History tour of Athens

The gods visit us disguised as strangers.

Odysseus.

After purchasing a hop on hop off tour I decided to walk to the acropolis as it is close to my hotel and the first stop where your ticket must be activated. Along the way there are spectacular sights.

The church of the metamorphosis.

I arrived early and explored the hill of the muses that is near there.

Socrates prison. This is the alleged prison where he was believed to be housed.
Polipponas monument. Beautiful view of the acropolis here.
An ancient road between the two hills.
Church of nymphs Observatory.

There are many places to visit on the hill but most pictures just look like any national park. This actually is an area where people bring their dogs in the morning for a walk. Beautiful trails and a lovely place to walk and enjoy nature.

The Acropolis

This ancient citadel dates back to the 5th century BC.

The Parthenon.

Ruins of the temple of Rome and Augustus.
The temple of Athena Nike.
Remnants of the sanctuary of Artemis.
The old temple of Athena.

National Archaeological museum

The museum is huge and has many antiquities.

From the paleolithic age and shows fascination with male anatomy.
Gold leaf death masks and body for children buried found in a Mycenaean site.
Aphrodite.
Apollo.
Hermes.
Artemis.
Aphrodite and Eros from the sanctuary at Delphi
Minoan culture from Crete is evident in pottery and metals. They were revered in Egypt and Greece.
The spring fresco wall painting is the only one still existing depicting the Theran landscape before the volcanic eruption.
Statue of a kouros. The statue is larger than life and enhances the musculature. A kouros is a statue of a standing male.
The Minotaur.
Funerary stele from after the Peloponnesisian war when there was unrest and poor prosperity leading to a plague. Many funeral stele were found from prominent families. Here two children have died.
Funerary stele. The person seated is the one that died, in this case a young mother.
Zeus.
The planospheric astrolab. This device talked astronomical movements and therefore also time. The gears were used to line to different constellations.
Ptolemy’s astrolab.
This sculpture shows incredible detail to the muscles and look on the child’s face. 5th century BC
A larger than life boxers arm showing bandages to protect the knuckles. 2nd century BC. The arm was cast separately from three rest of the statue of the boxer.
Ancient medical instruments.

The Benaki museum

This museum is beautiful and houses cultural artifacts from Greece.

The inside of the museum is just gorgeous.
Wood carved distaffs for the spinning of wool from the early 1900’s.
Glass ampullae along the top made from molds. The grape ampullae is beautiful.
Poles extend on both sides through the stirrups to carry nobility through streets.
The Nativity from the 15th century.
Virgin and child from 1400.
A reception room from 18th century Macedonia.
Lyres and other musical instruments.
Bible covers.

After the museum I wandered back to the acropolis to pick up a bus to the Riviera area.

The changing of the guard for the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Temple of Zeus.
Gate of Hadrion.
Mosaic floor of the House of the Roman Mosaic from 200 AD.
In constructing the metro they came across this bath complex during the time of emperor Hadrian after the temple of Zeus was constructed.
Odeon of Heredes Atticus.

Views from the bus tour along the Riviera beaches. I met a kind Egyptian man on the bus ride. He lives in Virgina and we talked about living in different places. If I would have known that where I was headed to eat would give me food poisoning I would have continued with the conversation with him on three next bus. But my hotel read close by…