Ancient Stories
Discover Ancient Athens
Athens is a city of ancient history on full display. From one street to the next, the ruins of thousands of years past peek out between buildings and each neighborhood has a gem that makes it worth stopping. The centerpiece of the city is the Acropolis, an icon of classical Greece that still towers over the city.
Down in the valley below sits the Ancient Agora, where life in public would take place for generations: philosophy, politics, and commerce all within arm’s reach. The Roman Agora, built centuries later, is evidence of how much the city was made over in the Roman image, while the Hadrian’s Library reminds us of how Athens was still a place of culture and learning at the time.
The Kerameikos Cemetery is one of the city’s oldest burial grounds, a quiet spot often bypassed by tourists. The Temple of Zeus was among the largest temples built in the ancient world, with monumental columns to match. The Theatre of Dionysus is where Greek drama originated, and the Herodes Atticus Theatre nearby still hosts live performances to this day. The Panathenaic Stadium is the only stadium in the world built entirely out of marble. And just outside of Athens, the Temple of Poseidon perches above Cape Sounion and the Aegean.