Capital of Ancient Greece

Athens is the symbol of freedom, art, and democracy in the conscience of the civilized world. The capital of Greece took its name from the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. This is where art became inseparable from life, and this is where Pericles gave the funerary speech, that monument of the spoken word.

Athens the capital of Greece since 1834 after Nafplion and Aegina ,situated at the basin of Attica. The historical centre of Athens is the most important area of the city for the thousand of tourists who are visiting the Greek capital in order to admire the shrine of Democracy the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the museums and the monuments and theatres from the glorious past of Athens.

Athens is situated in the prefecture of Attica and extends to the peninsula that reaches up to Central Greece. It is surrounded by mountains Ymmytos, Pendeli and Parnitha, northwards and eastwards, and the Saronic gulf southwards and westwards. The sun is shining over Athens all year round. The climate is one of the best in Europe, with mild winters and very hot summers, ideal for tourism. It is located just a few kilometers from the port of Piraeus, the central commercial port of the capital, and the shores of southern Attica.

The Ancient City of Athens is a photographic archive of the archaeological and architectural remains of ancient Athens (Greece). Athens has many neoclassical buildings like the Athens Academy, the National Library, The Historical museum, the Archaeological museum and many others mainly at the streets of Panepistimiou, Stadiou, Athinas, Patission (28 October street), around Omonia square and in the area of Plaka where located the first university of Athens and many neoclassical houses .

In the case of ancient Athens, we have the preserved writings of numerous Athenian poets, playwrights, politicians, philosophers and historians. Euripides, Thucydides, Plato, and others give us key insights into the form and development of their native city. Sometimes the clues they provide are merely allusions (such as the references to cults and shrines on the North Slope of the Acropolis mentioned by Euripides in the tragedy Ion ).

One of the most important sources for the topography of Athens (in particular) and Greek archaeology (in general) is an eye-witness account written by the traveler Pausanias in the 2nd century A.D. Pausanias spent several years traveling throughout Greece and he recorded many fascinating details about the famous cities, temples, and monuments -- which were already considered ancient even in his own day.

Athens was one of the first places he visited on his journey and his description of the city provides us with some invaluable clues about the location, form, decoration, function, and historical significance of many prominent monuments.

Ancient Greek Life History / Ancient Greece Facts for Kids

We owe a lot to Ancient Greek Civilization. History of ancient Greece is a fascinating. On this site, we have given information on various ancient Greek life aspects - Arts, Boys and Girls, Architecture, Dancing, Gods, Myths, Medicine, Inventions, Houses, Government, Religions, Wars, Politics, Weapons and ancient Greece Cities.