Out & About

The Acropolis

The area immediately around the Acropolis is one of the largest tourist attractions in Greece, not just for the ruins and buildings but for the shops, Cafes, Tavernas and Markets

The Acropolis, the word Acropolis means ‘highest place’ and each region has its acropolis, the building on top of the ‘highest place’ is normally a temple, the central and largest one on the top of the Acropolis in Athens is called the Parthenon dedicated to Athena, there are other building in the complex on top of the Acropolis that I will leave you to find out about when you come, arrange to go very early in the morning as it is high up, a tiring climb, hot and there is a lot to see up there.

Lets start at Mars Hill, this is an area of archeological interest (where Paul 1st preached the gospel in Athens, the ancient Court of Athens ruins), natural beauty and fun to go exploring in, this is at bottom of the Acropolis normally depicted to the left of the Acropolis.

Before the Olympics it was ignored and closed off except for the vagrants that climbed the fence to get in for the night or maybe and adventurous tourist that found the gate near the Acropolis to get in during the day. Now it is a great place to go, you hardly realize you are in the centre of a Capital city.

Going clockwise you have the vast Area of Psiri and Plaka, in amongst these tiny roads are discoveries like the Tower of the Winds, the Roman Market, the Turkish Baths, Museums, platias (squares) of cafes, Tavernas and food vendors all mixed in with shops, street markets, interesting buildings, hawkers, beggars and thousands of people, a very interesting busy place, wear comfortable shoes with grip as the pathements are often uneven and made of marble, secure your valuables and take a small bottle of water as you can get dehydrated easily.

Across the large major road called Amalias is the  Parliament Building (once the Palace) in Syntagma Square with the National Gardens (once the Palace Gardens), now tidied up, the trees are looked after, the paths are accessible, the turtles, cats and wildfowl are cared for, whole experience of walking in the shaded gardens, sitting on the seats and exploring until you come to Zapion, where the exhibition hall is used for International exhibits and functions, which follows on the Temple of Zeus & Hadrian’s Arch (that guy got every where in Europe and built walls, pathological or what?), plus an Olympic cycle track squashed into the top tip of the available land.

Zapion is a wonderfully open and shaded area that is quite important and fully used at Carnival time. Carnival is for a month, the whole month before Lent (the 40 days of fasting before Easter), although private individuals party whenever they wish in this month, the last week of that month is when it really gets serious and people have parties in the Platias (many Platias are municipal squares (public meeting areas) in front of the churches in Athens and towns all over Greece), the centre of Athens puts on sponsored activities in Syntagma, Zapion, Thesseion and other public access spaces during this time.

The conjoining roads of Apostolou Pavlou and Dionysou Areopagitou is a pedestrian road that leads from the Temple of Zeus ruin at one end to the Museum of Traditional Pottery in Keramikos, lots of people find this road because of its access to the Acropolis, but it is now much more than that.

It is a long walk and you should wear the most comfortable shoes with grip you have as it is cobbles in the middle and marble blocks on the shady side. Starting from the Temple of Zeus you have on your right, little roads that give you access to Anafiotika (Plaka), and the small square of Lysicrates Monument with its cafes and shops, this part of Dionysou Areopagitou has cafes and eateries on both sides of the road, here you start to get a feeling that the rest of Athens, and especially the traffic, is a long way away.

After that you will find the Acropolis on your right, if you look up you will see the caves, if you look down you will see the Theatre of Dionysus and at the end of the Theatre is the steps up to the top of the Acropolis with the entrance to the Temple of Athena on your right, the entrance to the Odeum of Herodes, and beside that is a temporary looking structure of steps that will take you up to the top of the Rock. From here there is a view of Athens you will not believe, across Mars Hill, Monastiriki, Plaka and you can see right across Athens to Lycabettus Hill. Be very careful, it is so slippery at the top and very dangerous, it has been worn down by people using the original chiseled out steps until it is like glass. After that is the path that takes you around behind the Acropolis to Anafiotika, its residence and entertainment and access to the rest of Plaka.

On your left are Apartment buildings and some expensive secluded restaurants and business offices, many of these building are under preservation orders as well and are very expensive.

Then you come to Filopappos Hill, this area is lovely, it has a church and walks, the Monument of Filopappos, the amphitheater of Pnys, the Theatre of Filopappos, the Dora Statou Greek Dance Theatre the Planetarium / Observatory, the smaller one of the two in Athens.

On the 1st of May to fly kites in any high windy place but especially Filopappos Hill and Yimitos Mountain where parents take their children in the hundreds and many kite fall on unprotected heads, by the end of the day all the trees are wearing hundreds of kites caught by the branches.

Go down the rest of Dionisou Areopagitou and you come to the pedestrian area at the metro station Thesseion, here it has all been cleaned up and there are many Tavernas with outside seating facing the ruins of Mars Hill that go back up to the feet of the Acropolis.

You can go on along the pedestrian area around behind the station and explore down to the Keramikos Museum and Museum of Traditonal Pottery by the old gas works.

Or continue around the wall of Mars Hill and travel into the shops, street markets of Psiri and Placka

This is just around the Acropolis; see More Tourists Spots for other places in the centre of Athens.