ATHENS, anciently the capital of Attica and center of Greek culture, now the capital of the Kingdom of Greece. It is situated in the central plain of At tica, about 4 miles from the Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Agina, an arm of the IEgean Sea running in between the mainland and the Peloponnesus. It is said to have been founded about 1550 B. C. by Cecrops, the mythical Pelasgian hero; and to have borne the name Cecropia until under Erechtheus it received the name of Athens in honor of Athene.
Topography.—The Acropolis, an ir regular oval crag, 150 feet high, with a level summit 1,000 feet long by 500 in breadth, was the original nucleus of the city. The three chief eminences near the Acropolis—the Areopagus to the N. W., the Pnyx to the S. W., and the Mu seum to the S. of the Pnyx—were in cluded within the city boundary as the sites of its chief public buildings, the city itself, however, afterward taking a northerly direction. On the E. ran the Ilissus and on the W. the Cephissus, while to the S. W. lay three harbors—Phalerum, the oldest and nearest; the Pirmus, the most important ; and Munychia, the Pirwan Acropolis. At the height of its prosperity the city was connected with its harbors by three massive walls (the "long walls").
Architecture.—The architectural de velopment of Athens may be dated from the rule of the Pisistratids (560-510 B. c.) , who are credited with the foundation of the huge temple of the Olympian Zeus, completed by Hadrian seven centuries later, the erection of the Pythium or temple of Pythian Apollo, and of the and built the Theseum on an eminence N. of the Areopagus; his brother-in-law, Peisianax, erecting the famous Stoa Poecile, a hall with walls covered with paintings (whence the Stoics got their name). Under Pericles the highest point of artistic development was reached. An odeium was erected on the E. of the Lyceum or temple of Apollo Lyceus—all near the Ilissus; and to whom were due the inclosure of the academy, a gymna sium and gardens to the N. of the city, and the building of the Agora with its Portico or Stoa, Bouleuterium or Senate house, Tholus and Prytanium. With the foundation of Athenian democracy under Clisthenes, the Pnyx or place of public assembly, with its semi-circular area and cyclopean wall, first became of impor tance, and a commencement was made to the Dionysiac theater (theater of Diony sus or Bacchus) on the S. side of the Acropolis.
Reconstruction.—After the destruction wrought by the Persians in 480 B. C., Themistocles reconstructed the city upon practical lines, and with a larger area, inclosing the city in new walls 7% miles in circumference, erecting the N. wall of the Acropolis, and developing the mari time resources of the Pireaus; while Cimon added to the southern fortifi cations of the Acropolis, placed on it the temple of Wingless Victory, planted the Agora with trees, laid out the Academy, Dionysiac theater, for the recitations of rhapsodists and musicians; and with the aid of the architects Ictinus and Mnesicles and of the sculptor Phidias the Acropolis was perfected. In the interval between
the close of the Peloponnesian War and the battle of Chmronea, few additions were made. Then, however, the long walls and Pirmus, destroyed by Lysander, were restored by Conon, and under the orator, Lycurgus, the Dionysiac temple was completed, the Panathenaic stadium commenced, and the choragic monuments of Lysicrates and Thrasyllus erected. Later on Ptolemy Philadelphus gave it the Ptolemmum near the Theseum, At talus I. the stoa N. E. of the Agora, Eumenes II. that near the great theater, and Antiochus Epiphanes carried on the Olympium. Under the Romans, it con tinued a flourishing city.
The City in Decline.—But after a time Christian zeal, the attacks of barbarians, and robberies of collectors, made sad in roads among the monuments. About 420 A. D. paganism was totally annihilated at Athens, and when Justinian closed even the schools of the philosophers, the reverence for buildings associated with the names of the ancient deities and heroes was lost. The Parthenon was turned into a church of the Virgin Mary, and St. George stepped into the place of Theseus. Finally in 1456, the place fell into the hands of the Turks. The Parthenon became a mosque, and in 1687 was greatly damaged by an explosion at the siege of Athens by the Venetians.
Modern Athens.—Soon after the begin ning of the War of Liberation, in 1821, the Turks surrendered Athens, but captured it again in 1826-1827. It was then abandoned until 1830. In 1835 it became the royal residence, and made rapid progress. The modern city mostly lies northward and eastward from the Acropolis, and consists mainly of straight and well-built streets. Among the princi pal buildings are the royal palace, a stately building with a façade of Pentelic marble (completed in 1843), the univer sity, the academy, public library, theater, and observatory. There are four foreign archeological schools or institutes, the French, German, American, and British. During the European War of 1914-1918, Athens was a center of intrigue for the combattant nations, each endeavoring to coerce the government in their favor. These conditions led to occasional violent outbreaks, especially when the Allies sought to disarm the Greeks guarding the city. Pop. about 200,000. See GREECE.