April 22, 2025 - Greece
Athens Walking Tour

It was our first day in Athens, but since we flew all night with practically no sleep, after having a big Greek breakfast, we checked into the AirBnb and got a couple of hours of sleep.  Then we decided to start our Greek trip with Rick Steves Athens City Walk.

By some stroke of luck -- not by any great planning on my part -- our AirBnb was right in the middle of Athens old town, a short walk away from all the famous sights.

We started out at the Athens Cathedral, also known as the "Greek Vatican"  -- home church of the archbishop who presides over Greece's 10 million Orthodox Christians.  It was built in 1842.
   
 Inside the Cathedral.  Very Byzantine, like we saw in Venice at Saint Mark's Basilica.
   
On the right side of the Cathedral is the little Church of Agios Eleftherios.  Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, it was used as the Athens Cathedral, after the Ottomans took Athens in 1453 and evicted the archbishop from the previous cathedral: the Parthenon.
   
The church's facade, featuring a wide variety of carvings:  crosses -- Maltese, Latin,  Greek -- , lions, rosettes, griffins, eagles, sphinxes, eagles eating snakes and ancient floral designs.
   
In front of the Cathedral is Cathedral Square, featuring a statue of Archbishop Damaskinos (1891-1949) who was the archbishop of Athens and all Greece from 1941 until his death in 1949.   During the German occupation of Greece during WWII, he was one of the rare Christian leaders who spoke out on behalf of persecuted Jews (a very brave thing to do).  He was also the caretaker regent of Greece between the pull-out of the German occupation force in 1944 and the return of King George II to Greece in 1946.
   
Another look at Cathedral Square.
   

Walking through Syntagma Square, with the Parliament Building in the background.

Per Rick Steves:  "Here in Syntagma Square you're in the heart of this great capital, and in many ways the heart of the entire Greek nation.  Here is where the nation is governed.  It's where citizens gather for angry demonstrations and national celebrations -- the "Times Square" of Greece.  Surrounding the square are posh hotels, major banks, and the Greek Parliament.  And in the fountain-dotted square, Athenians go about their business: hustling off to work, handing out leaflets, feeding pigeons, listening to street musicians, or just enjoying a park bench in the shade."
   
 Don't forget the tourists!
   
Directly in front of the Parliament Building is Greece's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, guarded by the Evzone Guards.
   
"The tomb itself is simple -- a marble slab marked only with a cross.  Crarved into the wall above is an image of a fallen warrior from ancient times, with helmet and shield.  On either side are the names of great battles in Greek history since 1821."
   
The guards are soldiers from an elite infantry unit of the Greek army.
   
The guards march is unique, to say the least.
   
 
   

Located on the square is the Hotel Grande Bretagne, famous for its old-world luxury, rooftop dining with Acropolis views, reliable high-touch service,  gilded salons, marble staircases, antique portraits, and a neoclassical façade that hints at its storied past.

The original structure was built during 1842 as a house for Antonis Dimitriou, a wealthy Greek businessman from the island of Lemnos, twelve years after independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire. In 1874, it was bought by Efstathios Lampsas, who restored it with an 800,000 drachma loan and named it "Grande Bretagne."

During the Greco-Italian War and the Battle of Greece in 1940–41, the hotel housed the Greek General Headquarters. During the Axis occupation, the hotel served as Nazi headquarters. When the Axis withdrew from Greece, in 1944, British forces made it their headquarters.

During the early stages of the Greek Civil War, the hotel housed Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou, the Council of Ministers, and the British military assistance force under General Ronald Scobie.

In 2003, the Grande Bretagne underwent a €112-million renovation. The hotel has 320 rooms and suites, including a 4,305 square-foot suite on the fifth floor. The hotel also has a roof garden restaurant.

Finally, when you check in you get a cold glass of Champagne.
   
Now we're about to head west down Ermou Street, better labeled as a pedestrial mall.
 
With fashion shops and shopping centres promoting most international brands, it is in the top five most expensive shopping streets in Europe, and the tenth most expensive retail street in the world.
   
Lots of stores and interesting people on Athen's busiest shopping street.  Ermou became pedestrian-only in 2000.  At first merchants were upset; now they love it.
   
At the end of Ermou Street is one of Athen's oldest churches, from medieval times, when Greece was part of the Byzantine Empire (323AD-1453AD: the little Church of Kapnikarea.
   

It is estimated that the church was built some time in the 11th century, perhaps around 1050. As it was common with the earlier Christian churches, this was built over an ancient Greek temple dedicated to the worship of a goddess, possibly Athena or Demeter. When King Otto I, King of the Kingdom of Greece, brought the Bavarian architect Leo von Klenze to draw the new city plan of Athens, the church was considered for demolition and it was the King of Bavaria, Ludwig I who objected the decision and saved the church.

It's a classic Orthodox church in the Byzantine style.  It's square and topped with a central dome -- quite different from Western churches that ar elong and narrow. 
 
   
Over the door is a mosaic of Mary and baby Jesus on a gold background.
   
Greek oranges!
   

We head south into the part of Athens known as the Plaka.  The main pedestrian drag of the Plaka is Adrianou street.  It's your basic tourist street with all the souvenir stands selling the same junk, only the street is paved with marble.

This is Athens' Old Town.  Before the city grew into a modern metropolis, it consisted of ramshackle homes huddling at the base of Acropolis hill.  Adrianou street cuts through the Plaka neighborhood.
   
Looking down a side street, we get our first glimpse of the Acropolis.
   

Just off Adrianou street is the Benizelos Mansion, which was built in the 18th century.  It's a typical style of house once common across Greece.
   

The ground floor, pictured here, was for storing grain, wine, and olive oil; there was even a medieval olive press here.
   

Per Rick Steves:  "The upper floor, with refined woodwork, was where the people lived.  These were luxury digs back in the day:  Only the richest families lived like this, and this mansion is the only one of its kind left in town."
   
Adrianou Street ended in this nice little park with some Greek (or Roman) columns.
   
Turning left on Lysikratous Street, we see the famous Arch of Hadrian.
   
"Athens came under the control of the growing Roman Empire in 146 BC.  But the Romans  -- who loved Greek culture, architecture, and statues -- only made the city greater."  - Rick Steves
   

One of the greatest Roman emperors, Hadrian, built this arch in 132 AD to mark the line between Greek Athens and the new Roman city.  Hadrian himself came here to celebrate the inaguration.

"The arch was once brilliant white, made of the same Pentelic marble as the Parthenon.  But it's now stained by atmospheric pollution .
   

Looking at all that remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the largest temple in Greece.  It was begun in the sixth century BC by the Greeks, then lay abandoned, half-built, for centuries.  Hadrian finally finished the job in 131AD.

The finished temple was 360 feet long by 145 feet side, the size of a football field, twice the area of the Parthenon.
   

Each one of those Corinthian columns are 56 feet high!

At lower left, a column that collapsed in 1852 from a fierce wind.
   
 
   
 
   
Artists conception of Temple of Olympian Zeus back in the day by Valentin Fiumefreddo.
 
The temple was badly damaged during the sack of Athens by the Heruli in 267 AD. It is unlikely to have been repaired, given the extent of the damage to the rest of the city and was completely destroyed by an earthquake in the 5th century. Material from the ruined building was incorporated into a basilica constructed nearby during the 5th or 6th century.
 
Over the following centuries, the temple was systematically quarried to provide building materials and material for the houses and churches of medieval Athens. By the end of the Byzantine period, it had been almost totally destroyed; when Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli (Cyriacus of Ancona) visited Athens in 1436 he found only 21 of the original 104 columns still standing.
 
Fifteen columns remain standing today and a sixteenth column lies on the ground where it fell during a storm in 1852. Nothing remains of the cella or the great statue that it once housed.
   
The temple in 1787, painted by Louis-François Cassas.
   
This photograph of 1865 by Constantinou Dimitrios shows above the last two columns of the main group, a small stone structure in which had lived an ascetic or Stylite.
   
Aerial picture of the temple amidst the modern city of Athens.  You can get a sense for how large the temple was.  At far left is the Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympic games in 1896, and now host to ceremonial events & tours.
   
Looking at the Lysicrates Monument with the Acropolis looming overhead.
   
Per Rick Steves:  The elegant marble Lysicrates monument has Corinthian columns that support a dome topped with a (rather damaged) statue. ... This monument is the sole survivor of many such monuments that once lined this street.  Here on this street, the ancient "Oscars" were awarded to winners of theatrical competitions staged at the nearby Theater of Dionysus.  The Lisicrates Monument honors one of the winners -- the winning choral team from the year 334 BC.
   
A good look at the Acropolis and its massive wall on one side.  At right, by the flag, you can see people looking over the edge.  We would be there tomorrow morning!
   
At the base of the Acropolis is the Anafiotika, where "from cave dwellers to modern man, Athenians have lived on, around, or in the shadow of this hill."
 
It was a neat little neighborhood, very maze-like.
   
We worked our way through the Anafiotika, heading towards the Roman Forum.
   
 Looking up at the Acropolis, in the Anafiotika.
   
Looking down at Athens, with Lykavittos Hill, highest hill in Athens, topped with a tiny white church clearly visible.  Lykavittos hill is just over 900 feet above sea level.  The Acropolis is only 490 feet tall by comparison.  The Lykavittos summit can only be reached by a funicular.
   
Lost in the Anafiotika.
   
Greek cat, doing what cats do the world over.
   

By luck we arrived at the top of the Mnisikleous Stairs or Restaurant Steps.

The steps are lined with cozy restaurants, lively conversations, and warm lighting, creating such a charming and atmospheric scene.
   
Looking up at the Restaurant Steps.  We just passed through but I wish we had come back here for dinner later.  It looked like a great place.
   
We arrive at the east end of the Roman Forum, or what's left of it.
 
The Forum was the commercial center of Roman Athens.
 
Per Rick Steves:  Picture this place filled with Roman bureaucrats and Greek locals.  The forum -- or open-air lazza -- was a feature found in every city Rome conquered (or built).  Here, it was dotted with Greek-style buildings and statues.  Like Americans in Paris, Romans relished living in sophisticated Athens, sprinkling their Latin conversations with Greek phrases as they discussed the plays of Sophocles and Aristophanes."
   
The Tower of the Winds.  It's 40-foot-tall and octagonal.  It was an observatory, with a weathervane on top, sundials on the sides, and a clock powered by water within.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   

You can enter the Roman Forum through these four colossal Doric columans, part of a gateway built by Emperor Augustus in 11 BC.

This is the Gate of Athena Archegetis (East Gate).
   
You can go in the Roman Forum and walk around but we passed on that.
   
Looking into the Roman Forum.
   


Just north of the Forum is Hadrian's Library, erected in 132 AD.

The building followed a Roman forum architectural style, having only one entrance with a propylon of Corinthian order, a high surrounding wall with protruding niches at its long sides, an inner courtyard surrounded by columns and a decorative oblong pool in the middle.  The library was on the eastern side where rolls of papyrus "books" were kept. Adjoining halls were used as reading rooms, and the corners served as lecture halls.

The library was seriously damaged by the Herulian invasion of 267 and repaired by the prefect Herculius in 407–412.

During Byzantine times, three churches were built at the site, the remains of which are preserved.

This is the west facade in Pentelic marble with columns of Karystos marble.
   
The rear of the facade.  (Photo from Wikipedia -- By George E. Koronaios)
   
Restoring some of the columns.
   
 More Harian's Library.  View from south: the tetraconch in the courtyard
   
Model of Hadrian's Library.
   
A short distance away from Hadrian's Library and the final stop on the Rick Steves Walking tour was Monastiraki Square, Athen's other main square.  As you can see, it's a happening place.
   
Notice the sign for the Athens Flea Market.
   
Lynnette bought some fruit at this stand and it was delicious.
   
 
   
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