Clustered below the Acropolis (enter from Odos Adrianou, east of Monastiraki Square) is the remains of the Agora, ancient Athens commercial and civic centre, where once walked and talked the great philosophers Socrates and Plato. In fact the disgraced and despairing Socrates committed suicide in a prison in the southwest corner of the Agora, by drinking poison. The area is littered with the ruins of numerous ancient buildings, including the Dionysos Theatre (the world’s oldest theatre where great plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides were first performed). One building that has been restored is the 200 BC Stoa of Attalos (a stoa is a long, low roofed promenade which served as a combination law court, municipal office and shopping arcade in classical Greece). The reconstructed building now has a museum on its ground floor containing artefacts covering 5,000 years of Athenian history.
At the foot of the Acropolis, near the Theseion metro station and bordering on the streets where the Sunday bazaar takes place, is the archaeological site of the ancient Agora. Since Agora means market in Greek, the ancient and the modern use of the place are not far apart. But, in ancient years, the Agora was not only the commercial centre of the city, it was its political, cultural and religious one as well. The administrative buildings and the temples were built in this area, where the public services and the courts of law were also based. This was where Athenians gathered on a daily basis, not only to buy and sell their goods, but also to learn the news, to criticise the government, to exchange views or just gossip. The history of this area goes back to Neolithic times and the site includes monuments of different periods: from the Classical to the 11th century AD represented by the church of the Agioi Apostoloi.
Telephone: (01) 321 0185; Opening time: Daily 8am to 7.30pm; Admission: 4 (adult), 2 (concessions). A package valid for all Archaeological Sites of Athens including the Acropolis site and museum, Theatre of Dionysos, Kerameikos, Olympieion and Roman Agora is 12 (adults), 6 (concessions)
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