Athens Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour

The walk stop by stop: Syntagma, Monastiraki, the Areopagus, Plaka

10 stops · about 50 min walking · start: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier · finish: Tower of the Winds

The first stop is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in the wall below Parliament. Ermou Street then runs down past Panagia Kapnikarea to Monastiraki Square and the Library of Pantainos at the edge of the Ancient Agora, after which the route climbs the rock of the Areopagus and passes under the Acropolis to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Statue of Ioannis Makriyannis. Plaka takes over with the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates and the Church of Agios Nikolaos Rangavas, and the Tower of the Winds ends the walk. It is all narrated from the street, so no stop needs a ticket, and the app accepts a different opening stop or order.

Open the route map ↗

1. 

   1Tomb of the Unknown SoldierStart

   Set into the wall below the Parliament, the monument was unveiled on 25 March 1932 and shows a fallen ancient warrior with helmet and round shield, carved by the sculptor Fokion Rok. The Evzones of the Presidential Guard watch over it day and night, and the inscriptions on either side quote Thucydides.

2. 

   2Panagia Kapnikarea

   The small Byzantine church of Panagia Kapnikarea dates from the 11th century and stands right in the middle of Ermou Street, one of the city's main shopping streets. It was nearly demolished in the 19th century, when the new streets of Athens were laid out, and was saved after King Ludwig I of Bavaria, the father of Greece's first king, Otto, intervened.

   Read the full story →

3. 

   3Monastiraki Square

   Monastiraki means little monastery, after the small Pantanassa church that survived from a much larger convent. On the square stands the Tzistarakis Mosque of 1759, whose Ottoman builder, according to tradition, burned a column of the Temple of Olympian Zeus to make lime, and today it belongs to the Museum of Greek Folk Art.

4. 

   4Library of Pantainos

   The Library of Pantainos was built around AD 100 by Titus Flavius Pantainos at the edge of the Ancient Agora and dedicated to Athena and the Emperor Trajan. Only foundations and column bases remain, but an inscription from the library records its rules, including that no book could be taken out.

5. 

   5Areopagus Hill

   The rocky Areopagus, the Hill of Ares, lies just northwest of the Acropolis and gave its name to the ancient council that judged murder cases. The Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians here, a bronze plaque at the foot of the rock carries his speech, and Greece's Supreme Court is still called Areios Pagos today.

   Read the full story →

6. 

   6Odeon of Herodes Atticus

   The wealthy orator Herodes Atticus built this stone theatre in AD 161 in memory of his Roman wife Regilla. Its seating and orchestra were restored with Pentelic marble in the 1950s, and with about 5,000 seats it is the main venue of the Athens Festival.

7. 

   7Statue of Ioannis Makriyannis

   This statue honours General Ioannis Makriyannis (1797–1864), a hero of the Greek War of Independence, and stands near the Acropolis Museum in the district that bears his name. Makriyannis learned to write only as an adult, and his Memoirs are considered a classic of modern Greek prose.

8. 8Choragic Monument of Lysicrates

   This small round monument in Plaka was erected in 335/334 BC by Lysicrates, a wealthy sponsor whose chorus won the prize at a festival of Dionysus, and once carried the bronze tripod awarded to the winners. It is one of the earliest buildings with Corinthian columns on the outside, and Lord Byron stayed in the Capuchin monastery that later enclosed it.

9. 

   9Church of Agios Nikolaos Rangavas

   This small Byzantine church in Plaka dates from around the 11th century and takes its name from the Rangavas family. According to tradition, its bell was the first to ring in Athens when the Ottoman garrison handed over the Acropolis in 1833, after a long period in which church bells were banned.

   Read the full story →

10. 

    10Tower of the WindsFinish

    The Tower of the Winds, or Horologion of Andronikos of Kyrrhos, is an octagonal marble tower in the Roman Agora, built in the late Hellenistic period. Each of its eight sides carries a relief of one of the wind gods, with sundials carved below, and inside it once held a water clock.