Discover Athens

550 m from Perfect View

9 minutes walk

Acropolis

The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Although the term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as “The Acropolis” without qualification. During ancient times it was known also more properly as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king.

While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles (c. 495–429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the site’s most important present remains including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Parthenon and the other buildings were seriously damaged during the 1687 siege by the Venetians during the Morean War when gunpowder being stored in the Parthenon by the Ottomans was hit by a cannonball and exploded.

Erechtheion

The Erechtheion or Erechtheum is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece which was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon. The temple as seen today was built between 421 and 406 BC. Its architect may have been Mnesicles, and it derived its name from a shrine dedicated to the legendary Greek hero Erichthonius. The sculptor and mason of the structure was Phidias, who was employed by Pericles to build both the Erechtheum and the Parthenon. Some have suggested that it may have been built in honor of the legendary king Erechtheus, who is said to have been buried nearby. Erechtheus was mentioned in Homer’s Iliad as a great king and ruler of Athens during the Archaic Period, and Erechtheus and the hero Erichthonius were often syncretized.

550 m from Perfect View

9 minutes walk

Directions to Erechtheion

Roman Agora

The Roman Agora at Athens is located to the north of the Acropolis and to the east of the Ancient Agora. The original Agora was encroached upon and obstructed by a series of Roman buildings, beginning with the imperial family’s gift to the Athenians of a large odeion (concert hall).[1] The Odeon of Agrippa was built by him in around 15 BC, and measured 51.4 by 43.2 metres, rose several stories in height,[1] and – being sited just north of the Middle Stoa – obstructed the old agora.[2] In return for the odeion, the Athenians built a statue to Agrippa at the site of the previous agora; they based it on a plinth recycled from an earlier statue by covering the old inscription with a new one.

260 m from Perfect View

3 minutes walk

Directions to Roman Agora

900 m from Perfect View

12 minutes walk

Directions to Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus (also called Herodeion or Herodion[1]) is a stone Roman theater structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. The building was completed in 161 AD and then renovated in 1950. It was built in 161 AD by the Greek Herodes Atticus in memory of his Roman wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped theater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. It was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000. It lasted intact until it was destroyed and left in ruins by the Heruli in 267 AD.

Theatre of Dionysus

The Theatre of Dionysus (or Theatre of Dionysos, gr: Θέατρο του Διονύσου) is an ancient theatre in Athens on the south slope of the Akropolis hill, built as part of the sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator). The first orchestra terrace was constructed on the site around the mid- to late-sixth century BC, where it hosted the City Dionysia. The theatre reached its fullest extent in the fourth century BC under the epistates of Lycurgus when it would have had a capacity of up to 17,000, and was in continuous use down to the Roman period. The theatre then fell into decay in the Byzantine era and was not identified, excavated and restored to its current condition until the nineteenth century.

800 m from Perfect View

11 minutes walk

Directions to Theatre of Dionysus

Temple of Hephaestus

The Temple of Hephaestus or Hephaisteion or earlier as the Theseion, is a well-preserved Greek temple. Ιt remains standing largely intact. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is located at the north-west side of the Agora of Athens, on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill. From the 7th century until 1834, it served as the Greek Orthodox church of Saint George Akamates. The building’s condition has been maintained due to its history of varied use.

1000 m from Perfect View

11 minutes walk

Directions to Temple of Hephaestus