.5 hectares in the centre of the Greek capital. It is to be found between the Parliament and Zappeion buildings, the latter of which maintains its own garden of seven hectares. Parts of the City Centre have been redeveloped under a masterplan called the ''Unification of Archeological Sites of Athens'', which has also gathered funding from the EU to help enhance the project. The landmark
Dionysiou Areopagitou Street Dionysiou Areopagitou Street (Greek: Οδός Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτου, ) is a pedestrianized street, adjacent to the south slope of the Acropolis in the Makrygianni district of Athens. It is named after Dionysius the Areopagit ...
has been pedestrianised, forming a scenic route. The route starts from the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, continues under the southern slopes of the Acropolis near
Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residenti ...
, and finishes just beyond the Temple of Hephaestus in
Thiseio Thiseio or Thissio ( el, Θησείο, ) is a traditional neighbourhood in the old city of Athens, Greece, northwest of the Acropolis, and surrounded by the archaeological sites of the Agora, Keramikos and Pnyx. The name refers to the Tem ...
. The route in its entirety provides visitors with views of the Parthenon and the
Agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
(the meeting point of ancient Athenians), away from the busy City Centre. The hills of Athens also provide green space. Lycabettus, Philopappos hill and the area around it, including
Pnyx The Pnyx (; grc, Πνύξ ; ell, Πνύκα, ''Pnyka'') is a hill in central Athens, the capital of Greece. Beginning as early as 507 BC ( Fifth-century Athens), the Athenians gathered on the Pnyx to host their popular assemblies, thus makin ...
and Ardettos hill, are planted with pines and other trees, with the character of a small forest rather than typical metropolitan parkland. Also to be found is the
Pedion tou Areos The Pedion tou Areos or Pedion Areos ( el, Πεδίον του Άρεως or Πεδίον Άρεως, , meaning ''Field of Ares'', corresponding to the French ''Champ de Mars'' and the ancient ''Campus Martius'') is one of the largest public parks ...
(''Field of Mars'') of 27.7 hectares, near the National Archaeological Museum. Athens' largest zoo is the
Attica Zoological Park Attica Park, officially Attica Zoological Park (AZP), is a private zoo located in the suburb of Spata, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Athens, Greece. It is the only zoo in Greece. The zoo is home to more than 1,500 animals repr ...
, a 20-hectare (49-acre) private zoo located in the suburb of Spata. The zoo is home to around 2000 animals representing 400 species, and is open 365 days a year. Smaller zoos exist within public gardens or parks, such as the zoo within the National Garden of Athens.


Urban and suburban municipalities

The Athens Metropolitan Area consists of 58 densely populated municipalities, sprawling around the
Municipality of Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
(the City Centre) in virtually all directions. For the Athenians, all the urban municipalities surrounding the City Centre are called suburbs. According to their geographic location in relation to the
City of Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
, the suburbs are divided into four zones; the northern suburbs (including Agios Stefanos,
Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
,
Ekali Ekali ( el, Εκάλη) is an affluent suburb of Athens, Greece. Located to the north of the city centre, it is a green and lush area home to many of the country's most powerful business and shipping families. Since the 2011 local government refo ...
,
Nea Erythraia Nea Erythraia ( el, Νέα Ερυθραία) is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kifissia, of which it is a municipal unit. Geography Nea ...
, Kifissia, Kryoneri,
Maroussi Marousi or Maroussi ( el, Μαρούσι, also Αμαρούσιο ''Amarousio'') is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was Athmon ...
,
Pefki Pefki ( el, Πεύκη, , meaning "pine", before 1959: Μαγκουφάνα - ''Magkoufana'', ) is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lykovr ...
,
Lykovrysi Lykovrysi ( el, Λυκόβρυση; formerly Γλυκόβρυση ''Glykovrysi'') is in North Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lykovrysi-Pefki, of which it is a municipal unit/community. Geogr ...
,
Metamorfosi Metamorfosi ( el, Μεταμόρφωση, Metamórfosi, transfiguration; before 1957: Koukouvaounes ( el, link=no, Κουκουβάουνες, Koukouváounes) is a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece, and a municipali ...
,
Nea Ionia Nea Ionia ( el, Νέα Ιωνία, meaning New Ionia) is a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. It was named after Ionia, the region in Anatolia from which many Greeks migrated in the 1920s as a part of the ...
,
Nea Filadelfeia Nea Filadelfeia ( el, Νέα Φιλαδέλφεια, meaning ''New Philadelphia'') is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is the seat and a munici ...
, Irakleio,
Vrilissia Vrilissia ( el, Βριλήσσια) is a suburban municipality of the North Athens regional unit, in the Attica region. It is located in the Athens basin, at the southwestern foot of the Penteli Mountain. At the 2011 census, the municipality had ...
,
Melissia Melissia ( el, Μελίσσια) is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Penteli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal u ...
,
Penteli Penteli ( el, Πεντέλη) is a village and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. It belongs to the Athens rural area. It takes its name from Mount Pentelicus. Municipality The municipality Penteli was formed at t ...
,
Chalandri Chalandri ( el, Χαλάνδρι, Ancient Greek: Φλύα, ''Phlya'') is a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is a municipality of the Attica region. Geography Chalandri is a suburb in Northern Athens, around f ...
,
Agia Paraskevi Agia Paraskevi ( el, Αγία Παρασκευή, ''Agía Paraskeví'') is a suburb and a municipality in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is part of the North Athens regional unit. Agia Paraskevi was named after the ...
,
Gerakas Gerakas ( el, Γέρακας) is a suburb of Athens and a former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pallini, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. In antiquity Gera ...
,
Pallini Pallini ( el, Παλλήνη) is a suburban town in Greater Athens Area and a municipality in East Attica, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Gerakas. It is the seat of administration of the East Attica regional unit. Geography ...
,
Galatsi Galatsi ( el, Γαλάτσι, ''Galátsi'' ), called in Katharevousa Galatsion ( el, Γαλάτσιον, ''Galátsion''), is a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. The municipality has an area of 4.026  ...
,
Psychiko Psychiko ( el, Ψυχικό ) is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filothei-Psychiko, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipality has an area of . Overview Psych ...
and
Filothei Filothei ( el, Φιλοθέη) is a green, affluent northeastern suburb of Athens, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, ...
); the southern suburbs (including
Alimos Alimos ( el, Άλιμος) is a south district of Athens and a municipality in South Athens regional unit, Greece. It was formed in 1968 comprising two settlements, the suburban seaside town of Kalamaki ( el, Καλαμάκι), and the inland comm ...
, Nea Smyrni,
Moschato Moschato ( el, Μοσχάτο) is a suburb in the southwestern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Moschato-Tavros, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Geograp ...
, Tavros,
Agios Ioannis Rentis Agios Ioannis Rentis ( el, Άγιος Ιωάννης Ρέντης) is a suburb and a former municipality in the Piraeus regional unit, lying in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is pa ...
, Kallithea,
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
,
Agios Dimitrios Agios Dimitrios (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος meaning Saint Dimitrios, before 1928: Μπραχάμι - ''Brahami'') is a suburb in the southern part of the Athens, Greece. Geography Agios Dimitrios is situated 5 km south of Athens c ...
, Palaio Faliro,
Elliniko Elliniko ( el, Ελληνικό, meaning "Greek") is a coastal suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Elliniko-Argyroupoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Elliniko is known for the Helli ...
, Glyfada,
Lagonisi Lagonissi (Greek: Λαγονήσι meaning "jackrabbit island") is a seaside residential area in the southern part of Kalyvia Thorikou in East Attica. It is situated close to the shore and on a peninsula by the Saronic Gulf. Lagonisi is located ap ...
,
Saronida Saronida ( el, Σαρωνίδα) is a seaside resort village and former community in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Saronikos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an ...
,
Argyroupoli Argyroupoli ( el, Αργυρούπολη) is a suburb in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Elliniko-Argyroupoli municipality, of which it is the seat a ...
,
Ilioupoli Ilioupoli ( el, Ηλιούπολη,  "Sun City") is a suburban municipality belongs to Central Athens regional unit and located in the central-southern part of the Athens. Its name is the modern form of the ancient name of Heliopolis in E ...
,
Varkiza Varkiza (Greek: Βάρκιζα), also Alianthos (Αλίανθος), is a suburb of greater Athens forming part of the municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni in southern Attica of the Megalo Daktylo (''Large Finger''). It lies approximately 2  ...
, Voula, Vari and Vouliagmeni); the eastern suburbs (including Zografou, Dafni,
Vyronas Vyronas ( el, Βύρωνας) is a suburban town and a municipality in the southeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. The town is named after George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, the famous English poet and writer, who is a national h ...
,
Kaisariani Kaisariani ( el, Καισαριανή) is a suburb and a municipality in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration in Greece. Geography Kaisariani is located about southeast of Athens city centre, and of the Acropolis of Athens. The munic ...
,
Cholargos Holargos ( el, Χολαργός, also: ''Cholargos'') is a suburb of Athens, Greece, located northeast of the city center and about away from Syntagma Square. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Papagou-Cholar ...
and Papagou); and the western suburbs (including
Peristeri Peristeri ( Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipality of Greece ...
, Ilion,
Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( el, Αιγάλεω ) is a suburban municipality in the western part of Athens, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo. Its population was 69,946 at the 2011 census. G ...
, Koridallos,
Agia Varvara Agia Varvara ( el, Αγία Βαρβάρα, meaning Saint Barbara) is a suburb in the western part of Athens, Greece. Geography Agia Varvara is situated east of the mountain Aigaleo (Greek: Αιγάλεω). It is west of central Athens. The mu ...
,
Keratsini Keratsini ( el, Κερατσίνι) is a suburb in the western part of the Piraeus regional unit, part of the Athens Urban Area. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Keratsini-Drapetsona, of which it is the seat ...
,
Perama Perama ( el, Πέραμα) is a suburb of Piraeus. It is part of Athens urban area and belogs to the Piraeus regional unit. It lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains, on the Saronic Gulf coast. It is 8 km northwest of Piraeus, ...
,
Nikaia Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and sev ...
,
Drapetsona Drapetsona ( el, Δραπετσώνα) is a suburb and a former municipality in the southwestern part of the Pireaus regional unit in the Athens Urban Area. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Keratsini-Drapets ...
,
Chaidari HaidariFor the spelling, see thmunicipal website ( el, Χαϊδάρι, ''Khaidari'') is a suburb in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, west of central Athens. Geography The municipality has an area of 22.655 km2. The geography o ...
,
Petroupoli Petroupoli ( el, Πετρούπολη, meaning "City/town of Peter") is a town in Attica that falls under the administrative sector of West Athens. Petroupoli was part of the community of Nea Liosia until 1946, when it became a separate community ...
,
Agioi Anargyroi Agioi Anargyroi ( el, Άγιοι Ανάργυροι) is a suburb in the north-central part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It takes its name from the "Holy Unmercenaries": saints who received no payment for their medical services. Since the ...
,
Ano Liosia Ano Liosia ( el, Άνω Λιόσια) is a suburb and a former municipality in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Fyli, of which it is the seat and a munici ...
,
Aspropyrgos Aspropyrgos ( el, Ασπρόπυργος) is a suburb of Athens, and a municipality in the West Attica regional unit, Attica, Greece. The municipality had a population of 30,251 at the 2011 census. It has an area of 101.983 km2. Etymology The na ...
,
Eleusina Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of ...
,
Acharnes Acharnes ( el, Αχαρνές, , before 1915: Μενίδι Menidi, ) is a northwestern suburb of Athens, Attica, Greece. With 106,943 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the most populous municipality in East Attica. It is part of the Athens Urban ...
and
Kamatero Kamatero ( el, Καματερó ; officially ΚαματερόνNational Statistic Service of Greece surveys. Last accessed December 4, 2009. (in Greek) ) is a suburb northwest of Athens city center, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform ...
). The Athens city coastline, extending from the major commercial port of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
to the southernmost suburb of
Varkiza Varkiza (Greek: Βάρκιζα), also Alianthos (Αλίανθος), is a suburb of greater Athens forming part of the municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni in southern Attica of the Megalo Daktylo (''Large Finger''). It lies approximately 2  ...
for some , is also connected to the City Centre by tram. In the northern suburb of Maroussi, the upgraded main Olympic Complex (known by its Greek acronym OAKA) dominates the skyline. The area has been redeveloped according to a design by the Spanish architect
Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculp ...
, with steel arches, landscaped gardens, fountains, futuristic glass, and a landmark new blue glass roof which was added to the main stadium. A second Olympic complex, next to the sea at the beach of Palaio Faliro, also features modern stadia, shops and an elevated esplanade. Work is underway to transform the grounds of the old Athens Airport – named
Elliniko Elliniko ( el, Ελληνικό, meaning "Greek") is a coastal suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Elliniko-Argyroupoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Elliniko is known for the Helli ...
– in the southern suburbs, into one of the largest landscaped parks in Europe, to be named the Hellenikon Metropolitan Park. Many of the southern suburbs (such as
Alimos Alimos ( el, Άλιμος) is a south district of Athens and a municipality in South Athens regional unit, Greece. It was formed in 1968 comprising two settlements, the suburban seaside town of Kalamaki ( el, Καλαμάκι), and the inland comm ...
, Palaio Faliro,
Elliniko Elliniko ( el, Ελληνικό, meaning "Greek") is a coastal suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Elliniko-Argyroupoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Elliniko is known for the Helli ...
, Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni and
Varkiza Varkiza (Greek: Βάρκιζα), also Alianthos (Αλίανθος), is a suburb of greater Athens forming part of the municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni in southern Attica of the Megalo Daktylo (''Large Finger''). It lies approximately 2  ...
) known as the
Athens Riviera Athens Riviera is the coastal area in the southern suburbs of Athens, Greece from Piraeus to Sounio. It is located about from downtown Athens stretching from the southern suburbs of Athens to the southernmost point of Attica, Cape Sounio. Histo ...
, host a number of sandy beaches, most of which are operated by the
Greek National Tourism Organisation The Greek National Tourism Organisation ( el, Εθνικός Οργανισμός Τουρισμού, ''Ethnikos Organismos Tourismou''), often abbreviated as GNTO ( el, EOT) is the governmental Board for the promotion of tourism in Greece. It fun ...
and require an entrance fee. Casinos operate on both Mount Parnitha, some from downtown Athens (accessible by car or cable car), and the nearby town of
Loutraki Loutraki ( el, Λουτράκι) is a seaside resort on the Gulf of Corinth, in Corinthia, Greece. It is located west of Athens and northeast of Corinth. Loutraki is the seat of the municipality Loutraki-Perachora-Agioi Theodoroi. The town ...
(accessible by car via the Athens – Corinth National Highway, or the
Athens Suburban Railway The Athens Suburban Railway, ( el, Προαστιακός Αθήνας, Proastiakós Athínas) is a commuter rail service that connects the city of Athens with its metropolitan area and other regions beyond Attica, including Corinthia, Boeotia, ...
).


Administration

The large City Centre ( el, Κέντρο της Αθήνας) of the Greek capital falls directly within the Municipality of Athens or Athens Municipality ( el, Δήμος Αθηναίων)—also City of Athens. Athens Municipality is the largest in population size in Greece.
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
also forms a significant city centre on its own, within the
Athens Urban Area Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
and it is the second largest in population size within it.


Athens Urban Area

The Athens Urban Area ( el, Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Αθηνών), also known as Urban Area of the Capital ( el, Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Πρωτεύουσας) or Greater Athens ( el, Ευρύτερη Αθήνα), today consists of 40 municipalities, 35 of which make up what was referred to as the former
Athens Prefecture The Athens Prefecture ( el, Νομαρχία Αθηνών, translit=Nomarkhía Athinón) was one of the prefectures of Greece. It was part of the Attica region and the Athens-Piraeus super-prefecture. The capital of the prefecture was the city ...
municipalities, located within 4 regional units ( North Athens, West Athens,
Central Athens Central Athens ( el, Κεντρικός Τομέας Αθηνών) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the central part of the agglomeration of Greater Athens. Administration As a ...
,
South Athens South Athens ( el, Νότιος Τομέας Αθηνών) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the south-central part of the agglomeration of Athens. Administration As a part of the ...
); and a further 5 municipalities, which make up the former
Piraeus Prefecture Piraeus Prefecture ( el, Νομός Πειραιά or Νομός Πειραιώς) was one of the prefectures of Greece. Created in 1964 as a separate Prefecture (Νομός) and after the dissolution of the prefecture in 1972 was one of the 4 pr ...
municipalities, located within the regional unit of Piraeus as mentioned above. The Athens Municipality forms the core and center of Greater Athens, which in its turn consists of the Athens Municipality and 40 more municipalities, divided in four regional units (Central, North, South and West Athens), accounting for 2,597,935 people (in 2021) within an area of . Until 2010, which made up the abolished
Athens Prefecture The Athens Prefecture ( el, Νομαρχία Αθηνών, translit=Nomarkhía Athinón) was one of the prefectures of Greece. It was part of the Attica region and the Athens-Piraeus super-prefecture. The capital of the prefecture was the city ...
and the municipality of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
, the historic Athenian port, with 4 other municipalities make up the regional unit of Piraeus. The regional units of Central Athens, North Athens, South Athens, West Athens and Piraeus with part of East and West Attica regional units combined make up the continuous Athens Urban Area, also called the "Urban Area of the Capital" or simply "Athens" (the most common use of the term), spanning over , with a population of 3,041,131 people as of 2021. The Athens Urban Area is considered to form the city of Athens as a whole, despite its administrative divisions, which is the largest in Greece and one of the most populated urban areas in Europe.


Athens Metropolitan Area

The Athens Metropolitan Area ( el, Μητροπολιτική Περιοχή της Αθήνας) spans within the
Attica region Attica ( el, Περιφέρεια Αττικής, translit=Periféria Attikís, ) is an administrative region of Greece, that encompasses the entire metropolitan area of Athens, the country's capital and largest city. The region is coextensive w ...
and includes a total of 58 municipalities, which are organized in seven regional units (those outlined above, along with
East Attica East Attica ( el, Ανατολική Αττική) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the eastern part of the urban agglomeration of Athens, and also the rural area to its east. A ...
and West Attica), having reached a population of 3,722,544 according to the 2021 census. Athens and Piraeus municipalities serve as the two metropolitan centres of the Athens Metropolitan Area. There are also some inter-municipal centres serving specific areas. For example, Kifissia and Glyfada serve as inter-municipal centres for northern and southern suburbs respectively.


Demographics


Population in modern times

The Municipality of Athens has an official population of 637,798 people (in 2021). The four regional units that make up what is referred to as Greater Athens have a combined population of 2,597,935. They together with the regional unit of Piraeus (
Greater Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Περιφερειακή ενότητα Πειραιώς, Perifereiakí enótita Peiraiós), also sometimes called Greater Piraeus (as distinct from the City of Piraeus; ''Evrýteros Peiraiás''), is one of the regional units of ...
) make up the dense Athens Urban Area which reaches a total population of 3,041,131 inhabitants (in 2021). According to
Eurostat Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to ...
, in 2013 the functional urban area of Athens had 3,828,434 inhabitants, being apparently decreasing compared with the pre-economic crisis date of 2009 (4,164,175). The municipality (Center) of Athens is the most populous in Greece, with a population of 637,798 people (in 2021) and an area of , forming the core of the Athens Urban Area within the Attica Basin. The incumbent Mayor of Athens is
Kostas Bakoyannis Kostas Bakoyannis ( el, Κώστας Μπακογιάννης; born 16 March 1978) is a Greek politician. Having served as mayor of the town of Karpenisi, he was popularly elected Regional governor of Central Greece in the 2014 local elections ...
of
New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that was decisively distinc ...
. The municipality is divided into seven municipal districts which are mainly used for administrative purposes. As of the 2011 census, the population for each of the seven municipal districts of Athens is as follows: * 1st: 75,810 * 2nd: 103,004 * 3rd: 46,508 * 4th: 85,629 * 5th: 98,665 * 6th: 130,582 * 7th: 123,848 For the Athenians the most popular way of dividing the downtown is through its neighbourhoods such as
Pagkrati Pangrati or Pagrati ( el, Παγκράτι) is a neighborhood in Central Athens, Greece, having an estimated population of 35,173 residents. Named after the ancient sanctuary of Hercules Pancrates ("All Powerful"), its frontage runs from Vas ...
, Ambelokipi,
Goudi Goudi (, since 2006; formerly Γουδί ) is a residential neighbourhood of Athens, Greece, on the eastern part of town and on the foothills of Mount Hymettus. History The name of the area derives from the 19th century Goudi (Γουδή) famil ...
,
Exarcheia Exarcheia ( ) is a community in central Athens, Greece close to the historical building of the National Technical University of Athens. Exarcheia took its name from a 19th century businessman named Exarchos (Greek: Έξαρχος) who opened a larg ...
, Patissia,
Ilissia Ilisia ( el, Ιλίσια ) is a neighborhood of Athens, Greece, named after the river Ilisos. A portion of the neighborhood, Ano Ilisia (Upper Ilisia), is in Zografou and is near the Theology, Philosophy and Scientific faculties of the Univers ...
, Petralona,
Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residenti ...
,
Anafiotika Anafiotika ( ) is a scenic tiny neighborhood of Athens, part of the old historical neighborhood called Plaka. It lies in northerneast side of the Acropolis hill. The first houses were built in the era of Otto of Greece, when workers from the isla ...
,
Koukaki Koukaki ( el, Κουκάκι or , ) is a southeast neighbourhood of the Municipality of Athens, Greece. Location The general area of Koukaki borders from the north with Makrygianni neighbourhood and the historical district of Plaka (the historic ...
, Kolonaki and Kypseli, each with its own distinct history and characteristics.


Population of the Athens Metropolitan Area

The Athens Metropolitan Area, with an area of and inhabited by 3,722,544 people in 2021, consists of the Athens Urban Area with the addition of the towns and villages of East and West Attica, which surround the dense urban area of the Greek capital. It actually sprawls over the whole peninsula of Attica, which is the best part of the region of Attica, excluding the islands.


Population in ancient times

Mycenean Athens in 1600–1100 BC could have equalled the size of Tiryns, with an estimated population of up to 10,000–15,000. During the
Greek Dark Ages The term Greek Dark Ages refers to the period of Greek history from the end of the Mycenaean palatial civilization, around 1100 BC, to the beginning of the Archaic age, around 750 BC. Archaeological evidence shows a widespread collapse ...
the population of Athens was around 4,000 people, rising to an estimated 10,000 by 700 BC. During the Classical period, Athens denotes both the urban area of the city proper and its subject territory (the Athenian city-state) extending across most of the modern
Attica region Attica ( el, Περιφέρεια Αττικής, translit=Periféria Attikís, ) is an administrative region of Greece, that encompasses the entire metropolitan area of Athens, the country's capital and largest city. The region is coextensive w ...
except the territory of the city-state of
Megaris :''This is also the ancient Greek name of a small island off Naples, site of the Castel dell'Ovo.'' Megaris ( grc, Μεγαρίς) was a small but populous state of ancient Greece, west of Attica and north of Corinthia, whose inhabitants were ad ...
and the island section. In 500 BC the Athenian territory probably contained around 200,000 people. Thucydides indicates a fifth-century total of 150,000-350,000 and up to 610,000. A census ordered by
Demetrius of Phalerum Demetrius of Phalerum (also Demetrius of Phaleron or Demetrius Phalereus; grc-gre, Δημήτριος ὁ Φαληρεύς; c. 350 – c. 280 BC) was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, an ancient port of Athens. A student of Theophrast ...
in 317 BC is said to have recorded 21,000 free citizens, 10,000 resident aliens and 400,000 slaves, a total population of 431,000, but this figure is highly suspect because of the improbably high number of slaves and does not include free women and children and resident foreigners. An estimate based on Thucydides is 40,000 male citizens, 100,000 family members, 70,000 metics (resident foreigners) and 150,000-400,000 slaves, though modern historians again hesitate to take such high numbers at face value, most estimates now preferring a total in the 200–350,000 range. The urban area of Athens proper (excluding the port of Piraeus) covered less than a thousandth of the area of the city-state, though its population density was of course far higher: modern estimates for the population of the built-up area tend to indicate around 35–45,000 inhabitants, though density of occupation, household size and whether there was a significant suburban population beyond the walls remain uncertain. The ancient site of the main city is centred on the rocky hill of the acropolis. Many towns existed in the Athenian territory.
Acharnae Acharnae or Acharnai (; grc, Ἀχαρναί) was a ''deme'' of ancient Athens. It was part of the phyle Oineis. Acharnae, according to Thucydides, was the largest deme in Attica. In the fourth century BCE, 22 of the 500 members of the A ...
,
Afidnes Afidnes ( el, Αφίδνες, or Ἀφίδναι, from the Middle Ages until 1919: Κιούρκα - ''Kiourka'') is a small town in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Oropos, of which it i ...
,
Cytherus Cytherus or Kytheros ( grc, Κύθηρρος or Κύθηρος), also known as Cytherum or Kytheron (Κύθηρον), was one of the twelve cities of ancient Attica, and afterwards a deme. Pausanias states that the nymphs of the river Cytherus in ...
, Colonus,
Corydallus Corydallus or Korydallos ( grc, Κορυδαλλός) was a deme of ancient Athens, at the foot of the mountain of the same name, and is placed by Strabo between Thria and Peiraeeus, near the straits of Salamis, opposite the islands of Pharmacu ...
, Cropia,
Decelea Decelea ( grc, Δεκέλεια, ), ''Dekéleia''), was a deme and ancient village in northern Attica serving as a trade route connecting Euboea with Athens, Greece. It was situated near the entrance of the eastern pass across Mount Parnes, which ...
,
Euonymos Euonymeia ( el, Ευωνύμεια, ''Evonímia''), also known by its medieval name Trachones ( el, Τράχωνες), and by its modern colloquial Ano Kalamaki ( el, Άνω Καλαμάκι, Upper Kalamaki), is a historic settlement in Athens ...
,
Vravron Brauron (; grc, Βραυρών) was one of the twelve cities of ancient Attica, but never mentioned as a ''deme'', though it continued to exist down to the latest times. It was situated on or near the eastern coast of Attica, between Steiria and H ...
among others were important towns in the Athenian countryside. The new port of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
was located in the site between the passenger section of the modern port (named Kantharos in antiquity) and Pasalimani harbour (named Zea in antiquity). The old port ( Phaliro) was in the site of modern Palaio Faliro and gradually declined after the construction of the new port, but remained as a minor port and important settlement with historic significance in late Classical times. Modern Expansion The rapid expansion of the modern city, which continues to this day, took off with industrial growth in the 1950s and 1960s. The expansion is now particularly toward the East and North East (a tendency greatly related to the new Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport and the
Attiki Odos Attiki Odos ( el, Αττική Οδός) is a privately owned toll motorway system in Greece. The Attiki Odos motorways form the outer beltways of the Greater Athens metropolitan area. The total length of the motorways is . The Attiki Odos system ...
, the freeway that cuts across Attica). By this process Athens has engulfed many former suburbs and villages in Attica, and continues to do so. The table below shows the historical population of Athens in recent times. The metropolitan population reached a peak around 2006 and since then has stabilised and even dropped slightly at around 3.7 million.


Government and politics

Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, following Nafplion, which was the provisional capital from 1829. The municipality (City) of Athens is also the capital of the
Attica region Attica ( el, Περιφέρεια Αττικής, translit=Periféria Attikís, ) is an administrative region of Greece, that encompasses the entire metropolitan area of Athens, the country's capital and largest city. The region is coextensive w ...
. The term ''Athens'' can refer either to the Municipality of Athens, to Greater Athens or urban area, or to the entire Athens Metropolitan Area. File:Griechisches Parlament nachts (Zuschnitt).jpg, The
Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...
File:Presidential Mansion in Athens.jpg, The
Presidential Mansion An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...
, formerly the Crown Prince Palace, in
Herodou Attikou Street Herodou Attikou Street or Irodou Attikou Street (Greek: Οδός Ηρώδου Αττικού, ) is located east of downtown Athens and is adjacent to the National Garden of Athens. The street is named after the ancient Athenian rhetorician, magn ...
. File:Former Royal Palace (Athens).jpg, The
Maximos Mansion The Maximos Mansion ( el, Μέγαρο Μαξίμου, ''Mégaro Maxímou'') has been the official seat and residence of the Prime Minister of Greece since 1982. It is located in downtown Athens, Greece, near Syntagma Square. Location The ''Maxi ...
, official office of the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, in
Herodou Attikou Street Herodou Attikou Street or Irodou Attikou Street (Greek: Οδός Ηρώδου Αττικού, ) is located east of downtown Athens and is adjacent to the National Garden of Athens. The street is named after the ancient Athenian rhetorician, magn ...
. File:DimarchioAthinas.JPG, The Athens City Hall in
Kotzia Square Kotzia Square ( el, Πλατεία Κοτζιά) is a square in central Athens, Greece. The square retains several characteristics of 19th-century local neoclassical architecture, such as the City Hall of the Municipality of Athens and the Natio ...
was designed by Panagiotis Kolkas and completed in 1874. File:FranceEmbassy DSC 1053a-1.jpg, The Embassy of France in
Vasilissis Sofias Avenue Vasilissis Sofias Avenue () is a major avenue in the east side of Athens, the Greek capital. The avenue was originally part of the Kifisias Avenue. The part from Syntagma Square to the intersection with Alexandras Avenue was renamed after Qu ...
. File:Italian Embassy DSC 1058a-1.jpg, The Italian Embassy in
Vasilissis Sofias Avenue Vasilissis Sofias Avenue () is a major avenue in the east side of Athens, the Greek capital. The avenue was originally part of the Kifisias Avenue. The part from Syntagma Square to the intersection with Alexandras Avenue was renamed after Qu ...
.


International relations and influence


Twin towns – sister cities

Athens is twinned with:


Partnerships

*
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
, Serbia (1966) * Paris, France (2000) * Ljubljana, Slovenia * Naples, Italy * Yerevan, Armenia (1993)


Other locations named after Athens

; United States: ; Canada: * Athens Township, Ontario (pop. 3,086) ; Costa Rica: *
Atenas Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city. Toponymy Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officia ...
(pop. 7,716) * Atenas (canton) (pop. 23,743) ; Germany: *
Athenstedt Athenstedt is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Sax ...
, Saxony-Anhalt (pop. 431) ; Honduras * Atenas De San Cristóbal, Atlántida ; Italy *
Atena Lucana Atena Lucana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. History Atena Lucana is one of the most ancient settlements in the Vallo di Diano, as testified by the presence of prehistoric Megal ...
, Province of Salerno, Campania (pop. 2,344) * Atina,
Province of Frosinone The Province of Frosinone ( it, Provincia di Frosinone) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy, with 91 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune''; see Comuni of the Province of Frosinone). Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area ...
, Lazio (pop. 4,480) ; Poland * Ateny, Podlaskie Voivodeship (pop. 40) ; Ukraine *
Afini Zoria (Зоря), formerly Afiny (Афіни), is a village in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Since the October Revolution it has been a Soviet kolkhoz with few inhabitants in the area of Mariupol amongst the villages of the native minority of t ...
(Zoria – Зоря), Donetsk (pop. 200)


Economy

Athens is the financial capital of Greece. According to data from 2014, Athens as a metropolitan economic area produced US$130 billion as
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
in PPP, which consists nearly a half of the production for the whole country. Athens was ranked 102nd in that year's list of global economic metropolises, while GDP per capita for the same year was 32,000 US-dollars. Athens is one of the major economic centres in south-eastern Europe and is considered a regional economic power. The port of Piraeus, where big investments by
COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company, Limited, formerly China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, commonly known for its abbreviated name COSCO Group, or simply, COSCO, is a former Chinese Government owned shipping and logistics services supplier compan ...
have already been delivered during the recent decade, the completion of the new Cargo Centre in Thriasion, the expansion of the Athens Metro and the
Athens Tram The Athens Tram is the modern public tram network system serving Athens, Greece. The system is owned and operated by STASY, which replaced Tram S.A. in June 2011. STASY operates a fleet of 25 Alstom Citadis and 35 Sirio vehicles, which serve ...
, as well as the Hellenikon metropolitan park redevelopment in Elliniko and other urban projects, are the economic landmarks of the upcoming years. Prominent Greek companies such as Hellas Sat,
Hellenic Aerospace Industry Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) ( el, Ελληνική Αεροπορική Βιομηχανία - ΕΑΒ) is the leading aerospace company of Greece. The company headquarters is located in Tanagra, 65 kilometers north-west of Athens, with the ...
,
Mytilineos Holdings MYTILINEOS S.A. ( el, Μυτιληναίος Α.Ε.) is a Greece-based industrial conglomerate whose business units are active in the sectors of metallurgy, energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'' ...
, Titan Cement, Hellenic Petroleum, Papadopoulos E.J.,
Folli Follie Folli Follie is a Greek-based international company which designs, manufactures and distributes luxury jewellery, watches and fashion accessories. History The company was established in 1982 in Greece by Dimitris Koutsolioutsos ( el, Δημήτ ...
, Jumbo S.A.,
OPAP OPAP – Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics S.A. ( el, ΟΠΑΠ – Οργανισμός Προγνωστικών Αγώνων Ποδοσφαίρου Α.Ε.) is a Greek company organizing and conducting games of chance. It is headquarter ...
, and
Cosmote COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS S.A. ( el, COSMOTE ΚΙΝΗΤΕΣ ΤΗΛΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΕΣ Α.Ε.) known as just Cosmote is the largest mobile network operator in Greece. The company is headquartered in Athens and is a fully owned subsidia ...
have their headquarters in the metropolitan area of Athens. Multinational companies such as Ericsson,
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
, Siemens, Motorola, Samsung, Microsoft, Novartis, Mondelez and
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlan ...
also have their regional research and development headquarters in the city. The banking sector is represented by
National Bank of Greece The National Bank of Greece (NBG; el, Εθνική Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος) is a global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. 85% of the company's pretax preprovision profits are derived ...
,
Alpha Bank Alpha Bank is the second largest Greek bank by total assets, and the largest by market capitalization of €2.13 billion (as of 4 December 2018). It has a subsidiary and branch in London, England and subsidiaries in Albania, Cyprus and Romani ...
, Eurobank, and Piraeus Bank, while the
Bank of Greece The Bank of Greece ( el, Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος , ΤτΕ) is the central bank of Greece. Its headquarters is located in Athens on Panepistimiou Street, but it also has several branches across the country. It was founded in 1 ...
is also situated in the City Centre. The
Athens Stock Exchange The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE or ATHEX; el, Χρηματιστήριο Αθηνών (Χ.Α.), ''Chrimatistírio Athinón'') is the stock exchange of Greece, based in the capital city of Athens. It was founded in 1876. There are currently five ...
was severely hit by the Greek government-debt crisis and the decision of the government to proceed into
capital controls Capital controls are residency-based measures such as transaction taxes, other limits, or outright prohibitions that a nation's government can use to regulate flows from capital markets into and out of the country's capital account. These measure ...
during summer 2015. As a whole the economy of Athens and Greece was strongly affected, while data showed a change from long recession to growth of 1.4% from 2017 onwards. Tourism is also a leading contributor to the economy of the city, as one of Europe's top destinations for city-break tourism, and also the gateway for excursions to both the islands and other parts of the mainland. Greece attracted 26.5 million visitors in 2015, 30.1 million visitors in 2017, and over 33 million in 2018, making Greece one of the most visited countries in Europe and the world, and contributing 18% to the country's GDP. Athens welcomed more than 5 million tourists in 2018, and 1.4 million were "city-breakers"; this was an increase by over a million city-breakers since 2013.


Transport

Athens is the country's major transportation hub. The city has Greece's largest airport and its largest port; Piraeus, too, is the largest container transport port in the Mediterranean, and the largest passenger port in Europe. Athens is a major national hub for Intercity ( Ktel) and international buses, as well as for domestic and international rail transport. Public transport is serviced by a variety of transportation means, making up the country's largest mass transit system. The
Athens Mass Transit System The Athens Mass Transit System is the largest mass transit system of Greece. The system is run by the OASA S.A. organisation and serves Athens Urban Area and the Athens Metropolitan Area (most of the Region of Attica without the island section) ...
consists of a large bus and
trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...
fleet, the city's Metro, a
Suburban Railway Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are cons ...
service and a tram network, connecting the southern suburbs to the city centre.


Bus transport

OSY ( el, ΟΣΥ) (Odikes Sygkoinonies S.A.), a subsidiary company of OASA (Athens urban transport organisation), is the main operator of buses and trolleybuses in Athens. As of 2017, its network consists of around 322 bus lines, spanning the Athens Metropolitan Area, and making up a fleet of 2,375 buses and trolleybuses. Of those 2,375, 619 buses run on
compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...
, making up the largest fleet of natural gas-powered buses in Europe, and 354 are electric-powered (trolleybuses). All of the 354 trolleybuses are equipped to run on diesel in case of power failure. International links are provided by a number of private companies. National and regional bus links are provided by KTEL from two InterCity Bus Terminals; Kifissos Bus Terminal A and Liosion Bus Terminal B, both located in the north-western part of the city. ''Kifissos'' provides connections towards Peloponnese, North Greece, West Greece and some Ionian Islands, whereas ''Liosion'' is used for most of Central Greece.


Athens Metro

The
Athens Metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electrif ...
is operated by STASY S.A ( el, ΣΤΑΣΥ) (Statheres Sygkoinonies S.A), a subsidiary company of OASA (Athens urban transport organisation), which provides public transport throughout the Athens Urban Area. While its main purpose is transport, it also houses Greek artifacts found during construction of the system. The Athens Metro runs three metro lines, namely Line 1 (Green Line), Line 2 (Red Line) and Line 3 (Blue Line) lines, of which the first was constructed in 1869, and the other two largely during the 1990s, with the initial new sections opened in January 2000. Line 1 mostly runs at ground level and the other two (Line 2 & 3) routes run entirely underground. A fleet of 42 trains, using 252 carriages, operates on the network, with a daily occupancy of 1,353,000 passengers. ''Line 1'' (Green Line) serves 24 stations, and is the oldest line of the Athens metro network. It runs from
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
station to Kifissia station and covers a distance of . There are transfer connections with the Blue Line 3 at
Monastiraki Monastiraki ( Greek: Μοναστηράκι, ''Monastiráki'', , literally ''little monastery'') is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. The area is home to cl ...
station and with the Red Line 2 at Omonia and
Attiki Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...
stations. ''Line 2'' (Red Line) runs from Anthoupoli station to
Elliniko Elliniko ( el, Ελληνικό, meaning "Greek") is a coastal suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Elliniko-Argyroupoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Elliniko is known for the Helli ...
station and covers a distance of . The line connects the western suburbs of Athens with the southeast suburbs, passing through the center of Athens. The Red Line has transfer connections with the Green Line 1 at
Attiki Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...
and Omonia stations. There are also transfer connections with the Blue Line 3 at Syntagma station and with the tram at Syntagma, Syngrou Fix and
Neos Kosmos Neos Kosmos ( el, Νέος Κόσμος ; meaning "New World") is a neighborhood in Athens, Greece. History In classical antiquity, the area of Neos Kosmos may have been the location of the gymnasium Cynosarges. Geography Neos Kosmos is south o ...
stations. ''Line 3'' (Blue Line) runs from
Nikaia Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and sev ...
station, through the central
Monastiraki Monastiraki ( Greek: Μοναστηράκι, ''Monastiráki'', , literally ''little monastery'') is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. The area is home to cl ...
and Syntagma stations to Doukissis Plakentias avenue in the northeastern suburb of
Halandri Chalandri ( el, Χαλάνδρι, Ancient Greek: Φλύα, ''Phlya'') is a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is a municipality of the Attica region. Geography Chalandri is a suburb in Northern Athens, around ...
. It then ascends to ground level and continues to Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos using the suburban railway infrastructure, extending its total length to . The spring 2007 extension from Monastiraki westwards to
Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( el, Αιγάλεω ) is a suburban municipality in the western part of Athens, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo. Its population was 69,946 at the 2011 census. G ...
connected some of the main
night life Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ci ...
hubs of the city, namely those of Gazi ( Kerameikos station) with Psirri (
Monastiraki Monastiraki ( Greek: Μοναστηράκι, ''Monastiráki'', , literally ''little monastery'') is a flea market neighborhood in the old town of Athens, Greece, and is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. The area is home to cl ...
station) and the city centre (
Syntagma station Syntagma (σύνταγμα), a Greek word meaning "arrangement" in classical Greek and "constitution" in modern Greek, may refer to: *The Constitution of Greece * Ottoman Empire Constitution of 1876 *Syntagma Square in Athens * Syntagma station of ...
). Extensions are under construction to the western and southwestern suburbs of Athens, as far as the Port of Piraeus. The new stations will be Maniatika, Piraeus and Dimotiko Theatro, and the completed extension will be ready in 2022, connecting the biggest port of Greece, the Port of Piraeus, with Athens International Airport, the biggest airport of Greece.


Commuter/suburban rail (Proastiakos)

The
Athens Suburban Railway The Athens Suburban Railway, ( el, Προαστιακός Αθήνας, Proastiakós Athínas) is a commuter rail service that connects the city of Athens with its metropolitan area and other regions beyond Attica, including Corinthia, Boeotia, ...
, referred to as the ''Proastiakos'', connects Athens International Airport to the city of Kiato, west of Athens, via Larissa station, the city's central rail station and the port of Piraeus. The length of Athens's commuter rail network extends to , and is expected to stretch to by 2010.


Tram

The
Athens Tram The Athens Tram is the modern public tram network system serving Athens, Greece. The system is owned and operated by STASY, which replaced Tram S.A. in June 2011. STASY operates a fleet of 25 Alstom Citadis and 35 Sirio vehicles, which serve ...
is operated by STASY S.A (Statheres Sygkoinonies S.A), a subsidiary company of OASA (Athens urban transport organisation). It has a fleet of 35
Sirio The Hitachi Sirio (Italian for Sirius, formerly sold as the AnsaldoBreda Sirio) is a low-floor tram built by Hitachi Rail Italy (formerly AnsaldoBreda), a Japanese-Italian manufacturer of trains, trams and light-rail vehicles. It can be ordered ...
type vehicles which serve 48 stations, employ 345 people with an average daily occupancy of 65,000 passengers. The tram network spans a total length of and covers ten Athenian suburbs. The network runs from
Syntagma Square Syntagma Square ( el, Πλατεία Συντάγματος, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the Constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular and milit ...
to the southwestern suburb of Palaio Faliro, where the line splits in two branches; the first runs along the Athens coastline toward the southern suburb of Voula, while the other heads toward Neo Faliro. The network covers the majority of the Athens coastline. Further extension is under construction towards the major commercial port of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
. The expansion to Piraeus will include 12 new stations, increase the overall length of tram route by , and increase the overall transportation network.


Athens International Airport

Athens is served by the
Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...
(ATH), located near the town of Spata, in the eastern Messoghia plain, some east of center of Athens. The airport, awarded the "European Airport of the Year 2004" Award, is intended as an expandable hub for air travel in
southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...
and was constructed in 51 months, costing 2.2 billion euros. It employs a staff of 14,000.


Railways and ferry connections

Athens is the hub of the country's national railway system (OSE), connecting the capital with major cities across Greece and abroad ( Istanbul, Sofia,
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
and
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
). The Port of Piraeus is the largest port in Greece and one of the largest in Europe.
Rafina Rafina ( el, Ραφήνα) is a suburban port town located on the eastern coast of Attica in Greece. It has a population of 13,091 inhabitants (2011 census). Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rafina-Pikermi, o ...
and
Lavrio Laurium or Lavrio ( ell, Λαύριο; grc, Λαύρειον (later ); before early 11th century BC: Θορικός '' Thorikos''; from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Gree ...
act as alternative ports of Athens, connects the city with numerous
Greek islands Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by a ...
of the
Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
, Evia and
Çeşme Çeşme () is a coastal town and the administrative centre of the district of the same name in Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula that also carries the same name and that extends inland to form a whole with th ...
in Turkey, while also serving the cruise ships that arrive.


Motorways

Two main motorways of Greece begin in Athens, namely the A1/ E75, heading north towards Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki; and the border crossing of Evzones and the A8/ E94 heading west, towards Greece's third largest city, Patras, which incorporated the GR-8A. Before their completion much of the road traffic used the GR-1 and the GR-8. Athens' Metropolitan Area is served by the motorway network of the
Attiki Odos Attiki Odos ( el, Αττική Οδός) is a privately owned toll motorway system in Greece. The Attiki Odos motorways form the outer beltways of the Greater Athens metropolitan area. The total length of the motorways is . The Attiki Odos system ...
toll-motorway (code: A6). Its main section extends from the western industrial suburb of Elefsina to
Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...
; while two beltways, namely the Aigaleo Beltway (A65) and the Hymettus Beltway (A64) serve parts of western and eastern Athens respectively. The span of the Attiki Odos in all its length is , making it the largest metropolitan motorway network in all of Greece. * Motorways: ** A1/ E75 N ''( Lamia, Larissa, Thessaloniki)'' ** A8 ( GR-8A)/ E94 W ''( Elefsina, Corinth, Patras)'' ** A6 W ''( Elefsina)'' E ''(
Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
)'' * National roads: ** GR-1 Ν ''( Lamia, Larissa, Thessaloniki)'' ** GR-8 W ''( Corinth, Patras)'' ** GR-3 N ''( Elefsina, Lamia, Larissa)''


Education

Located on
Panepistimiou Street Panepistimiou Street ( el, Οδός Πανεπιστημίου, "University Street", named after the University of Athens, the central building of which is on the upper corner) is a major street in Athens that has run one way for non-transit v ...
, the old campus of the
University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...
, the National Library, and the Academy of Athens (modern), Athens Academy form the "Athens Trilogy" built in the mid-19th century. The largest and oldest university in Athens is the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Most of the functions of NKUA have been transferred to a campus in the eastern suburb of Zografou. The National Technical University of Athens is located on Patision Street. The University of West Attica is the second largest university in Athens. The seat of the university is located in the western area of Athens, where the philosophers of Ancient Athens delivered lectures. All the activities of UNIWA are carried out in the modern infrastructure of the three University Campuses within the metropolitan region of Athens (Egaleo Park, Ancient Olive Groove and Athens), which offer modern teaching and research spaces, entertainment and support facilities for all students. Other universities that lie within Athens are the Athens University of Economics and Business, the Panteion University, the Agricultural University of Athens and the University of Piraeus. There are overall ten state-supported Institutions of Higher (or Tertiary) education located in the Athens Urban Area, these are by chronological order: Athens School of Fine Arts (1837), National Technical University of Athens (1837),
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...
(1837), Agricultural University of Athens (1920), Athens University of Economics and Business (1920), Panteion University, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (1927), University of Piraeus (1938), Harokopio University, Harokopio University of Athens (1990), School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (2002), University of West Attica (2018). There are also several other private ''colleges'', as they called formally in Greece, as the establishment of private universities is prohibited by the constitution. Many of them are accredited by a foreign state or university such as the American College of Greece and the University of Indianapolis – Athens Campus, Athens Campus of the University of Indianapolis.


Culture


Archaeological hub

The city is a world centre of archaeology, archaeological research. Alongside national academic institutions, such as the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens University and the Archaeological Society of Athens, Archaeological Society, it is home to multiple archaeological museums, taking in the National Archaeological Museum, the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art, Cycladic Museum, the Epigraphy, Epigraphic Museum, the Byzantine & Christian Museum, as well as museums at the ancient Agora, Acropolis Museum, Acropolis, Kerameikos, and the Kerameikos Archaeological Museum. The city is also the setting for the Democritus, Demokritos laboratory for Archaeological science, Archaeometry, alongside regional and national archaeological authorities forming part of the Minister for Culture (Greece), Greek Department of Culture. Athens hosts 17 List of Foreign Archaeological Institutes in Greece, Foreign Archaeological Institutes which promote and facilitate research by scholars from their home countries. As a result, Athens has more than a dozen archaeological libraries and three specialized archaeological laboratories, and is the venue of several hundred specialized lectures, conferences and seminars, as well as dozens of archaeological exhibitions each year. At any given time, hundreds of international scholars and researchers in all disciplines of archaeology are to be found in the city.


Architecture

Athens incorporates architectural styles ranging from Greek Revival architecture, Greco-Roman and Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical to Modern. They are often to be found in the same areas, as Athens is not marked by a uniformity of architectural style. A visitor will quickly notice the absence of tall buildings: Athens has very strict height restriction laws in order to ensure the Acropolis hill is visible throughout the city. Despite the variety in styles, there is evidence of continuity in elements of the architectural environment through the city's history. For the greatest part of the 19th century Neoclassicism dominated Athens, as well as some deviations from it such as Eclecticism, especially in the early 20th century. Thus, the Old Royal Palace was the first important public building to be built, between 1836 and 1843. Later in the mid and late 19th century, Baron Theophil von Hansen, Theophil Freiherr von Hansen and Ernst Ziller took part in the construction of many neoclassical buildings such as the Academy of Athens (modern), Athens Academy and the Zappeion Hall. Ziller also designed many private mansions in the centre of Athens which gradually became public, usually through donations, such as Heinrich Schliemann, Schliemann's Iliou Melathron. Beginning in the 1920s, modern architecture including Bauhaus and
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
began to exert an influence on almost all Greek architects, and buildings both public and private were constructed in accordance with these styles. Localities with a great number of such buildings include Kolonaki, and some areas of the centre of the city; neighbourhoods developed in this period include Kypseli. In the 1950s and 1960s during the extension and development of Athens, other modern movements such as the International Style (architecture), International style played an important role. The centre of Athens was largely rebuilt, leading to the demolition of a number of neoclassical buildings. The architects of this era employed materials such as glass, marble and aluminium, and many blended modern and classical elements. After World War II, internationally known architects to have designed and built in the city included Walter Gropius, with his design for the US Embassy, and, among others, Eero Saarinen, in his postwar design for the east terminal of the Ellinikon International Airport, Ellinikon Airport.


Urban sculpture

Across the city numerous statues or busts are to be found. Apart from the neoclassicals by Leonidas Drosis at the Academy of Athens (Plato, Socrates, Apollo and Athena), others in notable categories include the statue of
Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...
by Georgios Fytalis at Thiseion; depictions of philhellenes such as Lord Byron, George Canning, and William Ewart Gladstone, William Gladstone; the equestrian statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis by Lazaros Sochos in front of the Old Parliament; statues of Ioannis Kapodistrias, Rigas Feraios and Adamantios Korais at the University; of Evangelos Zappas and Konstantinos Zappas at the Zappeion; Ioannis Varvakis at the National Garden; the" Woodbreaker" by Dimitrios Filippotis; the equestrian statue of Alexandros Papagos in the Papagou district; and various busts of fighters of Greek independence at the
Pedion tou Areos The Pedion tou Areos or Pedion Areos ( el, Πεδίον του Άρεως or Πεδίον Άρεως, , meaning ''Field of Ares'', corresponding to the French ''Champ de Mars'' and the ancient ''Campus Martius'') is one of the largest public parks ...
. A significant landmark is also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma.


Museums

Athens' most important museums include: * the National Archaeological Museum, the largest archaeological museum in the country, and one of the most important internationally, as it contains a vast collection of antiquities. Its artefacts cover a period of more than 5,000 years, from late Neolithic Age to Roman Greece; * the
Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...
with its several branches for each of its collections including ancient, Byzantine, Ottoman-era, Chinese art and beyond; * the Byzantine & Christian Museum, Byzantine and Christian Museum, one of the most important museums of Byzantine art; *the National Gallery (Athens), National Art Gallery, the nation's eponymous leading gallery, which reopened in 2021 after renovation; *the Athens National Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in 2000 in a former brewery building; * the Numismatic Museum of Athens, Numismatic Museum, housing a major collection of ancient and modern coins; * the Museum of Cycladic Art, home to an extensive collection of Cycladic art, including its famous figurines of white marble; * the Acropolis Museum, New Acropolis Museum, opened in 2009, and replacing the old museum on the Acropolis. The new museum has proved considerably popular; almost one million people visited during the summer period June–October 2009 alone. A number of smaller and privately owned museums focused on Greek culture and arts are also to be found. * the Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, a museum which displays artifacts from the burial site of Kerameikos. Much of the pottery and other artifacts relate to Athenian attitudes towards death and the afterlife, throughout many ages. * the Jewish Museum of Greece, a museum which describes the history and culture of History of the Jews in Greece, the Greek Jewish community.


Tourism

Athens has been a destination for travellers since antiquity. Over the past decade, the city's infrastructure and social amenities have improved, in part because of its successful bid to stage the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Olympic Games. The Greek Government, aided by the EU, has funded major infrastructure projects such as the state-of-the-art Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, the expansion of the
Athens Metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electrif ...
system, and the new
Attiki Odos Attiki Odos ( el, Αττική Οδός) is a privately owned toll motorway system in Greece. The Attiki Odos motorways form the outer beltways of the Greater Athens metropolitan area. The total length of the motorways is . The Attiki Odos system ...
Motorway.


Entertainment and performing arts

Athens is home to 148 theatrical stages, more than any other city in the world, including the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus, home to the Athens Festival, which runs from May to October each year. In addition to a large number of multiplexes, Athens plays host to open air garden cinemas. The city also supports music venues, including the Athens Concert Hall (''Megaro Moussikis''), which attracts world class artists. The Athens Planetarium, located in Andrea Syngrou Avenue, in Palaio Faliro is one of the largest and best equipped digital planetaria in the world. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, inaugurated in 2016, will house the
National Library of Greece The National Library of Greece ( el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος, Ethnikí Vivliothíki tis Elládos) is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to ...
and the Greek National Opera. In 2018 Athens was designated as the World Book Capital by UNESCO. Restaurants, tavernas and bars can be found in the entertainment hubs in
Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residenti ...
and the Monastiraki, Trigono areas of the historic centre, the inner suburbs of
Gazi A ''ghazi'' ( ar, غازي, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raiding. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by the Islamic prophe ...
and Psyri, Psyrri are especially busy with nightclubs and bars, while Kolonaki, Exarcheia, Exarchia,
Metaxourgeio Metaxourgeio or Metaxourgio ( ), meaning "silk mill", is a neighbourhood of Athens, Greece. The neighbourhood is located north of the historical centre of Athens, between Kolonos to the east and Kerameikos to the west, and north of Gazi. Metaxour ...
,
Koukaki Koukaki ( el, Κουκάκι or , ) is a southeast neighbourhood of the Municipality of Athens, Greece. Location The general area of Koukaki borders from the north with Makrygianni neighbourhood and the historical district of Plaka (the historic ...
and
Pangrati Pangrati or Pagrati ( el, Παγκράτι) is a neighborhood in Central Athens, Greece, having an estimated population of 35,173 residents. Named after the ancient sanctuary of Hercules Pancrates ("All Powerful"), its frontage runs from Vasi ...
offer more of a cafe and restaurant scene. The coastal suburbs of Piraeus, Microlimano,
Alimos Alimos ( el, Άλιμος) is a south district of Athens and a municipality in South Athens regional unit, Greece. It was formed in 1968 comprising two settlements, the suburban seaside town of Kalamaki ( el, Καλαμάκι), and the inland comm ...
and Glyfada include many tavernas, beach bars and busy summer clubs. Music The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian serenades (Αθηναϊκές καντάδες), based on the Heptanesean Greek folk music#Ionian Islands, kantádhes (καντάδες 'serenades'; sing.: καντάδα) and the songs performed on stage (επιθεωρησιακά τραγούδια 'theatrical revue songs') in revues, Musical theatre, musical comedies, operettas and nocturnes that were dominating Athens' theatre scene. Notable composers of operettas or nocturnes were Kostas Giannidis, Dionysios Lavrangas, Nikos Hatziapostolou, while Theophrastos Sakellaridis' ''The Godson'' remains probably the most popular operetta. Despite the fact that the Athenian songs were not autonomous artistic creations (in contrast with the serenades) and despite their original connection with mainly Drama (Art Form), dramatic forms of art, they eventually became hits as independent songs. Notable actors of Greek operettas, who made also a series of melodies and songs popular at the time, include Orestis Makris, the Kalouta sisters, Vasilis Avlonitis, Afroditi Laoutari, Eleni Papadaki, Marika Nezer, Marika Krevata and others. After 1930, receptive to both American and other European musical influences as well as the homegrown musical tradition, Greek composers begin to write music using elements of the Tango (dance), tango, waltz, Swing music, swing, foxtrot, sometimes combined with melodies in the style of Athenian serenades' repertory. Nikos Gounaris was probably the most renowned composer and singer of this time. In 1922, following the war, genocide and later population exchange suffered by the Greek population of Asia Minor, many ethnic Greeks fled to Athens. They settled in poor neighbourhoods and brought with them Rebetiko music, making it also popular in Greece, and which later became the base for the Laïko music. Other forms of song popular today in Greece are elafrolaika, entechno, dimotika, and skyladika. Greece's most notable, and internationally famous, composers of Greek song, mainly of the entechno form, are Manos Hadjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis. Both composers have achieved fame abroad for their composition of film scores.


Sports

Athens has a long tradition in sports and sporting events, serving as home to the most important clubs in Sport in Greece, Greek sport and housing a large number of sports facilities. The city has also been host to sports events of international importance. Athens has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in 1896 Summer Olympics, 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004. The 2004 Summer Olympics required the development of the Olympic Stadium (Athens), Athens Olympic Stadium, which has since gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, and one of its most interesting modern monuments. The biggest stadium in the country, it hosted two finals of the UEFA Champions League, in 1994 UEFA Champions League Final, 1994 and 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, 2007. Athens' other major stadium, located in the
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
area, is the Karaiskakis Stadium, a sports and entertainment complex, host of the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, 1971 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. Athens has hosted the EuroLeague final three times, the first in 1985 and second in FIBA European Championship 1992–93, 1993, both at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, most known as SEF, a large indoor arena, and the third time in 2006–07 Euroleague, 2007 at the Olympic Indoor Hall. Events in other sports such as Track and field athletics, athletics, volleyball, water polo etc., have been hosted in the capital's venues. Athens is home to three European multi-sport clubs: Panathinaikos A.O., Panathinaikos, originated in Athens city centre, Olympiacos CFP, Olympiacos, originated in the suburb of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saroni ...
and Athletic Union of Constantinople, AEK Athens, originated in the suburb of
Nea Filadelfeia Nea Filadelfeia ( el, Νέα Φιλαδέλφεια, meaning ''New Philadelphia'') is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is the seat and a munici ...
. In association football, football, Panathinaikos F.C., Panathinaikos made it to the 1971 European Cup Final, Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos have dominated domestic competitions, while AEK Athens F.C., AEK Athens is the other member of the P.O.K., big three. These clubs also have basketball teams; Panathinaikos B.C., Panathinaikos and Olympiacos B.C., Olympiacos are among the top powers in European basketball, having won the Euroleague Basketball, Euroleague six times and three respectively, whilst AEK Athens B.C., AEK Athens was the first Greek team to win a European trophy in any team sport. Other notable clubs within Athens are Athinaikos, Panionios, Atromitos F.C., Atromitos, Apollon Smyrni F.C., Apollon, Panellinios G.S., Panellinios, Egaleo F.C., Ethnikos Piraeus, Maroussi B.C., Maroussi BCE and Peristeri B.C. Athenian clubs have also had domestic and international success in other sports. The Athens area encompasses a variety of terrain, notably hills and mountains rising around the city, and the capital is the only major city in Europe to be bisected by a mountain range. Four mountain ranges extend into city boundaries and thousands of kilometres of trails criss-cross the city and neighbouring areas, providing exercise and wilderness access on hiking, foot and Mountain biking, bike. Beyond Athens and across the prefecture of Attica, outdoor activities include skiing, rock climbing, hang gliding and windsurfing. Numerous outdoor clubs serve these sports, including the Athens Chapter of the Sierra Club, which leads over 4,000 outings annually in the area.


Sports clubs

Beside the above clubs, inside the boundaries of Athens Municipality there are some more clubs with presence in national divisions or notable action for short periods. Some of them are PAO Rouf (Rouf, Athens, Rouf) with earlier presence in Gamma Ethniki, ( Petralona), football club founded in 1963, with earlier presence in Beta Ethniki, (
Kolonos Kolonos (, ) is a densely populated working-class district of the Municipality of Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to ...
), football club founded in 1919 with short presence in Gamma Ethniki, ( Kypseli), football club founded in 1938 with short presence in Gamma Ethniki, (
Gyzi Gyzi ( el, Γκύζη ); is a neighbourhood of Athens, Greece. Etymology The area was named around 1925 after famous painter Nikolaos Gyzis. By all rights, the neighbourhood should have been called Γύζη (). However, due to the fact that he si ...
), basketball club founded in 1937 with short presence in Beta Ethniki basketball and (Agios Panteleimonas, Athens, Agios Panteleimonas), basketball club founded in 1992 with earlier presence in A2 Ethniki Basketball. Another important Athenian sport club is the Athens Tennis Club founded in 1895 with important offer for the Greek tennis.


Olympic Games


1896 Summer Olympics

The revival of the modern Olympic Games was brought forth in 1896, by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin. Thanks to his efforts, Athens was awarded the first modern Olympic Games. In 1896, the city had a population of 123,000 and the event helped boost the city's international profile. Of the venues used for these Olympics, the Kallimarmaro Stadium, and Zappeion were most crucial. The Kallimarmaro is a replica of the ancient Athenian stadiums, and the only major stadium (in its capacity of 60,000) to be made entirely of white marble from Mount
Penteli Penteli ( el, Πεντέλη) is a village and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. It belongs to the Athens rural area. It takes its name from Mount Pentelicus. Municipality The municipality Penteli was formed at t ...
, the same material used for construction of the Parthenon. File:Castaigne - Fencing before the king of Greece, 1896 Summer Olympics.jpg, ''Fencing before the George I of Greece, king of Greece'' at the 1896 Summer Olympics. File:Panathinaiko-Stadion 2014-5.JPG, The Panathenaic Stadium of Athens (Panathenaic Stadium, Kallimarmaron) dates back to the fourth century BC and has hosted the 1896 Summer Olympics, first modern Olympic Games in 1896.


1906 Summer Olympics

The 1906 Intercalated Games, 1906 Summer Olympics, or the 1906 Intercalated games, were held in Athens. The intercalated competitions were intermediate games to the internationally organized Olympics, and were meant to be organized in Greece every four years, between the main Olympics. This idea later lost support from the International Olympic Committee, IOC and these games were discontinued.


2004 Summer Olympics

Athens was awarded the 2004 Summer Olympics on 5 September 1997 in Lausanne, Switzerland, after having lost a previous bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, to Atlanta, United States. It was to be the second time Athens would host the games, following the inaugural event of 1896. After an unsuccessful bid in 1990, the 1997 bid was radically improved, including an appeal to Greece's Olympic history. In the last round of voting, Athens defeated Rome with 66 votes to 41. Prior to this round, the cities of Buenos Aires, Stockholm and Cape Town had been eliminated from competition, having received fewer votes. During the first three years of preparations, the International Olympic Committee had expressed concern over the speed of construction progress for some of the new Olympic venues. In 2000, the Organising Committee's president was replaced by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who was the president of the original Bidding Committee in 1997. From that point forward, preparations continued at a highly accelerated, almost frenzied pace. Although the heavy cost was criticized, estimated at $1.5 billion, Athens was transformed into a more functional city that enjoys modern technology both in transportation and in modern urban planning, urban development. Some of the finest sporting venues in the world were created in the city, all of which were fully ready for the games. The games welcomed over 10,000 athletes from all 202 countries. The 2004 Games were judged a success, as both security and organization worked well, and only a few visitors reported minor problems mainly concerning accommodation issues. The 2004 Olympic Games were described as "unforgettable, dream games", by IOC President Jacques Rogge for their return to the birthplace of the Olympics, and for meeting the challenges of holding the Olympic Games. The only observable problem was a somewhat sparse attendance of some early events. Eventually, however, a total of more than 3.5 million tickets were sold, which was higher than any other Olympics with the exception of Sydney (more than 5 million tickets were sold there in 2000). In 2008, it was reported that most of the Olympic venues had fallen into disrepair: according to those reports, 21 of the 22 facilities built for the games had either been left abandoned or are in a state of dereliction, with several squatting, squatter camps having sprung up around certain facilities, and a number of venues afflicted by vandalism, graffiti or strewn with rubbish. These claims were disputed and are likely to be inaccurate, as most of the facilities used for the 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens Olympics are either in use or in the process of being converted for post-Olympics use. The Greek Government has created a corporation, Olympic Properties SA, which is overseeing the post-Olympics management, development and conversion of these facilities, some of which will be sold off (or have already been sold off) to the private sector, while other facilities are still in use just as during the Olympics, or have been converted for commercial use or modified for other sports. Concerts and theatrical shows, such as those by the troupe Cirque du Soleil, have recently been held in the complex.


See also

* Outline of Athens * Timeline of Athens


References


External links


Official website of the Municipality of Athens
{{Authority control Athens, Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece Archaeological sites in Attica Capitals in Europe Capitals of Greek states City-states Greek regional capitals Populated coastal places in Greece Populated places established in the 5th century BC Populated places in ancient Greece Populated places in Central Athens (regional unit) Roman sites in Greece