- Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece.
- Athens is one of the oldest cities of Europe.
- En 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens.
- A cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is rated as an alpha- world city.
- Athens was the birthplace of many prominent philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world, including Socrates, Demosthenes, Pericles and Sophocles.
- The evidence of the first settlement around the Acropolis of Athens dates back to 3000 BC.
- The city is also known as: the ‘Birthplace of Democracy’ and the ‘Cradle of Western civilization’.
- Its recorded history spans around 3,400 years
- In Ancient Greek, the name of Athens was: Ἀθῆναι, related tο the name of the goddess Athena.
- Athens land area: 39 km² (15 sq mi).
- Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery.
- The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens or Cecropia is the best known acropolis in Greece.
- Athens has been a popular destination for travelers since antiquity.
- The legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, was the first Athenian king.
QUOTES ABOUT ATHENS
"An Aristotle was but the rubbish of an Adam, and Athens but the rudiments of Paradise." ROBERT SOUTH
"A great city, whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome represents conquest; Faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art." BENJAMIN DISRAELI
"How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens." ALEXANDER THE GREAT
"At Athens, wise men propose, and fools dispose." ALCUIN
