Athens and Bethlehem

Country: Greece
Date of Agreement: 10 May 1986
Name of Mayor: Dimitrio Avramopoulos
Tel: 0030 1 524111
Fax: 0030 1 5425715
Address: 63 Athinas Street 10552, Athens, Greece

Athens (Greece), is a city, in southeastern Greece. It is the capital and largest city of the country. Situated on the Attic plain on the Greek mainland, it is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Two minor streams, the Kifisós River in the west and the Illisós River in the east, flow through the city. With its port, Piraiévs, or Piraeus, which is located about 8 km (about 5 mi) to the southwest on the Gulf of Saronikós (an inlet of the Aegean Sea), it forms a unified metropolitan region. Athens dominates the economic, cultural, and political life of Greece.

The Contemporary City: A large portion of Greece's industrial activity is concentrated in and around Athens. Manufactures include textiles, alcoholic beverages, soap, flour, chemicals, paper products, leather, and pottery. Publishing, banking, and tourism are also important to the economy. The city serves as the hub of the national transportation network. At the heart of the modern city is Constitution Square, on or near which are found the Parliament Building and several museums. Although most of the city dates from after the mid-19th century, important works of antiquity remain. The most prominent and famous landmark is the Acropolis, a flat-topped hill on which stand the remains of the Parthenon and several other beautiful structures erected in the 5th century BC. Among the city's institutions of higher education are the National Capodistrian University of Athens (1837), the National Technical University of Athens (1836), and schools of art, business, and agriculture. Athens has numerous museums, including the National Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine Museum, the Acropolis Museum, and the Benaki Museum, with their notable collections. Population (1991, greater city) 3,096,775.

The Acropolis of Athens has been inhabited since Neolithic times. As early as 1400 BC it was fortified in the manner of Mycenae, Tiryns, and other late Bronze Age citadels. At that time and in the subsequent "dark age" (1200-900 BC) that followed the Dorian invasions, Athens was one of a number of city states in Attica.

Foreign Domination: Although Athens virtually lost its independence to Macedonia in 338 BC, the town continued to be an important cultural center. It fell to Rome in 146 BC but maintained good relations with the Romans until they sacked it in 86 BC, destroying many of Athens' monuments. Nonetheless, Athens remained a center of learning for prominent Greeks and Romans from the 1st century BC until late antiquity. In the 3rd century AD it was damaged by invading Goths, who were repelled with some difficulty. In AD 529 the Christian emperor Justinian closed the pagan philosophical schools, virtually ending the city's classical tradition.

During the Byzantine period Athens became a cultural backwater. Many of the city's artworks were moved to Constantinople, and the temples became Christian churches. Byzantine emperors occasionally visited Athens, but the city was largely ignored and impoverished. After the Latin Crusaders conquered Constantinople in 1204, Athens became a French feudal duchy. The Catalans took over the city in 1311, but they were expelled when a Florentine dynasty successfully installed itself in the late 14th century.

The Ottoman Turks gained complete control of Athens in 1458. The Parthenon, built as the major temple of the goddess Athena, was then made into a Muslim mosque. Under Turkish rule the town was still run by Greeks and had a mixed population of Turks, Greeks, and Slavs. The Parthenon was badly damaged in 1687, when a Venetian bombardment ignited gunpowder that had been stored inside the building.

The Modern Period: The Greek war of independence (1821-33) liberated the city from the Turks and made it the capital of modern Greece. Athens was largely rebuilt during the reign of King Otto (1832-62) by German architects, notably Eduard Schaubert. Before its emergence as a major European commercial and industrial center in the 20th century, it was important mainly as a tourist center celebrated for its ancient monuments. The city now suffers from modern problems, such as urban sprawl and chemical air pollution.

Contributed by: Jay Bregman