This responds to requests from our friends for touristinformation on Athens and the Greek Islands. Ourtrip in November of 2012 started off as a business

trip but we had ample opportunity to play tourist. Amongother things, we found ourselves tracing the travels of Paul,known as the Apostle to the gentiles, and born Saul of Tar-sus.

Athens

Athens is the modern capital or Greece and is con-sidered by many as the founder of Western Civilization anddemocracy. A classical city predating the Romans is todaya modern metropolis with frequent air service, althoughsomewhat off of the beaten path for European rail service.

Money is the Euro like much of Western Europe.Food will tend to be more lamb and veal and less beef. Fishand seafood are popular because Greece is mainly sur-rounded by water. You will find stray dogs and cats on thestreets but they are mainly watched by the city and tend tobe friendly and harmless. The predominant religion isGreek Orthodox and you will find numerous churches bothin the city and in rural areas. All of the hotel and businesspeople we spoke with could understand and speak English.In fact, several of the historical brochures and menus wereprinted in both Greek and English.

Like other ancient cities such as Rome, the impor-tant historical sites in Athens are primarily within walkingdistance. The ancient dwellers of Athens did not have busesand subway trains so they had to depend on their feet. Iwill include a map showing some of the main historicalsites but not all of the local streets. Unlike Rome, the streets

of Athens are wide enough for automobiles but they havesidewalks for pedestrians.

Most of the major interesting and historical sites arelocated on a big circle that can be easily walked and is nomore than three miles in length. Our hotel was located onthe tramline and almost directly south of the New AcropolisMuseum so we will start from there.

Located just south and east of the Acropolis, theNew Acropolis Museum is very clean and highly ac-claimed. Built over the site of an early Christian settlement,there are glass floors that look down into the excavations.There are also glass windows that look up to the Parthenonon the Acropolis.

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Athens and The Greek Islands

by Larry Plachno

Photos by the author

The New Acropolis Museum opened in 2009 and isbuilt over excavations beneath glass floors.

Photography is limited inside the New AcropolisMuseum but the items on display are impressive. Perhapsthe most interesting are the Caryatids, the original femalestatues that supported the porch on the Erechtheion on theAcropolis. They were brought here for protection and theones on the Acropolis are copies. In addition to the actualdisplays, the museum has a gift shop, a restaurant, and rest-rooms on every floor.

From there you can walk west along the foot ofthe Acropolis to the path up to the entrance gate. Expectto walk up about 45 steps. If you do not already have tick-ets you can buy them there but I think they only take Euros.There are restrooms around the corner from the entrancegate.

Be prepared for some uphill walking. Comfortablewalking shoes are highly recommended since there wereno OSHA laws 2,400 years ago and some of the paths canbe uneven. In addition, it can get windy on the top of theAcropolis. While some of the buildings are somewhat intact,others are in ruins. Considering that some of the buildingsdate back 2,400 years, they are still impressive.

The name Acropolis comes from two Greek words.Acro means high (hence acrophobia means fear of heights)while polis means city (as in Minneapolis). Hence, Acrop-olis means High City and effectively was both a religiouscenter as well as a place of refuge in the event of an at-tack.

If you follow the usual path upward you will findyourself looking down on the Herodes Atticus Theateror Odeon. One of the newer buildings on the Acropolis, ithas 34 rows of seats and was built in 161 A.D. by HerodesAtticus and given to the Athenians in memory of his wife.It was restored in 1955 and is still used for events.

Pass through the gate and turn left and you willhead towards the entrance to the Acropolis known as thePropylaea. This is a good time to warn you to watch yourstep up here on the Acropolis since many of the walkwaysare uneven and have protruding rocks. Once you get to theentrance you will find good views both up to the Templeof Athena Nike at the upper right and down to the city.Nike means victory and this small temple was built between427 and 424 B.C. as a prayer for success against Sparta in

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Parliament

NationalGardens

SyntagmaSquare

Tram Line

Templeof Zeus

Arch

New AcropolisMuseum

Acropolis

Agora

MetroLine

Plaka

Adrianou

Ermou

Stoa

Bazaar

!Metro Station

St. Paul'sRock

Temple ofHephaestus

The small Temple of Athena Nike is located aboveand to the right of the entrance to the Acropolis.

The Herodes Atticus Theater or Odeon was rebuilt in1955 and is still used for some events.

The accompanying map showsmajor attractions in the area inand around the Acropolis, theAgora, the Parliament and theruins of the Temple of Zeus. Itdoes not show all of the localstreets. Most of the walkwaysaround the Acropolis, the Agora,Adrianou Street and parts ofErmou street are paths or mallswith no automobile traffic.

the Peloponnesian War. It stands over the rock most vul-nerable to enemy attack.

Walking up through the entrance, you will findyourself facing the Parthenon itself. Today’s view ismarred by construction cranes, but it is difficult not to ap-preciate a building more than 2,400 years old. Originallythe sacred sanctuary to Athena, it was later a church and amosque and even a repository for munitions. It is notewor-thy that the original architects bowed the 50 columns sothat they would appear to be straight to the human eye.

If you continue east around the Parthenon and tothe south, you might look down on the Dionysus Theatre.You will also find restrooms in this corner of the Acropolis.As I mentioned earlier, we always found that it was windywhen we visited the Acropolis. Dress accordingly.

At the far or east end of the Acropolis you will findsteps leading up to a little viewing platform. In addition tolooking over the city, if you turn south (right) you can seethe remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’sArch.

Going back towards the entrance you will find theErechtheion on the north side of the Acropolis. This isone of the best preserved buildings on the Acropolis. His-toric tradition holds that both Athena and Poseidon, the godof the sea, vied for the name of this new city. The legendis that Poseidon gave the new city a source of salt water.Athena gave the new city an olive tree, which still standsthere, and hence gave her name to the new city. TheErechtheion joins temples to Athena and Poseidon.

Moving back to the entrance, you will find someimpressive views overlooking the city. You will find your-self exiting to your right and going down. If you look downto your right as you descend, you will find a rather largerock where St. Paul preached. He apparently had little suc-cess in Athens and then walked down the road west toCarthage where he had considerably more success in con-verting the local people to Christianity.

Coming down the path you will exit through thefront and then follow a path out of the Acropolis. The log-ical decision is to head for the Agora. So you take a rightout of the exit gate and another right at St. Paul’s rock anddown the path along the Acropolis. You will soon find anexit to your left to a path that will take you down to theAgora.

Founded in the 6th century B.C., the Agora was theancient marketplace and meeting area of the city for about1,200 years. This is where the people purchased food,voted and met and worshiped. It included several stoas –covered buildings that housed stores and offices – as wellas temples and churches. Unfortunately, some of it is inruins although what remains is very interesting. Your ticketto enter the Acropolis is also valid in the Agora area.

If you follow the usual path down from the Acrop-olis, you will come to an entrance to the Agora and canpresent your ticket at a kiosk. Nearby you will see the AgiiApostoli Soianki (Church of the Apostles), a church builtaround 1020 to honor St. Paul who preached in the Agora.

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In spite of the construction work going on, theParthenon is still impressive after 2,400 years.

The Erechtheion is still in fairly good shape. Note thefemale statues known as Caryatids.

The Church of the Apostles in the Agora was built in1020 to honor St. Paul who preached here.

Moving north, on your right you will find the Stoaof Attalos that was reconstructed in the 1950s and givesyou some idea of what a stoa looked like. It now houses amodern museum. There are restrooms towards the north(far) end.

You can wander around and look at what remainsof various buildings. One of the most impressive and mostintact is the Temple of Hephaestus, dedicated to Athenaand Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths. It is a short dis-tance to the West and up on top of a hill. The walk up thehill is worth it because this is one of the most complete andintact ancient buildings.

One of the more interesting meetings between his-toric and modern takes place at the north side of the Agorawhich effectively ends at a Metro line. You can look downat the tracks and see how they were built through ancientruins. The Metro line enters a tunnel on the north side ofthe rebuilt Stoa of Attalos.

Leaving the Agora area to the north, you cross overthe Metro line and find yourself on Adrianou Street which

is more of a path than a street in this area. It is lined withrestaurants and gift shops and has become a popular touristarea. Nancy and I stopped for lunch on Adrianou when wewere exploring Athens.

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The Stoa of Attalos was reconstructed in the 1950sand today houses a modern museum.

The Temple of Hephaestus is one of the best pre-served ancient buildings in the Agora.

A modern metro line, passing the Stoa of Attalos,separates the Agora from Adrianou Street (left).

Adrianou Street is a pedestrian walkway lined withrestaurants that are popular with tourists.

The north side of the Acropolis and the Erechtheionas seen from Adrianou Street.

If you turn East (right) on Adrianou, you can followit to a “T” intersection with Areos. Ahead is the remains ofthe ancient library. If you turn left and walk North, you willpass the Monastiraki Metro station. It is named for theneighborhood to the north and serves two different metrolines. You can ride the blue line to the airport and the greenline to Piraeus on the coast where boats depart. On theright (east) you will find streets with bazaars. These bazaarsextend for a distance east and offer a wide range of items.The area southeast from here and northeast of the Acropolisis called the Plaka neighborhood

Continuing north brings you to Ermou Street andits numerous shops. Turn right (east) and you will be head-ing towards the heart of the city. You will find several namebrand stores on this street. Going East, Ermou ends at Syn-tagma Square a gathering place in the heart of the city andthe location of a Metro station. I might mention that the

Metro station is a museum in itself since it was built on anexcavation site. One glass wall in the station overlooks theexcavation site below and detailed information is offeredon the various layers.

Continuing East across the next street puts you infront of the Parliament building and the Tomb of the Un-known Soldier. Here you will typically find two soldiersknown as Evzones guarding the tomb. They are colorfullydressed in short, pleated skirts, red shoes with pom pomsand tasseled red caps. At the changing of the guard, andsometimes just when they see tourists, they go through aroutine of movements and kicks that makes quite a show.

Walking south from the Tomb of the Unknown Sol-dier on the Vas Amallias you will find the National Gar-dens on your left (east) located south of the Parliament.You will also see the northern terminal for the tram linethat continues south to the coast. What I thought was in-teresting is that Athens has a lot of trolley buses and thisstreet has three sets of trolley bus wires just on the north-bound side of the street.

The tram line turns southeast on the Vas Olgas butif you cross the street and continue straight ahead you willcome to another historical area. On your left is the remainsof the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Work was originallystarted on this around 500 B.C. by Peisistratos but wasabandoned because of the lack of funds. Hadrian com-pleted this temple in 131 A.D. in the Roman era. Whencompleted it was the largest in Greece. Fifteen of thecolumns remain in place and are lit at night. Your Acropolisticket will gain you admission.

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Parts of Ermou Street are more like a mall. You willfind some name brand stores here.

Two Evzones with colorful uniforms go through theirroutine at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Once the largest temple in Greece, only 15 columnsremain at the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Nearby is Hadrian’s Arch, built in 131 A.D.Hadrian had expanded the city east and this was the grandentryway between the old and the new Athens. The arch iswell preserved but sits on the side of the roadway with sub-stantial traffic.

At this point you have essentially completed a tourof some of the more historic parts of Athens. If you crossthe road and go west, you will soon come across the NewAcropolis Museum and the road along the south side of theAcropolis. There are several other museums and sites inAthens located outside of this area, but what I have coveredhere is the primary historical and tourist area.

The Greek Islands

To a large extent, Greece is a maritime country. Al-though connected to Europe on the north, the remainderof the country is surrounded by water. On the east is theAegean Sea, the Ionic Sea is on the West and the Mediter-ranean Sea is on the south. The result is that Greece hasseveral islands. Some are as small as a house and severalhave steep cliffs. However, others are larger and havebeaches or resort areas.

Modern hydrofoil boats run from the coast to sev-eral of the islands. There are also cruises that stop at someof the islands. The most popular offer stops at Aegina,Poros and Hydra.

One of the largest islands is Aegina, located in theSaronic Gulf just south of Athens. Roughly triangular inshape, the island is probably no more than eight or ninemiles wide at its widest point. There is an hourly local busservice that goes to some of the attractions but if you rideon a tour boat, they may provide a local excursion.

Boats typically dock at the appropriately-namedAegina Town, which boasts a morning fish market. You willfind restaurants, gift shops and banks near the port. Nearbyattractions include the Markelos Tower, a fortified housethat hosted the first meetings of the Greek government in1827. The ruins of Palechora, the island’s former capital, arelocated a few miles south of town. Several Byzantinechurches on the island are still in use.

The primary attraction on the island is probably theTemple of Aphaia, located on the opposite site of the islandfrom Aegina Town. It was built about 500 B.C. and henceis almost the same age as the Parthenon. Many of thecolumns are still standing and the surrounding area hasbeen preserved. There is a small admission charge to thegrounds. Across the road is a gift shop that also offers somerefreshments and the local specialty – pistachio nuts roastedin sea salt.

Built in 131 A.D., Hadrian’s Arch once served as thegate between the old city and the new city.

The Temple of Aphaia, dating to the same era as theParthenon, is a popular site on the island of Aegina.

Small water taxis provide transportation betweensome of the smaller Greek islands.

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Second in popularity is the church of Agios Nekar-ios and the adjacent monastery of the Agia Triada (The HolyTrinity). Agios Nekarios (1846-1920) was known as a mira-cle worker and healer. He was officially named a saint inthe Greek Orthodox Church in 1961. His remains are stillin the church and continue to be venerated.

Poros means “straits” and is only barely an island.It is separated from the mainland by 1,214 feet of water.There is no bridge so both small boats and larger ferryboats, capable of transporting cars, continually run backand forth. The waterfront of Poros is lined with restaurantsand other businesses.

The biggest tourist attraction in Poros Town isprobably the clock tower that can be reached on foot fromthe waterfront simply by following the signs up the hillthrough the narrow streets and pathways. It does providea nice view of the strait. East of Poros Town is theMonastery of Zoodochos Pigi (Source of Life) where a nat-

ural spring is thought to have curative powers. The remainsof the Temple of Poseidon is located three miles south ofPoros Town.

Hydra is located south of the PeloponnesianPeninsula and takes about 90 minutes to reach by Hydro-foil. The port is U-shaped and lined with restaurants, giftshops and even a bank with an ATM machine. What makesHydra particularly interesting is that it has no cars and trans-port is by foot or mule.

The island was originally settled by seafaring fam-ilies in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many of whichbuilt stone mansions. They were followed by artists andwriters in the 1960s. There is a museum at the port and sev-eral religious sites are located within an hour’s walk. Littlewater taxis at the harbor connect Hydra with other nearbyislands or locations.

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Another popular tourist stop on the island of Aegina isthe church of Agios Nekarios.

Nancy stands on the waterfront at Poros, not muchmore than 1,000 feet from the mainland to the left.

The harbor of Hydra with some of the mules used fortransportation on the island.

The waterfront at Hydra is lined with restaurants,stores, a museum and even a bank with an ATM.

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St. Paul preached near this rock located at the north-west corner of the Acropolis.

Some of the harmless stray dogs in Athens. Phototaken near the entrance to the Acropolis.

The rebuilt Stoa of Attalos in the Agora houses a veryimpressive museum collection.

There is actually a railroad struck on the Acropolis toassist in moving some of the larger stones.

Athen’s modern tram line starts just south of the Par-liament building and runs to the waterfront.

Photographs are prohibited in the New Acropolis Mu-seum except in limited areas.