Explorer Athènes

The National Archaeological Museum on Patission Street holds finds from sites across Greece, from prehistory to late antiquity, in a neoclassical building completed in 1889. Among its exhibits are the gold Mask of Agamemnon from Mycenae, the bronze god from Cape Artemision, Cycladic figurines and fragments of the Antikythera mechanism.

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.

Hadrian's Library is the ruin of a large complex built by the Roman emperor Hadrian in AD 132 on the north side of the Acropolis, beside Monastiraki Square. Visitors see the Corinthian columns of its west front, the remains of the colonnaded courtyard and of the halls that held papyrus rolls, and the ruins of three churches built on the site from the 5th century on.

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 Roman Agora is a marketplace north of the Acropolis, built in the late 1st century BC with donations from Julius Caesar and Augustus. A courtyard once lined with stoas and shops is entered through the Doric Gate of Athena Archegetis, and the site also holds the octagonal marble Tower of the Winds, a 1st-century BC clock tower, and the 15th-century Fethiye Mosque.

The Ancient Agora below the north side of the Acropolis was the public square of classical Athens, used for markets, assemblies and law courts. The site includes the Doric Temple of Hephaestus from the 5th century BC and the Stoa of Attalos, rebuilt in the 1950s, which houses the Museum of the Ancient Agora.

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 Acropolis is the rocky citadel above central Athens, a sanctuary of the goddess Athena since the 8th century BC. Its main buildings date from the 5th century BC under Pericles: the Parthenon, the Propylaea gateway, the Erechtheion with its Caryatid porch and the small Temple of Athena Nike.

The Benaki Museum was founded in 1930 by Antonis Benakis, in memory of his father Emmanuel, in the family mansion opposite the National Garden in Athens. Its main building presents Greek art and culture from prehistory to modern times; other collections moved to separate branches after the museum reopened in 2000.

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 Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a Roman stone theatre on the south-west slope of the Acropolis, built in AD 161 by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife Regilla. Its three-storey front wall survives, the marble seating was restored in the 1950s, and it is the main stage of the Athens Festival; outside performances it is seen from the path along the Acropolis's south slope.

The Museum of Cycladic Art was founded in 1986 for the collection of Nikolaos and Dolly Goulandris. It shows marble figurines and vessels of the Cycladic islands from the 3rd millennium BC, along with ancient Greek and Cypriot art, and uses the neoclassical Stathatos Mansion on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue for temporary exhibitions.

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.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, or Olympieion, was begun in the 6th century BC and completed under the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. Of its 104 Corinthian columns, 15 still stand and a 16th lies where it fell in 1852. Hadrian's Arch stands at the edge of the site.

The Byzantine and Christian Museum on Vasilissis Sofias Avenue was founded in 1914 and later moved to Villa Ilissia, built in 1848 by Stamatios Kleanthis for the Duchess of Plaisance. It holds more than 25,000 objects from the 3rd century AD to the late Middle Ages: icons, frescoes, manuscripts, textiles and pottery. A new wing was added in 2004.

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.

The Panathenaic Stadium, also called Kallimarmaro, is a horseshoe-shaped stadium built entirely of marble. Laid out around 330 BC and rebuilt in marble by Herodes Atticus in the 2nd century AD, it was restored for the first modern Olympic Games of 1896. Visitors walk the track, climb the stands and see a small museum of Olympic torches and posters.