Athens allows you to photograph the home of Western civilization, particularly the Acropolis hill and its Parthenon temple.

The capital and largest city of Greece, Athens (Athina in Greek) is one of the world’s oldest cities, continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years. By 1400 BCE, the settlement had become an important centre of the Mycenaean civilization and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress.

From 900 BCE onwards, Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region, helped by its central location in the Greek world. The city-state became the world’s first known democracy (literally “people power”) in 594 BC, where all adult male citizens could vote directly on legislation and executive bills. By incorporating the nearby port of Piraeus in 507 BCE, and using the profit of silver mines to build 200 ships, Athens helped defeat the Persians in 480 BCE, and became the leading city of Ancient Greece.

In a brief 76 years (480 BCE-404 BCE), Athens flourished with lasting impact. The city took control of the Greek treasury and used it to build the temples on the Acropolis and put half its population on the public payroll. Some of the most important figures of Western cultural and intellectual history lived in Athens during this period: the philosophers Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, the physician Hippocrates, the historians Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon, the dramatists Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides and Sophocles, the poet Simonides, and the sculptor Phidias. The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles, for the leading statesman and orator.

But the city’s imperial ambitions led to civil war with other Greek states, and by 404 BCE Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta. The northern Greek kingdom of Macedon took Athens in 338 BCE, and the Romans took control in 146 BCE. Admiring all things Greek, Roman emperors and wealthy nobility invested heavily, and Athens prospered once again as a center of philosophy and learning.

Athens is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent, and in particular the Romans.

Today, Athens is one of the biggest economic centers in southeastern Europe. The city hosted three Summer Olympics, in 1896 (the first modern games), 1906 and 2004. In 2011, the Municipality of Athens (also City of Athens) had a population of 664,046 and the urban area of Athens (Greater Athens and Greater Piraeus) had a population of 3,090,508.

The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a high rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.

The word acropolis means “highest city” (ákros for “highest”+pólis "city"). Although the term is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as “The Acropolis” without qualification.

While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles during the so-called Golden Age of Athens (460–430 BC) who coordinated the construction of the site’s most important present remains including the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. Phidias, an Athenian sculptor, and Ictinus and Callicrates, two famous architects, were responsible for the construction.

The Parthenon and the other buildings were damaged seriously during the 1687 siege by the Venetians during the Morean War when gunpowder being stored in the Parthenon was hit by a cannonball and exploded.

The Acropolis is located on a flattish-topped rock that rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in the center of Athens, with a surface area of about 3 hectares (7.4 acres).

The Pnyx is a hill about 500 feet (150m) west of the Acropolis, and the best place for golden-hour sunset shots. All three main features can be seen — the Parthenon top right, the Propylaea (gateway) in the center, and the Erechtheion temple on the left.

The Hill of the Muses, where Monument of Philopappos is located, is about 2,000 feet (660 m) southwest of the Acropolis. This view shows the Parthenon (top), Odeon of Herodes Atticus (below), and Propylaea (left).

The Areopagus is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis. This view shows the steep rocky sides of the Acropolis and the Propylaea (gateway) on the right, but not the Parthenon.

The flat fields by the Temple of Olympian Zeus show the steep cliffs and mighty walls of the citadel.

The Parthenon is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece and one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments. Built as a temple when the Athenian Empire was at the peak of its power, the Parthenon is regarded as the finest example of Greek architecture.

Under the general supervision of the artist Phidias, the architects Ictinos and Callicrates began their work in 447 BC, and the building was substantially completed by 432, but work on the decorations continued until at least 431.

In architectural terms, the Parthenon is a peripteral octastyle Doric temple with Ionic architectural features. It stands on a platform or stylobate of three steps. In common with other Greek temples, it is of post and lintel construction and is surrounded by columns carrying an entablature. There are eight columns at either end and seventeen on the sides.

Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon served a practical purpose as the city treasury. For a time, it served as the treasury of the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire.

In 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment and the resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures.

From 1800 to 1803, the Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures with the alleged permission of the Ottoman Empire. These sculptures, now known as the Elgin Marbles, were sold in 1816 to the British Museum in London, where they are now displayed.

The classic view of the Parthenon is from the northwest. You can see the 17 columns of the north side and the eight columns and pediment of the west facade.

From the southwest, you can capture the classic west facade of the Parthenon, with most of the pediment on top.

The west facade, viewed at dusk from the Hill of the Muses.

The east facade has less pediment than the west.

The southeast view is the cover shot.

The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis. Construction began in 437 BC and was terminated in 432, when the building was still unfinished, due to outbreak of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.

Built of white Pentelic marble, the Propylaea survived intact until 1656 when it was severely damaged by an explosion of a powder magazine, foreshadowing the even more grievous damage to the Parthenon from a similar cause in 1687.

The Temple of Athena Nike is a temple named for the Greek goddess, Athena Nike. The temple was built in 420 BCE during the Peloponnesian War with Sparta, and the citizens hoped their goddess Athena would bring victory — in Greek, Nike.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre built in 161 AD by the Athenian magnate Herodes Atticus. It was originally a steep-sloped theater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. It was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000.

Destroyed by the Heruli in 267 AD, it was restored in the 1950s with pentelic marble.

A view from behind the theater.

The Asclepieion was a healing temple, sacred to the god Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine.

The Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus is a major open-air theatre and one of the earliest preserved in Athens. Dedicated to Dionysus, the god of plays and wine, the theatre could seat as many as 17,000 people with excellent acoustics, making it an ideal location for ancient Athens’ biggest theatrical celebration, the Dionysia. It was the first theatre ever built, cut into the southern cliff face of the Acropolis, and supposedly the birthplace of Greek tragedy.

The remains of a restored and redesigned Roman version can still be seen at the site today.

The Acropolis Museum was built to house every artifact found on the Acropolis and its slopes, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. Designed by Bernard Tschumi and opened in 2009, the museum exhibits nearly 4,000 objects over an area of 14,000 square metres.

The museum lies over the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens.

The Museum of the Center for the Acropolis Studies (part of the new Acropolis Museum) is housed in the Weiler Building, named after the Bavarian engineer who designed it in 1834 and constructed it in 1836.

The Temple of Hephaestus or Hephaisteion is a well-preserved Greek temple, built 449 - 415 BCE. The temple is in the Ancient Agora of Classical Athens, the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora — a commercial, assembly, or residential gathering place.

The Monument of the Eponymous Heroes was a marble podium that bore the bronze statues of the ten heroes representing the tribes of Athens. It was used as a monument where proposed legislation, decrees and announcements were posted.

The Odeon of Agrippa was a large concert hall built about 15 BCE by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a Roman statesman.

The Stoa of Attalos is a stoa (covered walkway or portico) reconstructed in 1952–1956. The original structure was built by Attalos II, ruler of Pergamon from 159 BC to 138 BC, but destroyed by the Heruli in 267.

The Stoa of Attalos houses the Museum of the Ancient Agora. Its exhibits are mostly connected with the Athenian democracy.

The Church of the Holy Apostles (Holy Apostles of Solaki) dates to the 10th century. The Byzantine-style church is the only monument in the Agora, other than the Temple of Hephaestus, to survive intact since its foundation.

Theseus was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens.

The Roman Agora at Athens is located to the east of the Greek Agora.

The Gate of Athena Archegetis, on the west side of the Roman Agora, was constructed in 11 BCE by donations from Julius Caesar and Augustus.

The Tower of the Winds or the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes is an octagonal clocktower and the world’s first meteorological station, with sundials, a water clock, and a wind vane. It may have been built in the 2nd century BC before the rest of the forum.

Hadrian’s Library was created by Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 132 in a typical Roman Forum style. The library was on the eastern side where rolls of papyrus “books” were kept. Adjoining halls were used as reading rooms, and the corners served as lecture halls.

The Tetraconch Church was built in the court of the library during the Byzatine period in the 5th century AD. From the Greek for “four shells,” a tetraconch has four apses of equal size, one in each direction, creating a Greek cross.

[start]Monastiraki Square (Platia Monastirakiou) is a public square with the ruins of a small monastery, which provides the name of the neighborhood Monastiraki (little monastery).

The Church of the Pantanassa (Dormition of the Theotokos) is the 10th-century church of a now-vanished monastery.

Pláka is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture.

The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates was erected in 335/334 BCE by wealthy theater patron (chorêgos) Lysicrates to commemorate the award of first prize to a musical performance he had sponsored. The pillar originally held the prize, a bronze tripod, and stands on Tripodon Street (“Street of the Tripods”), which led to the Theater of Dionysus and was once lined with choragic monuments.

The monument is known as the first use of the Corinthian order on the exterior of a building. It has been reproduced widely in modern monuments and building elements.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, is a colossal ruined temple in the center of Athens that was dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods.

Construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants, who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, some 638 years after the project had begun. During the Roman period, the temple included 104 colossal columns and was renowned as the largest temple in Greece.

A column that collapsed in 1852.

The Arch of Hadrian (Hadrian’s Gate), is a monumental gateway that spanned an ancient road from the center of Athens to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, funded by Roman Emperor Hadrian.

The Old Royal Palace is the first royal palace of modern Greece, completed in 1843. It has housed the Hellenic Parliament since 1934. The Old Palace is situated at the heart of modern Athens, facing onto Syntagma Square.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a war memorial (cenotaph) dedicated to the Greek soldiers killed during war. It was sculpted between 1930-32 by sculptor Fokion Rok.

The Tomb is in the French urban and classical tradition, combined with the modern spirit of Art Deco and with symbolic references to Ancient Greece.

The tomb is guarded by the Evzones of the Presidential Guard.

The National Garden is a public park behind the Old Royal Palace (Hellenic Parliament). The Royal Garden as it was formerly known was commissioned by Queen Amalia in 1838 and completed by 1840.

The Zappeion, in the National Garden, opened in 1888 as the first building erected specifically for the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern world. Designed by Danish architect Theophil Hansen, it is named for benefactor Evangelis Zappas and was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as the main fencing hall.

The Panathenaic Stadium (Panathinaiko, Kallimarmaro) is the original Olympic stadium and the world’s only stadium built entirely of marble.

The Panathenaic Games of Ancient Greece were held every four years at this site from about 330 BC. The present all-marble stadium was built by 144 AD and held the games until the 4th century with a capacity of 50,000 seats.

The stadium was excavated in 1869 and hosted the Zappas Olympics in 1870 and 1875. After being refurbished, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and was the venue for 4 of the 9 contested sports. It was used again as an Olympic venue in 2004 and is the finishing point for the annual Athens Classic Marathon.

The National Library of Greece was designed in 1859 by the Danish architect Theophil Freiherr von Hansen, as part of his famous Trilogy of marble neo-classical buildings. The library has 4,500 Greek manuscripts which is one of the greatest collection of Greek scripts.

The Academy of Athens main building was designed by Theophil Hansen in 1859 and completed in 1885. Harkening back to the ancient Academy of Plato, the Academy of Athens is the highest research establishment in Greece.

Figures of Athena (left) and Apollo on flanking pillars are by Greek neo-classical sculptor Leonidas Drosis, who also sculpted the principle multi-figure pediment sculpture, on the theme of the birth of Athena. Flanking the stairs are seated marble figures of Plato and Socrates, by Italian sculptor Piccarelli.

[start]Athena is the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, craft, and war. She was the patron and protectress of the city of Athens, from which she received her name.

[start]Apollo, son of Zeus, is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities.

Plato (428-423 – 348/347 BC) was a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely considered the most pivotal figure in the development of philosophy, especially the Western tradition. Unlike nearly all of his philosophical contemporaries, Plato’s entire work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years.

Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his most famous student, Aristotle, Plato laid the very foundations of Western philosophy and science. Alfred North Whitehead once noted: “the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”

Socrates (c.470 – 399 BC) was the first moral Western philosopher. An enigmatic figure, he made no writings, and is known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers writing after his lifetime, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon.

The University of Athens moved to this building in 1841. Designed by Christian Hansen, the building now serves as a ceremony hall as the public university is now one of the largest by enrollment in Europe, with over 100,000 registered students.

The Athens Olympic Velodrome has distinctive twin roofs, covering the stands on each side. Built in 1991 for the Mediterranean Games, it was redesigned for the 2004 Olympics by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Olympias is a 1987 reconstruction of an ancient Athenian trireme and an important example of experimental archaeology. It is also a commissioned ship in the Hellenic Navy of Greece, the only commissioned vessel of its kind in any of the world’s navies.

The Archaeological Museum of Piraeus contains mainly sculptures, discovered in Piraeus and in the area of the Attic coast from Bronze Age to Roman times.