Ancient Athens was considered the main city in Attica (Central Greece). Urban settlements were located several kilometers from the sea. They were grouped around a high hill with a citadel towering above it. It was called the Acropolis. The area was extremely picturesque, and the Acropolis was decorated with magnificent buildings.

Ancient Athens on the map of Greece

From tyrants to democracy

The city-state began to gain strength at the end of the 9th century BC. e. In the beginning, Athens was ruled by kings, and then they were replaced by tyrants. Tyranos translated from Greek as ruler. Therefore, no bad meaning was put into this word.

However, over time, city rulers began to oppress and rob the population. It was then that the word “tyrant” began to be understood as a cruel ruler or despot. In this negative meaning it has survived to this day.

At first, the tyrants were tolerated, since they enjoyed the support of the rich and noble Athenians and the Areopagus. Areopagus called the supreme council, which included 9 judges or archons.

Athens Acropolis

In the 7th century BC. e. archon Dragon implemented a whole series of harsh laws. According to them, people were executed for the slightest offense. Stole a bunch of grapes or an onion - death. The Athenians said that Draco wrote his laws in blood and called them draconian.

Property inequality ended with the struggle between aristocrats and commoners in the 6th century BC. e. Unrest and armed clashes began in the city. To stop the bloodshed, they decided to elect an intelligent man as archon so that he could finally restore order.

He turned out to be such a person Solon. He had an excellent reputation and in 594 BC. e. began to carry out reforms. It was on his initiative that the Draconian laws and debt slavery were abolished. Laws on freedom of will and inheritance of property were introduced. Craftsmen and traders began to be provided with benefits.

All citizens of Attica, depending on material wealth, were divided into 4 class groups. Each of them was prescribed its own responsibilities and rights. But in this matter, Solon acted as a defender of the aristocracy. He granted the right to hold public office only to wealthy citizens.

The reformer did not encroach on the power of the tyrants. They continued to commit arbitrariness and increasingly antagonized the common people. In 514 BC. e. The tyrant Hipparchus was killed by the conspirators Harmodius and Aristogeiton. These two ancient Greeks went down in history as the first tyrannicides.

In 509 BC. e. A popular uprising broke out in Ancient Athens. As a result of this, royal power was destroyed and democratic rule triumphed. All Athenian citizens, regardless of material wealth, received equal political rights, and the most important state issues began to be decided by general voting.

But the republic that arose on the lands of Ancient Greece remained aristocratic. Noble Athenians began to unite into groups and manipulate the votes of people at public assemblies. The aristocrats bribed and won over the people's leaders, who were called demagogues.

The Rise of Ancient Athens

In the 5th century BC. e. Greek city-states defeated Persia. This contributed not only to general prosperity, but also to the victory of democracy. In Argos, Phocis, and Thebes, the ruling aristocratic groups were overthrown. The inhabitants of these cities began to practice democratic freedoms following the example of Athens.

But it was Ancient Athens that reached its greatest prosperity. The port of Piraeus, which they owned, became the main center of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Athenians also stood at the head of a maritime union, which included 200 poleis (cities). The union had its own treasury, and it was managed by the Athenians. All this strengthened the city and raised its authority.

As for domestic political life, it was characterized by the struggle of two parties - aristocratic and democratic. In 462 BC. e. The power of the Areopagus was significantly limited. People's assemblies began to play an increasingly significant political role. They convened 4 times a month. Laws were passed, wars were declared, peace was concluded, and public funds were distributed.

Pericles with his wife Aspasia

During this period, such a historical figure stood out as Pericles. He became a recognized Athenian leader, and in 443 BC. e. he was elected strategos (military leader). This man was in power for 15 years. It was under him that secret voting began to be practiced in the people's assembly.

In all sculptures, Pericles is depicted wearing a helmet. There is speculation that his head had some kind of physical defect. But, despite this, the strategist had a diverse education. He strove to make Ancient Athens the center of education for all of Hellas.

This man's wife was Aspasia from Miletus. She was distinguished by her beauty and intelligence, and in her social activities she sought equality for women. Residents of the city compared Pericles with Zeus, and his wife with Hera - the wife of the thunderer. However, the marriage of this couple was not recognized as official, since Aspasia was not an Athenian. True, two sons from this marriage received Athenian citizenship.

Under Pericles, the city flourished and was the most prosperous and powerful among all the cities of Ancient Greece. In 429 BC. e. the strategist died. After this, the gradual decline of the powerful city-state began.

Sunset of Ancient Athens

In 431 BC. e. War began between Sparta and Athens. It lasted 30 years and was carried out extremely cruelly. Other Greek cities also took part in this war. It went down in history as the name of the union led by Sparta.

The Spartans invaded Attica several times and besieged Athens. In response to this, the Athenians attacked Peloponnesian cities from the sea. A sea voyage to Sicily was also organized. A fleet of 134 triremes (warships) took part in it. But this large-scale expedition did not bring success to the Athenians.

Having suffered a number of serious defeats, the Athenian Maritime Union collapsed. A revolution took place in the city itself. As a result of this, the aristocratic first came to power council of four hundred, and then a smaller group seized power thirty tyrants. As for the People's Assembly, its powers were significantly reduced.

The Peloponnesian War was fought on both land and sea

In 404 BC. e. The Athenians capitulated to the Spartans. They were prohibited from having a navy, and the stone walls of the port of Piraeus were destroyed. But the long war weakened not only Attica, but also other Greek city states.

And at this time, a new powerful enemy appeared in the north. It was Macedonia, which began to claim hegemony over all of Greece. It reached its greatest power in the middle of the 4th century BC. e. under Philip II. He created a well-armed army and began to conquer one Greek city after another.

However, the Athenian lands continued to remain the cultural and commercial center of Hellas. But the city residents understood that the Macedonians would soon reach them. The Athenian orator Demosthenes spoke directly about this. His accusatory speeches were called Philippics, and Philip II himself declared Demosthenes his personal enemy.

The political situation was heating up, and Ancient Athens had no choice but to create a military alliance. It included Thebes, Megara and Corinth. In 338 BC. e. A battle took place near the Boeotian city of Chaeronea between the troops of the military alliance and the army of Philip II. In this battle the allies were defeated.

The winner dictated peace terms to the defeated cities. Since Philip II was a smart man, he formally declared the conquered policies independent, but obliged them to support him in military campaigns. In addition, he placed military garrisons in Attica.

In most of the conquered cities, an aristocracy came to power, currying favor with Macedonia. This ended the classical era, and the Hellenistic period of Ancient Greece began.

During Hellenism, the situation in Athens was constantly changing. The city either achieved independence or again fell under the rule of the Macedonian army. In 146 BC. e. the city found itself under the rule of the Roman Republic as an ally. But freedom was purely formal.

In 88 BC. e. The Athenians supported the anti-Roman movement, which was led by the Pontic king Mithridates VI. But in 86 BC. e. near the city walls there was a Roman army under the command of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The Romans took the once great city by storm. However, Sulla showed mercy out of respect for the historical past of Ancient Athens: the fictitious freedom of the Athenians was preserved.

In the last quarter of the 1st century BC. e. the city became part of the new Roman province. But only in the 3rd century AD. e. the importance of the once powerful Athens completely disappeared, and the polis fell into complete decline.

Athens is a city named after Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and just war. Geographical location: Central Greece, Attica Peninsula. Modern Athens is the cultural and economic administrative center of Greece, home to more than 750,000 inhabitants (2003).

Even in ancient times, Athens was the largest city-state in Attica, whose legacy is of great importance in the modern world. Ancient Athens is the birthplace of democracy, various directions of philosophy and the art of theater. According to historians, the first records date back to 1600-1200. to. AD (Mycenaean era). Archaeological research in Athens began in the 30s of the 19th century and was inconsistent, and only in the 70-80s. excavations took a systematic approach. During the research, many historical values ​​were discovered.

Sights of Athens

Acropolis and Parthenon

The main attractions of Athens are the Acropolis and the Parthenon, which are located on a 156-meter rocky hill. In ancient times, these places were used for the construction of temples dedicated to the great Greek gods, and also confirmed the status of Athens as a beautiful city , center of culture and art. Today, the Acropolis and Parthenon are a must-see for millions of tourists who come to Athens.

Theater of Dionysus

The orchestra of the Theater of Dionysus gave premieres of works by Aristophanes, Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides. Finding this ancient building is not at all difficult: the theater is located on the southeastern slope of the Acropolis hill.

Temple of Zeus

The Temple of Olympian Zeus (Olympion) is located in the very center of Athens. In Ancient Greece it was the largest temple. Due to its location, Olympion is clearly visible from the Acropolis.
Opening hours: Tue – Sun: 8:30 – 15:00. Mon: closed

National Archaeological Museum

The National Archaeological Museum, which has collected a huge collection of exhibits within its walls, is located in the center of Athens. The exhibition is so extensive that you will have to spend several hours exploring it. For the convenience of visitors, the halls in the museum are arranged in chronological order: from the Mycenaean period and the Cycladic culture, covering the ancient period, to the present day.
Opening hours:
Summer: Mon: 12.30 – 19.00; Tue – Fri: 8.00 – 19.00; Sat, Sun: 8.30 – 15.00
Winter: Mon: 10.30-17.00; Tue – Fri: 8.00 – 19.00; Sat, Sun: 8.30 – 15.00

One of the most fascinating places when visiting Athens is the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, which was a landmark for sailors in ancient times. Cape Sounion is known for its beautiful sunsets that paint the sky an amazing bright red. You can get to this place by renting a car or by taking the Athens-Sounio intercity bus. And don’t forget to make a wish at sunset at the foot of the temple, they say that it will definitely come true.

While vacationing in Greece, numerous tourists flock to Athens to enjoy a wide range of excursion programs. You can book an excursion directly from the tour operator or find a private guide. Some of the most attractive excursions are a visit to the Acropolis and the old city, a sightseeing tour of Athens, an excursion to Argolis from Athens, Athens at night. A huge number of excursions will not leave even the most fastidious tourist indifferent - everyone will find the most interesting and educational for themselves.

Athens Hotels

Like any other metropolis, Athens has a huge number of hotels in various price categories. You can find either a completely budget option for accommodation or choose a luxurious five-star hotel for your holiday in Athens, located right on the seashore. Moreover, according to research from the Hotels.com portal, they are recognized as the most affordable in Europe. The average cost of living is no more than 2,500 rubles per day per person.

• OK. 508 BC e. — Democracy is winning in Athens.
• 461-429 BC e. - the era of Pericles in Athens.
• 447-438 BC e. - construction of the Parthenon.
• 431-404 BC e. - Peloponnesian War.

Ancient Athens was the first of many city-states to call for a unified force to jointly defend against further Persian invasions after the Greco-Persian Wars. For this purpose, a powerful fleet was built here.

In Athens, all male citizens had a say in how the city should be governed. They met every ten days to discuss new laws and vote on decisions. This type of government is called democracy, which means "rule of the people". Women, foreigners and slaves were not allowed to vote.

Athens temples

The Greeks built majestic temples of dazzling white marble. Most temples had triangular roofs and rested on rows of columns. The Greeks used three different orders in the construction of columns: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian.

Athens agora

The Athenian Agora is the central square and market in the center of Athens. It is located at the foot of a hill called the Acropolis. The road leading to the Acropolis is called the “sacred path”. At the top of the hill was the temple of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, which was called the Parthenon. Religious processions passed through the main gate of the temple.

Men went to the agora to meet friends. Men usually did their shopping at the market. People from all over Greece came to Athens to purchase pottery from the agora. Residents from other cities could change their money at the trapezit. Market jugglers entertained the crowd.

The market in the Athenian agora sold a wide range of goods. The stalls sold wool and linen fabric, clay lamps, flowers, olive oil for lamps, and even slaves. There were shops in the building called “stoya”. They sold gold, spices and silk. Food was also sold in the agora: hot food, meat, fruits and vegetables, honey for preparing sweet dishes, eggs, cheese. During sale, the meat was laid out on a marble slab, which kept it chilled. Material from the site

Greek thinkers wondered about the meaning of human existence. The two most famous philosophers, Socrates and Plato, lived in Athens. Scientists tried to explain the structure of the world. They studied plants, animals, the human body, the Sun and stars. Scientists such as Pythagoras discovered laws that are still used in mathematics today. A Greek named Herodotus wrote the first reliable book of history. It was dedicated to the Greco-Persian wars.

Pictures (photos, drawings)

• Pericles

• 

  Greek warriors. Painting on a vase

• 

  Market (agora) in the center of Athens

• 

  The Parthenon in Athens - a typical Greek temple

• 

  Politician giving a speech to Athenian citizens

• 

  The Greeks used columns of three different orders in the construction: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian

• 

  Plato

• 

  Socrates

• 

  Manuscript containing the famous Pythagorean theorem

• 

  Herodotus questions veterans of the Greco-Persian wars

• 

The age of Athens is two and a half thousand years. The glorious past of the city is still clearly visible: the ancient Acropolis, towering above the city, is literally visible from everywhere. Today Athens is a modern metropolis, home to about four million people. This great city has changed in the twenty-first century. This happened partly thanks to the 2004 Olympic Games. Now Athens is more than a repository of antiquities. The city has changed a lot and, contrary to the perception of it as a city with a polluted environment and unbearable traffic, it leaves an amazing impression.

The construction boom after the end of World War II and the increase in population from 700 thousand to 4 million people turned into an architectural disaster. However, now the appearance of the city is changing: new roads and metro are being built, and the expansion of the pedestrian zone in the city center has already saved Athens from painful traffic jams and even reduced the cloud of smog, which literally poisons the metropolitan atmosphere. The cleaner air is evident in the rediscovery of the views for which Athens was once famous, and despite the skyscrapers and fast-food outlets, the city manages to retain its unique character and charm.

Oriental bazaars compete with fashion boutiques and shops filled with goods from Armani and Benetton. Rapid modernization is balanced by a sense of homely atmosphere in the air: any Greek will tell you that Athens is the largest village in the country. No matter how often you come to Athens, your attention will be attracted by what has been preserved from the classical ancient city - first of all, the Parthenon and other monuments of the Acropolis, as well as the updated one, which presents the best collection of antiquities.

Most of the several million visitors who visit Athens every year limit themselves to visiting these monuments, adding to them only an evening in a romantic atmosphere in one of the Plaka taverns designed for tourists. But in doing so, they miss the chance to see the Athens that the Athenians themselves know and love. Even if you only visited the city for a short time, this does not justify the desire to see Athens only as a collection of preserved antiquities and museum exhibits. It would also be worth spending a little time getting to know the outskirts of the capital and visiting near Athens.

The most accessible place for tourists is probably Plaka, an area where Turkish, neoclassical and Greek island architecture is mixed. Further on there are interesting museums dedicated to traditional arts and crafts, from ceramics to music. A little further north are the souks, almost the same as in the Middle East, and the added reward is the cafes, bars, clubs in Psirri and the rapidly developing, as well as the National Park and the shady and elegant. Not so far from Plaka are the hills Lycabettus and Philopappou, from which the entire city is visible at a glance, and there is a tram (in the summer it will take you to the beach). All of the above attractions can be seen during.

But what surprises visitors most of all in Athens is the bustling life of the city. The cafes are always crowded, during the day and after midnight, the streets are not empty until three or even four o’clock in the morning, bars and clubs attract night owls. There are also places to eat in a way that will be remembered for a long time: there are many traditional taverns, and chic restaurants await discerning gourmets. In the summer, cafe tables move onto the street pavements, club life moves to the beaches, and you can go to the movies, attend concerts and open-air performances based on the works of classical ancient Greek drama. Shopping lovers' eyes run wild: lively colorful bazaars and huge shopping spaces in the suburbs, called "malls" in the American style, and, of course, boutiques filled with the creations of the most fashionable fashion designers.

And very good – and also priced – public transport, inexpensive taxis, so you won’t have any special difficulties getting around. Describing the outskirts of Athens - they and the region as a whole will be discussed in other articles - attention is paid here, first of all, to the monuments of antiquity. The most popular place to visit is the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion: that wonderful architectural monument is located on a cliff overlooking the cape. The sanctuaries of Ramne (Ramnus), Eleusis (Elephsina) and Vravrona, as well as the burial mound at Marathon, built in honor of the great victory, are not so well known and not so frequently visited.

Fans of hiking may want to climb - the mountains have encircled the city, and it is best to climb Mount Parnitha. If it is in the spring, then at the same time you will pick up an armful of a variety of wonderful forest and wildflowers. The beaches on the Attic coast are good enough to attract city-weary Athenians, but if you're visiting the islands, exploring the beaches here isn't necessary. Getting out of Athens is easy: dozens of ferries and hydrofoils leave daily from the Athens suburban port of Piraeus, and also, less frequently, from two other Attic ports with ferry piers - Rafina and Lavrion.

A Brief History of Athens (Greece)

Athens is a city where life began more than seven thousand years ago. The low rocky hill, which later became the Acropolis of Athens, has attracted people since ancient times as a convenient place of settlement. It rises in the middle of a valley watered by the rivers Cephisus and Ilissos and surrounded by the mountains Hymetta, Penterikon, Parnet and Aigalei. The slopes of the hill, whose height is 156 meters above sea level, are inaccessible, and therefore it is natural that all these advantages were appreciated by the ancient inhabitants of Attica. The Mycenaeans built a palace-fortress on the rock.

Unlike other Mycenaean villages, Athens was neither abandoned nor sacked during the Dorian invasion (circa 1200 BC), so the Athenians always prided themselves on being “pure” Ionians, without Dorian “admixture”. But the Mycenaean-type state did not survive in Athens. Gradually the village turned into a polis (ancient city-state) and a cultural center. The rulers of Athens were considered kings - the basilei, who then ceded power to the clan nobility - the eupatrides. Public meetings took place at the Propylaea of ​​the Acropolis. To the west rose the rocky hill of Apec, named after the god of war. Here, on the leveled peak, the Areopagus, the council of elders of the noble families of the city, the Areopagites, gathered. Athens at that time remained in the shadow of large and powerful policies, such as and.

Athens grew richer, and the increased prosperity contributed to the rapid growth of arts and crafts, especially pottery. But economic growth increased political tension: there was growing discontent among farmers and Athenians, who were excluded from public life, but paid taxes and taxes on land that went to the landed aristocracy. The discord could only be stopped by the reconstruction of society, which was aimed at by the laws of Draco (his “Dracontic” code was promulgated in 621 BC) and the election of Solon as ruler (594 BC), who was given powers to carry out radical political and economic reforms.

Solon's reforms provided civil rights to large sections of the population and laid the foundations of the system that over time grew into Athenian democracy. In the middle of the 6th century BC, Peisistratus seized power. Peisistratus is usually called a tyrant, but this only means that he took power by force: his populist policies earned him the loyalty and love of many of his fellow citizens, and he turned out to be a very successful ruler, under whom Athens became much more powerful, richer and more influential. His sons Hippias and Hipparchus were not so happy: Hipparchus was killed in 514 BC, after which Hippias tried to establish a dictatorship.

He was greatly disliked by the people and was overthrown with the help of an army called from Sparta in 510 BC. The new leader Cleisthenes carried out more radical changes: he introduced a government board of 10 strategists, created territorial phyles instead of tribal ones, and each of them sent fifty representatives to the State Council of Bule. Boulet made decisions on issues discussed in the Assembly. All citizens could participate in the Assembly and it performed the functions of both the legislative branch and the supreme court. The reforms proposed by Cleisthenes served as the basis for Athenian democracy, which existed, almost unchanged, until Roman rule.

Around 500 BC, Athens sent a detachment of warriors to Asia Minor to help the Ionian Greeks who rebelled against the Persian Empire, which provoked a retaliatory Persian invasion of Greece. In 490 BC, the Athenians and their allies defeated vastly superior Persian forces at the Battle of Marathon. In 480 BC, the Persians returned, captured and sacked Athens and left almost the entire city burned to the ground. In the same year, however, victory in the naval battle of Athens put an end to the Greek struggle with the Persians, simultaneously securing Athens' position as the leading city-state in the Greek world, and Athens was able to unite the cities of the islands of the Aegean Sea and central Greece into the Delian League, also called Athens Maritime Union.

This newfound power gave birth to the so-called classical period, during which Athens reaped the fruits of its successes and the triumph of democracy along with the flowering of the arts, architecture, literature and philosophy, and the influence of this era on world culture is felt to this day. In the second century BC, power passed to the Romans, who revered Athens as a spiritual source but made little effort to give the city more splendor.

Christians and Turks in Athens (Greece)

The emergence of Christianity is perhaps the most significant milestone in the process of the long decline of Athens, which lost the glory that the city had known in the classical era. At the end of Roman rule, during which the appearance of the city changed little, Athens lost its role as a connecting link in the Greco-Roman world, and the reason for this was the division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western and the formation of Byzantium (Constantinople) as the capital of the eastern Byzantine Empire. In this empire, the new Christian worldview very soon eclipsed the ethics developed by Athens, although Neoplatonism was still taught in the philosophical schools of the city.

In 529, these lyceums were closed, and Justinian I, who put an end to them, ordered at the same time to rededicate the city churches, and all of them, including the Parthenon, became Christian churches. Then Athens almost ceased to be mentioned in chronicles and annals; a hint of revival appeared only during the reign of foreign rulers and the Middle Ages: as a result of the Fourth Crusade, Athens with the Peloponnese and a considerable part of the central one ended up in the hands of the Franks. The ducal court was located on the Acropolis, and for a whole century Athens returned to the mainstream of European life. The Frankish power, however, had almost no one to rely on except the provincial aristocracy.

In 1311, Frankish troops fought with Catalan mercenaries entrenched in Thebes and were driven into a swamp. The Catalans, who organized their own principality, were replaced by the Florentines, and then very briefly by the Venetians, until in 1456 the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II appeared, the conqueror of Constantinople. Athens during the period of Turkish rule was a military settlement with a garrison stationed in it, every now and then (and to the considerable detriment of the buildings of the classical period) finding itself on the front line of battles with the Venetians and other Western powers.

Ties with the West were severed, and only occasionally did French and Italian ambassadors appear in the Sublime Porte. Sometimes rare travelers or curious painters visited Athens. During this period, the Greeks enjoyed some degree of self-government, and the Jesuit and Capuchin monasteries flourished. turned into the residence of the Ottoman ruler, and the Parthenon was converted into a mosque. The areas around the Acropolis returned to the distant past, switched to a partial peasant existence, and the port in Piraeus was forced to be content with servicing a dozen or two fishing boats.

Four hundred years of Ottoman rule ended in 1821, when the Athenian Greeks, along with the inhabitants of dozens of cities in the country, rebelled. The rebels occupied the Turkish areas of the lower city - this is the current one - and besieged the Acropolis. The Turks retreated, but five years later they returned to reoccupy the Athenian fortifications; the Greek rebels had to go deeper into the mainland. When the Ottoman garrison left forever in 1834 and a new, German monarchy arose, 5 thousand people lived in Athens.

Modern Athens (Greece)

Despite its ancient past and the natural advantages of its location, Athens did not immediately become the capital of modern Greece. This honor initially went to Nafplio in the Peloponnese - the city in which Ioannis Kapodistrias developed plans for the War of Independence, and from where he later led it, and where the first meeting of the country's first parliament, the National Assembly, took place in 1828. And if I. Kapodistrias had not been killed in 1831, it is quite possible that the capital would have remained the same, or maybe it would have been moved from Nafplio to Corinth or better-equipped and quite large cities.

However, after the death of Kapodistrias, the intervention of the Western European “Great Powers” ​​followed, imposing their monarch on the country - he became Otto, the son of Ludwig I of Bavaria, and in 1834 the capital and royal court moved to Athens. The justification for the move came down to symbolic and sentimental reasons, because the new capital was an insignificant settlement and was located on the very edge of the territory of the new state - it had yet to include northern Macedonia and all the islands except those already existing.

In the 19th century, the development of Athens was a gradual and completely manageable process. While archaeologists were ridding the Acropolis of all the architectural layers with which the Turks and Franks had decorated it, the city was gradually being built: the streets intersected at right angles, and neoclassical buildings in the Bavarian style appeared. Piraeus managed to once again turn into a full-fledged port, because until the beginning of the 19th century it was greatly hampered by competitors - the largest ports of Greece on the islands and. In 1923, at the end of the tragic Greco-Turkish war in Asia Minor, a peace treaty was signed, according to which an “exchange of population” took place: the Turks moved to Greece, the Greeks to Greece, and nationality was determined solely by religion.

One and a half million Greek Christians from centuries-old villages in Asia Minor and the Turkic-speaking but Orthodox population of Anatolia arrived in Greece as refugees. And more than half of this flow settled in Athens, Piraeus and nearby villages, changing the appearance of the capital in one fell swoop. The integration of the new settlers and their efforts to survive constituted one of the greatest pages in the history of the city, and this phenomenon itself left deep traces that are noticeable to this day. The names of the areas located on both sides of the metro line connecting Athens with Piraeus testify to the longing experienced by the new settlers for their forever lost homeland: Nea Zmirni (New Smyrna), Nea Yonia, Nea Philadelphia - such names are common for city blocks and streets.

At first, these neighborhoods were villages in which people from the same Anatolian town settled, who built houses from whatever they could find, and it happened that one well or water tap supplied drinking water to a dozen families. The merger of these suburbs with Athens and Piraeus continued until World War II. But the war brought such new worries that all the old ones were temporarily put aside. Athens suffered greatly from the German occupation: in the winter of 1941-1942, according to rough estimates, two thousand people died of starvation every day in the city. And at the end of 1944, when the German occupation ended, the civil war began.

British soldiers were ordered to fight their recent allies in the Greek Resistance Army EL AS because the army was led by communists. From 1946 to 1949, Athens was an island in the raging sea of ​​war: the roads both to the north and to the north could only be called passable with a very big stretch. But in the 1950s, after the Civil War, the city began to expand rapidly. A program of powerful capital investments in industry was implemented - the money was invested mainly by Americans who wanted to persuade Greece to enter the US sphere of influence, while at the same time the capital experienced an influx of immigrants from impoverished villages devastated by the war.

The vacant lots between the neighborhoods began to be quickly developed, and by the end of the 1960s, Athens had become a major city. Often new developments look dull. Old buildings were demolished; the elements of destruction raged with particular force in 1967-1974, during the junta. Homeowners replaced demolished buildings with multi-apartment residential buildings up to six stories high. The central streets are like canyons - narrow streets seem to be cut between concrete high-rise buildings. Booming industry took over the outskirts, and the combined efforts of city planners and industrialists quickly turned Athens into a polluted megalopolis, suffocating from the toxic fog that descends on it, which is called nefos.

Since the 1990s, in preparation for the Olympics, measures have finally been taken to improve the situation in the city. Although Athens still has a long way to go in terms of green spaces and open spaces, the results of the efforts are already visible. Everything that has survived from the city’s architectural heritage is being restored, public transport is clean, the construction of houses is controlled, new buildings of interesting ultra-modern architecture have appeared (for example, some buildings erected for the Olympics and the unfinished new Acropolis Museum), and the air is not so polluted, as before. I would like to hope that changes in this direction will continue.

The city of Ancient Greece with the famous Acropolis, Athens, became a symbol of ancient civilization and occupied a central place in the life of the Greeks. The construction of Athens began in the Mycenaean era with the construction of the Peloponnesian palaces. The city grew and over time began to personify all the Greek virtues and enjoy undoubted authority, so that even after the defeat in the Pelononnesian War, the Spartans refused to destroy the city and enslave the citizens.

History of the emergence of the Athenian Empire

Evidence of a historical settlement on the Acropolis has been found near the site of Agora. There is an assumption that it was inhabited as early as 5000, and possibly as early as 7000 BC. According to legend, the Athenian king Kekrops named the city in his honor, but from Olympus it was clear that this city was so beautiful that it deserved an immortal name.

Poseidon struck the rock with his trident, from which water gushed out, and he assured the people that now they would never suffer from drought.

Athena was the last, she sowed a seed into the ground, from which an olive tree quickly grew. The ancient Greeks believed that the olive tree was more valuable than water since it was salty from the kingdom of Poseidon. And Athena was chosen as the patroness of the city, and it was named after her.

The main means of subsistence for the city of Ancient Greece were agriculture and trade, mainly by sea. During the Mycenaean era (circa 1550-1100 BC), massive construction of massive fortresses began throughout Greece, and Athens was no exception. The ruins of the Mycenaean court can still be seen today at the Acropolis.

Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey portrays the Mycenaeans as great warriors and seafarers who traded in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. In 1200 BC. The Sea Peoples invaded the Greek Aegean archipelago from the south, while the Dorians simultaneously arrived from the north of mainland Greece. When the Mycenaeans invaded Attica (the area surrounding Athens), the Dorians withdrew from the city leaving the ancient Greek city untouched. Although, as in other parts of ancient civilization, after the invasions there was an economic and cultural decline. The Athenians then began to claim a special status in the Ionian Sea.

The Rise of Democracy in Ancient Greece

Wealthy aristocrats established control over the lands; over time, poorer landowners were enslaved by wealthy citizens. The reason for this was the different understanding of the laws of the city of Ancient Greece. One piece of legislation, represented by the writings of the statesman Draco, was considered too difficult to enforce, since most violations carried the death penalty.

The great legislator Solon called for them to be reviewed and changed. Solon, although he himself belonged to aristocratic circles, issued a series of laws that granted the right to vote in political matters to citizens. In doing so, he laid the foundation for democracy in Athens in 594 BC.

After Solon withdrew from government affairs, various factional leaders began to share power. Ultimately, Pisistratus won, recognizing the value of Solon's laws and calling for their implementation unchanged. His son, Hypipios, continued his political path until his younger brother, Hipparkos, was killed in 514 BC. by order of Sparta. After the coup d'etat in Ancient Greece and the settlement of issues with the Spartans, Cleisthenes was appointed to reform the government and legal framework. In 507 BC. he introduced a new form of government, which is today recognized as a democratic regime.

According to historian Waterfield:

“The pride that the citizens of Athens could now participate in public life gave a huge impetus to their development of the city.”.

The new form of government provided the stability necessary for Athens to flourish as the cultural and intellectual center of the ancient world."

The Age of Pericles in Athens

Under Pericles, Athens entered a golden age, which was marked by a cultural upsurge that accompanied the emergence of great thinkers, writers and artists.

After the Athenians defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, and were freed from a second Persian invasion at Salamis in 480 BC, Athens came to be considered the center of naval power in ancient Greece. . The Delian League was formed to create a cohesive defense of the city-states of the ancient civilization to prevent attacks from the Persians. Under the leadership of Pericles, Athens earned such authority that it could make its own laws, introduce customs and trade with its neighbors in Attica and the islands of the Aegean Sea.

The period of Pericles' reign went down in the history of ancient Greece as the golden age of philosophy, artistic and literary arts, and the heyday of Athens. Herodotus, "father of history", wrote his immortal works in Athens. Socrates, "father of philosophy", taught in Athens. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine", practiced in the capital of the ancient civilization. Sculptor Phidias created his best works for the Acropolis, the Temple of Zeus and Olympia. Democritus conducted research and found out that the universe consists of atoms. Aeschylus Eurypylus, Aristophanes and Sophocles wrote their famous plays. Plato created an academy of sciences near Athens in 385 BC, then Aristotle founded the Lyceum in the city center.

Combat battles of Athens

The power of the Athenian Empire posed a threat to neighboring states. After Athens sent troops to help the Spartan forces to suppress the Helot rebellion, Sparta invited the ancient Greeks to leave the battlefield and return home. The incident sparked a war that had been brewing for a long time.

Later, when the Ancient Greek city sent its fleet to protect Sosug's ally (Confu) against a Corinthian invasion during the Battle of Sybota in 433 BC, this was interpreted by Sparta as aggression rather than assistance, since Corinth was an ally of Sparta .

The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) between Athens and Sparta, in which all the cities of Ancient Greece were involved in one way or another, ended in defeat for Athens.

All cultural monuments were destroyed. In the city, which has a reputation as an educational center and the culture of the entire civilization, such a phenomenon as the enslavement of the population arose. Athens struggled to maintain its position as an independent state until it was finally defeated in 338 BC. Macedonian troops under the leadership of Philip II in Chaeronea.

After the defeat at the Battle of Sinosephalos in 197 BC. The Roman Empire began its gradual conquest of Ancient Greece. Legend has it that the Roman general Sulla, who was dismissed from a high position in Athens in 87 BC, was the organizer of the massacre of the city's citizens and the burning of the port of Ripaeus.

In the modern world, Athens preserves the heritage of classical art, poetic and artistic achievements. While the Parthenon at the Acropolis continues to symbolize the golden age and heyday of Ancient Greece.

Video of Athens Acropolis of ancient Greece