Explore Athens

Monastiraki Square is a busy square in the old town of Athens, below the north slope of the Acropolis. It takes its name from the small Church of the Pantanassa in its centre, and is framed by the 18th-century Tzistarakis Mosque and the Monastiraki metro station. The streets of the flea market district lead off it.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, on Mitropoleos Square. King Otto and Queen Amalia laid its first stone in 1842 and it was consecrated in 1862, built partly with marble from demolished churches. Inside lie the tombs of Saint Philothei and Patriarch Gregory V.

The Hellenic Parliament sits in the Old Royal Palace on Syntagma Square, a neoclassical building designed by Friedrich von Gärtner for King Otto, built in 1836–1843 and used by parliament since 1929. It is not open inside to visitors; from the square they see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of it and the hourly changing of the Evzones guard.

The National Garden is a 15.5-hectare public park behind the Hellenic Parliament in central Athens. Queen Amalia commissioned it in 1838 as the Royal Garden, laid out by the agronomist Friedrich Schmidt with hundreds of imported plant species. Shaded paths pass ponds, ancient column fragments and mosaics, a small animal enclosure and busts of Greek poets.

The Arch of Hadrian is a marble gateway on Amalias Avenue in Athens, built around 131–132 AD when the nearby Temple of Olympian Zeus was dedicated. Two inscriptions on its faces name Theseus and the emperor Hadrian as founders of the city. The arch stands beside the road and is seen from the pavement.

Mount Lycabettus is a limestone hill whose 277-metre summit is the highest point in central Athens, with pine woods on its lower slopes. Visitors climb by footpath or ride the funicular from Aristippou Street in Kolonaki. At the top are the 19th-century Chapel of St George, a restaurant and views across the city to the sea.

Philopappos Hill, also called the Hill of the Muses, is a pine-covered hill southwest of the Acropolis. On its summit stands the marble tomb monument of Philopappos, a prince of Commagene, built in 114–116 AD. Paved paths lead past ancient remains to viewpoints over the Acropolis, Athens and the sea towards Piraeus.