Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. It is a major city located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Athens serves as the capital of the Attica region and is the southernmost capital city in Europe. With over 3.6 million people in its urban area, it is the eighth-largest city in the European Union. The official city of Athens, which is a smaller part of the larger urban area, had a population of 643,452 in 2021 and covers an area of 38.96 square kilometers (15.04 square miles).
Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world, with a recorded history of more than 3,400 years. Evidence of human activity in the area dates back to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. According to Greek mythology, the city was named after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. However, modern scholars believe the goddess was named after the city. In ancient times, Athens was a powerful city-state in Greece. It was a center for democracy, the arts, education, and philosophy. Its influence spread across Europe, especially in Ancient Rome. Because of this, Athens is often called the birthplace of Western civilization and the origin of democracy.
Today, Athens is a large, diverse city that plays a key role in Greece’s economy, politics, and culture. It is classified as a Beta (+) global city, meaning it has significant international importance. Athens is one of the largest economic hubs in Southeast Europe. The city has a strong financial sector, and its port, Piraeus, is the second busiest passenger port in Europe and the 13th largest container port globally. The Athens metropolitan area includes areas beyond the city’s official boundaries and had a population of 3,638,281 in 2021 over an area of 2,928.717 square kilometers (1,131 square miles).
Athens has many historical landmarks from the Classical Era, including ancient monuments and artwork. The most famous is the Parthenon, a symbol of early Western culture. The city also preserves Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman-era buildings, showing its long history. Two areas in Athens are recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites: the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery. The city is home to several museums, such as the National Archaeological Museum, which has the world’s largest collection of ancient Greek artifacts, the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Benaki Museum, and the Byzantine and Christian Museum. Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and the 2004 Summer Olympics, making it one of only five cities to host the event more than once.
Etymology and names
In Ancient Greek, the city was called Ἀθῆναι (Athênai), which is a plural word. Earlier in Greek, such as in Homeric Greek, the name was used in the singular form as Ἀθήνη (Athḗnē). Later, it became plural, similar to names like Θῆβαι (Thêbai) and Μυκῆναι (Mukênai). The origin of the word is likely not Greek or Indo-European, and may come from an older language spoken in Attica before Greek arrived.
During classical times, people debated whether the city was named after Athena, the goddess, or if Athena was named after the city. Modern scholars believe the goddess took her name from the city because the ending "-ene" is common in place names but rare in personal names.
According to an ancient myth, Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, competed with Poseidon, god of the sea, to be the city’s patron. They agreed that whoever gave the best gift to the people would win. Cecrops, the king of Athens, judged the contest. In one version, Poseidon struck the ground with his trident, creating a saltwater spring. In another version from Virgil’s poem, Poseidon gave the first horse. In both accounts, Athena gave the people the first domesticated olive tree. Cecrops chose Athena as the city’s patron goddess.
Since the 17th century, eight theories about the city’s name have been proposed, but most are no longer accepted. Christian Lobeck suggested the name might come from a word meaning "flower," linking Athens to a "flowering city." Ludwig von Döderlein proposed the name might relate to the verb "to suck," suggesting the land was fertile.
Athenians were sometimes called "cicada-wearers" because they wore golden pins shaped like cicadas. This symbolized being born from the earth, as the legendary founder Erechtheus was said to be earth-born, or being musicians, since cicadas are known for their sound. In classical writings, the city was sometimes called the "City of the Violet Crown," first mentioned by the poet Pindar, or "the glorious city."
During the medieval period, the city’s name was again written as a singular word: Ἀθήνα. Other names, like Setines and Astines, were incorrect variations. King Alphonse X of Castile incorrectly credited Ovid with the idea that Athens meant "the place without death" because of its lasting contributions to arts and sciences. In Ottoman Turkish, the city was called Ātīnā.
History
The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist, which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years (3000 BC). By 1400 BC, the settlement had become an important center of the Mycenaean civilization, and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress, whose remains can be recognized from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean walls. Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae and Pylos, it is not known whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event often attributed to a Dorian invasion, and the Athenians always maintained that they were pure Ionians with no Dorian element. However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements, went into economic decline for around 150 years afterwards. Iron Age burials, in the Kerameikos and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from 900 BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centers of trade and prosperity in the region.
By the sixth century BC, widespread social unrest led to the reforms of Solon. These would pave the way for the eventual introduction of democracy by Cleisthenes in 508 BC. Athens had by this time become a significant naval power with a large fleet, and helped the rebellion of the Ionian cities against Persian rule. In the ensuing Greco-Persian Wars, Athens, together with Sparta, led the coalition of Greek states that would eventually repel the Persians, defeating them decisively at Marathon under the leadership of Miltiades in 490 BC, and crucially at Salamis under the leadership of Themistocles in 480 BC. However, this did not prevent Athens from being captured and sacked twice by the Persians within one year, after a heroic but ultimately failed resistance at Thermopylae by Spartans and other Greeks led by King Leonidas, after both Boeotia and Attica fell to the Persians.
The decades that followed became known as the Golden Age of Athenian democracy, during which time Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece, with its cultural achievements laying the foundations for Western civilization. The playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides flourished in Athens during this time, as did the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the physician Hippocrates, and the philosophers Socrates and Plato. Guided by Pericles, who promoted the arts and fostered democracy, Athens embarked on an ambitious building program that saw the construction of the Acropolis of Athens (including the Parthenon), as well as empire-building via the Delian League. Originally intended as an association of Greek city-states, which were led by Cimon, to continue the fight against the Persians, the league soon turned into a vehicle for Athens's own imperial ambitions. The resulting tensions brought about the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), in which Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta.
Nonetheless, the city reemerged soon as a major power in the Greek world, forming the Second Athenian League during the time of the Spartan and Theban hegemonies. By the mid-4th century BC, the northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Greek affairs. In 338 BC, the armies of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great defeated an alliance of some of the Greek city-states led by Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea. After this defeat, Athens joined the Hellenic League under Philip and then Alexander.
- The Ancient Agora of Athens, a major commercial center (agora) of ancient Athens
- The ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, designed by the sons of Peisistratus
- The Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora, the second commercial center of ancient Athens
- The Odeon of Herodes Atticus built in AD 161 by Herodes Atticus
Later, under Rome, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. In the second century AD, the Roman emperor Hadrian, himself an Athenian citizen, ordered the construction of a number of public buildings. Paul the Apostle visited Athens on his second missionary journey. Athens was sacked in 267 AD by a Germanic tribe.
In the early 4th century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire began to be governed from Constantinople, and with the construction and expansion of the imperial city, many of Athens's works of art were taken by the emperors to adorn it. The Empire became Christianized, and the use of Latin declined in favor of exclusive use of Greek; in the Roman imperial period, both languages had been used. In the later Roman period, Athens was ruled by the emperors continuing until the 13th century, its citizens identifying themselves as citizens of the Roman Empire ("Rhomaioi"). The conversion of the empire from paganism to Christianity greatly affected Athens, resulting in reduced reverence for the city. Ancient monuments such as the Parthenon, Erechtheion, and the Hephaisteion (Theseion) were converted into churches. As the empire became increasingly anti-pagan, Athens became a provincial town and experienced fluctuating fortunes.
The city remained an important center of learning, especially of Neoplatonism—with notable pupils including Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea, and the Roman emperor Julian (r. 355–363)—and consequently a center of paganism. Christian items do not appear in the archaeological record until the early 5th century. The sack of the city by the Herules in 267 and by the Visigoths under their king Alaric I (r. 395–410) in 396, however, dealt a heavy blow to the city's fabric and fortunes, and Athens was henceforth confined to a small fortified area that embraced a fraction of the ancient city. The emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) banned the teaching of philosophy by pagans in 529, an event whose impact on the city is much debated, but is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens.
Athens was sacked by the Slavs in 582, but remained in imperial hands thereafter, as highlighted by the visit of the emperor Constans II (r. 641–668) in 662/3 and its inclusion in the Theme of Hellas. The city was threatened by Saracen raids in the 8th–9th centuries—in 896, Athens was raided and possibly occupied for a short period, an event which left some archaeological remains and elements of Arabic ornamentation in contemporary buildings—but there is also evidence of a mosque existing in the city at the time. In the great dispute over Byzantine Iconoclasm, Athens is commonly held to have supported the iconophile position, chiefly due to the role played by Empress Irene of Athens in the ending of the first period of Iconoclasm at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. A few years later, another Athenian, Theophano, became empress as the wife of Staurakios (r. 811–812).
Invasion of the empire by the Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and the ensuing civil wars, largely
Geography
Athens covers the central plain of Attica, known as the Athens Basin or the Attica Basin (Greek: Λεκανοπέδιο Αθηνών/Αττικής, romanised: Lekanopédio Athinón/Attikís). This area is surrounded by four large mountains: Mount Aigaleo to the west, Mount Parnitha to the north, Mount Pentelicus to the northeast, and Mount Hymettus to the east. To the west of Mount Aegaleo lies the Thriasian plain, which extends from the central plain. The Saronic Gulf is located to the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest mountain (1,413 metres or 4,636 feet) and has been declared a national park. The Athens urban area spans 50 kilometres (31 miles), stretching from Agios Stefanos in the north to Varkiza in the south. The city is located in the north temperate zone, 38 degrees north of the equator.
Athens is built around many hills. Lycabettus is one of the tallest hills in the city and offers a view of the entire Attica Basin. The weather in Athens is considered complex because the mountains create a temperature inversion, which, along with challenges in controlling industrial pollution, has caused air pollution problems. This issue is not unique to Athens; cities like Los Angeles and Mexico City also face similar atmospheric inversion problems.
The historical rivers of Athens include the Cephissus River, the Ilisos, and the Eridanos stream.
By the late 1970s, pollution in Athens had become so severe that the Greek Minister of Culture, Constantine Trypanis, noted that "the carved details on the five caryatids of the Erechtheum had seriously degenerated, while the face of the horseman on the Parthenon's west side was all but obliterated." Measures taken by city authorities in the 1990s improved air quality, and smog (or nefos, as Athenians called it) has become less common.
Actions by Greek authorities in the 1990s improved air quality in the Attica Basin. However, air pollution remains a problem, especially during hot summer days. In late June 2007, the Attica region experienced several brush fires, including a fire that burned a large part of a forested national park on Mount Parnitha, which is important for maintaining good air quality. Damage to the park has raised concerns about progress in improving air quality.
Major waste management efforts in the last decade, including a plant on the small island of Psytalia, have improved water quality in the Saronic Gulf. Coastal waters near Athens are now safe for swimmers.
Parnitha National Park includes well-marked paths, gorges, springs, torrents, and caves. Hiking and mountain biking in the four surrounding mountains are popular activities for city residents. The National Garden of Athens, completed in 1840, is a green space of 15.5 hectares in the city center. It lies between the Parliament and Zappeion buildings, the latter of which has its own garden of seven hectares. Parts of the city center have been redesigned under a project called the Unification of Archeological Sites of Athens, which received funding from the EU to support the work.
Dionysiou Areopagitou Street has been made pedestrian-only, creating a scenic walking route. The route begins at the Temple of Olympian Zeus on Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, passes near the Acropolis in Plaka, and ends near the Temple of Hephaestus in Thiseio. The route offers views of the Parthenon and the Agora, a historic meeting place for ancient Athenians.
The hills of Athens also provide green spaces. Lycabettus, Philopappos Hill, and nearby areas such as Pnyx and Ardettos Hill are covered with pines and other trees, resembling a small forest rather than a typical city park. Another green area is Pedion tou Areos (Field of Mars), a 27.7-hectare space near the National Archaeological Museum.
Athens has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen classification: Csa). Summer temperatures in Athens are often warmer than in cities farther from the equator, such as Seoul, Melbourne, Buenos Aires, and Cape Town. According to the National Observatory of Athens, the average annual temperature in the city center is 19.2°C (66.6°F), while some parts of the city may reach 19.8°C (67.6°F) due to the urban heat island effect. Fog is rare in the city center but occurs more often near Mount Hymettus. Advection fog can appear in spring along the coastline.
The southern part of the Athens metropolitan area, including Elliniko and the Athens Riviera, lies in a transitional climate between Mediterranean (Csa) and hot semi-arid (BSh) conditions. Piraeus, a port city in this area, receives only 331.9 millimeters (13.07 inches) of rain per year. The climate in southern areas is milder due to the Saronic Gulf. The northern part of the city, such as Kifissia, has slightly cooler temperatures and more rainfall because of its higher elevation. The dry climate of the Athens Basin, compared to typical Mediterranean rainfall, is caused by the rain shadow effect from the Pindus mountain range and the Dirfys and Parnitha mountains, which reduce rainfall in the region.
Snowfall in Athens is uncommon and rarely disrupts daily life. In contrast, the northern parts of the city experience blizzards more often. Recent snowstorms, such as those on 16 February 2021 and 24 January 2022, covered much of the city in snow, except for areas near Piraeus.
Athens can become very hot in
Administration
Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, after Nafplion, which was the temporary capital from 1829. The city of Athens is also the capital of the Attica region. The word "Athens" can describe the city itself, the larger area around it called Greater Athens, or the entire Athens Metropolitan Area.
The city center of Athens is located within the Municipality of Athens, which is the largest city in Greece by population. This area includes several smaller communities. Nearby, the Municipality of Piraeus is also a major city center and the second largest in population within the Athens area.
The Athens Urban Area, also called the Urban Area of the Capital or Greater Athens, includes 40 municipalities. These are divided into four regions: Central Athens, North Athens, West Athens, and South Athens, along with five municipalities in the Piraeus region. This area covers 412 square kilometers and had a population of 3,059,764 people in 2021.
The Athens Metropolitan Area covers 2,928 square kilometers in the Attica region and includes 58 municipalities. These are organized into seven regions, including East Attica and West Attica. The population of this area was 3,638,281 people in 2021. Athens and Piraeus are the main centers of the metropolitan area, with other smaller centers like Kifissia and Glyfada serving parts of the northern and southern suburbs.
The Athens Metropolitan Area includes 58 densely populated municipalities surrounding the city center. These areas are called suburbs and are divided into four zones: northern, southern, eastern, and western. Each zone includes specific suburbs, such as Maroussi, Agios Stefanos, and others.
The coastline of Athens stretches about 25 kilometers from the Piraeus port to the southern suburb of Varkiza. This area is connected to the city center by tram.
In the northern suburb of Maroussi, the upgraded Olympic Complex (OAKA) is a major landmark. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, it features steel arches, gardens, and a modern blue glass roof. Another Olympic complex near the beach of Palaio Faliro includes modern sports facilities and shops. The old Athens Airport area, now called Elliniko, is being turned into a large park named Hellenikon Metropolitan Park.
Many southern suburbs, such as Alimos, Glyfada, and Voula, are part of the Athens Riviera and have sandy beaches managed by the Greek National Tourism Organization. These beaches require an entrance fee. Casinos are located on Mount Parnitha (Regency Casino Mont Parnes) and in the nearby town of Loutraki.
The term "partner city" is used in different countries to describe cities that work together. Athens has several partner cities, including Yerevan, Armenia, which became a partner in 1993.
Demographics
The city of Athens had 643,452 people in 2021. According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, the four areas that formed the old Athens prefecture together had 2,611,713 people. These areas, along with the Piraeus region (sometimes called Greater Piraeus), make up the Athens Urban Area, also known as Greater Athens. This area had a total population of 3,059,764 people in 2021.
The city of Athens (the central area) is the most populated city in Greece. It had 643,452 people in 2021 and covers an area of 38.96 square kilometers (15.04 square miles). It is the center of the Athens Urban Area, located in the Attica Basin. The current mayor of Athens is Charis Doukas from the PASOK party. The city is divided into seven administrative districts, mainly used for government purposes.
In Athens, people often divide the downtown area into neighborhoods, such as Pagkrati, Ampelokipoi, Goudi, Exarcheia, Patisia, Ilisia, Petralona, Plaka, Anafiotika, Koukaki, Kolonaki, and Kypseli. Each of these neighborhoods has its own unique history and features.
Romani people live mainly in Acharnes, Ano Liosia, Agia Varvara, Zefeiri, and Kamatero. There is also a large Albanian community in Athens.
The Athens Metropolitan Area covers 2,928.717 square kilometers (1,131 square miles) and had 3,744,059 people in 2021. It includes the Athens Urban Area and the towns and villages of East and West Attica, which surround the city. The area covers the entire Attica Peninsula, which is the most important part of the Attica region, except for the islands.
According to the EU Global Terrorism Database (based on data from 2007–2016), Athens has the lowest risk for terrorist attacks in terms of frequency and severity. In a 2017 report by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Athens ranked 35th in Digital Security, 21st in Health Security, 29th in Infrastructure Security, and 41st in Personal Security globally. It was also ranked as a very safe city, placing 39th out of 162 cities worldwide. As of November 2024, the crime index in Athens was 55.40 (moderate), and the safety index was 44.60. In a 2019 Mercer Quality of Living Survey, Athens ranked 89th.
Economy
Athens is the financial center of Greece. In 2014, the city's large economic area created $130 billion in GDP, which is nearly half of Greece's total production. Athens was ranked 102nd among the world's largest economic cities that year, and the average income per person was $32,000.
Athens is a major economic hub in southeastern Europe and is seen as an important regional power. The port of Piraeus has received large investments from COSCO in recent years. Other important projects include the new Cargo Centre in Thriasion, the expansion of the Athens Metro and Tram, and the redevelopment of the Hellenikon park in Elliniko. These projects are expected to shape the city's economy in the future.
Many Greek companies, such as Hellas Sat, Hellenic Aerospace Industry, Mytilineos Holdings, Titan Cement, Hellenic Petroleum, Papadopoulos E.J., Folli Follie, Jumbo S.A., OPAP, and Cosmote, have their headquarters in Athens. International companies like Ericsson, Sony, Siemens, Motorola, Samsung, Microsoft, Teleperformance, Novartis, Mondelez, and Coca-Cola also have research and development offices in the city. Banks such as National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, and Piraeus Bank operate in Athens, and the Bank of Greece is also located in the city center. The Athens Stock Exchange suffered greatly during the Greek government-debt crisis and the government's decision to limit cash withdrawals in 2015. This crisis hurt the economy of Athens and Greece, but the country began to grow again, with a 1.4% increase in economic activity starting in 2017.
Tourism is a major part of Athens' economy. The city is one of Europe's top destinations for short trips and serves as a starting point for visits to Greek islands and other parts of the country. Greece welcomed 26.5 million visitors in 2015, 30.1 million in 2017, and over 33 million in 2018, making it one of the most visited countries in the world. Tourism contributed 18% to Greece's total economy. In 2018, Athens received more than 5 million tourists, with 1.4 million visiting for city trips. This number increased by over a million since 2013.
Athens has been a popular travel destination since ancient times. Over the past 20 years, the city's infrastructure and public services have improved, partly because of its successful hosting of the 2004 Olympic Games.
The Greek government, with help from the European Union, has funded major projects, such as the modern Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, the expansion of the Athens Metro, and the new Attiki Odos Motorway.
In recent years, Athens has become more lively with the opening of many new bars and cafés. There is also more street art and graffiti, which adds to the city's appeal alongside its historical sites and museums.
Transport
Athens is the main transportation center of Greece. The city has the country's largest airport and largest port, Piraeus, which is also the biggest container port in the Mediterranean and the largest passenger port in Europe.
Athens is a key point for intercity and international bus travel, as well as for domestic and international train travel. Public transportation in Athens includes buses, trolleybuses, a metro system, a suburban railway, and a tram network that connects the southern suburbs to the city center.
OSY, a company owned by OASA (Athens urban transport organization), operates most of the city's buses and trolleybuses. As of 2017, OSY managed 322 bus routes across the Athens Metropolitan Area, using a fleet of 2,375 buses and trolleybuses. Of these, 619 buses run on compressed natural gas, the largest such fleet in Europe, and 354 are electric trolleybuses. These trolleybuses can switch to diesel power if needed.
Private companies provide international bus connections, while KTEL operates national and regional bus services from two intercity bus terminals: Kifissos Bus Terminal A and Liosion Bus Terminal B. These terminals are located in the northwestern part of the city and will be replaced by a new intercity bus terminal in Eleonas, expected to open by 2027.
Athens is the central hub of Greece's national railway system (OSE), linking the capital to major cities in Greece and abroad, such as Istanbul, Sofia, Belgrade, and Bucharest.
The Athens Suburban Railway, called the Proastiakos, connects Athens International Airport to the city of Kiato, 106 km (66 miles) west of Athens, through Larissa station, the city's main rail station, and the port of Piraeus. The commuter rail network is currently 120 km (75 miles) long and is expected to grow to 281 km (175 miles) by 2010.
The Athens Metro is operated by STASY S.A., a company owned by OASA. It provides transportation across the Athens Urban Area and also displays Greek artifacts found during construction. The metro has three lines: Line 1 (Green Line), Line 2 (Red Line), and Line 3 (Blue Line). Line 1, built in 1869, runs mostly at ground level, while Lines 2 and 3, mostly built in the 1990s, run underground. The system uses 42 trains with 252 carriages, carrying about 1,353,000 passengers daily.
Line 1 (Green Line) has 24 stations and runs from Piraeus to Kifissia, covering 25.6 km (15.9 miles). It connects with Line 2 at Omonia and Attiki stations and with Line 3 at Monastiraki. Line 2 (Red Line) runs from Anthoupoli to Elliniko, covering 17.5 km (10.9 miles). It connects western and eastern suburbs through the city center and links with Lines 1 and 3 at multiple stations. Line 3 (Blue Line) runs from Dimotiko Theatro to Athens International Airport, covering 39 km (24 miles). It extended to Egaleo in 2007 and added new stations in 2022, connecting Piraeus with the airport.
The Athens Tram, operated by STASY S.A., uses 35 Sirio and 25 Alstom Citadis vehicles to serve 48 stations across 27 km (17 miles) of track. It connects the city center with the southwestern suburb of Palaio Faliro, splitting into two branches: one heading to Voula and the other to Piraeus.
Athens International Airport (ATH), located near Spata, 35 km (22 miles) east of the city center, was built in 51 months for 2.2 billion euros. It won the "European Airport of the Year 2004" award and serves as a major air travel hub in southeastern Europe.
The Port of Piraeus is the largest port in Greece and one of the largest in Europe. Other ports, such as Rafina and Lavrio, also connect Athens to Greek islands and cruise ships.
Two major Greek motorways begin in Athens: the A1/E75 heading north to Thessaloniki and the A8/E94 heading west to Patras. Before these motorways were completed, traffic used older roads like GR-1 and GR-8.
The Attiki Odos toll motorway network serves the Athens Metropolitan Area. Its main route, the A6, connects the western suburb of Elefsina to Athens International Airport. Two beltways, the Aigaleo Beltway (A65) and the Hymettus Beltway (A62), serve parts of western and eastern Athens. The Attiki Odos network is 65 km (40 miles) long, the largest metropolitan motorway system in Greece.
Education
The old campus of the University of Athens, the National Library, and the Athens Academy are located on Panepistimiou Street. These three buildings, called the "Athens Trilogy," were built in the mid-1800s. The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is the largest and oldest university in the city. Many of its activities, along with those of the National Technical University of Athens, have moved to a new campus in Zografou, an area in the eastern part of Athens. The older campus of the National Technical University of Athens is on Patision Street.
The University of West Attica is the second-largest university in Athens. Its main location is in the western part of the city, where ancient Greek philosophers once taught. All of the University of West Attica’s activities take place in three modern campuses within the Athens metropolitan area: Egaleo Park, Ancient Olive Groove, and Athens. These campuses provide up-to-date spaces for teaching, research, and student support. Other universities in Athens include the Athens University of Economics and Business, Panteion University, the Agricultural University of Athens, and the University of Piraeus.
There are ten state-supported higher education institutions in the Athens area. Listed in the order they were established: Athens School of Fine Arts (1837), National Technical University of Athens (1837), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1837), Agricultural University of Athens (1920), Athens University of Economics and Business (1920), Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (1927), University of Piraeus (1938), Harokopio University of Athens (1990), School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (2002), and University of West Attica (2018). In addition, there are private colleges in Greece, as private universities are not allowed by law. Some of these colleges are recognized by foreign universities, such as the American College of Greece and the Athens Campus of the University of Indianapolis.
Culture
Athens is a major center for archaeological research. Along with national institutions like Athens University and the Archaeological Society, the city has many archaeological museums, including the National Archaeological Museum, the Cycladic Museum, the Epigraphic Museum, the Byzantine & Christian Museum, and museums at the ancient Agora, Acropolis, and Kerameikos. The city also has the Demokritos laboratory for Archaeometry and is home to Greek cultural authorities.
Athens hosts 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes that help scholars from other countries study ancient history. Because of this, the city has over a dozen archaeological libraries, three specialized labs, and hosts hundreds of lectures, conferences, and exhibitions each year. Many international researchers in archaeology visit Athens regularly.
Some of Athens's most important museums are:
– The National Archaeological Museum, the largest in the country and one of the most important globally. It has artifacts from over 5,000 years, from the Neolithic Age to Roman Greece.
– The Benaki Museum, which has branches for collections of ancient art, Byzantine art, Ottoman-era items, and Chinese art.
– The Byzantine and Christian Museum, a top museum for Byzantine art.
– The National Art Gallery, the leading art gallery in Greece, which reopened in 2021 after renovations.
– The National Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in 2000 in a former brewery.
– The Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art, which displays modern art collected by Basil Goulandris and his wife.
– The Numismatic Museum, which has a large collection of ancient and modern coins.
– The Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art, which has many Cycladic artworks, including famous white marble figurines.
– The New Acropolis Museum, opened in 2009, which replaced the old museum on the Acropolis. It was very popular, with nearly one million visitors during the summer of 2009.
– The Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, which shows artifacts from the Kerameikos burial site, including pottery that reflects Athenian views on death and the afterlife.
– The Jewish Museum of Greece, which tells the story of the Greek Jewish community.
Athens has buildings from many architectural styles, including Greco-Roman, Neoclassical, and Modern. These styles often appear together in the same areas, and the city does not have a single uniform style. Athens has strict rules about building heights to keep the Acropolis Hill visible from anywhere in the city. Although styles changed over time, some architectural elements have remained consistent throughout history.
During most of the 19th century, Neoclassical architecture was common in Athens, with some variations like Eclecticism in the early 20th century. The Old Royal Palace, built between 1836 and 1843, was one of the first major public buildings. Architects like Theophil von Hansen and Ernst Ziller later designed many Neoclassical buildings, such as the Athens Academy and the Zappeion Hall. Some private homes built by Ziller later became public spaces, like Schliemann’s Iliou Melathron.
Starting in the 1920s, modern styles like Bauhaus and Art Deco influenced Greek architecture. Areas like Kolonaki and parts of the city center have many buildings from this period. Neighborhoods developed in the 1920s, such as Kypseli, also reflect these styles.
In the 1950s and 1960s, modern movements like the International style shaped Athens. The city center was rebuilt, and many Neoclassical buildings were demolished. Architects used materials like glass, marble, and aluminum, blending modern and classical elements. Notable architects from this time include Walter Gropius, who designed the US Embassy, and Eero Saarinen, who worked on the Ellinikon Airport.
Athens has many statues and busts. Examples include the neoclassical statues of Plato, Socrates, Apollo, and Athena by Leonidas Drosis at the Academy of Athens. Other notable statues include the Theseus statue by Georgios Fytalis, statues of historical figures like Lord Byron and Theodoros Kolokotronis, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square.
Athens has 148 theatrical stages, more than any other city. It includes the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which hosts the Athens Festival from May to October. The city also has open-air garden cinemas, music venues like the Athens Concert Hall, and the Athens Planetarium, one of the world’s largest digital planetariums. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, opened in 2016, will house the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera. In 2018, Athens was named the World Book Capital by UNESCO.
Restaurants, tavernas, and bars are found in areas like Plaka and Trigono in the historic center. Gazi and Psyrri are known for nightclubs and bars, while Kolonaki, Exarchia, Kypseli, Metaxourgeio, Koukaki, and Pangrati have cafes and restaurants. Coastal areas like Microlimano, Alimos, and Glyfada have many tavernas, beach bars, and summer clubs.
From 1870 to 1930, the most popular songs in Athens were Athenian serenades, which were based on Heptanesean kantádhes, and theatrical revue songs performed in plays, musical comedies, and operettas.
In 1922, after the Greek-Turkish war and population exchange, many ethnic Greeks from Asia Minor moved to Athens. They settled in poor neighborhoods and brought Rebetiko music with them, which later influenced Laïko music.
Politics
The city of Athens is divided into 58 voting districts. These boundaries were set up starting with the 2004 election to ensure each district has about the same number of voters. Before 2004, there were 68 districts, and their boundaries matched the areas of Orthodox Parishes in Athens.