Open Hours

• Tuesday to Friday: 09:00 – 14:30
• Saturday: 9.30-16.00
• Sunday: 10:00 – 16.00

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On the rocky hill of the Acropolis, where the center of modern Athens is nowadays, in the past you would find the greatest and most magnificent temple of the ancient town, dedicated primarily to its patron goddess, Athena. This is the sacred place where the most important myths of ancient Athens, the greatest religious festivals, the oldest city cults but also some historical events, took place. The monuments of the Acropolis, harmoniously combined with the natural environment, are the unique masterpieces of  the ancient Greek architecture.

It was originally a natural cavity in the ground between two hills, Agra and Ardittos hills. It was made into a stadium by Lykourgos in 330-329 BC for the athletic competitions of the Great Panathenaic festivals. Between 140-144 AD Herod Atticus restored the Stadium in the form that was revealed in the 1870 excavation. It is U-shaped, with a total track length of 204.07 m. and a width of 33.35 m. It is estimated that it could host up to 50,000 spectators. Herodotus probably renovated Ilissos bridge at the entrance of the Stadium. He made it bigger, with three arches.

The Monastery lies at a short distance to the east of Athens, on a hillside at the foot of Mt. Hymettos. It is one of the most important Byzantine monuments of Attica. It was built in the 11th century and flourished in the late 12th and early 13th century, becoming a remarkable spiritual center with important scholars of the time. The main income of the monastery was mainly the production of honey; the area was famous for it even in antiquity. The library of the monastery was destroyed after the outbreak of the Revolution of 1821.

The main building of Athens University was founded in 1839, based on plans of the Danish architect Hans Christian Hansen (1803-1883) who, without deviating from the basic principles of classicism, created a composition that combines the grandeur of the monument with the simplicity of the human, indicating an attempt to adapt to the local environment. The plan is developed in a two-storey double "T" with two symmetrical courtyards on both sides, forming a rectangle.

Tradition says that the officer Ottoman Yusuf wanted to fire a cannon from the Acropolis in order to destroy the church and kill the people who had come to celebrate Saint Demetrius. However a thunder from the sudden storm that started managed to blow up the emplacement of the Acropolis and the church was saved.

The six-storey Blue Condominium stands in the corner of Arachovis & Themistokleous street in Exarcheia’s center square. It was a project of architect Kyriakos Panagiotakou (1902-1982), one of the pioneers of the modern movement in Greece and it was built in 1932-1933 by Kostis Antonopoulos. The building was praised by Le Corbusier who said: "C’est très beau" (= “It is very beautiful”) and it is one of the oldest in Athens. It is known as “blue” because of its original color and it is considered a turning point in the history of Modern Greek architecture.