No list about Athens, Greece would be complete without adding one of the "wonders of the world" the Parthenon. This massive architectural monument was starting construction some time around 5th century BC by a man named Pericles. Inside the Parthenon is the 38ft statue of the Goddess Athena. She was covered in gold and ivory and stood next to her Aegis (shield) that has the Medusa head in the middle. The Medusa was symbolic to the legend of Athena cursing her, and many Greek warriors used this same shield to inspire fear in their enemies. This statue was to honor Athena as the cities protector. They also have an entire Temple on the Acropolis dedicated to Athena so people could worship there instead of the Parthenon.

 The Parthenon is a remarkable work of architecture due to its detail that it has on the top of every side of the building. Each side is depicting different stories of the beginnings of mythology.  On one side they depict the Titianomachy which was the battle between the Titians and the Gods, the other side they have the Giantomachy which was a battle between the Olympian Gods and the Giants. A lot of the work that is currently on the actual building are reconstructions while the original works are in the Acropolis Museum. 

 The heat in Athens is no joke, and the only downside of visiting the Acropolis to see the Parthenon is that because it sits on the top of a hill the sun is directly hitting the site, and the city will shut down the monuments if the heat gets to intense due to safety of the people who visit. When i went they shut the site down everyday after noon for two weeks, so i would recommended to go in the early morning around 8am to beat the crowd and the heat.

The Roman Agora was a market or sorts almost. People back then would meet in a place called an Agora where they would sell things, and meet as a community. Currently this Agora has a museum that was built in 1957, and displays artifacts that are excavated by the American School of Classical Studies.  
 
The Agora itself has artifacts and statues in the main area, as well as in the museum. One of my favorite places right next to the Agora is the Temple of Hephaestus. The temple is the longest standing building from that era, and is the most intact out of all of the temples in Athens. I found the fact that Hephaestus's temple was the one most intact ironic because of the fact that Hephaestus is the deity of blacksmith ship, and building.  Throughout the day you can see tons of cats lounging at the temple and the Agora, and the cats get special treatment because they are allowed to climb inside the ruins to escape the hot sun.
 
Exploring the Agora is interesting because to this day it is still a place for a lot of cultural diffusion in Greece. Due to the various cultural churches on the east of the Agora, because it has structures built by the Ottomans, and Hadrian's library built by the Romans. People still meet up here for commerce, and it is home to not just the Greeks. It made me feel more connected to the city knowing so many cultures are diffused into it now. 
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The Arch of Hadrian is a site that was constructed by a Roman Emperor who ruled during 117 CE- 138 CE. The arch was bult in 132 AD. Though the emperor was Roman he had an affinity for Greek culture. Instead of worshipping the Roman deities, he preferred the Greek Gods. Hadrian also loved architecture and throughout his visits across the Roman empire which led to his time during his reign mostly away from Rome, he would build massive monuments including walls, temples, and the Pantheon. His favorite place to spend his trips however was in Greece, and this led to a massive cultural diffusion between the Greeks and the Romans after years of war.  

Hadrian was actually considered a Greek citizen 2 decades before the Arch was built. The Greek people wanted to dedicate it to him as a citizen and not the Roman emperor. This relationship between the Emperor and the Greeks was not loved by the Roman senate or the people, but after they tried to take Hadrian's throne and failed. The Roman people learned to adapt to the culture, and add some of it to their own history to intertwine the nations. 
 
The Arch was built as a welcoming to Hadrian to the city due to his many benefactions to the city. He commissioned the Temple of Zeus which is directly to the east of the Arch. The Arch is a 5-10 minute walk to the Acropolis, and a 15 minute walk to the Roman Agora. It's a great monument to visit because it symbolizes the hospitality of the Greek culture. They honored a Roman emperor, and it led to the unification and peace of Rome. 
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The Acropolis Museum is one of my favorite places to go in Greece. It is located next to the Acropolis, and is about a 15 minute walk from the top of the hill. The path to the museum from the hill is absolutely stunning with beautiful townhouses lining the street, and the amount of musicians playing in the street creates a relaxing setting while casually walking next to the Acropolis hill. The museum is very strict with cellphone picture use, but it holds a lot of artifacts from Ancient Greece.

 The exhibits are majority mythology based with sculptures of people for protection, and peace. The museum displays how the Acropolis was built and why, but also houses the original construction products from 447-483 BC like the 5 muses that hold up the Philopappos monument.  The muses that currently sit outside on Philopappos hill are reconstructions while the originals are inside the museum. Unfortunately the 6th muse is in London at the British Museum.

 When you're walking in the expansive museum in certain spots underneath the glass floor. You can see current architectural site that scientists are still finding artifacts at. Greece is protective over their ancient history, because it has been taken from them by various countries, but also because they want to preserve their cultural heritage. All over Athens and the country there are hundreds of ruins sites that they open to the public to explore the rich history they have to offer. I would recommend visiting this spot after the Acropolis hill, so you have time to cool off in that Greece heat. 
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The Temple of Posideion is located in Cape Sounion, Greece. It's about 70-77km away from Athens, Greece which is about a 75 minute drive from the city. The temple is built on top of a cliff directly above the Aegean Sea, and was constructed because if any sailors wanted to visit Athens they needed to pay tribute to the sea god Posideion.  The temple was built around 444-440 BC in the 5th century. The site is very popular among the tourist due to the views and the way the sun perfectly lines up next to the temple during sunset. 

  Historically Posideion image in Athens is very popular due to the famous myth of how the city got its name. The city was fought over between the sea deity Posideion, and the Goddess Athena. Both gods bestowed gifts to the city in hopes the people would choose them as their patron saint. Athena gave the people an olive branch the symbol of peace, and the tree had a lot of purpose in their people's day to day life. Posideion gifted a salt water spring to the city, but it was deemed useless by the people, and they chose Athena as the patron saint hence the name Athens. This made Posideion and Athena's image very popular in Greece. 
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  The temple allowed for Posideion to still have worshippers in the city, and was built by the people for the god to protect them against invaders.  It was very common in port cities for there to be a temple of Posideion, but the one in Cape Sounion is one of the last remaining mostly intact temples dedicated to Posideion.
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