Athens is Europe’s oldest capital. Of course, the poetic impulse to make a good story better leads to considerable exaggeration in daily conversation, suiting a vanity that goes with a sharp-edged sense of personal and family honour and the spoiling of children. They may have shared the same cultural, religious and linguistic heritage, but they were ruled independently. Fact 26: Athena offered the first olive tree as a gift to Athens. 7. The oldest hotel in Athens, The Grand Bretagne, was first the royal guesthouse. How well do you know the world’s capital cities? 6. Greece welcomed 17,920,000 tourists into the country in 2013, many of whom visited Athens for its ancient history and... Whilst the Olympics are … Athens lies 5 miles (8 km) from the Bay of Phaleron, an inlet of the Aegean (Aigaíon) Sea where Piraeus (Piraiévs), the port of Athens, is situated, in a mountain-girt arid basin divided north-south by a line of hills. Interesting Facts about Athens 1. 10. According to the Greek mythology, Cecrops, who was half man and half serpent, founded Athens and became the first king. In this quiz you’ll be presented with the names of 195 capital cities. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Athens became the first in 1985. The Romans, the Byzantines, the Latin crusaders, the Ottomans, and finally the modern Greek state, all left their mark on the rocky hill. The people of Athens chose their ruler. Weird Fact: The first modern king of Greece was a Bavarian prince and only 17 years old. Athens is one of the great cities of the world. The Athens metro currently has twenty-eight stations, all of which exhibit artwork by contemporary Greek artists. Greater Athens has an area of 165 square miles (427 square km). Facts about Ancient Athens 1: the states Even though the states in ancient Greek had different law and money, they had the similar religions and languages. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. Acropolis holds the world’s oldest weather station She sprang from Zeus’s head, full-grown and clothed in armor. It was a recreation of the route used by the legendary runner, Pheidippides, in 490 BC to announce the Athenian victory against the Persians at the battle of Marathon 25 miles away. Many important people wandered its streets throughout time. Updates? City Of Athens Facts 42. Both Athens and Sparta hold historic value for Greece and the world. Athens was at the centre of an area known as Attica. Athens is also the capital city and a centre of politics and tourism. That act saved it later from destruction of non Christian temples, in times of deep Theocracy. The sporting event known as the "Marathon" was created for the first Modern Olympic games set in Athens in 1896. Athens is named after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war, and daughter of Zeus. The city was home to Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. 15 Incredible Facts About Athens. Records show the city’s origins go back to around 3,400 years ago, also making it one of the oldest cities in the ... Athens has experienced almost every form of government. It is a center for economic, political, financial and culture life in Greece. The government in Greece especially Athens was made based on the democracy. King Otto (see fact 7) changed it from the Port of Nafplio in 1834 for sentimental reasons related to the city's glorious past. The Acropolis and surrounding area, Athens. Looking for amazing facts and informations about Athens? Athens also created the world's first known democracy. The long oral tradition, alive even under the invader, has reflected and stimulated a taste for rich talk. It is located in Central Greece in the southern part of the region of Attica. The Athenians invented democracy, a new type of government where every citizen could vote on important issues, such as whether or not to declare war. Below you can discover eleven curiosities that are real, even if they are weird or funny, so please make sure to vote what you think is interesting! It was known for the amount of learning that happened there. Athens, now the capital of Greece, is located on a peninsula that stretches southeastward into the Aegean Sea. The climate of Athens is benign: frost is rare (the minimum temperature is 32 °F, or 0 °C) and snow seldom lies, while the summers, though hot (maximum temperature is 99 °F, or 37 °C), are dry, and a fresh northeasterly wind often blows by day. You’ll need to match them to their countries. As of May 2019, the population of Athens is about 3 million people. 11. 9. In addition to building a raft of new sports venues and facilities (including a stadium designed by Santiago Calatrava), Athens undertook massive transportation infrastructure improvements that included dramatic expansion of public transportation and the construction of a new international airport. 5. It became capital during the reign of King Otto in 1834. Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world and has been continuously inhabited for around 7,000 years! Her temple was the Parthenon. The first settlers in Athens were from various ethnic groups that were organized in several kingdoms. During this time it grew from a small fishing village to the most important city in the ancient world. Athens’ origins date back to 3,000 B.C. The story of Athena is very similar to the story of the founding of Greece. 1. The reason for this, is that Ancient Greece was not a country, but a collection of independent city states. Fun & Interesting Facts about Athens Along with being the capital of Greece, Athens is also the capital of the Attica Periphery and the Athens Prefecture. Key Facts & Information Basic Facts of Athens and Sparta. The city center of Athens is only 15 sq miles or 39 sq kilometers. Omissions? Fun Fact: Every full moon in August, the Acropolis stays open until 2am with live music and theatrical performances; it is free to all. If it … She was the daughter of Zeus; no mother bore her. Around the tenth century B.C., the settlers form… Here are 10 fun facts about Athens, Greece that you might not already know: 1. The ancient Olympic games were never actually held there. Athens was part of the Ottoman Empire (1458-1832) while the rest of Western Europe was experiencing the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. 12. It is generally believed that the city was named after the goddess of wisdom, Athena. The Parthenon in Athens, Greece #2 She is one of the twelve Olympian Gods. Athens is the capital of Greece and also its largest city. 1 % Athens cradle of Western civilisation. This long history of passion and suffering has had considerable effect on the Athenian character. Athens remains on the world stage to this day. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Greek Orthodox Church, which is directed by a synod sitting in Athens, was a main force in keeping alive the Greek language, tradition, and literature when such things were forbidden, and most people still support it. Raphael School of Athens Facts You Didn’t Know school_of_athens_painting_facts An architect and a relative to Raphael who took him to Pope Julius II, Bramante actually helped Raphael with the architectural elements in the painting , hence so having an awful resemblance to the St. Peter’s Basilica. Athens began as a small, Mycenaen community and grew to become a city that, at its height, epitomized the best of Greek virtues and enjoyed such prestige that the Spartans refused to sack the city or enslave the citizens, even after Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War. So, here is a compilation for you to check out. Notably, in 2004 the world came to the city for the Olympic Games, which spurred a dramatic makeover for Athens. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Athens was the largest and most influential of the Greek city-states. The city covers a total area of 412 square kilometers (159 square miles). For treatment of the city in its regional setting, see Greece; historical and cultural aspects are treated further in the article ancient Greek civilization. The origins of Athens date back to 3000BC, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. Athens is the capital and largest city in Greece, With a population of about 3,5 million people and long history, Athens stretches on a large peninsula that is protected by mountains from all sides of the horizon: Mt Egaleo to the west, Mt Parnes to the north, Mt … The first history of Athens was recorded around 3,400 years ago making it Europe's oldest capital and one of the oldest cities of the world. Nevertheless, it is wrong to say that Athens is a mixture of East and West: it is Greek and, more particularly, Athenian. 1. Here are 12 facts about the Acropolis of Athens. During the fight for independence, it had been entirely evacuated in 1827, and six years later it held perhaps 4,000 people in the straggle of little houses on the north slope below the Acropolis. Acropolis is a rocky hill and most of … Here are some facts about Ancient Athens. 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