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  2. Aug 14, 2019 · What Is the Capital of Greece? The Acropolis of Athens. The capital of Greece is Athens. Athens is located in the Attica region, on a peninsula that extends into the Aegean Sea. Athen sits within the Attica basin, where it was built around a number of hills and other raised land formations.

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    • Character of the city

    Athens, historic city and capital of Greece. Many of Classical civilization’s intellectual and artistic ideas originated there, and the city is generally considered to be the birthplace of Western civilization.

    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. Greater Athens has an area of 165 square miles (427 square km). The Kifisós River, only a trickle in summer, flows through the western half; the Ilisós River, often dry, traverses the eastern half. The surrounding mountains—Párnis, 4,636 feet (1,413 metres); Pentelicus (Pendéli), 3,631 feet; Hymettos (Imittós), 3,365 feet; and Aigáleon, 1,535 feet—add to the impression of barrenness. Yet such considerations are superficial when compared with the fecundity of Athens’s bequests to the world, such as its philosophy, its architecture, its literature, and its political ideals.

    Athens, with its tall buildings and contemporary shops, is the first European city when approached from the Middle East. When approached from the west, from elsewhere in Europe, what strikes the visitor is the influence of the East—in the food, music, and clamorous street life—perhaps vestiges of a time when Athens was divorced from European society under the yoke of Ottoman rule. Nevertheless, it is wrong to say that Athens is a mixture of East and West: it is Greek and, more particularly, Athenian. The city, after all, nurtured Western civilization thousands of years ago. Athens remains on the world stage to this day.

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    Notably, in 2004 the world came to the city for the Olympic Games, which spurred a dramatic makeover for Athens. 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.

    Some three centuries after the death of Pericles (429 bce), Athenians entered upon a period of bondage that lasted almost 2,000 years. The city was freed in 1833, and in the following 170 years it was the scene of more than a dozen revolutions, another brutal foreign occupation, and a civil war of especial savagery. This long history of passion and suffering has had considerable effect on the Athenian character. The core of that character is an implacable will to survive, buttressed by a profound sense of loyalty (especially to the family) and patriotism. 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.

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  3. en.wikipedia.org › wiki › AthensAthens - Wikipedia

    Athens (/ ˈ æ θ ɪ n z / ATH-inz) is the capital and largest city of Greece. A major coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland.

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  5. www.visitgreece.gr › mainland › atticaAthens - Visit Greece

    Athens is the historical capital of Europe, with a long history, dating from the first settlement in the Neolithic age. In the 5th Century BC (the “Golden Age of Pericles”) – the culmination of Athens’ long, fascinating history – the city’s values and civ.

  6. Athens, Greek Athínai, City (pop., 2001: 745,514), capital of Greece. It is located inland near its port, Piraeus, on the Saronic Gulf in eastern Greece. The source of many of the West’s intellectual and artistic conceptions, including that of democracy, Athens is generally considered the birthplace of Western civilization.

  7. Athens is the capital of Greece, but it is also the capital of the Attica Periphery and the Athens Prefecture. The city has been the capital of Greece ever since the Greek War of Independence which ended in 1832.

  8. Coordinates: 37°58′N 23°43′E. Athens is one of the most famous cities in the world. It is the capital city of Greece and the most important financial, industrial, maritime, political, and cultural center of the country. It is also one of the world's oldest cities.

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