Things to see and do Greece

The place of the Constitution is the heart of the city and the best place to find when you discover Athens. The Evzones, dressed in traditional uniform, raise custody before the tomb of the unknown soldier, who is before Parliament ("Vouli"). Change in custody takes place every hour.

A mythical temple on the famous Acropolis of Athens, the Erechtheion is one of the most sacred on the hill and in the entire city. To the north of the Acropolis, a jewel and masterpiece of Ionic art, the very elegant Erechtheion was erected in the ^5th century BC at the very place where, according to legend, Athena and Poseidon fought for the possession of Athens. It is next to this temple that the sacred olive tree of Athena would have grown and that there was the salt water well, a gift from Poseidon, whose trident would have left a mark on the northern wall of the building. The architect of the Erechtheion remained unknown, but he was able to exploit the irregularities of the ground to build a complex of several buildings on different levels. In this temple were worshipped several deities: Athena Polias, but also Poseidon and others still linked to the legendary history of Athens, such as Erechtheus to whom the temple owes its name. The temple is decorated with four porticoes on each side: the one on the southeast side, certainly the most famous, is the Caryatids. The Doric columns are replaced by female figures of perfect grace when you know the weight that weighs on their heads. In fact, it is their thick hair and the many folds in their clothing that reinforce the structure and allow the whole thing to remain standing.

The ones you see on the monument are only casts: of the six korês, only five are visible in the Acropolis Museum, the sixth being in the British Museum.

This site allows you to discover the remains of the colossal temple of Zeus Olympian: 15 erected columns that are still very impressive. It must be said that the Olympiion was the largest temple ever built in Greece! Begun by Pisistrate in the 6th century BC, it was completed 600 years later by Emperor Hadrian before being destroyed by the Barbarians. The setting sun bathed the surviving columns in a magnificent golden hue, and we can understand this stylite hermit who, in the 17th century, chose the top of one of them to install his cabin!

Located on the Acropolis, it was built by its patron, Herod Atticus, in 161 BC, where the Athens Festival is taking place.

Located on the Avenue Vassiléos-Konstantinou on the other side of the National garden. Nicknamed marble stadium or Kalimarmaro ("beautiful marbles"), this is where the first modern Olympics took Place in 1896. Designed by Ernst Ziller, its architecture builds on the stadium built in IV ° before our age at the same location.

Archaeological excavations on the Kamiros site were first carried out by a Franco-British team in the 1860s, then resumed by Italian archaeologists during the Fascist occupation of the 1920s. They revealed traces of the earliest human settlement dating back to the ^14th century BC. However, it wasn't until the ^7th and ^6th centuries BC that the city, now a Dorian city, reached its true apogee. It became one of the three great cities of Rhodes, along with Ialyssos and Lindos, and was the first to mint coins on the island, a sign of its power and wealth. Kamiros fell into decline after the earthquakes of 226 BC and 142 BC. Today, the ruins can be visited in a site of touching beauty.

Excavations relaunched by the Italians in 1928 revealed the remains of three complexes, which can still be admired today: the Agora with its ^3rd-century BC temple dedicated to Apollo, the temple of the gods, the temple of the gods, the temple of the gods, the temple of the gods, the temple of the gods and the temple of the godsC. temple dedicated to Apollo, its two sanctuaries and bathing establishments; a dense residential area, made up of successive houses organized along alleys, themselves crossed by a wider central avenue; the acropolis built as a three-level amphitheatre, with a particularly long Doric stoa (204 meters) dating from the ^3rd century B.C. and a temple from the same period, dedicated to Athena. The latter was rebuilt after the earthquake of 226 BC on the foundations of a much older temple, probably dating from the ^7th century BC.

The ramparts visible on the heights of the city were built in medieval times. One notices however in the walls some pieces brought back from older monuments or earlier fortifications that can, without certainty, be traced back to the time of the first ramparts of Cassandra. The walls are the work of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I and the Persian Hormisdas, as indicated by a 9 m long inscription on the upper part of the Hormisdas tower (only part of it has survived).

This fortification was built against the Roman wall, so that they reinforced each other. At the same time, many towers (60 are visible today, including the White Tower) were erected at regular intervals to reinforce the ramparts and protect the very vulnerable lower town. The perimeter of the fortifications reached up to 7 km, of which only 3 km are preserved today. The height of the walls varies from 8.30 m to 10.50 m. Built largely of stone and mortar, they regularly give way to strips of brick which increase the solidity of the building.

The most imposing part of the old fortifications is certainly the White Tower. Overlooking the port of Thessaloniki, it has become its emblem. The tower was probably built by the Turks on the ruins of an older tower, unless it was the work of the Venetians who occupied the city before the Turks.

An immense collector, Anthony Benaki has spent thirty-five years collecting all these objects, dating from prehistory to the present day, housed today in this elegant museum of neoclassical architecture. This enthusiast then donated his house and rare pieces to the State in 1931. And to extend the experience, a gigantic, very modern annex has also opened its doors on Avenue Pireos, housing high quality temporary exhibitions.

On the ground floor , objects dating from the Roman, Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods. In particular, beautiful gold jewellery, mosaics and religious objects. Room 12, magnificent icons. Note in particular the one depicting Saint Anne and the Virgin and a superb altarpiece.

On the first floor are displayed popular art objects marking the development of Hellenism during the periods of foreign domination.

In particular, there is a very fine collection of costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries and, in room 14, a magnificent interior reconstruction. Rooms 17 and 19 house a mansion in Kozani, Macedonia. You will notice the alternation of sculpted vases and double-headed eagles characteristic of neo-Hellenic art. Room 23 houses an admirable collection of illustrations of the Parthenon. In room 26, a huge altarpiece depicting Saint John the Baptist, the Virgin and Child, Christ and Saint George slaying the dragon.

On the second floor , you can walk through the culture and economy of Greek society before the war, through books, traditional musical instruments and other tools of the time.

On the third floor, the objects evoke the passage between the War of Independence and the formation of the modern state. At the entrance is a membership card of the Philiki Etaireia, the secret society formed in preparation for the War of Independence. Many weapons in this room as well as portraits of generals. At the back of the room, photos of Costis Palama, a poet engaged in the struggle for independence, and Constantin Cavafy, a poet of the Greek diaspora.

Museum and shops. The Benaki Museum is one of the great gifts that increased the assets of the State, and at the same time it is the oldest museum organization, operating in Greece as an institution under private law. It consists of 6 exhibition spaces (the main building, the Pireos Building, the Museum of Islamic Art, the Yannis Pappas Studio, the Ghikas Gallery and the Delta Residence) and special departments such as the library and the shop.

Small white sand beach on the west coast. Family friendly and friendly. You can also stay there, or simply lunch in one of the two good taverns. To get there, take the bus in Hora, direction Pano Meria. Get off at Angali (solitary bus stop on the hill). Next, 15 minutes walk on an asphalt road (on foot or on a âne).

It is a striking little bastion of grey stones hung in the void. The very well marked path leads to this 15th century monastery which looks like a strange curiosity hanging from the cliff from where the view is breathtaking. If you go there in the early morning or early evening when the sun is still present, the moment is magical... On July 26, Saint Paraskevi's Day, it is the village festival, and it is from there that the procession starts.

The complex includes many monuments such as the palace, the arch of Galerius, the rotunda, the octagon and the hippodrome. All these buildings were built on the orders of the emperor Galerius.

The first of the monuments of the complex is the Arch of Galerius. Located between the palace and the rotunda, it marked the intersection of two perpendicular streets, including the current Karamanlis, each lined with flamboyant porticoes. It was built to commemorate the victory of Galerius against the Persians, shortly before 305. The sculpted reliefs show the emperor in all his majesty defeating some submissive Barbarians kneeling at his feet. It is interesting to note that the reliefs do not have the beauty of the works of the Hellenistic period, the characters are lifeless, squeezed together, and the proportions are not always respected, which announces the austere stylization of the Middle Ages.

Between Tsimiski and Prinkipos Nikolaou streets, at the level of the Triumphal Arch, the ruins of Galerius' palace. When one knows that only the south-eastern part of the palace is preserved, one can better imagine the proportions which were those of the building. The parts visible today are organized around a vast square courtyard surrounded by four corridors and decorated with mosaics. To the south opens the large door that led directly to the port of the city. But the most impressive part of these ruins is undoubtedly the octagon. This room, remarkable by its architecture was to be used as throne room to the emperor.

The rotunda Saint-Georges is the last monument of the complex of Galerius. Research has proven that it was part of the great palatial complex since it was connected to the Arch of Galerius, itself connected to the palace by gigantic porticoes. Some think that it was a temple dedicated to Jupiter, others that Galerius had wanted to make a mausoleum of it (which was never used) or that the rotunda was used during the organization of demonstrations in the palace. The interior walls of its lower part were covered with marble while the high part was decorated with splendid mosaics. Around 400, the rotunda was converted into a Christian church and thus underwent some architectural changes - some of which would have precipitated its collapse during an earthquake. At the time of the Turkish domination, it was transformed into a mosque. Its impressive mosaic decoration dates from the Christian era.