This is an extensive city walk of almost ten kilometres through the historic core of Athens. The route passes iconic locations on the Acropolis, such as the Erechtheion and the Parthenon, and highlights both Classical Antiquity and modern history.

I will take you on a unique journey: a chain of 20 stories that are inseparably linked. We jump from a modern square to a royal palace, dive into the Second World War, explore Olympic history and climb the sacred rock of the Acropolis. Each story forms a bridge to the next, creating a fascinating web of places, people and myths that reveals the true soul of Athens. Ready for the journey of discovery?

1. Syntagma Square: The Modern Heart of Greece
   Our journey begins at Syntagma Square, the modern political and social heart of Greece. Officially it is called Platía Syntágmatos, which means “Constitution Square”. As the largest square in Athens, it is not only a crucial traffic hub where major roads and metro lines converge, but also the place where political life unfolds. The square owes its political significance mainly to the imposing neoclassical building that looks out over it with stately grandeur.

2. The Parliament of Greece: A Royal Past
   That imposing building is the Greek Parliament, also known as the Vouli. It is housed in what was once the Old Royal Palace. From the steps, the members of parliament have a direct view of Syntagma Square, the stage of countless demonstrations and national celebrations. In the immediate vicinity of this seat of power, a dramatic event took place during the Second World War, in which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill narrowly escaped death.

3. Hotel Grande Bretagne: A Plot and a Prime Minister
   Opposite the square stands the luxurious Hotel Grande Bretagne. In December 1944, this hotel served as the British headquarters. Members of the communist resistance devised a plan and placed a ton of dynamite in the sewer directly beneath the building. The attack, planned for Christmas Day, was called off at the very last moment. The reason? It was discovered that Winston Churchill was unexpectedly present in the building. Attacking the British headquarters was one thing, but killing the British Prime Minister himself was an unintended step they did not want to take.

4. The World Peace Council: Peace with a Double Agenda
   This plot was part of the Dekemvriana, a period of heavy fighting in Athens that exposed the tensions of the emerging Cold War. In the same period, the World Peace Council was founded, an international movement that officially championed peaceful coexistence and nuclear disarmament. Although the council cooperated with the United Nations, it was widely regarded in the West as a communist front organisation, secretly directed by the Soviet Union to influence public opinion.

5. The Zappeion: Gateway to the Modern Games
   From this international political organisation, we move to an Athenian location that was likewise established for international gatherings, but with a very different purpose: a global event that unites peace and competition. In the lush National Garden stands the Zappeion, a beautiful neoclassical building. Its historical significance is enormous: when construction began in 1874, the Zappeion was the very first building to be erected specifically with the revival of the Modern Olympic Games in mind.

6. Panathenaic Stadium: Marble Glory
   Although the Zappeion was the first Olympic building, the first modern Games in 1896 took place in an iconic stadium a little further away. The Panathenaic Stadium is a monument of marble glory, unique in that it is the only large stadium in the world built entirely of white marble. It was reconstructed on the foundations of a historical stadium from 330 BC, where the ancient Panathenaic Games were once held. In this way, we shift our gaze from this Athenian monument to sport and spectacle to another, which embodies the city’s Roman legacy, built for art and out of love.

7. Odeon of Herodes Atticus: An Ode to Love
   At the foot of the Acropolis lies the breathtaking Odeon of Herodes Atticus. This immensely wealthy Roman senator had the theatre built in the second century AD in memory of his deceased wife, Regilla. Imagine sitting here under the stars, where the echoes of applause from two thousand years ago still seem to vibrate in the stone. Herodes did not simply build a theatre; he built a monument to a broken heart. The location, directly against the slope of the Acropolis, naturally leads us up to the hill itself, the city’s most defining symbol.

8. The Acropolis of Athens: The Sacred Rock
   The Acropolis is the 156‑metre‑high table mountain that dominates Athens’ skyline. The name is a simple yet powerful combination of the Greek words ἄκρος (akros), meaning “highest point”, and πόλις (polis), meaning “city”. It is literally the highest city, the sacred rock that has formed the spiritual heart of Athens for millennia. And every visitor who wishes to set foot on this sacred rock must pass through the monumental and impressive gateway.

9. The Propylaea: The Gateway to the Sanctuary
   The Propylaea form the monumental entrance to the Acropolis. In classical architecture, the term is used for a gate building with multiple passageways that provides access to an important sanctuary. The Propylaea of Athens are the most famous example and prepare the visitor for the wonders that await within the walls. As soon as one passes through them, the eye is immediately drawn to the most magnificent building on the hill, the absolute masterpiece of the Classical period.

10. The Parthenon: Summit of Architecture
    The Parthenon, the temple dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin), is the undisputed pinnacle of Athenian architecture from the fifth century BC. It replaced the previous temple that had been destroyed by the Persians and symbolises the power and cultural flourishing of Athens after the Persian Wars. The geometry of the Parthenon is so complex that the architect Iktinos devoted an entire book to it. To make the building appear perfectly proportioned to the human eye, deliberate optical corrections were applied. While Iktinos was the architect, the artistic supervision and sculpture were entrusted to a legendary artist whose most famous creation stood inside the temple.

11. Athena Parthenos: The Gold and Ivory Cult Statue
    Inside the Parthenon once stood the statue of Athena Parthenos, a monumental image of the goddess. It was crafted by Phidias using chryselephantine technique, in which gold plates and ivory panels were placed over a wooden core. The naos, the inner chamber of the temple, was specially designed to house this precious and awe‑inspiring statue. Although this image was the ultimate tribute, another nearby temple on the Acropolis served an even older and, in religious terms, more sacred cult of the goddess.

12. The Erechtheion: Temple of Mythical Kings
    The Erechtheion, named after the mythical king Erechtheus, was in religious terms even more important than the Parthenon. This elegant Ionic temple, built between 421 and 406 BC, housed some of the city’s holiest relics. Its location is therefore no coincidence. According to myth, it was precisely here that the decisive contest took place between two gods for the patronage of the city.

13. The Tree of Athens: A Divine Contest
    The myth tells of a contest between Poseidon, god of the sea, and Athena, goddess of wisdom. Poseidon struck his trident into the rock, causing a spring of seawater to gush forth. Athena planted an olive tree in the same spot as her gift. The king of the city judged that the olive tree was more useful, and thus Athena became the patron goddess of the city that would bear her name. To this day, there is still an olive tree on this spot, planted in 1917 in commemoration of the myth.

14. The Agora of Athens: In the Footsteps of Socrates
    From the mythical foundation of the city, we move to the physical place where the heart of Athenian democracy and daily life beat. The Agora was a marketplace, administrative centre and social meeting place. Here the philosopher Socrates walked around to engage in conversation with the man in the street. The writer Eric Weiner put it aptly: “When Athenians rebuilt their city after it was destroyed by the Persians, they did not begin with the temples of the Acropolis… They started here, with the true heart of the city.”

15. The Stoa Poikile: Birthplace of Stoicism
    Socrates is inextricably linked to the Agora, as is another important philosophical school whose name derives from a specific colonnade. The Stoa Poikile, or “Painted Porch”, was decorated with paintings of Athenian military victories. Around 300 BC, the philosopher Zeno of Citium chose this place to teach. His followers and his philosophy therefore became known as Stoicism, derived from the word “stoa”.

16. The Roman Agora: A Market of Caesar and Augustus
    Next to this original Greek marketplace, the Romans built their own, more structured market centuries later. The Roman Agora was constructed between 19 and 11 BC, and its construction was financed by donations from none other than Julius Caesar and his successor, Emperor Augustus. For that reason, it is also known as the Agora of Caesar and Augustus.

17. The Tower of the Winds: Ancient Clock and Compass
    The most striking structure in the Roman Agora is the Tower of the Winds, an octagonal marble monument from the first or second century BC. It was a multifunctional marvel of engineering. On the roof, a bronze weather vane in the form of the sea god Triton indicated the wind direction. On the eight walls, sundials showed the time, and inside, an ingenious water clock ensured that the time could also be read when it was cloudy and at night. The Roman period in which this tower was built brought Athens one of its greatest benefactors: Emperor Hadrian.

18. Hadrian’s Arch: Between Old and New Athens
    Hadrian’s Arch, erected around AD 132, is a monumental gateway of Pentelic marble that marked the boundary between ancient Greek Athens and Hadrian’s new city. This is made poignantly clear by the two inscriptions. On the Acropolis side it reads: “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus.” On the other side, facing the temple completed by Hadrian, it says: “This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus.”

19. The Temple of Olympian Zeus: A Work of Centuries
    That inscription leads us directly to the colossal structure nearby: the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the largest temple in all of Greece. Construction began as early as 515 BC under Peisistratos the Younger, but when the tyrant Hippias went into exile a year later, work came to a halt. The temple remained unfinished for nearly 400 years, a silent witness to political unrest, until the philhellenic Emperor Hadrian completed the building and personally dedicated the temple in AD 132.

20. The Theatre of Dionysus: Cradle of Tragedy
    From the supreme god Zeus, king of Olympus, we leap to another important deity whose cult underpinned one of Athens’ greatest inventions. On the southern slope of the Acropolis lies the Theatre of Dionysus. It is considered the oldest theatre in Europe and the cradle of ancient Greek tragedy. Here, on this sacred ground, some 17,000 spectators could be seated, and the prototype was created for all Greek theatres that followed.