Athens history

• Rating
  79%
  City Rank
  55
• History & Culture: rated for 100%
• Night Life & Entertainment: rated for 80%
• Family & Fun: rated for 35%
• Outdoors Activities: rated for 40%
• Food: rated for 73%
• Sightseeing: rated for 100%
• Shopping: rated for 80%
• Public Transportation: rated for 55%
• Must visit this place: rated for 100%
• top rated citiesadd your own rating

Athens in Greece is one of the oldest cities in Europe beginning its history for over 7,000 years ago.  Its history, from its glorious to dark days has been well-documented and well-known by almost everyone.  It is commonly said that Athens is the birthplace of European civilization and democracy, having bred three of the greatest philosophers of all time—Aristotle, Plato, Socrates. 

History of Athens begins with the Neolithic settlers which date back to around 5000 BC.  During the Bronze Age, on the Island of Crete, the Minoan civilization ruled but they were overpowered by the Mycenaean civilization at around 1200 BC. During the time of Mycenaean, culture was lost in such a way that the art of writing was never used which resulted to lack of information.  This period is referred to as the Dark Ages. 

Following the fall of Mycenaean civilization during the early Iron Age or around 1100 to 900 BC, the Dorians invaded Greece—to which we call Dorian Invasion. The start of historical period was around 900 to 700 BC when Greek city states start to develop—Athens, Corinth, and Sparta.  People started creating pots and were brought back to writing, hence, the term historical period.  It was during this time that Homer was known in the Greek world, having written epic poems like Iliad and Odyssey. 

During the Archaic period, a lot of Greek cities flourished in terms of political, philosophical, and of course artistic developments.  All of these were destroyed when Persians invaded Greece in 480 BC.  At 479 BC, Persian invasion came to an end and Athens took the lead in bringing the Greek civilization back by reconstructing the destroyed temples and buildings. Around 4th century BC, Athens developed even more in the arts like literature, structures, and architecture.  Politically, they were able to bring back the democratic government.  The center of civic life was Agora, a place in Athens.  It was a marketplace and a place where citizens could talk about civic and public life.  Surrounding Agora were Areopagus and Pnyx where the supreme court sat and the Athenian Assembly come together as a group, respectively. However, conflicts within cities, specifically Sparta and Athens, arose which resulted to Peloponesian War which ended on 404 BC.

It was during the Hellenistic Period when Alexander the Great’s former empire was divided into three parts, namely: Seleucids located in Asia Minor, Ptolemies found in Egypt, and Macedonian in Greece.  Athens continued to prosper in their cultural life but failed to have its own government.  The best philosophical schools were established in the country. 

Finally after 200 years of Macedonian empire, Greece was absorbed by Rome on 84 BC. The Roman period gave Greece a chance to become a free city, the country continued to thrive.  But it was the Byzantine period that a part of the Roman empire was converted into Christianity—Constantinopolis--causing most philosophical schools to be closed down. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks invaded Constantinopolis and ruled for 400 years.  Athens continued to suffer during the World War 2 under the German occupation.  In 1981 Greece joined European Union, which helped them rise up from all the disasters it had gone through.