AthensAthens

My CityMy City

Class CStudents

1. Harry Michailidis

2. Aggeliki Balafa

3. Antonia Bouyiouri

4. Niki Papageorgiou

5. Stathis Papadimitriou

6. Vassilis Papadopoulos

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4th Junior High School of Dafni, Athens

7. Helen Perdoi

8. Thanasis Preketes

9. R aphael Sakkas

10. Iliana Stefanidi

11. Eleftheria Fevga

12. Fivos Hatanaka

13. Georgia Hadgisavva

14. Vassia Psarrou

Instructor: P. Kaimara

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Contentsa. Archaeological Sites

Acropolis Acropolis MuseumOdeon of Herodes Atticus Kerameikos (Ceramicus)Panathenaic Stadium

b. Public BuildingsThe Parliament The City Hall Benaki MuseumByzantine MuseumWar MuseumMuseum of the History of the Greek Costume

c. Other places of interestLykavittos HillPlakaSyntagma Square Omonia SquareO.A.C.A. Olympic Athletic center of Athens Ermou Street (Athens) / Golden Hall / The MallAllou Fun ParkAthens International AirportThe port (Piraeus)

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IntroductionMy neighborhood is Dafni and my city is Athens.

Athens is a city with great history eversince the dawn of civilization. There aremonuments since the archaic and classicalperiod and also Roman, Byzantine and a few

ottoman monuments as well.The city has changed a lot through the pastdecades as the population has increased rapidly and so has the rhythm of daily life. Effort is constantly made to meet the needs

of its citizens and to improve living conditions. The economic crisis, however,has affected the lives of the people who despite the fact that they are facing

difficulties are trying not to lose their smile.In 2004 Athens hosted the Olympic Games.

It was an important moment in the history ofthe city. “Welcome Home” was the motto asit was the first time since 1896 that the

Olympics were held in Greece. The Greekpeople are proud of our capital. We believethat despite its problems it is one of the most

beautiful cities in the world.

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Acropolis If Athens were famous for one sight only, that would be

Acropolis.The sacred hill of Acropolis, a place of worship, includes

the Parthenon (a temple in honor of goddess Athena), theErechtheion (a temple dedicated to Athena and Poseidon), thetemple of Athena Nike (Athena as the goddess of victory) and

the Propylaia (the en-trance).

The Acropolis wasconstructed in the 5thcentury BC by Peri-cles, the archon ofAthens. The peoplewho worked therewere Phedeas (whowas in charge) and twoexcellent architectsIctinos and Kallikrates.

6 a. Archaeological Sites

The temple of Athena Nike

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The Propylaia

The Erechtheion The Parthenon

The Acropolis in full moon

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Odeon of Herodes Atticus The Odeon of Herodes Atticus (or Herodium, mistakenly

prevailed) is an ancient roman conservatory, located on thesouthwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens. It was built at avery rapid pace with costs of Herodes Atticus in the 2nd century AD, in honor of his wife Aspasia Annia Regilla whodied in 160 AD. The purpose of the building was primarilymusical events (Odeon).

The need for its construction came after the collapse of theconservatory which was built in the center of the ancientagora of Athens by General Augustus, Agrippa, about 15 BC,

Acropolis MuseumThe New Acropolis Museum was founded in 2003 and

opened to the public on June 20, 2009. It houses all artifactfound on the rock and on its feet.

The white marble of Mount Penteli and the bright light of the attican sky have the leading role.

and that replacing the even older Odeon of Pericles.The space reserved for the public had 32 rows of marble

stands and its capacity was in the order of about 5000 spectators. As in the theaters of the Roman era, the orchestrahad a semicircular shape. The stage building was elevated tothe depth of the scene and had three floors, two of which arestill preserved to a height of 28 metres. The conservatory wasroofed with wooden roof from cedar wood.

Nowadays many cultural and artistic events are hosted atthe Odeon of Herodes Atticus, from Spring till Autumn, during the famous Athens Festival.

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Kerameikos (Ceramicus)The area of the ancient cemetery. It got its name from the

word Κέραμος (ceramic) which means pottery.

Panathenaic StadiumThe Panathenaic Stadium or Panathinaiko (Greek: Παναθη-

ναϊκό στάδιο) also known as the Kallimarmaro (Meaning: thebeautiful marbled) is an athletic stadium in Athens that hostedthe first modern Olympic Games in 1896. It was reconstructed from the remains of an ancient Greek Stadiumwhich was used to host the athletic portion of the Panathenaicgames, in honor of goddess Athena. During classical times, ithad wooden seating. In 329 BC it was rebuilt in marble by

the archon Lycurgus and in140 AD it was enlarged andrenovated by Herodes Atticus, giving a seated capacity of 50.000.

In the late 19th centurywealthy Greek people donated large sums of

Tomb stone The Eridanus stream flowing in keramikos area

Olympic Games, 1896

money to reconstruct the stadium. It was in this area that Spyros Louis, a greek water-carrier, won the first modern-dayOlympic marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics and became a national hero. In more recent years, the Stadium hasbeen often used to honor the homecoming of victoriousGreek athletes, most notably the Greek national football teamafter its victory at the 2004 European Football Championshipand the ceremony of the World Athletics Championships in1997 on a concept by composer Vangelis Papathanasiou.

In the 2004 Olympic Games, the Panathinaic Stadiumhosted the archery competition and the finish of theMarathon. The Panathenaic Stadium is situated in a lovely location between Ardittos and Agra hills, opposite the National Garden and Zappeion Exhibition Hall.

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Full view of the stadium

The entrance

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The Parliament The Parliament House

overlooks SyntagmaSquare in Athens. It is theOld Royal Palace.

The Parliament has 300members who make decisions upon the fate ofthe Greek Nation.

The City Hall Here is the major’s

office. It is a buildingdowntown in KotziaSquare. It was built in1874 and it has beenidentified as a historicalpreserved monument.

b. Public Buildings

Change of the guards

The Athens City Hall

The Greek Parliament

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Benaki MuseumOne of the most popular museums in Athens which houses

works of art from the prehistoric times till nowadays.

Exhibits from various parts of Greece

14The ByzantineMuseum

It is locatedright next to theWar Museum. Itis one of themost importantmuseums aboutthe Byzantineand post-Byzan-tine art and cul-ture.

It houses collections of items from Greece, Minor Asia andthe Balkan Peninsula.

War Museum of AthensIt is the museum of the Greek Armed Forces. The war mu-

seum hosts an exhibition of a huge variety of weapons(swords etc), mapsand airplanes froma big range of thehistory of Greece.

Its aim is thestudy of greek his-tory and the strug-gles of the greeksfor freedom fromancient times tothe present.

15Museum of the History of theGreek CostumeThe Museum of theHistory of the GreekCostume of theLyceum Club ofGreek Women was inaugurated in March1988. It is exclusivelydevoted to Greekdress and it containsa large number of au-thentic regional cos-tumes and jewelleryworn throughout theGreek world.

Authentic Greek costumes

Dancing folk dances

c. Other places of interest16

LykavittosLykavittos

means “hill ofwolves” and de-rives from an-cient times whenthe hill was sur-rounded bycountryside andits pine-coveredslopes were in-habited bywolves. A path

leads to the summit from the top of Loukianou St. for thefinest panorama of the city and the Attic basin-the nefos (pol-lution haze) permitting.

Alternatively, one can take the funicular railway or teleferic,from the top of Ploutarhou St. in Kolonaki. Perched on thesummit is the little chapel of Saint George, floodlit like a beacon over the city at night.

17Plaka

Plaka is the oldestdistrict in Athens,known as “OldCity”. There aremany sights likesmall churches, amosque, a hamamand the ancientRoman market. Thereare also taverns,restaurants and cafesfrom which, one canadmire the beautifultemple of Parthenon.Popular destinationamong tourists andAthenians due to itsproximity to theAcropolis and its localcolour as well, Plaka isthe only district ofAthens where one cansee what the city waslike 100 years ago be-cause of the neoclassi-cal buildings. VisitingPlaka is a travel in pastdecades. Picturesque narrow street leading to Acropolis

Old houses in Plaka many years ago

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Syntagma Square (Constitution Square)Syntagma square is

located in centralAthens. Situated rightin front of the Parlia-ment it has witnessedall historic events ofGreece. The square isnamed after the Consti-tution that King Otto was obliged to grant, after a popular andmilitary uprising on September 3rd, 1843. It is the oldest andsocially most important square of modern Athens, at the epi-center of commercial activity during the 19th century. Theeastern side of the square is higher than the western, anddominated by a set of marble steps leading to Amalias Av.Syntagma Square is a hub for many forms of public trans-portation in Athens. Metro lines 2 and 3 of the Athens Metro

have a stop at theSyntagma stationwhich is to be foundunder the square.

The Square is lo-cated within walkingdistance of many ofAthens oldest andmost famous neigh-borhoods and touristattractions like Plaka,

Above the square is the Tomb in honour of the Unknown Soldier

Syntagma Square

19Monastiraki, Psiri, Kolonaki, theatre of Dionysus, the Acrop-olis, the ancient agora of Athens, the Temple of OlympianZeus, the Philopappos Monument, the Keramikos Cemetery,and Lycabettus Hill.

Omonia Square Omonia Square is the

center of Athens and iscomposed of the actualsquare together with thesurrounding streets, openareas and assemblage ofgrand buildings that in-clude banks and offices. Ameeting place for theAthenians in the past,Omonia is the exact oppo-site of its neighboursPlaka and Monastiraki asthere is no classical attrac-tion in this multi-culturalarea, however it is whereyou go for cheap eateries,exotic imported goodsand food and basicallyday-to-day items at af-fordable price. The word«ομόνοια» in Greekmeans concord, peace.Omonia today

Bakakos Pharmacy: A common meetingspot many many years ago

Omonia many years ago

20O.A.C.A. Olympic Athletic Center of Athens

The O.A.C.A. OlympicIndoor Hall (also knownsimply as the IndoorHall or the OlympicSports Hall) which is

part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.)"Spiros Luis" (in Greek: O.A.K.A.), was completed in 1995and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events atthe 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. It is locatedin the suburb of Maroussi. It is considered to be one of thebiggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in Europe. InGreece it is known as the O.A.K.A. Indoor Hall and/or theO.A.K.A. Olympic Sports Hall.

Ermou StreetErmou St., is a one and a

half kilometer-long streetin central Athens connect-ing Kerameikos archeolog-ical site with the SyntagmaSquare through Monasti-raki, Psiri and Thiseio. With fashion shops and shopping cen-ters promoting most international brands, Ermou St is alwayscrowded with people shopping or window shopping! It is oneof the top five most expensive shopping streets in Europe andthe tenth most expensive retail street in the world.

Basketball game in OACA

21Golden Hall

Golden Hall is a shop-ping centre full ofshops with clothes,shoes, accessories andother useful equipment.There are restaurantsand cafeterias to relaxand have something de-licious to eat. It is anice, rather expensivethough, destination if you want to buy something or generallyto have a good time with your family or friends. It can be eas-ily approached by car or means of public transportation .

The Mall AthensThe Mall Athens is a

shopping mall. It wasthe first of the kind tobe constructed inGreece and one of thelargest shopping andleisure centres inSoutheastern Europe.The Mall Athens is lo-

cated close to the Athens Olympic Stadium (O.A.C.A.) in thesuburb of Maroussi and was opened to the public on Novem-ber 25th, 2005.

One can find everything about fun, food and fashion there.

22Allou Fun Park

Allou Fun Park is per-haps the most popularamusement park in all ofGreece. It is located nearthe center of Athens. It isdivided in two parts:Kidom, which is a small

children’s amusement park withgames and rides which are suit-able for children, and Allou,where things get serious.

Allou Fun Park has 9 thrillingrides which will leave youwanting more. We mention “thecrazy mouse” and “the big

apple”. The “crazy mouse” is a short ride with steep turns thathas you spinning around on board a rotating cart. On theother hand, the “big apple” is a very fast rollercoaster whichdrifts around a wonderfully decorated jungle at high speeds.There are lots of other rides to go on as well. If you ever dropby in Athens, you shouldn’t miss a visit there.

Athens International AirportAthens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”, began

operation on 29 March 2001 and is the primary civilian air-port that serves the city of Athens and the region of Attica. Itis situated in Spata, an area a few kilometers away fromAthens. It replaced the Athens International Airport of

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Hellinikon which had served Athens for six decades. AegeanAirlines and Olympic Air are the two Greek airlines whichconnect Athens to the rest of the world. Millions of passen-gers are served by the airport which was named after theGreek politician of the 20th century Eleftherios Venizelos.

The port (Piraeus)The Port of Piraeus

(city right next toAthens) has been theport of Athens sinceArchaic times. Theport of Piraeus, as the

largest Greek seaport, is one ofthe largest seaports in theMediterranean Sea basin andone of the top ten container portsin Europe. The port is also amajor employer in the area, withmore than 1.500 employees whoprovide services to more than24.000 ships every year.

EpilogueOur work was an attempt to present our city. In our book we can see several beautiful and

interesting places.

We realized, however, that Athens is so much more.It is the people and their way of living,

their worries and what makes them happy. Athens is moments and atmosphere,

the footprint of the Past and hope for the Future,

it is the heritage and the legend.

Through our work once more we felt lucky and proud to be Athens citizens.