Greece Travel Blog

As we exited the Metro in the Thissio district, we were greeted by two aural overtones to the natural hum of the city. The tolling of bells from numerous churches slowly gave way to the steady shurrruping of the cicadas as we traveled from the city streets into the wooded hills.

Our first stop was the 6th century BC graveyard known as Keramikos, which has survived relatively intact through the ravages of war, occupation, and the elements. In its heyday, the Keramikos contained the Dipylon gate, a massive four-towered structure that was the main gate of Athens. This opened into the Street of Tombs, where wealthy citizens and heroes of the city were buried, often with elaborate marble carvings marking their resting place.

After a traditional Jarvinen “death march” (our inside name for a ’short hike’… yeah, right!) from the train station, we arrived at the Agios Dimitrios Lambadiaris, a small Byzantine church surrounded by trees. The hill country west of the Acropolis is riddled with small cave networks, and we saw two of them — the first was where the Cult of Pan held their festivities, and the second had the intresting fact of having been the hiding place of the Acropolis artifacts and treasures during World War II. Another cave in this area was the prison of Socrates. We now believe that death was a sweet release for that famed philosopher since the racket made by the cicadas would have been pure torture.

On Saturday we had observed some sort of structure on a hill southwest of the Acropolis, and today discovered what it was: The Monument of Philopappos, which resides at the top of the Hill of the Muses. “Hill” is kind of an understatement, as it required a serious hike to get to the top — but the reward was spectacular! Standing on the marble benches around the monument offers a panoramic 360 view of the city of Athens! We must have spun around ten or more times just trying to take it all in. We had to admit to being a little smug again, knowing we had this hill all to ourselves while watching the thousands of tourists winding their way up to the Parthenon. I think the Parthenon is the most impressive thing we’ve seen here, but the view from this hill has been the most stunning.

We finished our morning excursion by visiting the Ancient Agora, a large open space in the city used in historical times for speeches, proclamations, assemblies, and commercial activities. The Stoa of Attalos, which was reconstructed in the 1950s, gave us an idea of the size and grandeur of Athens during the time when the Agora was the center of city life. Our last stop was the Doric temple of Hephaestus, which stands in relatively good condition on a hill on the west side of the area.

With our list of visits accomplished, we meandered back into the market streets of the Plaka, and stopped for lunch at a “Greek hot dog stand” where we made short work of chicken souvlaki and lamb and pork pitas. Then it was time for some shopping and souvenir hunting.

By Ricki Harrington; excerpts, edited by Greece Travel Blog

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