Cultural sightseeing in Greece. What to visit - museums, temples, castles and palaces

» The Cathedral of Athens is the biggest church in the city; that's the most important Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece.
» Construction of the cathedral began on the Christmas of 1842 and lasted 20 years. Consecration of the Cathedral in honor of the Annunciation took place on May 21, 1862 in the presence of the King and Queen of Greece.
» Marble of 72 destroyed churches was used for construction of the Cathedral.
» The Cathedral of Athens is the seat of the bishop of Athens and an important spiritual center of the Greek Orthodox Church.
» Today the temple is the venue for official ceremonies, coronations, weddings and funerals.

Location on the map:   Interesting facts: » There is a beautiful brick building near the Arc de Triomphe. It is called Panagia Dexia.
»  The modern church was built in 1956. It replaced the Byzantium Hypatius’s Church.
»  The facade of the religious building is decorated with columns placed near the central portal. The House of God is built of light blocks. The altar is faced with patterned tiles. Wall panels are covered with the bright art painting. It depicts saints and Biblical stories.
»  Pilgrims are attracted by the Icon of the Kikk's Mother of God. It is also called the Merciful as the Virgin begs Christ for preserving the human race. There is a belief that the Holy Scripture made by the Evangelist Luke was blessed by the Mother of God. It is considered that it is her in-life portrait.
»  The name of the church derives from Kykkos.
»  The miraculous painting traveled a lot until it found refuge on the island of Cyprus. It had been in the Orthodox community in Egypt and in Constantinople.
»  The picture depicts the Virgin holding the baby on the right (Dexia), which contradicts the tradition.

» The Church of the Holy Apostles is one of the oldest Christian churches in Athens built in the 10th century.
» The Church of the Holy Apostles has paramount importance as it's the only monument of the Athenian agora (town square of Athens), which remained completely in its original form.
» The Church of the Holy Apostles consists of four columns supporting the dome over the cruciform building. Apart from the main temple, the church has two of the porch completed later making the shape of the church almost U-shaped.
» The northern narthex houses a sarcophagus, where the patron of the parish was probably buried; following the Byzantine tradition he and his relatives had the right to be buried in the temple.
» Other burials were found by archaeologists in the vestibule and on the yard of the church.

» The National Archaeological Museum of Athens is the largest and one of the most interesting museums in Greece.
» Its permanent exhibition consists of more than 20 thousand items of different eras; its collection of ceramics and sculptures is considered one of the richest in the world.
» The museum's prehistory collection include vessels, figurines, ornaments, tools and weapons made of clay, stone and bone. These findings date back to 6800-3300 BC. In addition, there are museum exhibits of the Early and Middle Bronze Age.
» The collection of objects found during archaeological work on the island of Santorini, in particular in excavations of the ancient city of Akrotiri on Thera Island, is notable; the city was destroyed during an eruption of the volcano in the 14 century BC.
» The collection of sculptures includes single statues, sculptural groups, sarcophagi, busts and altars found in Greece and dating back to different historical epochs.
» The bronze collection includes statues, weapons, jewelry, pottery, working pieces, religious and funerary objects.

» Construction of the National History Museum of Greece was completed in 1871.
» The Greek Parliament occupied the museum in the period from 1875 to 1932, and therefore the building is now often referred to as the Old Greek parliament.
» The museum houses a collection of the Historical Society of Greece. The exhibition includes items relating to the period from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to World War II.
» Particular attention is given to Greek revolution and the further development of the modern Greek state.
» The museum features weapons, and personal memorabilia of famous historical figures, historical paintings by Greek and foreign artists, manuscripts, as well as a large collection of traditional costumes from different regions of Greece.

» The Byzantine St. George Chapel is at the top of the Lycabettus Mountain located in the center of Athens. The mountain has a height of about 300 meters above sea level.
» The Chapel was built in the 11-12th century to commemorate power of the Byzantine Empire and Christianity in that period.
» The white shrine is a small single-nave church with a dome and the bell given by Queen Olga (wife of King George of Greece I); she has taken the church under her wing.
» In 1930, the church building has been severely damaged by fire, but a year later the church was restored and reopened for parishioners.
» The church can be reached on foot or by cable car.

» The Temple of Hephaestus is one of the best preserved ancient temples in Athens. It was built in 449-415 BC and was dedicated to the god Hephaestus. Hephaestus is the Greek god of fire, volcanoes and metal.
» Construction of the temple of Hephaestus was begun in 449 BC.
»  Temple of Hephaestus in Athens was the first temple built of marble.
»  In the 7th century AD Orthodox priests converted the temple of Hephaestus to the Church of St. George.
» The length of the temple is almost 32 meters, and width is almost 14 meters. Not only all 34 columns of the Temple, but the roof has survived miraculously.

» The Temple of Olympian Zeus is the largest temple in Greece.
» The length of the temple was 96 meters and the width was 40 meters.
» Construction of the temple began in the 6th century BC and ended only in the 2nd century BC.
» The temple had 104 17-meter towers, but only 15 of them have survived to this day. Sixteenth columns fell to the ground during a storm in 1852 and still lie there.
» The first temple was excavated in 1889-1896; further work was carried out by German and Greek archaeologists. Today the ruins of the temple are hardly the main historical attractions of Athens.