⌚ How Did Pericles Influence Athenian Culture

Archived from the original PDF on 10 October Retrieved 23 November XXV and p. Corinth One How Did Pericles Influence Athenian Culture became rich Piagets Stages Of Child Development and willing to display its assets — while the other remained focused on frugality and constant preparations for war. Further information: Highways in Greece. The Philosophical Quarterly.

Pericles, the Golden Age of Athens

The stoics relied heavily on Socrates. Their moral doctrines focused on how to live a smooth life through wisdom and virtue, giving a crucial role to virtue for happiness and the relation between goodness and ethical excellence, all of which echoed Socratic thought. Arcesilaus , the head of the Academy after Plato, continued the Socratic philosophy of ignorance , and competed with the Stoics over who was the true heir of Socrates with regard to ethics. The Stoics reply to Arcesilaus was that Socratic ignorance was part of Socratic irony they themselves disapproved the use of irony , an argument that ultimately became the dominant narrative of Socrates in later antiquity.

While Aristotle considered Socrates a major philosopher, his writing did not focus on him to the same degree as it did on other, pre-Socratic philosophers, and most of his followers did not comment on Socrates at all. One of Aristotle's pupils unleashed an ad hominem attack on Socrates: Aristoxenus authored a book full of Socrates's scandals; it was not well-received by ancient critics. The Epicureans later weaponized Socratic irony in their polemic against Socrates. The Epicureans criticized Socrates for his character and various faults, and focused mostly on his irony, which was deemed inappropriate for a philosopher and unseemly for a teacher. Also, his Socratic ignorance did not resonate well with their criteria of truths.

Socratic thought found its way to the Islamic Middle East alongside that of Aristotle and the Stoics. For Muslim scholars, Socrates was hailed and admired for combining his ethics with his lifestyle, perhaps because of the resemblance in this regard with Muhammad 's life. In medieval times, little of Socrates's thought survived in the Christian world as a whole; however, works on Socrates from Christian scholars such as Lactantius, Eusebius and Augustine were maintained in the Byzantine Empire, where Socrates was studied under a strong Christian lens.

Overall, ancient Socratic philosophy, like the rest of classical literature before the Renaissance , was addressed with hostility in the Christian world at first. During the early phase of the Italian Renaissance , two different narratives of Socrates developed. They both presented a civic version of Socrates, with Socrates being a humanist and a supporter of republicanism. Bruni and Manetti were mostly interested in defending secularism as a non-sinful way of life, and so presenting a view of Socrates that was aligned with the Christian morality assisted their cause.

But in doing so, they had to censor parts of his dialogues, especially those which appeared to promote homosexuality or any possibility of pederasty with Alcibiades , or of representing Socratic ignorance as a tool and his daimon as a god. Ficino portrayed a holy picture of Socrates, finding parallels with the life of Jesus Christ. For Ficino and his followers, Socratic ignorance signified his acknowledgement that all wisdom is God-given through his inner voice—Socratic daimon []. In early modern France , Socrates's image was dominated by features of his private life rather than his philosophical thought, in various novels and satirical plays.

In the 18th century, German idealism revived philosophical interest in Socrates, mainly through Hegel's work. For Hegel, Socrates marked a turning point in the history of humankind by the introduction of the principle of free subjectivity or self-determination. While Hegel hails Socrates for his contribution, he nonetheless justifies the Athenian court, for Socrates's insistence upon self-determination would be destructive of the Sittlichkeit a Hegelian term signifying the way of life as shaped by the institutions and laws of the State.

Hegel did not see the Socratic method as maieutic, since it was used to refute various arguments but not to yield any positive conclusions. He writes, "The only analogy I have before me is Socrates; my task is a Socratic task, to audit the definition of what it is to be a Christian", with his aim being to bring society closer to the Christian ideal, since he believed that Christianity had become a formality, void of any Christian essence. The hostility of Friedrich Nietzsche against Socrates for reshaping the philosophical landscape of humanity is well known.

For Nietzsche, Socrates turned the scope of philosophy from pre-Socratic naturalism to rationalism and intellectualism. He writes: "I conceive of [the Presocratics] as precursors to a reformation of the Greeks: but not of Socrates"; "with Empedocles and Democritus the Greeks were well on their way towards taking the correct measure of human existence, its unreason, its suffering; they never reached this goal, thanks to Socrates". It was with this absurdity of a doctrine of identity that he fascinated: ancient philosophy never again freed itself [from this fascination]", [] From the late 19th century until the early 20th, the most common explanation of Nietzsche's hostility towards Socrates was his anti-rationalism; he considered Socrates the father of European rationalism.

In the middle of the 20th century, philosopher Walter Kaufmann published an article arguing for Nietzsche's admiration of Socrates, and current mainstream opinion is that Nietzsche was ambivalent towards Socrates. Continental philosophers Hannah Arendt , Leo Strauss and Karl Popper , after experiencing the horrors of World War II , amidst the rise of totalitarian regimes, saw Socrates as an icon of individual conscience. He sees an elitist Socrates in Plato's Republic as exemplifying why the polis is not, and could not be, an ideal way of organizing life, since philosophical truths cannot be digested by the masses.

For Popper, Socratic individualism, along with Athenian democracy, lead to the creation of their most significant contribution to humankind, the open society , which is the hallmark of Popper's philosophy, as described in his Open Society and Its Enemies Socrates has been widely recognized for his contribution to philosophy, but his fame is more widespread than this and he appears in many aspects of popular culture.

His name has been given to philosophical institutions, programs, buildings and parks. Even a crater on the Moon bears his name. He has featured in novels, books, films, TV series, songs and compositions. Socrates inspired a generation of Romantic poets. Percy Bysshe Shelley compared Socrates to Jesus. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Classical Greek Athenian philosopher c. This article is about the classical Greek philosopher. For other uses of Socrates, see Socrates disambiguation. For the Attic orator, see Isocrates. A marble head of Socrates in the Louvre copy of bronze head by Lysippus.

Deme Alopece , Athens. Social gadfly Socratic dialogue Socratic intellectualism Socratic irony Socratic method Socratic paradox Socratic questioning " The unexamined life is not worth living ". Prodicus , Anaxagoras , Archelaus , Diotima , Damon. Virtually all subsequent Western philosophy , especially his followers, e. Main article: Trial of Socrates. Main article: Socratic method. Philosophy portal. Benson also adds parts of Meno p. Those who do not think a Socratic account of piety is implied by the text "anticonstructivists" include Allen , pp.

Beckman , ch. See also Supplement "The Reception of Socrates". Ahbel-Rappe, Sara; Kamtekar, Rachana A Companion to Socrates. ISBN Ahbel-Rappe, Sara Socrates: A Guide for the Perplexed. Alon, Ilai In Sara Ahbel-Rappe ed. Rachana Kamtekar. Ambury, James M. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2 June Ausland, Hayden W. In Kyriakos N. Demetriou ed. Brill's Companion to the Reception of Socrates. Benson, Hung H. In Donald R. Morrison ed. The Cambridge Companion to Socrates. Cambridge University Press. In Nicholas D. Smith ed. The Bloomsbury Companion to Socrates.

John Bussanich. Bett, Richard Bowman, Brady 15 May Brickhouse, Thomas C. Campos-Daroca, F. Javier 15 May Cooper, John M. Plato: Complete Works. Edited with an Introduction and Notes. Hackett Publishing Company. Guthrie, W. Griswold, Charles L. Hankins, James Johnson, Curtis 3 January Jones, Daniel 8 June English Pronouncing Dictionary. Kahn, Charles H. Konstan, David Lane, Josiah Lapatin, Keneth Lesher, J. James H. Journal of the History of Philosophy. Project Muse. ISSN S2CID Long, A. Loughlin, Felicity P. May, Hope On Socrates.

McPherran, Mark L. McPartland, Melissa 3 January McLean, Daniel R. Muench, Paul Nails, Debra Edward N. Zalta ed. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. O'Connor, David K. Ober, Josiah Obdrzalek, Suzanne 3 January Penner, Terry Porter, James I. Ralkowski, Mark 3 January Raymond, Christopher C. Reshotko, Naomi 3 January Rudebusch, George Segvic, Heda Schur, David; Yamato, Lori 15 May Trizio, Michele 15 May Vasiliou, Iakovos 3 January Vlastos, Gregory The Philosophical Quarterly. JSTOR Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher. Cornell University Press. Waterfield, Robin 3 January Wolfsdorf, David 3 January White, Nicholas Socrates at Wikipedia's sister projects.

Trial of Socrates. Social gadfly Socratic dialogue Socratic intellectualism Socratic irony Socratic method Socratic paradox Socratic questioning. Socratic problem Socratici viri. Apology Memorabilia Oeconomicus Symposium. Halcyon Socratic Letters. Euthyphro dilemma Form of the Good Peritrope Religious skepticism. Related articles. Ancient Greek schools of philosophy. Thales Anaximander Anaximenes. Heraclitus Cratylus Antisthenes. Leucippus Democritus.

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Criticism of religion. Authority control. Artist Names Getty. According to the ancient Athenian founding myth , Athena, the goddess of wisdom, competed against Poseidon , the God of the Seas, for patronage of the yet-unnamed city; [26] they agreed that whoever gave the Athenians the better gift would become their patron [26] and appointed Cecrops , the king of Athens, as the judge. A symbol of being autochthon earth-born , because the legendary founder of Athens, Erechtheus was an autochthon or of being musicians, because the cicada is a "musician" insect.

Variant names included Setines, Satine, and Astines, all derivations involving false splitting of prepositional phrases. The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist, which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements , went into economic decline for around years afterwards. Iron Age burials, in the Kerameikos and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region. By the 6th 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 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. 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 , [37] 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 philosopher Socrates. 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 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 — BC , in which Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta. By the mid-4th century BC, the northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. Later, under Rome, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. The Roman emperor Hadrian , in the 2nd century AD, ordered the construction of a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. By the end of Late Antiquity , Athens had shrunk due to sacks by the Herulians , Visigoths , and Early Slavs which caused massive destruction in the city.

In this era, the first Christian churches were built in Athens, and the Parthenon and other temples were converted into churches. Athens expanded its settlement in the second half of the Middle Byzantine Period, in the 9th to 10th centuries AD, and was relatively prosperous during the Crusades , benefiting from Italian trade. After the Fourth Crusade the Duchy of Athens was established.

In it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and entered a long period of decline. Following the Greek War of Independence and the establishment of the Greek Kingdom , Athens was chosen as the capital of the newly independent Greek state in , largely because of historical and sentimental reasons. At the time, it was reduced to a town of about 4, people in a loose swarm of houses along the foot of the Acropolis. The first King of Greece , Otto of Bavaria, commissioned the architects Stamatios Kleanthis and Eduard Schaubert to design a modern city plan fit for the capital of a state.

The first modern city plan consisted of a triangle defined by the Acropolis, the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos and the new palace of the Bavarian king now housing the Greek Parliament , so as to highlight the continuity between modern and ancient Athens. Neoclassicism, the international style of this epoch, was the architectural style through which Bavarian, French and Greek architects such as Hansen, Klenze, Boulanger or Kaftantzoglou designed the first important public buildings of the new capital. In , Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games. During the s a number of Greek refugees , expelled from Asia Minor after the Greco-Turkish War and Greek genocide , swelled Athens's population; nevertheless it was most particularly following World War II , and from the s and s, that the population of the city exploded, and Athens experienced a gradual expansion.

In the s it became evident that smog from factories and an ever-increasing fleet of automobiles, as well as a lack of adequate free space due to congestion, had evolved into the city's most important challenge. A series of anti-pollution measures taken by the city's authorities in the s, combined with a substantial improvement of the city's infrastructure including the Attiki Odos motorway, the expansion of the Athens Metro , and the new Athens International Airport , considerably alleviated pollution and transformed Athens into a much more functional city.

In Athens hosted the Summer Olympics. Theseus was responsible, according to the myth, for the synoikismos "dwelling together" —the political unification of Attica under Athens. Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Athens during the rule of the de la Roche family 13th century. The Stadiou Street in Central Athens in The basin is bounded 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. The Saronic Gulf lies to the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest of the four mountains 1, m 4, ft , [39] and has been declared a national park. The city is located in the north temperate zone, 38 degrees north of the equator.

Athens is built around a number of hills. Lycabettus is one of the tallest hills of the city proper and provides a view of the entire Attica Basin. The meteorology of Athens is deemed to be one of the most complex in the world because its mountains cause a temperature inversion phenomenon which, along with the Greek Government's difficulties controlling industrial pollution, was responsible for the air pollution problems the city has faced. The Cephissus river, the Ilisos and the Eridanos stream are the historical rivers of Athens. By the late s, the pollution of Athens had become so destructive that according to the then Greek Minister of Culture , Constantine Trypanis, " Measures taken by the Greek authorities throughout the s have improved the quality of air over the Attica Basin.

Nevertheless, air pollution still remains an issue for Athens, particularly during the hottest summer days. In late June , [41] the Attica region experienced a number of brush fires , [41] including a blaze that burned a significant portion of a large forested national park in Mount Parnitha , [42] considered critical to maintaining a better air quality in Athens all year round. The major waste management efforts undertaken in the last decade particularly the plant built on the small island of Psytalia have greatly improved water quality in the Saronic Gulf, and the coastal waters of Athens are now accessible again to swimmers.

In January , Athens faced a waste management problem when its landfill near Ano Liosia , an Athenian suburb, reached capacity. Athens ranks in the lowest percentage for the risk on frequency and severity of terrorist attacks according to the EU Global Terrorism Database EIU — calculations. The dominant feature of Athens' climate is alternation between prolonged hot and dry summers because of the dry and hot winds blowing from the Sahara, and mild, wetter winters with moderate rainfall, due to the westerly winds.

July and August are the driest months when thunderstorms occur sparsely. Furthermore, some coastal areas of Athens, known as the Athens Riviera have a hot semi-arid climate BSh according to the climate atlas published by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service. This happens because of the moderating sea and the fact that there is not as much industrialization as in other regions of the city. Owing to the rain shadow of the Pindus Mountains, annual precipitation of Athens is lower than most other parts of Greece, especially western Greece.

As an example, Ioannina receives around 1, mm 51 in per year, and Agrinio around mm 31 in per year. The northern suburbs tend to be wetter and cooler in winter, whereas the southern suburbs are some of the driest locations in Greece and record very high minimum temperatures in summer. Snowfall is infrequent. The last time snow fell in Greater Athens area and Athens itself, was February ; snow blanketed the city from the north to the very south suburbs with depth ranges from cm up to 40 cm. Athens is affected by the urban heat island effect in some areas which is caused by human activity, [54] [55] altering its temperatures compared to the surrounding rural areas, [56] [57] [58] [59] and leaving detrimental effects on energy usage, expenditure for cooling, [60] [61] and health.

Parnitha National Park is punctuated by well-marked paths, gorges, springs, torrents and caves dotting the protected area. Hiking and mountain-biking in all four mountains are popular outdoor activities for residents of the city. The National Garden of Athens was completed in and is a green refuge of It is to be found between the Parliament and Zappeion buildings, the latter of which maintains its own garden of seven hectares. Parts of the City Centre have been redeveloped under a masterplan called the Unification of Archeological Sites of Athens , which has also gathered funding from the EU to help enhance the project.

The route starts from the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, continues under the southern slopes of the Acropolis near Plaka , and finishes just beyond the Temple of Hephaestus in Thiseio. The route in its entirety provides visitors with views of the Parthenon and the Agora the meeting point of ancient Athenians , away from the busy City Centre. The hills of Athens also provide green space.

Lycabettus , Philopappos hill and the area around it, including Pnyx and Ardettos hill , are planted with pines and other trees, with the character of a small forest rather than typical metropolitan parkland. Also to be found is the Pedion tou Areos Field of Mars of Athens' largest zoo is the Attica Zoological Park , a hectare acre private zoo located in the suburb of Spata. The zoo is home to around animals representing species, and is open days a year.

Smaller zoos exist within public gardens or parks, such as the zoo within the National Garden of Athens. The Athens Metropolitan Area consists of 58 [19] densely populated municipalities, sprawling around the Municipality of Athens the City Centre in virtually all directions. For the Athenians, all the urban municipalities surrounding the City Centre are called suburbs.

The Athens city coastline, extending from the major commercial port of Piraeus to the southernmost suburb of Varkiza for some 25 km 20 mi , [80] is also connected to the City Centre by tram. The area has been redeveloped according to a design by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava , with steel arches, landscaped gardens, fountains, futuristic glass, and a landmark new blue glass roof which was added to the main stadium. A second Olympic complex, next to the sea at the beach of Palaio Faliro, also features modern stadia, shops and an elevated esplanade.

Work is underway to transform the grounds of the old Athens Airport — named Elliniko — in the southern suburbs, into one of the largest landscaped parks in Europe, to be named the Hellenikon Metropolitan Park. Many of the southern suburbs such as Alimos , Palaio Faliro , Elliniko , Glyfada , Voula , Vouliagmeni and Varkiza known as the Athens Riviera , host a number of sandy beaches, most of which are operated by the Greek National Tourism Organisation and require an entrance fee. Casinos operate on both Mount Parnitha, some 25 km 16 mi [82] from downtown Athens accessible by car or cable car , and the nearby town of Loutraki accessible by car via the Athens — Corinth National Highway, or the suburban rail service Proastiakos.

Athens Municipality is the largest in population size in Greece. Piraeus also forms a significant city centre on its own, [83] within the Athens Urban Area and it is the second largest in population size within it, with Peristeri , Kallithea and Kypseli following. The densely built up urban area of the Greek capital sprawls across km 2 sq mi [17] throughout the Attica Basin and has a total population of 3,, in The Athens Municipality forms the core and center of Greater Athens, which in its turn consists of the Athens Municipality and 40 more municipalities, divided in four regional units Central, North, South and West Athens , accounting for 2,, people in [2] within an area of km 2 sq mi.

The regional units of Central Athens, North Athens, South Athens, West Athens and Piraeus with part of East [85] and West Attica [86] regional units combined make up the continuous Athens Urban Area, [86] [87] [88] also called the "Urban Area of the Capital" or simply "Athens" the most common use of the term , spanning over km 2 sq mi , [89] with a population of 3,, people as of The Athens Urban Area is considered to form the city of Athens as a whole, despite its administrative divisions, which is the largest in Greece and one of the most populated urban areas in Europe. Athens and Piraeus municipalities serve as the two metropolitan centres of the Athens Metropolitan Area. For example, Kifissia and Glyfada serve as inter-municipal centres for northern and southern suburbs respectively.

The Municipality of Athens has an official population of , people. They together with the regional unit of Piraeus Greater Piraeus make up the dense Athens Urban Area which reaches a total population of 3,, inhabitants in The municipality Center of Athens is the most populous in Greece , with a population of , people in [2] and an area of The municipality is divided into seven municipal districts which are mainly used for administrative purposes. As of the census, the population for each of the seven municipal districts of Athens is as follows: [91]. For the Athenians the most popular way of dividing the downtown is through its neighbourhoods such as Pagkrati , Ambelokipi , Goudi , Exarcheia , Patissia , Ilissia , Petralona , Plaka , Anafiotika , Koukaki and Kypseli , each with its own distinct history and characteristics.

The Athens Metropolitan Area, with an area of 2, It actually sprawls over the whole peninsula of Attica, which is the best part of the region of Attica , excluding the islands. Mycenean Athens in — BC could have equalled the size of Tiryns , with an estimated population of up to 10,—15, During the Classical period Athens denotes both the urban area of the city proper and its subject territory the Athenian city-state extending across most of the modern Attica region except the territory of the city-state of Megaris and the island section.

In BC the Athenian territory probably contained around , people. Thucydides indicates a 5th-century total of ,, and up to , A census ordered by Demetrius of Phalerum in BC is said to have recorded 21, free citizens, 10, resident aliens and , slaves, a total population of ,, [93] but this figure is highly suspect because of the improbably high number of slaves and does not include free women and children and resident foreigners.

An estimate based on Thucydides is 40, male citizens, , family members, 70, metics resident foreigners and ,, slaves, though modern historians again hesitate to take such high numbers at face value, most estimates now preferring a total in the —, range. The urban area of Athens proper excluding the port of Piraeus covered less than a thousandth of the area of the city-state, though its population density was of course far higher: modern estimates for the population of the built-up area tend to indicate around 35—45, inhabitants, though uncertainties persist around density of occupation, household size and whether there was a significant suburban population beyond the walls. The ancient site of the main city is centred on the rocky hill of the acropolis.

In the whole of Athenian territory they existed many towns. The new port of Piraeus was a prototype harbour with the infrastructure and housing located in the site between modern passenger section of the port named Kantharos in ancient times and the Pasalimani harbour named Zea in ancient times. The old one Phaliro was in the site of modern Palaio Faliro and gradually declined after the construction of the new prototype port but remained as a minor port and important settlement with historic significance in late Classical times. The rapid expansion of the modern city, which continues to this day, took off with industrial growth in the s and s.

By this process Athens has engulfed many former suburbs and villages in Attica, and continues to do so. The table below shows the historical population of Athens in recent times. Athens became the capital of Greece in , following Nafplion , which was the provisional capital from The municipality City of Athens is also the capital of the Attica region.

Athens is twinned with: []. Athens is the financial capital of Greece. According to data from , Athens as a metropolitan economic area produced billion US-dollars as GDP in PPP , which consists nearly a half of the production for the whole country. In the list with the strongest economic metropoles of the world Athens was ranked that year nd, while the GDP per capita for the same year was 32, US-dollars. Athens is one of the major economic centres in south-eastern Europe and is considered a regional economic power in Europe generally. The port of Piraeus, where big investments by COSCO have already been delivered during the recent decade, the completion of the new Cargo Centre in Thriasion, [] the expansion of the Athens Metro and the Athens Tram , as well as the Hellenikon metropolitan park redevelopment in Elliniko and other economic projects are the economic landmarks of the upcoming years.

The Athens Stock Exchange , the only in Greece, has been severely hit by the Greek government-debt crisis and the decision of the government to proceed into capital controls during summer As a whole the economy of Athens and Greece has been severely hit with today's data showing a change from long recession to growth of 1. Tourism is also a great contributor for the economy of the city, which is considered one of the top destinations in Europe for city-break tourism and is also the gateway for excursions to the islands or the mainland. Greece attracted Athens welcomed more than 5 million tourists in and 1,4 million of them were "city-breakers" in the city-breakers were only Athens is the major transportation hub of Greece. The city has the largest airport in Greece and the largest port in Greece, which is also the largest port in Mediterranean in containers transport and the largest passenger port in Europe.

It is also a major national hub for Intercity Ktel and international buses as well as for domestic and international rail transport. Public transport is serviced by a variety of transportation means, forming the largest mass transit system of Greece. The Athens Mass Transit System consists of a large bus and trolleybus fleet, the city's Metro , a commuter rail service [] and a tram network , connecting the southern suburbs to the city centre. As of , its network consists of about bus lines which span the Athens Metropolitan Area, with a fleet of 2, buses buses and trolleybuses. Of those 2, buses run on compressed natural gas , making up the largest fleet of natural gas-powered buses in Europe, and are electric buses trolleybuses. All of the trolleybuses are equipped to enable them to run on diesel in case of power failure.

International links are provided by a number of private companies. While its main purpose is transport, it also houses Greek artifacts found during construction of the system. A fleet of 42 trains, using carriages, operates on the network, [] with a daily occupancy of 1,, passengers. Line 1 Green Line serves 24 stations, and is the oldest line of the Athens metro network.

It runs from Piraeus station to Kifissia station and covers a distance of Line 2 Red Line runs from Anthoupoli station to Elliniko station and covers a distance of Line 3 Blue Line runs from Nikaia station, through the central Monastiraki and Syntagma stations to Doukissis Plakentias avenue in the northeastern suburb of Halandri. Extensions are under construction to the western and southwestern suburbs of Athens, as far as the Port of Piraeus.

The new stations will be Maniatika, Piraeus and Dimotiko Theatro, and the completed extension will be ready in , connecting the biggest port of Greece, the Port of Piraeus, with Athens International Airport, the biggest airport of Greece. The length of Athens's commuter rail network extends to km 75 mi , [] and is expected to stretch to km mi by A Statheres Sygkoinonies S. It has a fleet of 35 Sirio type vehicles [] which serve 48 stations, [] employ people with an average daily occupancy of 65, passengers.

The network covers the majority of the Athens coastline. It employs a staff of 14, The airport is served by the Metro , the suburban rail , buses to Piraeus port, Athens' City Centre, Liosion and Kifisos Intercity bus stations and Elliniko metro's line 2 southern terminal, and also taxis. In , the airport handled 24,, passengers, a huge increase over the last 4 years. In , the airport handled 15,, passengers, an increase of Athens is the hub of the country's national railway system OSE , connecting the capital with major cities across Greece and abroad Istanbul , Sofia , Belgrade and Bucharest.

The Port of Piraeus is the largest port in Greece and one of the largest in Europe. It is the largest container port in East Mediterranean Sea Basin. It is also the busiest passenger port in Europe and one of the largest passenger ports in the world. It connects Athens to the numerous Greek islands of the Aegean Sea , with ferries departing, while also serving the cruise ships that arrive. Before their completion much of the road traffic used the GR-1 and the GR Athens' Metropolitan Area is served by the motorway network of the Attiki Odos toll-motorway code: A6. Its main section extends from the western industrial suburb of Elefsina to Athens International Airport ; while two beltways, namely the Aigaleo Beltway A65 and the Hymettus Beltway A64 serve parts of western and eastern Athens respectively.

The span of the Attiki Odos in all its length is 65 km 40 mi , [] making it the largest metropolitan motorway network in all of Greece. In this area, on November 17, , more than 13 students were killed and hundreds injured during the Athens Polytechnic uprising [] against the military junta that ruled the nation from 21 April until 23 July The University of West Attica is the second largest university in Athens. The seat of the university is located in the Western Sector of Athens where Ancient Athenian Philosophers gave academic lectures. All the activities of UNIWA are carried out in the modern infrastructure of the three University Campuses within the metropolitan region of Athens Egaleo Park, Ancient Olive Groove and Athens , which offer modern teaching and research spaces, entertainment and support facilities for all students.

There are also several other private colleges , as they called formally in Greece, as the establishment of private universities is prohibited by the constitution. Many of them are accredited by a foreign state or university such as the American College of Greece and the Athens Campus of the University of Indianapolis. The city is a world centre of archaeological research. The city is also home to the Demokritos laboratory for Archaeometry , alongside regional and national archaeological authorities that form part of the Greek Department of Culture. Athens hosts 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes which promote and facilitate research by scholars from their home countries.

As a result, Athens has more than a dozen archaeological libraries and three specialized archaeological laboratories, and is the venue of several hundred specialized lectures, conferences and seminars, as well as dozens of archaeological exhibitions, each year. At any given time, hundreds of international scholars and researchers in all disciplines of archaeology are to be found in the city. Athens incorporates architectural styles ranging from Greco-Roman and Neoclassical to modern times. They are often to be found in the same areas, as Athens is not marked by a uniformity of architectural style. A visitor will quickly notice the absence of tall buildings: Athens has very strict height restriction laws in order to ensure the Acropolis hill is visible throughout the city.

Despite the variety in styles, there is evidence of continuity in elements of the architectural environment through the city's history. For the greatest part of the 19th century Neoclassicism dominated Athens, as well as some deviations from it such as Eclecticism , especially in the early 20th century. Thus, the Old Royal Palace was the first important public building to be built, between and Later in the mid and late 19th century, Theophil Freiherr von Hansen and Ernst Ziller took part in the construction of many neoclassical buildings such as the Athens Academy and the Zappeion Hall.

Ziller also designed many private mansions in the centre of Athens which gradually became public, usually through donations, such as Schliemann 's Iliou Melathron. Beginning in the s, modern architecture including Bauhaus and Art Deco began to exert an influence on almost all Greek architects, and buildings both public and private were constructed in accordance with these styles. Localities with a great number of such buildings include Kolonaki , and some areas of the centre of the city; neighbourhoods developed in this period include Kypseli. In the s and s during the extension and development of Athens, other modern movements such as the International style played an important role.

The centre of Athens was largely rebuilt, leading to the demolition of a number of neoclassical buildings. The architects of this era employed materials such as glass, marble and aluminium, and many blended modern and classical elements. All over the city can be found several statues or busts. A significant landmark is also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma. Athens has been a destination for travellers since antiquity. Over the past decade, the city's infrastructure and social amenities have improved, in part because of its successful bid to stage the Olympic Games.

The Greek Government, aided by the EU, has funded major infrastructure projects such as the state-of-the-art Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport , [] the expansion of the Athens Metro system, [78] and the new Attiki Odos Motorway. Athens was voted as the third best European city to visit in by European Best Destination. More than , people voted. Athens is home to theatrical stages, more than any other city in the world, including the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus , home to the Athens Festival , which runs from May to October each year. The city also supports music venues, including the Athens Concert Hall Megaro Moussikis , which attracts world class artists.

Restaurants, tavernas and bars can be found in the entertainment hubs in Plaka and the Trigono areas of the historic centre, the inner suburbs of Gazi and Psyrri are especially busy with nightclubs and bars, while Kolonaki , Exarchia , Metaxourgeio , Koukaki and Pangrati have more of a cafe and restaurant scene. The coastal suburbs of Microlimano , Alimos and Glyfada have tavernas, beach bars and busy summer clubs. Notable composers of operettas or nocturnes were Kostas Giannidis , Dionysios Lavrangas , Nikos Hatziapostolou , while Theophrastos Sakellaridis ' The Godson remains probably the most popular operetta.

Despite the fact that the Athenian songs were not autonomous artistic creations in contrast with the serenades and despite their original connection with mainly dramatic forms of Art , they eventually became hits as independent songs. After , wavering among American and European musical influences as well as the Greek musical tradition. Greek composers begin to write music using the tunes of the tango , waltz , swing , foxtrot , some times combined with melodies in the style of Athenian serenades' repertory. Nikos Gounaris was probably the most renowned composer and singer of the time. Other forms of song popular today in Greece are elafrolaika, entechno, dimotika, and skyladika.

Both composers have achieved fame abroad for their composition of film scores. Athens has a long tradition in sports and sporting events, serving as home to the most important clubs in Greek sport and housing a large number of sports facilities. The city has also been host to sports events of international importance. Athens has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in and The Summer Olympics required the development of the Athens Olympic Stadium , which has since gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, and one of its most interesting modern monuments.

Athens has hosted the EuroLeague final three times, the first in and second in , both at the Peace and Friendship Stadium , most known as SEF, a large indoor arena, [] and the third time in at the Olympic Indoor Hall. Events in other sports such as athletics , volleyball, water polo etc. Athens is home to three European multi-sport clubs: Panathinaikos , originated in Athens city centre, Olympiacos , originated in the suburb of Piraeus and AEK Athens , originated in the suburb of Nea Filadelfeia. In football , Panathinaikos made it to the European Cup Final , Olympiacos have dominated domestic competitions, while AEK Athens is the other member of the big three. These clubs also have basketball teams; Panathinaikos and Olympiacos are among the top powers in European basketball, having won the Euroleague six times and three respectively, whilst AEK Athens was the first Greek team to win a European trophy in any team sport.

Athenian clubs have also had domestic and international success in other sports. The Athens area encompasses a variety of terrain , notably hills and mountains rising around the city, and the capital is the only major city in Europe to be bisected by a mountain range. Four mountain ranges extend into city boundaries and thousands of kilometres of trails criss-cross the city and neighbouring areas, providing exercise and wilderness access on foot and bike.

Beyond Athens and across the prefecture of Attica, outdoor activities include skiing , rock climbing , hang gliding and windsurfing. Numerous outdoor clubs serve these sports, including the Athens Chapter of the Sierra Club , which leads over 4, outings annually in the area. Beside the above clubs, inside the boundaries of Athens Municipality there are some more clubs with presence in national divisions or notable action for short periods. Another important Athenian sport club is the Athens Tennis Club founded in with important offer for the Greek tennis. Thanks to his efforts, Athens was awarded the first modern Olympic Games. In , the city had a population of , [95] and the event helped boost the city's international profile.

Of the venues used for these Olympics, the Kallimarmaro Stadium, and Zappeion were most crucial. The Kallimarmaro is a replica of the ancient Athenian stadiums, and the only major stadium in its capacity of 60, to be made entirely of white marble from Mount Penteli , the same material used for construction of the Parthenon. Fencing before the king of Greece at the Summer Olympics. The Summer Olympics , or the Intercalated games, were held in Athens. The intercalated competitions were intermediate games to the internationally organized Olympics, and were meant to be organized in Greece every four years, between the main Olympics.

This idea later lost support from the IOC and these games were discontinued. Athens was awarded the Summer Olympics on 5 September in Lausanne , Switzerland, after having lost a previous bid to host the Summer Olympics , to Atlanta , United States. After an unsuccessful bid in , the bid was radically improved, including an appeal to Greece's Olympic history. In the last round of voting, Athens defeated Rome with 66 votes to During the first three years of preparations, the International Olympic Committee had expressed concern over the speed of construction progress for some of the new Olympic venues.

In the Organising Committee's president was replaced by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki , who was the president of the original Bidding Committee in From that point forward, preparations continued at a highly accelerated, almost frenzied pace. The games welcomed over 10, athletes from all countries. The Games were judged a success, as both security and organization worked well, and only a few visitors reported minor problems mainly concerning accommodation issues. Eventually, however, a total of more than 3. In it was reported that most of the Olympic venues had fallen into disrepair: according to those reports, 21 of the 22 facilities built for the games had either been left abandoned or are in a state of dereliction, with several squatter camps having sprung up around certain facilities, and a number of venues afflicted by vandalism , graffiti or strewn with rubbish.

The Greek Government has created a corporation, Olympic Properties SA, which is overseeing the post-Olympics management, development and conversion of these facilities, some of which will be sold off or have already been sold off to the private sector, [] while other facilities are still in use just as during the Olympics, or have been converted for commercial use or modified for other sports. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Redirected from Athens, Greece. Capital of Greece. This article is about the city in Greece. For other uses, see Athens disambiguation. For other uses of Athina, see Athina disambiguation. Capital city in Central Greece, Greece. Further information: Names of European cities in different languages: A.

Main articles: History of Athens and Timeline of Athens. The earliest coinage of Athens, c. Religion in Athens [99] Greek Orthodoxy. The Hellenic Parliament. See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Greece. Athens, Alabama pop. Clair County, Illinois pop. Canada Athens Township, Ontario pop. Main article: Public transport in Athens. Main article: Athens Metro. Main article: Proastiakos. Main article: Athens Tram. Main article: Athens International Airport. Further information: Highways in Greece.

Main article: Culture of Greece. See also: Modern architecture in Athens. Further information: List of museums in Greece. Main article: Summer Olympics. Main article: Intercalated Games. Archived from the original on 3 December Retrieved 23 November Hellenic Statistical Authority. Archived from the original on 18 April Retrieved 29 March Archived PDF from the original on 5 February Retrieved 5 November Longman pronunciation dictionary.

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