Athens. Places worth seeing - Attica

• The city: Capital of the Modern Greek State since 1834. Athens was at the peak of its development during the fifth century BC, but in the Roman period and the Byzantine Age it lost much of its glory, and in Ottoman times was merely a small town around the sacred rock of the Acropolis. Today it is a thriving metropolis which, together with its suburbs and the port of Piraeus , has a population of about 3.5 million.

• Quarters and neighbourhoods of the city:

- Plaka, also known as 'quarter of the gods', is the oldest continuously inhabited quarter in the city. It is a mixture of neo­classical buildings and archaeological sites as well as monuments of the Byzantine Age and the Ottoman Occupation. Particularly fascinating is the neighborhood of Anaphiotika, scrambled on the lower slopes of the Acropolis.

- Acropolis area (Makriyanni neighborhood), encompassing among other monuments the Theatre of Dionysos (6th c. BC) and the Roman Odeum of Herodes Atticus (AD 161), as well as Philopappus Hill.

- Monastiraki, with the outdoor bazaar (Yusurum), the quarters of Psyrrhi, Theseion and Gazi, which have been enhanced as centres of leisure activities, Metaxourgeion and Kerameikos, are typical neighbourhoods in the historical web of the city.

- The traditional commercial centre of Athens (between Mitro-poleos, Athena and Stadiou streets), with many buildings of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century.

- The Rigillis area, dominated by the Presidential Palace and Maximos Mansion (official residence of the Prime Minister), both in Irodou Attikou St, Ardettos Hill, the Mets quarter with its Neoclassical houses and inter-war apartment blocks, and the First Cemetery of Athens, with many noteworthy sculptures and fune­rary monuments.

- The central area of Kolonaki and nearby Lykavittos Hill (277 m.a.s.L), at the top of which is the church of St George (19th c).

- The Exarcheia quarter, with many renovated neoclassical buildings around its main square and on Strefi Hill (Neapolis neighborhood).

- The quarters of Petralona, Kolonos and Akadimia Platonos (Plato's Academy), in which examples of folk architecture still survive.

- The Kypseli quarter, where there are interesting examples of architecture of the early decades of the twentieth century and its central pedestrian precinct (Phokionos Negri) is ideal for a stroll and relaxation.

Interesting too are the city's northern suburbs, Kifisia, Ekali, Marousi, etc., with impressive villas and abundant greenery, as well as the southern suburbs, Paleo Faliron, Alimos, Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni, etc., along the coast of the Saronic Gulf.

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