Athens a place where history and myth have blurred boundaries and where, despite the “wear and tear of modern life” (vast and chaotic metropolis, with serious problems of traffic, pollution and, unfortunately, economic crisis), one cannot help but set foot at least once in a lifetime. Athens is the city of Theseus and Pericles, of Socrates and Plato offering places of a unique force, which after millennia still know how to convey a special energy, a vertigo.
The Acropolis of Athens
For a weekend visit to Athens, it is best to start right from the Acropolis, the heart of the classical era, which means high city, perched on a rocky outcrop 156 meters above sea level.
The Acropolis is reached from Beulé Gate, beyond which the monumental Propylaea emerge, damaged in the 17th century by the Venetians and later restored. Once you reach the monumental area, there is nothing left but to be captivated by the beauty and majesty of the Parthenon, the symbol temple of the Acropolis (447-438 BC), with the perfect harmony of its lines, spaces, and volumes; by the play of those 46 Doric columns that the sun wraps in a warm light; by the eloquence of the scenes sculpted on the pediments, the work of the great Phidias and his school.
To the north of the Parthenon stands the Erechtheion, with the famous Caryatids, six statues depicting young women who support the southern porch. A must-visit stop is the new headquarters of the Acropolis Museum, inaugurated in 2009, which houses all the artifacts from the area (including the original statues of the Caryatids), with very interesting visiting routes.
Plaka, the most naive neighborhood of Athens
At the foot of the old town, stretches one of the most naive neighborhoods of Athens, almost entirely pedestrianized: Plaka, a maze of alleys, small streets, passages, narrow buildings, which tells about the time when the Athenians were subdued by the Turks. One of the liveliest and most welcoming corners of the city, a pleasant babel of bars, taverns, souvenir shops and various goods. Odos Adrianou is its main artery, a kind of watershed between the ancient and the modern city.
