ATHENS
Athens exudes a unique charm, its lively character
winning over tens of thousands of visitors every year.
Street markets, vine-covered tavernas, souvenir stalls
and ancient monuments all form a conglomerate with
buildings old and new in this city, which one out of
four Greeks call home. For tourists the greatest
advantage is that most attractions are accessible on
foot in the central area around the landmark Acropolis.
Walking is the best way to soak up the Athenian
atmosphere because the traffic can reach nightmare
proportions.
Athens was named after Athena, the Greek goddess of
wisdom, who according to mythology won the city as prize
after a duel against Poseidon. The city can chart its
history back thousands of years and is regarded as the
cradle of western civilisation; the place where
democracy was invented and philosophy, art and
architecture were refined. After a classical golden age
when it was home to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the
city declined in the Middle Ages, dwindling to nothing
but a town with a few thousand residents gathered in the
colourful area that is now known as the Plaka, until its
rebirth as capital of an independent Greece in 1834. |