Named for Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and patron of the city, Athens' cultural achievements are said to have laid the foundations for western civilization. It is one of the first societies to establish democracy and is the birthplace and home to many great historical figures such as Socrates, Plato, Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles, just to name a few. Many buildings from antiquity still stand in Athens today as testimony to the enduring quality of this city.

Athens is located in southeastern Greece on the Attic Plain. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Athens' port, Piraeus, is located on the Saronic Gulf (an inlet of the Aegean Sea) approximately 8 km to the southwest. The Acropolis is the location of the most important, ancient religious site, the Parthenon (Temple of Athena the Virgin). The commercial and social center of Athens, the Agora, is located about 400m north of the Acropolis. To the south of the Acropolis are the Theater of Dionysus, and to the west, the Areopagus (council chamber).

The Acropolis of Athens has been continually inhabited since Neolithic times. Like other Bronze Age citadels, the Acropolis was fortified around 1400 B.C.

The city of Athens itself, was founded in the 9th century B.C. and the surrounding area, including Piraeus, was incorporated into what became the city-state of Athens.

Athens was, at first, ruled by a monarchy, then it became an aristocracy, controlled by the Areopagus (council of elders), and eventually evolved into a democratic state in the 5th century B.C. under the leadership of Cleisthenes.

Come and experience the grandeur that is Athens!

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- Hood write-up by Louisa Agis
- Images by Alerissa Nestor