Historical Center of Athens
Welcome to Athens!
If you are just arriving in Athens for the first time for holidays it’s hard to know which areas to start exploring first. Athens is a large and vivid city with different streets and neighborhoods for every taste. We present to you the top historical sites in Athens that are a must see during your first days in the city!
Philopappou Hill
This famous hill, which took its name from consul Filopappos, is located near Acropolis and is connected with Pnyka Hill and the Hill of Nymphs. On the top, you can admire a declared archeological monument, the Filopappou monument and also the panoramic view of the city. Furthermore, the path of this hill is a great option for walking and hiking.
32 minutes by feet from our hotel.
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Stoa of Attalus
This ancient building, that accommodates the Museum of Ancient Agora, is surrounded from columns of Ionic and Doric style and is made from pentelic marble.In ancient history, this marvelous stoa was the biggest meeting point of Athenians and had inside many stores and commercial items. Tourists can walk through this well-known stoa, they can see the ancient “mall” of Athens and the museum in general.
10 minutes by feet from our hotel
Academy of Athens
The building with the amazing architecture that accommodated all academics and philosophers to cultivate their spirit with many books of science, literature and fine arts. One of the most important and beautiful buildings of Akadimias street that is defined as one the three parts of the “Athenian Trilogy”, should be on your top list when you visit the city. Furthermore, you can visit the Academy in the afternoon when is luminous enough and full of lights (perfect for taking pictures).
14 minutes by feet from our hotel
Metropolis of Athens
It is the orthodox cathedral of the city that is located at the center of Mitropoleos square. Metropolis has brick and marble as the main elements of the architectural construction. It is definitely worth an inside tour so you can see the wall paintings of Spiridona Giallina but also the decoration of cathedral by the painter Konstantinos Fanellis.
27 minutes by feet from our hotel
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Benaki Museum
One of the most famous museums of Athens that is located in a neoclassical building at Koumbari street and Vasilissis Sofias. This museum accommodates exhibits and artworks of all historic Greek times. Apart from the Greek history, you can see there Asian art, art collections from Egypt, various artworks, heirlooms and many more.
27 minutes by feet from our hotel
The Zappeion
One of the most important buildings and projects of Athens. The architecture of this monument follows the neoclassical and Corinthian rhythm. It was the first building that was used exclusively for the Olympics. Today, the Zappeion operates as a conference center or for exhibitions. To get to this monument, you can walk southwest of the National Garden.
28 minutes by feet from our hotel
The Museum of Acropolis
Here, you will see mostly findings of the Mycenaean period but also many objects from Roman and ancient Athens. Exhibits, such as Kariatides, are located in a prominent position inside the museum. Kores (exhibits of the archaic period) but also the sculptures of Ekatompedos and the ancient temple are some of the exhibits that interests the visitors. In the Parthenon room (at the top floor) you can enjoy the panoramic view of the biggest part of Acropolis.
Furthermore, you can watch the narration of this monument in a digital form. At the top floor you can sit in the cafeteria and drink your coffee by seeing the view of the city.
30 minutes by feet from our hotel
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National Gallery
It is a modern museum of artworks that accommodates over than 15.000 works from the post-byzantine years up to present. The modern reconstruction of this gallery aims to maintain thousands artworks of Greek artists so as to keep alive the Greek culture and history. The Gallery operates for exhibitions, conferences as well as educational programs.
40 minutes by feet from our hotel
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Acropolis
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The word Acropolis is from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”). The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was also more properly known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king.
While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as early as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles (c. 495–429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the buildings whose present remains are the site’s most important ones, including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Parthenon and the other buildings were seriously damaged during the 1687 siege by the Venetians during the Morean War when gunpowder being stored by the then Turkish rulers in the Parthenon was hit by a Venetian bombardment and exploded.
