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89-626: Since around 1600, the word palladium has been used figuratively to mean anything believed to provide protection or safety, and in particular in Christian contexts a sacred relic or icon believed to have a protective role in military contexts for a whole city, people or nation. Such beliefs first become prominent in the Eastern church in the period after the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I , and later spread to

178-408: A national park . The Athens urban area spreads over 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Agios Stefanos in the north to Varkiza 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

267-562: 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

356-653: A palm tree and a gold lamp burned in front of it. The centerpiece of the grand feast of the Panathenaea was the replacement of this statue's woolen peplos (a garment) with a newly woven one. It was also carried to the sea by the priestesses and ceremonially washed once a year, in the feast called the Plynteria ("washings"). Its presence was last mentioned by the Church Father Tertullian who described it derisively as nothing but "a rough stake,

445-629: A population of 3,638,281 (2021) over an area of 2,928.717 km (1,131 sq mi). The heritage of the Classical Era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments , and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon , considered a key landmark of early Western culture . The city also retains Roman , Byzantine and a smaller number of Ottoman monuments, while its historical urban core features elements of continuity through its millennia of history. Athens

534-526: A population of 3,638,281 according to the 2021 census. Athens and Piraeus municipalities serve as the two metropolitan centres of the Athens Metropolitan Area. There are also some inter-municipal centres serving specific areas. For example, Kifissia and Glyfada serve as inter-municipal centres for northern and southern suburbs respectively. The Athens Metropolitan Area consists of 58 densely populated municipalities, sprawling around

623-520: A shapeless piece of wood". Earlier descriptions of the statue have not survived. Palladium (protective image) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.132 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 943249268 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:46:36 GMT Athens This

712-546: A significant naval power with a large fleet, and helped the rebellion of the Ionian cities against Persian rule. In the ensuing Greco-Persian Wars Athens, together with Sparta, led the coalition of Greek states that would eventually repel the Persians, defeating them decisively at Marathon in 490 BC, and crucially at Salamis in 480 BC. However, this did not prevent Athens from being captured and sacked twice by

801-593: 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

890-589: Is an accepted version of this page Athens ( / ˈ æ θ ɪ n z / ATH -inz ) is the capital and largest city of Greece . A major coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland . With its urban area's population numbering over three and a quarter million, it is the eighth largest urban area in

979-479: 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. Beyond Mount Aegaleo lies the Thriasian plain , which forms an extension of the central plain to the west. The Saronic Gulf lies to the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest of the four mountains (1,413 m (4,636 ft)), and has been declared

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1068-488: 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. This issue is not unique to Athens; for instance, Los Angeles and Mexico City also suffer from similar atmospheric inversion problems. The Cephissus river,

1157-789: Is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites , the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery . Athens is also home to several museums and cultural institutions, such as the National Archeological Museum , featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, the Acropolis Museum , the Museum of Cycladic Art , the Benaki Museum , and the Byzantine and Christian Museum . Athens

1246-505: Is the first city in Europe to appoint a chief heat officer to deal with severe heat waves . 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 the World Meteorological Organization record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe with 48.0 °C (118.4 °F) which

1335-401: The 2021 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 the regional unit of Piraeus (sometimes referred 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). The municipality (Center) of Athens

1424-497: The European Union . The Municipality of Athens (also City of Athens), which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021) within its official limits, and a land area of 38.96 km (15.04 sq mi). Athens is one of the world's oldest cities , with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between

1513-569: The Globalization and World Cities Research Network , and is one of the biggest economic centers in Southeastern Europe. It also has a large financial sector, and its port Piraeus is both the 2nd busiest passenger port in Europe, and the 13th largest container port in the world. The Athens metropolitan area or Greater Athens extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits as well as its urban agglomeration , with

1602-659: The Ilisos and the Eridanos stream are the historical rivers of Athens. By the late 1970s, the pollution of Athens had become so destructive that according to the then Greek Minister of Culture , Constantine Trypanis, "...the carved details on the five the caryatids of the Erechtheum had seriously degenerated, while the face of the horseman on the Parthenon's west side was all but obliterated." A series of measures taken by

1691-465: The Kerameikos 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. By the sixth 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 508 BC. Athens had by this time become

1780-837: The Latin Church brought to the Eastern Mediterranean during the Crusades. Along with rest of Byzantine Greece, Athens was part of the series of feudal fiefs , similar to the Crusader states established in Syria and on Cyprus after the First Crusade . This period is known as the Frankokratia . The first Ottoman attack on Athens, which involved a short-lived occupation of the town, came in 1397, under

1869-908: 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. According to their geographic location in relation to the City of Athens , the suburbs are divided into four zones; the northern suburbs (including Agios Stefanos , Dionysos , Ekali , Nea Erythraia , Kifissia , Kryoneri , Maroussi , Pefki , Lykovrysi , Metamorfosi , Nea Ionia , Nea Filadelfeia , Irakleio , Vrilissia , Melissia , Penteli , Chalandri , Agia Paraskevi , Gerakas , Pallini , Galatsi , Psychiko and Filothei );

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1958-660: The Mycenaean civilization, and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress, whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean walls. Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae and Pylos , it is not known whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event often attributed to a Dorian invasion, and the Athenians always maintained that they were pure Ionians with no Dorian element. However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements , went into economic decline for around 150 years afterwards. Iron Age burials, in

2047-831: The National Archaeological Museum . Athens' largest zoo is the Attica 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-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ). The climate in Athens can be considered warmer than some cities that are similar or even less distant from

2136-452: The Poliás was a wooden effigy, often referred to as the " xóanon diipetés " (the "carving that fell from heaven"), made of olive wood and housed in the east-facing wing of the Erechtheum temple in the classical era. Considered not a man-made artefact but of divine provenance, it was the holiest image of the goddess and was accorded the highest respect. It was placed under a bronze likeness of

2225-625: The Temple of Vesta in 241 BC, an episode alluded to in Ovid and Valerius Maximus . When the controversial emperor Elagabalus (reigned 218–222 AD) transferred the most sacred relics of Roman religion from their respective shrines to the Elagabalium , the Palladium was among them. In Late Antiquity , it was rumored that the Palladium was transferred from Rome to Constantinople by Constantine

2314-574: The epitome of the Little Iliad (one of the books of the Epic Cycle ) preserved in Proclus's Chrestomathia , went by night to Troy disguised as a beggar. There he was recognized by Helen , who told him where to find the Palladium. After some stealthy killing, he won back to the ships. He and Diomedes then re-entered the city and stole the sacred statue. Diomedes is sometimes depicted as

2403-429: The regional unit of Piraeus . The Athens urban area spans over 412 km (159 sq mi), with a population of 3,059,764 people as of 2021. The Athens metropolitan area spans 2,928.717 km (1,131 sq mi) within the Attica region and includes a total of 58 municipalities, which are organized in seven regional units (those outlined above, along with East Attica and West Attica ), having reached

2492-518: The temple 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

2581-407: The 11th and 7th millennia BC . According to Greek mythology the city was named after Athena , the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, but modern scholars generally agree that the goddess took her name after the city. Classical Athens was one of the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece . It was a centre for democracy, the arts, education and philosophy, and was highly influential throughout

2670-421: The Athenians the first domesticated olive tree . Cecrops accepted this gift and declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens. Eight different etymologies, now commonly rejected, have been proposed since the 17th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος ( áthos ) or ἄνθος ( ánthos ) meaning "flower", to denote Athens as the "flowering city". Ludwig von Döderlein proposed

2759-524: The Athens basin compared to the precipitation amounts seen in a typical Mediterranean climate is due to the rain shadow effect caused by the Pindus mountain range and the Dirfys and Parnitha mountains, substantially drying the westerly and northerly winds respectively. Snowfall is not very common, though it occurs almost annually. It usually does not cause heavy disruption to daily life, in contrast to

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2848-517: The Attica region experienced a number of brush fires , including a blaze that burned a significant portion of a large forested national park in Mount Parnitha , considered critical to maintaining a better air quality in Athens all year round. Damage to the park has led to worries over a stalling in the improvement of air quality in the city. The major waste management efforts undertaken in

2937-463: The Capital ( Greek : Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Πρωτεύουσας , romanized :  Poleodomikó Synkrótima Protévousas ) or Greater Athens ( Greek : Ευρύτερη Αθήνα , romanized :  Evrýteri Athína ), 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

3026-503: The EU to help enhance the project. The landmark Dionysiou Areopagitou Street has been pedestrianised, forming a scenic route. 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

3115-613: The European continent, particularly in Ancient Rome . For this reason, it is often regarded as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy in its own right independently from the rest of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Greece. It is a Beta (+) - status global city according to

3204-581: The Great and buried under the Column of Constantine in his forum. Such a move would have undermined the primacy of Rome, and was naturally seen as a move by Constantine to legitimize his reign and his new capital. The goddess Athena was worshipped on the Acropolis of Athens under many names and cults, the most illustrious of which was of the Athena Poliás , " protectress of the city". The cult image of

3293-576: The Greek capital falls directly within the Municipality 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 the Municipality of Piraeus , 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. The Athens Urban Area ( Greek : Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Αθηνών , romanized :  Poleodomikó Synkrótima Athinón ), also known as Urban Area of

3382-510: The Greek city-states including Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea. Later, under Rome, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. In the second century AD, the Roman emperor Hadrian, himself an Athenian citizen, ordered the construction of a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed

3471-536: The Ottoman generals Yaqub Pasha and Timurtash. Finally, in 1458, Athens was captured by the Ottomans under the personal leadership of Sultan Mehmed II . As the Ottoman Sultan rode into the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued a firman (imperial edict) forbidding their looting or destruction, on pain of death. The Parthenon was converted into the main mosque of

3560-613: The Palladium with him when he left Troy. According to some stories, he brought it to Italy; others say that it was stolen from him on the way. According to various versions of this legend the Trojan Palladium found its way to Athens , Argos , Sparta (all in Greece ) or Rome in Italy . To this last city it was either brought by Aeneas, the exiled Trojan (Diomedes, in this version, having only succeeded in stealing an imitation of

3649-553: 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 27.7 hectares, near

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3738-605: The Persians within one year, after a heroic but ultimately failed resistance at Thermopylae by Spartans and other Greeks led by King Leonidas , 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

3827-658: The Western church. Palladia were carried in procession around the walls of besieged cities and sometimes carried into battle. The Trojan Palladium was said to be a wooden image of Pallas (whom the Greeks identified with Athena and the Romans with Minerva) and to have fallen from heaven in answer to the prayer of Ilus , the founder of Troy . "The most ancient talismanic effigies of Athena", Ruck and Staples report, "were magical found objects, faceless pillars of Earth in

3916-556: The ancient monuments suffered badly. The Ottoman forces remained in possession until March 1833, when they withdrew. Following the Greek War of Independence and the establishment of the Greek Kingdom , Athens was chosen to replace Nafplio as the second capital of the newly independent Greek state in 1834, largely because of historical and sentimental reasons. At the time, after the extensive destruction it had suffered during

4005-492: The authorities of the city throughout the 1990s resulted in the improvement of air quality; the appearance of smog (or nefos 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,

4094-462: The back. Diomedes was alerted to the danger by glimpsing the gleam of the sword in the moonlight. He disarmed Odysseus, tied his hands, and drove him along in front, beating his back with the flat of his sword. From this action was said to have arisen the Greek proverbial expression "Diomedes' necessity", applied to those who act under compulsion. Because Odysseus was essential for the destruction of Troy, Diomedes refrained from injuring him. Diomedes took

4183-400: The better gift would become their patron and appointed Cecrops , the king of Athens, as the judge. According to the account given by Pseudo-Apollodorus , Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a salt water spring welled up. In an alternative version of the myth from Vergil 's poem Georgics , Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse. In both versions, Athena offered

4272-505: The city is much debated, but is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens. Athens was sacked by the Slavs in 582, but remained in imperial hands thereafter, as highlighted by the visit of the emperor Constans II ( r.  641–668 ) in 662/3 and its inclusion in the Theme of Hellas . The city was threatened by Saracen raids in the 8th–9th centuries—in 896, Athens

4361-585: The city was sometimes referred to as the City of the Violet Crown , first documented in Pindar's ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι ( iostéphanoi Athânai ), or as τὸ κλεινὸν ἄστυ ( tò kleinòn ásty , "the glorious city"). During the medieval period, the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα . Variant names included Setines, Satine, and Astines, all derivations involving false splitting of prepositional phrases. King Alphonse X of Castile gives

4450-756: 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 2004, Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics . Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica that is often referred to as the Athens Basin or the Attica Basin ( Greek : Λεκανοπέδιο Αθηνών/Αττικής , romanized :  Lekanopédio Athinón/Attikís ). The basin

4539-433: The city, in response of complaints of maladministration by the local governors. After her death, Athens came under the purview of the Kizlar Agha. The Turks began a practice of storing gunpowder and explosives in the Parthenon and Propylaea . In 1640, a lightning bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction. In 1687, during the Morean War , the Acropolis was besieged by the Venetians under Francesco Morosini , and

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4628-444: The city. Under Ottoman rule, Athens was denuded of any importance and its population severely declined, leaving it as a "small country town" ( Franz Babinger ). From the early 17th century, Athens came under the jurisdiction of the Kizlar Agha , the chief black eunuch of the Sultan's harem . The city had originally been granted by Sultan Ahmed I ( r.  1603–1617 ) to Basilica, one of his favourite concubines, who hailed from

4717-409: The city. Modern scholars now generally agree that the goddess takes her name from the city, because the ending - ene is common in names of locations, but rare for personal names. According to the ancient Athenian founding myth , Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, competed against Poseidon , the God of the Seas, for patronage of the yet-unnamed city; they agreed that whoever gave the Athenians

4806-431: The city. The National 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 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

4895-444: 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 mount Hymettus . The southern section of the Athens metropolitan area (i.e., Elliniko , Athens Riviera ) lies in the transitional zone between Mediterranean ( Csa ) and hot semi-arid climate ( BSh ), with its port-city of Piraeus being

4984-451: The completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus . In the early 4th century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire began to be governed from Constantinople , 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 of Latin declined in favour of exclusive use of Greek ; in the Roman imperial period , both languages had been used. In

5073-450: The early 5th century. The sack of the city by the Herules in 267 and by the Visigoths under their king Alaric 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. The emperor Justinian I ( r.  527–565 ) banned the teaching of philosophy by pagans in 529, an event whose impact on

5162-417: The empire became increasingly anti-pagan, Athens became a provincial town and experienced fluctuating fortunes. The city remained an important center of learning, especially of Neoplatonism —with notable pupils including Gregory of Nazianzus , Basil of Caesarea and emperor Julian ( r.  355–363 )—and consequently a center of paganism. Christian items do not appear in the archaeological record until

5251-413: The ending of the first period of Iconoclasm at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. A few years later, another Athenian, Theophano , became empress as the wife of Staurakios (r. 811–812). Invasion of the empire by the Turks after the Battle 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

5340-538: The equator such as Seoul, Melbourne, Buenos Aires, Cape Town and Norfolk (Virgina, US). According to the meteorological station near the city center which is operated by the National 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 the urban heat island effect. Athens receives about 433.1 millimetres (17.05 in) of precipitation per year, largely concentrated during

5429-422: 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 (431–404 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. In 338 BC the armies of Philip II defeated an alliance of some of

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5518-399: The first important public buildings of the new capital. In 1896, Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games . During the 1920s a number of Greek refugees , expelled from Asia Minor after the Greco-Turkish War and Population exchange between Greece and Turkey , swelled Athens's population; nevertheless it was most particularly following World War II , and from the 1950s and 1960s, that

5607-466: The growth of the town in general. However, this medieval prosperity was not to last. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade conquered Athens and the city was not recovered from the Latins before it was taken by the Ottoman 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 the Crusades . The "Latins", or " Franks ", were western Europeans and followers of

5696-429: 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

5785-432: 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. 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

5874-425: 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. Ancient monuments such as the Parthenon, Erechtheion and the Hephaisteion (Theseion) were converted into churches. As

5963-442: The looting of the Parthenon. One of its western pediments was removed, causing even more damage to the structure. 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. In 1822, a Greek insurgency captured the city, but it fell to the Ottomans again in 1826 (though Acropolis held till June 1827). Again

6052-461: The major commercial port of Piraeus to the southernmost suburb of Varkiza for some 25 km (20 mi), is also connected to the City Centre by tram. In the northern suburb of Maroussi, the upgraded main Olympic Complex (known by its Greek acronym OAKA) dominates the skyline. The area has been redeveloped according to a design by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava , with steel arches, landscaped gardens, fountains, futuristic glass, and

6141-409: 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 the Saronic gulf . 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

6230-545: The name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη ( Athḗnē ). It was possibly rendered in the plural later on, like those of Θῆβαι ( Thêbai ) and Μυκῆναι ( Μukênai ). The root of the word is probably not of Greek or Indo-European origin, and is possibly a remnant of the Pre-Greek substrate of Attica. In antiquity, it was debated whether Athens took its name from its patron goddess Athena ( Attic Ἀθηνᾶ , Athēnâ , Ionic Ἀθήνη , Athḗnē , and Doric Ἀθάνα , Athā́nā ) or Athena took her name from

6319-503: The nearby town of Loutraki (accessible by car via the Athens – Corinth National Highway, or the Athens Suburban Railway ). The concept of a partner 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). According to

6408-440: The northern parts of the city, where blizzards occur on a somewhat more regular basis. The most recent examples include the snowstorms of 16 February 2021 and 24 January 2022, when the entire urban area was blanketed in snow. Athens may get particularly hot in the summer, owing partly to the strong urban heat island effect characterizing the city. In fact, Athens is considered to be the hottest city in mainland Europe , and

6497-517: The old manner, before the Goddess was anthropomorphized and given form through the intervention of human intellectual meddling." The arrival at Troy of the Palladium, fashioned by Athena in remorse for the death of Pallas, as part of the city's founding myth , was variously referred to by Greeks, from the seventh century BC onwards. The Palladium was linked to the Samothrace mysteries through

6586-545: The one carrying the Palladium to the ships. There are several statues and many ancient drawings of him with the Palladium. According to the Narratives of the Augustan period mythographer Conon as summarised by Photius , while the two heroes were on their way to the ships, Odysseus plotted to kill Diomedes and claim the Palladium (or perhaps the credit for gaining it) for himself. He raised his sword to stab Diomedes in

6675-425: The population of the city exploded, and Athens experienced a gradual 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. A series of anti-pollution measures taken by the city's authorities in the 1990s, combined with a substantial improvement of

6764-521: The pre-Olympian figure of Elektra , mother of Dardanus , progenitor of the Trojan royal line, and of Iasion , founder of the Samothrace mysteries. Whether Elektra had come to Athena's shrine of the Palladium as a pregnant suppliant and a god cast it into the territory of Ilium, because it had been profaned by the hands of a woman who was not a virgin, or whether Elektra carried it herself or whether it

6853-480: The pseudo-etymology 'the one without death/ignorance'. In Ottoman Turkish, it was called آتينا ‎ Ātīnā , and in modern Turkish, it is Atina . The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist, which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years (3000 BC). By 1400 BC, the settlement had become an important centre of

6942-689: The southern suburbs (including Alimos , Nea Smyrni , Moschato , Tavros , Agios Ioannis Renti , Kallithea , Piraeus , Agios Dimitrios , Palaio Faliro , Elliniko , Glyfada , Lagonisi , Saronida , Argyroupoli , Ilioupoli , Varkiza , Voula , Vari and Vouliagmeni ); the eastern suburbs (including Zografou , Dafni , Vyronas , Kaisariani , Cholargos and Papagou ); and the western suburbs (including Peristeri , Ilion , Egaleo , Koridallos , Agia Varvara , Keratsini , Perama , Nikaia , Drapetsona , Chaidari , Petroupoli , Agioi Anargyroi , Ano Liosia , Aspropyrgos , Eleusina , Acharnes and Kamatero ). The Athens city coastline, extending from

7031-564: 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) from downtown Athens (accessible by car or cable car), and

7120-517: The statue) or surrendered by Diomedes himself. An actual object regarded as the Palladium was undoubtedly kept in the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum for several centuries. It was regarded as one of the pignora imperii , sacred tokens or pledges of Roman rule ( imperium ) . Pliny the Elder said that Lucius Caecilius Metellus had been blinded by fire when he rescued the Palladium from

7209-440: The stem of the verb θάω , stem θη- ( tháō , thē- , "to suck") to denote Athens as having fertile soil. Athenians were called cicada -wearers (Ancient Greek: Τεττιγοφόροι ) because they used to wear pins of golden cicadas. A symbol of being autochthonous (earth-born), because the legendary founder of Athens, Erechtheus was an autochthon or of being musicians, because the cicada is a "musician" insect. In classical literature,

7298-679: The town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. The growth of the town attracted the Venetians , 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 of Byzantine 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

7387-400: 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 first King of Greece , King 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

7476-515: The warrior seer to reveal the weakness of Troy: the city would not fall while the Palladium remained within its walls. The perilous task of stealing this sacred statue again fell upon the shoulders of Odysseus and Diomedes . The two stole into the citadel in Troy by a secret passage and carried it off, leaving the desecrated city open to the deceit of the Trojan Horse . Odysseus, according to

7565-536: Was given directly to Dardanus vary in sources and scholia . In Ilion, King Ilus was blinded for touching the image to preserve it from a burning temple. During the Trojan War , the importance of the Palladium to Troy was said to have been revealed to the Greeks by Helenus , the prophetic son of Priam . After Paris ' death, Helenus left the city but was captured by Odysseus. The Greeks somehow managed to persuade

7654-420: Was raided and possibly occupied for a short period, an event which left some archaeological remains and elements of Arabic ornamentation in contemporary buildings —but there is also evidence of a mosque existing in the city at the time. In the great dispute over Byzantine Iconoclasm , Athens is commonly held to have supported the iconophile position, chiefly due to the role played by Empress Irene of Athens in

7743-511: Was recorded in the areas of Elefsina and Tatoi on 10 July 1977. Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, following Nafplion , which was the provisional capital from 1829. The municipality (city) of Athens is also the capital of the Attica region. The term Athens can refer either to the municipality of Athens, to Greater Athens or urban area, or to the entire Athens Metropolitan Area. The large city centre ( Greek : Κέντρο της Αθήνας , romanized :  Kéntro tis Athínas ) of

7832-432: Was rescued by the resolute leadership of the three Komnenos emperors Alexios , John and Manuel , 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. The Agora (marketplace) had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon

7921-539: Was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics , making it one of five cities to have hosted the Summer Olympics on multiple occasions. In Ancient Greek , the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι ( Athênai , pronounced [atʰɛ̂ːnai̯] in Classical Attic ), which is a plural word. In earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek ,

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