τὸ κλεινὸν ἄστυ (tò kleinòn ásty, "the glorious city") τὸ ἰοστεφὲς ἄστυ (tò iostephès ásty, "theviolet-crowned city") The City of Wisdom[1] City of Reason[2]
Athens[a] (/ˈæθɪnz/ATH-inz)[6] is the capital andlargest city ofGreece. A major coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of theAttica region and is the southernmost capital on theEuropean mainland. With its urban area's population numbering over 3.6 million, it is theeighth largest urban area in theEuropean Union. TheMunicipality of Athens (also City of Athens), which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021)[4] within its official limits, and a land area of 38.96 km2 (15.04 sq mi).[7][8]
Athens is one of theworld's oldest cities, with itsrecorded history spanning over 3,400 years,[9] and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millenniaBC. According to Greek mythology the city was named afterAthena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, but modern scholars generally agree that the goddess took her name after the city.[10]Classical Athens was one of the most powerfulcity-states inancient Greece. It was a centre for democracy, the arts, education and philosophy,[11][12] and was highly influential throughout the European continent, particularly inAncient Rome.[13] For this reason, it is often regarded as thecradle ofWestern civilization and thebirthplace of democracy in its own right independently from the rest of Greece.[14][15]
In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitanmetropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Greece. It is aBeta (+) – statusglobal city according to theGlobalization and World Cities Research Network,[16] and is one of the biggest economic centers in Southeastern Europe. It also has a large financial sector, and its portPiraeus is both the 2nd busiest passenger port in Europe,[17] and the 13th largest container port in the world.[18] TheAthens metropolitan area[19] extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits as well as itsurban agglomeration, with a population of 3,638,281 (2021)[4][20][21] over an area of 2,928.717 km2 (1,131 sq mi).[8]
InAncient Greek, the name of the city wasἈθῆναι (Athênai,pronounced[atʰɛ̂ːnai̯] inClassical Attic), which is a plural word. In earlier Greek, such asHomeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, asἈθήνη (Athḗnē).[23] It was possibly rendered in the plural later on, like those ofΘῆβαι (Thêbai) andΜυκῆναι (Μukênai). The root of the word is probably not of Greek orIndo-European origin,[24] and is possibly a remnant of thePre-Greek substrate of Attica.[24] In antiquity, it was debated whether Athens took its name from its patron goddessAthena (AtticἈθηνᾶ,Athēnâ,IonicἈθήνη,Athḗnē, andDoricἈθάνα,Athā́nā) or Athena took her name from the city.[25] Modern scholars now generally agree that the goddess takes her name from the city,[25] because the ending -ene is common in names of locations, but rare for personal names.[25]
According to the ancient Athenianfounding myth, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, competed againstPoseidon, 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 appointedCecrops, the king of Athens, as the judge.[26] According to the account given byPseudo-Apollodorus, Poseidon struck the ground with histrident and a salt water spring welled up.[26] In an alternative version of the myth fromVergil's poemGeorgics, Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse.[26] In both versions, Athena offered the Athenians the first domesticatedolive tree.[26][27] Cecrops accepted this gift[26] and declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens.[26][27] Eight different etymologies, now commonly rejected, have been proposed since the 17th century.Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the wordἄθος (áthos) orἄνθος (ánthos) meaning "flower", to denote Athens as the "flowering city".Ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verbθάω, stem θη- (tháō,thē-, "to suck") to denote Athens as having fertile soil.[28] Athenians were calledcicada-wearers (Ancient Greek:Τεττιγοφόροι) because they used to wear pins of golden cicadas. A symbol of beingautochthonous (earth-born), because the legendary founder of Athens,Erechtheus was an autochthon or of being musicians, because the cicada is a "musician" insect.[29] In classical literature, the city was sometimes referred to as theCity of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindar's ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι (iostéphanoi Athânai), or asτὸ κλεινὸν ἄστυ (tò kleinòn ásty, "the glorious city").
During the medieval period, the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular asἈθήνα. Variant names included Setines, Satine, and Astines, all derivations involvingfalse splitting of prepositional phrases.[30] KingAlphonse X of Castile gives the pseudo-etymology 'the one without death/ignorance'.[31][page needed] In Ottoman Turkish, it was calledآتيناĀtīnā,[32] and in modern Turkish, it isAtina.
The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist, which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC.[33] Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years (3000 BC).[34][35] By 1400 BC, the settlement had become an important centre of theMycenaean civilization, and theAcropolis was the site of a majorMycenaean fortress, whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristicCyclopean walls.[36] Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such asMycenae andPylos, it is not known whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event often attributed to aDorian invasion, and the Athenians always maintained that they were pureIonians with no Dorian element. However, Athens,like many other Bronze Age settlements, went into economic decline for around 150 years afterwards.[37]Iron Age burials, in theKerameikos[38] and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from 900 BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region.[39]
By the sixth century BC, widespread social unrest led to the reforms ofSolon. These would pave the way for the eventual introduction of democracy byCleisthenes in 508 BC. Athens had by this time become a significant naval power with a large fleet, and helped therebellion of the Ionian cities againstPersian rule. In the ensuingGreco-Persian Wars Athens, together with Sparta, led the coalition of Greek states that would eventually repel the Persians, defeating them decisively atMarathon in 490 BC, and crucially atSalamis in 480 BC. However, this did not prevent Athens from beingcaptured and sacked twice by the Persians within one year, after a heroic but ultimately failed resistance atThermopylae bySpartans and other Greeks led byKing Leonidas,[40] after bothBoeotia andAttica fell to the Persians.
The decades that followed became known as theGolden Age of Athenian democracy, during which time Athens became the leading city ofAncient Greece, with its cultural achievements laying the foundations forWestern civilization.[14][15] The playwrightsAeschylus,Sophocles andEuripides flourished in Athens during this time, as did the historiansHerodotus andThucydides, the physicianHippocrates, and the philosopherSocrates. Guided byPericles, who promoted the arts and fostered democracy, Athens embarked on an ambitious building program that saw the construction of the Acropolis of Athens (including theParthenon), as well as empire-building via theDelian League. Originally intended as an association ofGreek 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 thePeloponnesian War (431–404 BC), in which Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta.[41]
By the mid-4th century BC, the northern Greek kingdom ofMacedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In 338 BC the armies ofPhilip II defeated an alliance of some of the Greek city-states including Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea. Later, under Rome, Athens was given the status of afree city because of its widely admired schools. In the second century AD, the Roman emperor Hadrian, himself an Athenian citizen,[42] 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 theTemple of Olympian Zeus.
In the early 4th century AD, theEastern Roman Empire began to be governed fromConstantinople, 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 ofLatin declined in favour of exclusive use ofGreek; in theRoman 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.[35] 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 ofNeoplatonism—with notable pupils includingGregory of Nazianzus,Basil of Caesarea and emperorJulian (r. 355–363)—and consequently a center of paganism. Christian items do not appear in the archaeological record until the early 5th century.[43] The sack of the city by theHerules in 267 and by theVisigoths under their kingAlaric 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.[43] The emperorJustinian I (r. 527–565) banned the teaching of philosophy by pagans in 529,[44] an event whose impact on the city is much debated,[43] but is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens. Athens was sacked by theSlavs in 582, but remained in imperial hands thereafter, as highlighted by the visit of the emperorConstans II (r. 641–668) in 662/3 and its inclusion in theTheme of Hellas.[43]
The city was threatened bySaracen 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[45]—but there is also evidence of a mosque existing in the city at the time.[43] In the great dispute overByzantine Iconoclasm, Athens is commonly held to have supported theiconophile position, chiefly due to the role played by EmpressIrene of Athens in the ending of the first period of Iconoclasm at theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787.[43] A few years later, another Athenian,Theophano, became empress as the wife ofStaurakios (r. 811–812).[43]
Invasion of the empire by the Turks after theBattle of Manzikert in 1071, and the ensuing civil wars, largely passed the region by and Athens continued its provincial existence unharmed. When the Byzantine Empire was rescued by the resolute leadership of the threeKomnenos emperorsAlexios,John andManuel, Attica and the rest of Greece prospered. Archaeological evidence tells us that the medieval town experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century.
TheAgora (marketplace) had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon the town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. The growth of the town attracted theVenetians, and various other traders who frequented the ports of the Aegean, to Athens. This interest in trade appears to have further increased the economic prosperity of the town.
The 11th and 12th centuries were the Golden Age ofByzantine art in Athens. Almost all of the most important Middle Byzantine churches in and around Athens were built during these two centuries, and this reflects the growth of the town in general. However, this medieval prosperity was not to last. In 1204, theFourth Crusade conquered Athens and the city was not recovered from theLatins before it was taken by theOttoman Turks. It did not become Greek in government again until the 19th century.
From 1204 until 1458, Athens was ruled by Latins in three separate periods, following theCrusades. The "Latins", or "Franks", were western Europeans and followers of theLatin Church brought to theEastern Mediterranean during the Crusades. Along with rest of Byzantine Greece, Athens was part of the series of feudalfiefs, similar to theCrusader states established inSyria and onCyprus after theFirst Crusade. This period is known as theFrankokratia.
The firstOttoman attack on Athens, which involved a short-lived occupation of the town, came in 1397, under the Ottoman generalsYaqub Pasha and Timurtash.[45] Finally, in 1458, Athens was captured by the Ottomans under the personal leadership of SultanMehmed II.[45] As the Ottoman Sultan rode into the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued afirman (imperial edict) forbidding their looting or destruction, on pain of death. TheParthenon was converted into themain mosque of the city.[35]
Under Ottoman rule, Athens was denuded of any importance and its population severely declined, leaving it as a "small country town" (Franz Babinger).[45] From the early 17th century, Athens came under the jurisdiction of theKizlar Agha, the chief black eunuch of theSultan's harem. The city had originally been granted by SultanAhmed I (r. 1603–1617) to Basilica, one of his favourite concubines, who hailed from the city, in response of complaints of maladministration by the local governors. After her death, Athens came under the purview of the Kizlar Agha.[46]
The Turks began a practice of storing gunpowder and explosives in the Parthenon andPropylaea. In 1640, a lightning bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction.[47] In 1687, during theMorean War, the Acropoliswas besieged by the Venetians underFrancesco Morosini, and thetemple of Athena Nike was dismantled by the Ottomans to fortify the Parthenon. A shot fired during the bombardment of the Acropolis caused a powder magazine in the Parthenon to explode (26 September), and the building was severely damaged, giving it largely the appearance it has today. The Venetian occupation of Athens lasted for six months, and both the Venetians and the Ottomans participated in the looting of the Parthenon. One of its western pediments was removed, causing even more damage to the structure.[35][45] During the Venetian occupation, the two mosques of the city were converted into Catholic and Protestant churches, but on 9 April 1688 the Venetians abandoned Athens again to the Ottomans.[45]
In 1822, a Greek insurgency captured the city, but it fell to the Ottomans again in 1826 (though Acropolis held till June 1827). Again the ancient monuments suffered badly. The Ottoman forces remained in possession until March 1833, when they withdrew.
Following theGreek War of Independence and the establishment of theGreek Kingdom, Athens was chosen to replaceNafplio as the second capital of the newly independent Greek state in 1834, largely because of historical and sentimental reasons.[48] At the time, after the extensive destruction it had suffered during the war of independence, it was reduced to a town of about 4,000 people (less than half its earlier population) in a loose swarm of houses along the foot of the Acropolis. The firstKing of Greece,King Otto of Bavaria, commissioned the architectsStamatios Kleanthis andEduard 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 ofKerameikos and the new palace of the Bavarian king (now housing theGreek 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 1896, Athens hosted the first modernOlympic Games. During the 1920s a number ofGreek refugees, expelled fromAsia Minor after theGreco-Turkish War andPopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey, swelled Athens's population; nevertheless it was mostly afterWorld War II and theCivil War ended, during the 1950s and 1960s, that the population of the city exploded, and Athens experienced its greatest expansion.
In the 1980s, 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. TheAcropolis of Athens was inscribed as aUNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, for its group of ancient Greek monumental ruins, including architectural masterpieces such as theParthenon. A series of anti-pollution measures taken by the city's authorities in the 1990s, combined with a substantial improvement of the city's infrastructure (including theAttiki Odos motorway, the expansion of theAthens Metro, and the newAthens International Airport), considerably alleviated pollution and transformed Athens into a much more functional city. In 2004, Athens hosted the2004 Summer Olympics. Further urban improvements began in the 2020s along the coastal zone, including theHellenikon Park development and the Faliro Delta upgrade, adding to theStavros Niarchos Centre.
The Athens Urban Area within the Attica Basin from space
Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica that is often referred to as theAthens Basin or theAttica Basin (Greek:Λεκανοπέδιο Αθηνών/Αττικής,romanized: Lekanopédio Athinón/Attikís). The basin is bounded by four large mountains:Mount Aigaleo to the west, MountParnitha to the north,Mount Pentelicus to the northeast and MountHymettus to the east.[49] Beyond Mount Aegaleo lies theThriasian plain, which forms an extension of the central plain to the west. TheSaronic Gulf lies to the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest of the four mountains (1,413 m (4,636 ft)),[50] and has been declared anational park. The Athens urban area spreads over 50 kilometres (31 mi) fromAgios Stefanos in the north toVarkiza in the south. The city is located in the north temperate zone, 38 degrees north of the equator.
Athens is built around a large 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 atemperature inversion phenomenon which, along with the Greek government's difficulties controlling industrial pollution, was responsible for the air pollution problems the city has faced.[35] This issue is not unique to Athens; for instance, Los Angeles andMexico City also suffer from similar atmospheric inversion problems.[35]
By the late 1970s, the pollution of Athens had become so destructive that according to the then GreekMinister of Culture, Constantine Trypanis, "...the carved details on the five the caryatids of theErechtheum had seriously degenerated, while the face of the horseman on the Parthenon's west side was all but obliterated."[51] A series of measures taken by the authorities of the city throughout the 1990s resulted in the improvement of air quality; the appearance of smog (ornefos as the Athenians used to call it) has become less common.
Measures taken by the Greek authorities throughout the 1990s 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 2007,[52] the Attica region experienced a number ofbrush fires,[52] including a blaze that burned a significant portion of a large forested national park inMount Parnitha,[53] considered critical to maintaining a better air quality in Athens all year round.[52] Damage to the park has led to worries over a stalling in the improvement of air quality in the city.[52]
The major waste management efforts undertaken in the last decade (particularly the plant built on the small island of Psytalia) have greatly improvedwater quality in the Saronic Gulf, and the coastal waters of Athens are now accessible again to swimmers.
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. TheNational Garden of Athens was completed in 1840 and is a green refuge of 15.5 hectares in the centre of the Greek capital. It is to be found between the Parliament andZappeion buildings, the latter of which maintains its own garden of seven hectares. Parts of the City Centre have been redeveloped under a masterplan called theUnification of Archeological Sites of Athens, which has also gathered funding from the EU to help enhance the project.[54][55] The landmarkDionysiou Areopagitou Street has been pedestrianised, forming a scenic route. The route starts from theTemple of Olympian Zeus at Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, continues under the southern slopes of the Acropolis nearPlaka, and finishes just beyond theTemple of Hephaestus inThiseio. The route in its entirety provides visitors with views of the Parthenon and theAgora (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, includingPnyx andArdettos 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 thePedion tou Areos (Field of Mars) of 27.7 hectares, near theNational Archaeological Museum. Athens' largest zoo is theAttica Zoological Park, a 20-hectare (49-acre) private zoo located in the suburb of Spata. The zoo is home to around 2000 animals representing 400 species, and is open 365 days a year. Smaller zoos exist within public gardens or parks, such as the zoo within the National Garden of Athens.
Athens has a hot-summerMediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification:Csa). The climate in Athens can be considered warmer than some cities that are similar or even less distant from the equator such as Seoul, Melbourne, Buenos Aires, Cape Town and Norfolk (Virginia, US). According to the meteorological station near the city center which is operated by theNational Observatory of Athens, the downtown area has simple mean annual temperature of 19.2 °C (66.6 °F) while parts of the urban agglomeration may reach up to 19.8 °C (67.6 °F), being affected by theurban heat island effect.[56] Athens receives about 433.1 millimetres (17.05 in) of precipitation per year, largely concentrated during the colder half of the year with the remaining rainfall falling sparsely, mainly during thunderstorms.Fog is rare in the city center, but somewhat more frequent in areas to the east, close to mountHymettus.[57]
The southern section of theAthens metropolitan area (i.e.,Elliniko,Athens Riviera) lies in the transitional zone betweenMediterranean (Csa) and hotsemi-arid climate (BSh), with its port-city ofPiraeus being the most extreme example, receiving just 331.9 millimetres (13.07 in) per year. The areas to the south generally see less extreme temperature variations as their climate is moderated by theSaronic gulf.[58] The northern part of the city (i.e.,Kifissia), owing to its higher elevation, features moderately lower temperatures and slightly increased precipitation year-round. The generally dry climate of the Athens basin compared to the precipitation amounts seen in a typicalMediterranean climate is due to therain shadow effect caused by thePindus mountain range and theDirfys andParnitha mountains, substantially drying the westerly[59] and northerly[57] winds respectively.
Snowfall in Athens on 16 February 2021
Snowfall is not very common. It usually does not cause heavy disruption to daily life, in contrast to the northern parts of the city, whereblizzards occur on a somewhat more regular basis. The most recent examples include the snowstorms of 16 February 2021[60] and 24 January 2022,[61] when the entire urban area was blanketed in snow.
Athens may get particularly hot in the summer, owing partly to the strongurban heat island effect characterizing the city.[62] In fact, Athens has been referred to as the hottest city inmainland Europe,[63] and is the first city in Europe to appoint a chief heat officer to deal with severeheat waves.[64]Temperatures of 47.5°C have been reported in several locations of the metropolitan area, including within the urban agglomeration.Metropolitan Athens was until 2021 the holder of theWorld Meteorological Organization record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe with 48.0 °C (118.4 °F) which was recorded in the areas ofElefsina andTatoi on 10 July 1977.[65][66]
Climate data for downtown Athens (1991–2020, extremes 1890–present)
Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, followingNafplion, which was the provisional capital from 1829. The municipality (city) of Athens is also the capital of theAttica region. The termAthens can refer either to the municipality of Athens, toGreater Athens or urban area, or to the entireAthens Metropolitan Area.
The largecity centre (Greek:Κέντρο της Αθήνας,romanized: Kéntro tis Athínas) of the Greek capital falls directly within theMunicipality of Athens (Greek:Δήμος Αθηναίων,romanized: Dímos Athinaíon), which is the largest in population size in Greece and forms the core of the Athens urban area, followed by theMunicipality ofPiraeus, which forms a significant city centre on its own within the Athens urban area and it is the second largest in population size within it.
TheAthens Urban Area (Greek:Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Αθηνών,romanized: Poleodomikó Synkrótima Athinón), also known asUrban Area of the Capital (Greek:Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Πρωτεύουσας,romanized: Poleodomikó Synkrótima Protévousas) orGreater Athens (Greek:Ευρύτερη Αθήνα,romanized: Evrýteri Athína),[76] today consists of 40 municipalities: 35 of them divided in four regional units (Central Athens,North Athens,West Athens,South Athens), and a further 5 municipalities which make up theregional unit of Piraeus. The Athens urban area spans over 412 km2 (159 sq mi),[77] with a population of 3,059,764 people as of 2021.
TheAthens metropolitan area spans 2,928.717 km2 (1,131 sq mi) within theAttica region and includes a total of 58 municipalities, which are organized in seven regional units (those outlined above, along withEast Attica andWest Attica), having reached a population of 3,638,281 according to the 2021 census.[4] Athens and Piraeus municipalities serve as the two metropolitan centres of the Athens Metropolitan Area.[78] There are also some inter-municipal centres serving specific areas. For example,Kifissia andGlyfada serve as inter-municipal centres for northern and southern suburbs respectively.
View of Vila Atlantis, inKifissia, designed byErnst ZillerBeach in the southern suburb ofAlimos, one of the many beaches in the southern coast of Athens
The Athens city coastline, extending from the major commercial port ofPiraeus to the southernmost suburb ofVarkiza for some 25 km (20 mi),[80] is also connected to the City Centre by tram.
In the northern suburb of Maroussi, the upgraded mainOlympic Complex (known by its Greek acronym OAKA) dominates the skyline. The area has been redeveloped according to a design by the Spanish architectSantiago 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 – namedElliniko – in the southern suburbs, into one of the largest landscaped parks in Europe, to be named theHellenikon Metropolitan Park.[81]
The concept of apartner city is used under different names in different countries, but they mean the same thing, that two cities in different countries assist each other as partners. Athens has quite a number of partners, whether as a "twin", a "sister", or a "partner."
The Municipality of Athens has an official population of 643,452 people (in 2021).[4] According to the2021 Population and Housing Census, The four regional units that make up the former Athens prefecture have a combined population of 2,611,713 . They together with theregional unit of Piraeus (sometimes referred to as Greater Piraeus) make up the dense Athens Urban Area or Greater Athens which reaches a total population of 3,059,764 inhabitants (in 2021).[4]
The municipality (Center) of Athens is themost populous in Greece, with a population of 643,452 people (in 2021)[4] and an area of 38.96 km2 (15.04 sq mi),[7] forming the core of the Athens Urban Area within the Attica Basin. The incumbentMayor of Athens is Charis Doukas of PASOK. The municipality is divided into seven municipal districts which are mainly used for administrative purposes.[83]
The Athens Metropolitan Area, with an area of 2,928.717 km2 (1,131 sq mi) and inhabited by 3,744,059 people in 2021,[4] consists of the Athens Urban Area with the addition of the towns and villages ofEast andWest Attica, which surround the dense urban area of the Greek capital. It actually sprawls over the whole peninsula of Attica, which is the best part of theregion of Attica, excluding theislands.
Classification of regional units within Greater Athens, Athens Urban Area and Athens Metropolitan Area
Athens ranks in the lowest percentage for the risk on frequency and severity of terrorist attacks according to the EU Global Terrorism Database (EIU 2007–2016 calculations). The city also ranked 35th in Digital Security, 21st on Health Security, 29th on Infrastructure Security and 41st on Personal Security globally in a 2017 TheEconomist Intelligence Unit report.[86] It also ranks as a very safe city (39th globally out of 162 cities overall) on the ranking of the safest and most dangerous countries.[87] As November 2024 the crime index fromNumbeo places Athens at 55.40 (moderate), while its safety index is at 44.60.[88][89] According to aMercer 2019 Quality of Living Survey, Athens ranks 89th on the Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranking.[90]
Athens is thefinancial capital of Greece. According to data from 2014, Athens as a metropolitan economic area produced US$130 billion as GDP inPPP, which consists of nearly half of the production for the whole country. Athens was ranked 102nd in that year's list of global economic metropolises, while GDP per capita for the same year was 32,000US dollars.[93]
Athens is one of the major economic centres in south-eastern Europe and is considered a regional economic power. The port of Piraeus, where big investments byCOSCO have already been delivered during the recent decade, the completion of the new Cargo Centre in Thriasion,[94] theexpansion of the Athens Metro and theAthens Tram, as well as theHellenikon metropolitan park redevelopment in Elliniko and other urban projects, are the economic landmarks of the upcoming years.
Tourism is also a leading contributor to the economy of the city, as one of Europe's top destinations for city-break tourism, and also the gateway for excursions to both the islands and other parts of the mainland. Greece attracted 26.5 million visitors in 2015, 30.1 million visitors in 2017, and over 33 million in 2018, making Greece one of themost visited countries in Europe and the world, and contributing 18% to the country's GDP. Athens welcomed more than 5 million tourists in 2018, and 1.4 million were "city-breakers"; this was an increase by over a million city-breakers since 2013.[96]
Monastiraki Square bustling with tourists during peak season
Athens has been a destination for travellers since antiquity. Over the 2000s, the city's infrastructure and social amenities have improved, in part because of its successful bid to stage the2004 Olympic Games.
In recent years, Athens has become more dynamic with the addition of numerous new bars and cafés and a growing presence ofstreet art andgraffiti, enhancing its urban edge and adding more touristic options alongside the city's archaeological sites and museums.[98]
Athens railways network (Metro, Suburban Railway and Tram)
Athens is the country's major transportation hub. The city has Greece's largest airport and its largest port; Piraeus, too, is the largest container transport port in the Mediterranean, and the largest passenger port in Europe.
Athens is 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, making up the country's largest mass transit system.Transport for Athens operates a large bus andtrolleybus fleet, the city'sMetro, aSuburban Railway service[99] and atram network, connecting the southern suburbs to the city centre.[100]
OSY (Greek:ΟΣΥ) (Odikes Sygkoinonies S.A.), a subsidiary company of OASA (Athens urban transport organisation), is the main operator of buses and trolleybuses in Athens. As of 2017, its network consists of around 322 bus lines, spanning the Athens Metropolitan Area, and making up a fleet of 2,375 buses and trolleybuses. Of those 2,375, 619 buses run oncompressed natural gas, making up the largest fleet of natural gas-powered buses in Europe, and 354 are electric-powered (trolleybuses). All of the 354 trolleybuses are equipped to run on diesel in case ofpower failure.[101]
International links are provided by a number of private companies. National and regional bus links are provided byKTEL from two InterCity Bus Terminals;Kifissos Bus Terminal A andLiosion Bus Terminal B, both located in the north-western part of the city.Kifissos provides connections towardsPeloponnese, North Greece, West Greece and someIonian Islands, whereasLiosion is used for most of Central Greece. Both of these terminals will be replaced by a new Intercity Bus Terminal under construction inEleonas due to be completed by 2027.
TheAthens Suburban Railway, referred to as theProastiakos, connects Athens International Airport to the city ofKiato, 106 km (66 mi)[102] west of Athens, via Larissa station, the city's central rail station and the port of Piraeus. The length of Athens's commuter rail network extends to 120 km (75 mi),[102] and is expected to stretch to 281 km (175 mi) by 2010.[102]
TheAthens Metro is operated by STASY S.A. (Greek:ΣΤΑΣΥ) (Statheres Sygkoinonies S.A.), a subsidiary company of OASA (Athens urban transport organisation), which provides public transport throughout the Athens Urban Area. While its main purpose is transport, it also houses Greek artifacts found during the construction of the system.[103] The Athens Metro runs three metro lines, namelyLine 1 (Green Line),Line 2 (Red Line) andLine 3 (Blue Line) lines, of which the first was constructed in 1869, and the other two largely during the 1990s, with the initial new sections opened in January 2000. Line 1 mostly runs at ground level and the other two (Line 2 & 3) routes run entirely underground. A fleet of 42 trains, using 252 carriages, operates on the network,[104] with a daily occupancy of 1,353,000 passengers.[105]
Line 1 (Green Line) serves 24 stations, and is the oldest line of the Athens metro network. It runs fromPiraeus station toKifissia station and covers a distance of 25.6 km (15.9 mi). There are transfer connections with the Blue Line 3 atMonastiraki station and with the Red Line 2 atOmonia andAttiki stations.Line 2 (Red Line) runs fromAnthoupoli station toElliniko station and covers a distance of 17.5 km (10.9 mi).[104] The line connects the western suburbs of Athens with the southeast suburbs, passing through the center of Athens. The Red Line has transfer connections with the Green Line 1 atAttiki andOmonia stations. There are also transfer connections with the Blue Line 3 atSyntagmastation and with the tram atSyntagma,Syngrou Fix andNeos Kosmos stations.Line 3 (Blue Line) runs fromDimotiko Theatro station, through the centralMonastiraki andSyntagma stations toDoukissis Plakentias avenue in the northeastern suburb ofHalandri.[104] It then ascends to ground level and continues toAthens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos using the suburban railway infrastructure, extending its total length to 39 km (24 mi).[104] The spring 2007 extension from Monastiraki westwards toEgaleo connected some of the mainnight life hubs of the city, namely those of Gazi (Kerameikos station) with Psirri (Monastiraki station) and the city centre (Syntagma station).The new stationsManiatika,Piraeus andDimotiko Theatro, were completed on 10 October 2022,[106][107] connecting the biggest port of Greece, the Port of Piraeus, with Athens International Airport, the biggest airport of Greece.
TheAthens Tram is operated by STASY S.A. (Statheres Sygkoinonies S.A.), a subsidiary company ofTransport for Athens (OASA). It has a fleet of 35Sirio type vehicles[108] and 25Alstom Citadis type vehicles[109] which serve 48 stations,[108] employ 345 people with an average daily occupancy of 65,000 passengers.[108] The tram network spans a total length of 27 km (17 mi) and covers ten Athenian suburbs.[108] The network runs fromSyntagma Square to the southwestern suburb ofPalaio Faliro, where the line splits in two branches; the first runs along the Athens coastline toward the southern suburb ofVoula, while the other heads toward Piraeus. The network covers the majority of the Athens coastline.[110]
Athens is served by theAthens International Airport (ATH), located near the town ofSpata, in the eastern Messoghia plain, some 35 km (22 mi) east of center of Athens.[111] The airport, awarded the "European Airport of the Year 2004" Award,[112] is intended as an expandable hub for air travel insoutheastern Europe and was constructed in 51 months, costing 2.2 billion euros. It employs a staff of 14,000.[112]
ThePort of Piraeus is the largest port in Greece and one of the largest in Europe.Rafina andLavrio act as alternative ports of Athens, connects the city with numerousGreek islands of theAegean Sea,Evia while also serving the cruise ships that arrive.
Two main motorways of Greece begin in Athens, namely theA1/E75, heading north towards Greece's second largest city,Thessaloniki; and the border crossing of Evzones and theA8/E94 heading west, towards Greece's third largest city,Patras, which incorporated theGR-8A. Before their completion much of the road traffic used theGR-1 and theGR-8.
Athens' Metropolitan Area is served by theAttiki Odos toll motorway network: its main section, theA6, extends from the western industrial suburb ofElefsina toAthens International Airport; while two beltways, namely the Aigaleo Beltway (A65) and the Hymettus Beltway (A62) serve parts of western and eastern Athens respectively. The span of the Attiki Odos in all its length is 65 km (40 mi),[113] making it the largest metropolitan motorway network in all of Greece.
Located onPanepistimiou Street, the old campus of theUniversity of Athens, theNational Library, and theAthens Academy form the "Athens Trilogy" built in the mid-19th century. The largest and oldest university in Athens is the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Most of the functions of NKUA along National Technical University of Athens have been transferred to a campus in the eastern suburb ofZografou. TheNational Technical University of Athens old campus is located on Patision Street.
TheUniversity of West Attica is the second largest university in Athens. The seat of the university is located in the western area of Athens, where the philosophers of Ancient Athens delivered 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. Other universities that lie within Athens are theAthens University of Economics and Business, thePanteion University, theAgricultural University of Athens and theUniversity of Piraeus.
Athens hosts 17Foreign 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' most important museums include:
theNational Archaeological Museum, the largest archaeological museum in the country, and one of the most important internationally, as it contains a vast collection of antiquities. Its artefacts cover a period of more than 5,000 years, from lateNeolithic Age toRoman Greece;
theBenaki Museum with its several branches for each of its collections including ancient, Byzantine, Ottoman-era, Chinese art and beyond;
theNew Acropolis Museum, opened in 2009, and replacing the old museum on the Acropolis. The new museum has proved considerably popular; almost one million people visited during the summer period June–October 2009 alone. A number of smaller and privately owned museums focused on Greek culture and arts are also to be found.
theKerameikos Archaeological Museum, a museum which displays artifacts from the burial site of Kerameikos. Much of the pottery and other artifacts relate to Athenian attitudes towards death and the afterlife, throughout many ages.
Athens incorporatesarchitectural styles ranging fromGreco-Roman andNeoclassical to Modern. 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 strictheight 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 throughout the city's history.[115]
For the greatest part of the 19th century Neoclassicism dominated Athens, as well as some deviations from it such asEclecticism, especially in the early 20th century. Thus, theOld Royal Palace was the first important public building to be built, between 1836 and 1843. Later in the mid and late 19th century,Theophil Freiherr von Hansen andErnst Ziller took part in the construction of many neoclassical buildings such as theAthens Academy and theZappeion Hall. Ziller also designed many private mansions in the centre of Athens which gradually became public, usually through donations, such asSchliemann'sIliou Melathron.
Beginning in the 1920s,modern architecture includingBauhaus andArt 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 includeKolonaki, and some areas of the centre of the city; neighbourhoods developed in this period includeKypseli.[116]
In the 1950s and 1960s during the extension and development of Athens, other modern movements such as theInternational 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.[117] After World War II, internationally known architects to have designed and built in the city includedWalter Gropius, with his design for the US Embassy, and, among others,Eero Saarinen, in his postwar design for the east terminal of theEllinikon Airport.
Restaurants, tavernas and bars can be found in the entertainment hubs inPlaka and theTrigono areas of the historic centre, the inner suburbs ofGazi andPsyrri are especially busy with nightclubs and bars, whileKolonaki,Exarchia,Kypseli,Metaxourgeio,Koukaki andPangrati offer more of a cafe and restaurant scene. The coastal suburbs ofMicrolimano,Alimos andGlyfada include many tavernas, beach bars and busy summer clubs.
The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the Athenian serenades (Αθηναϊκές καντάδες), based on theHeptaneseankantádhes (καντάδες 'serenades'; sing.: καντάδα) and the songs performed on stage (επιθεωρησιακά τραγούδια 'theatrical revue songs') inrevues,musical comedies,operettas andnocturnes that were dominating Athens' theatre scene.
In 1922, following theGreek-Turkish war,Greek genocide and laterpopulation exchange suffered by the Greek population of Asia Minor, many ethnic Greeks fled to Athens. They settled in poor neighbourhoods and brought with themRebetiko music, making it also popular in Greece, and which later became the base for theLaïko music. Other forms of song popular today in Greece are elafrolaika, entechno, dimotika, and skyladika.[126] Greece's most notable, and internationally famous, composers of Greek song, mainly of the entechno form, areManos Hadjidakis andMikis Theodorakis. Both composers have achieved fame abroad for their composition of film scores.[126]
Athens has a long tradition in sports and sporting events, serving as home to the most important clubs inGreek sport and housing a large number of sports facilities. The city has also been host to sports events of international importance.
The Athens area encompasses a variety ofterrain, notably hills and mountains rising around the city, and the capital is the only major city in Europe to be bisected by amountain 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 onfoot andbike.
Beyond Athens and across the prefecture of Attica, outdoor activities includeskiing,rock climbing,hang gliding and windsurfing. Numerous outdoor clubs serve these sports, including the Athens Chapter of theSierra Club, which leads over 4,000 outings annually in the area.
Athens was awarded the 2004 Summer Olympics on 5 September 1997 inLausanne, Switzerland, after having lost a previous bid to host the1996 Summer Olympics, toAtlanta, United States.[22] It was to be the second time Athens would host the games, following the inaugural event of 1896. After an unsuccessful bid in 1990, the 1997 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 41.[22] Prior to this round, the cities ofBuenos Aires, Stockholm andCape Town had been eliminated from competition, having received fewer votes.[22] Although the heavy cost was criticized, estimated at $1.5 billion, Athens was transformed into a more functional city that enjoys modern technology both in transportation and in modernurban development.[135] The games welcomed over 10,000 athletes from all 202 countries.[135]
^ab"Athens".Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved31 December 2008.Ancient Greek Athenai, historic city and capital of Greece. Many of classical civilization's intellectual and artistic ideas originated there, and the city is generally considered to be the birthplace of Western civilization
^"ToposText".topostext.org.Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved27 March 2020.
^Bourne, Edward G. (1887). "The Derivation of Stamboul".American Journal of Philology.8 (1). The Johns Hopkins University Press:78–82.doi:10.2307/287478.ISSN0002-9475.JSTOR287478.
^Iakovides, S. 1962. 'E mykenaïke akropolis ton Athenon'. Athens.
^Desborough, Vincent R. d'A (1964).The Last Mycenaeans and Their Successors; an Archaeological Survey, c. 1200–c. 1000 B.C. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 113.
^Alan Cameron, "The Last Days of the Academy at Athens," in A. Cameron, Wandering Poets and Other Essays on Late Greek Literature and Philosophy, 2016, (Oxford University Press: Oxford), pp. 205–246
^"Focus on Athens"(PDF).UHI Quarterly Newsletter, Issue 1, May 2009. urbanheatisland.info. p. 2. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 22 July 2013. Retrieved18 March 2011.
^"Welcome!!!". Parnitha-np.gr.Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved10 June 2009.
^Συνέντευξη Τύπου Γ. Σουφλιά για την Πάρνηθα (Press release) (in Greek). Hellenic Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning, & Public Works. 18 July 2007. Archived fromthe original(.doc) on 16 February 2008. Retrieved15 January 2008.Συνολική καμένη έκταση πυρήνα Εθνικού Δρυμού Πάρνηθας: 15.723 (Σύνολο 38.000)
^Parilla, Joseph; Berube, Alan; Leal Trujillo, Jesus; Ran, Tao (22 January 2015)."Global Metro Monitor".Brookings.Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved23 February 2019.
.jpg)
_(30177808993).jpg)
.jpg)
_in_April_2019.jpg)
.svg)
_(30776483926).jpg)
.jpg)
_on_May_19%2c_2021.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_2022-03-26_-_1.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
