Historical Sites Of Greece

Athens

Athens is one of the worlds oldest named cities, having being continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years. The name of Athens, connected to the name of its patron goddess Athena originates from an earlier pre-greek language. Athens became rich because Attica also had valuable sources of silver, lead and marble. Athens also had the biggest navy in Greece. Athens was a beautiful and busy city. People came to the city from all over Greece, and from other countries, to study and to trade. The city's most famous building was the temple called Parthenon. It stood on a rocky hill called the Acropolis. Inside the Parthenon stood a statue of the city’s protector goddess Athena.

Olympia

Olympia was first settled during the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest structures were built then. They were built of uncut stone and had one apsidal wall. Traditions hold that the first Olympic games were held in 776 BC. The games were a peace treaty between Sparta and Elis, and soon it became that all Greek states could participate as long as they withhold the truce to held during the games. It started out just being for a month, but quickly many states began to take part, so they extended it for 3 months during the summer. Because the truce gave all the kings and leaders to meet unarmed, Olympia became an important place for trade and political discussions.

The Olympic games originally included wrestling, chariot racing, pentathlon, horse racing, long jump, and running. By the 4th century the athletes competing were professional and were highly sponsored and rewarded.

Santorini

The first human presence on the island of Santorini dates back to the Neolithic Period. The city was very similar to those found in the island of Crete, with many wall ornaments, and pottery showing naturalistic landscapes, animals, and humans of the same ancient Minoan style. In ancient times, Santorini Island was known as ‘Stongili’, which means round in Greek. The island is near the joint of two tectonically plates., which means the area is very likely to have earthquakes. The eruption in 1625 B.C. caused the island to remain uninhabited for 300 years and caused the destruction of the Minoan Civilization. Then, around 1100 BC, the island was occupied by the Lacedaemonian. Around 825 BC, the inhabitants of the island, then named Thera, were using the Phoenician alphabet. Between 1200 AC and 1579 AC, the island was under Byzantine and Venetian reign, and from 1579 to1821 AC fell under the Turkish occupation until the Greek Revolution and independence.

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