WELCOME TO ATHENS - Places To Go

From Monastiraki Station, take the straight thoroughfare of Athinas, to Omonia Square (Omonia means Concord), the commercial heart of the modern city. As you walk you'll pass through the Municipal Market area of Athens where the streets buzz with constant activity, goods spill out onto walls and alleyways, and people throng the sidewalks. The market operates from early morning to mid afternoon. You'll also pass Plateia Dimarchiou, also known as Plateia Kotsia, where you'll find several fine Neo-Classical buildings including the Mela Mansion (1884), now National Bank of Greece building. The centre of the square has benefited from archaeological exploration during the 1980s and Athens Town Hall is on the left flank as you almost reach Omonia Square.

The rather shabby modern buildings belie Omonia's importance. It's always busy with people; there are some good cafes and restaurants, and some of the most prestigious companies have offices here. Combine this with the bus and Metro routes that run through it, and you have a major city hub.

Three major thoroughfares run parallel between Omonia Square and nearby Syntagma Square. Stadiou is perhaps the busiest, with several major department stores and high-class stores that sell jewellery and the best designer names, plus two modem stoas packed with bookstores. When you reach the small square of Klathmonos, you'll find the Museum of the City of Athens, housed in the former King Otto's palace of the 19th century. Nearer to Syntagma, in Kolokotroni Square, is the National Historical Museum, with a collection of artefacts dating from post-Classical times. This is a useful museum to visit if you have a particular interest in post-independence Greece, as many artefacts add detail to the individuals and incidents that shaped the new country.

Northeast of Stadiou is Panepistimiou (University Street), officially named Eleftherfa Venizelou after the Cretan statesman. This also plays host to several important buildings. The National Library, The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and The Academy of Athens all sit here, confirming it as the academic and intellectual heart of modern Athens. All three are Neo-Classical in design and made of Pentelic marble, helping to give a feel of how the Agora of the ancient city may have looked at its prime. The Academy, which was built in 1859, is perhaps the most impressive of the three and was designed by Theophilus Hansen. A native of Denmark, Hansen was responsible for the Zappion and Royal Observatory in Athens, as well as numerous buildings in Vienna. The seated figures of Plato and Socrates sit guarding the Academy entrance and an intricately carved pediment depicts the gods and god- desses of the ancient world; these were sculpted by Leonidas Drosis. Come and look at these carvings through binoculars to get a feel of how richly decorated the temples and communal buildings of the ancient world originally were. Walking towards Syntagma you'll pass the Renaissance-style house of Heinrich Schliemann, that most famous of archaeologists, who was instrumental in turning the myth of the Mycenaeans and the Trojan War into fact.

The outward-most thoroughfare is Akadimias, which runs behind the Library, University and Academy. Opposite these buildings you'll find the Athens Cultural Centre housed in a former hospital dating from the 1830s. There are auditoria and cultural exhibitions here, and a small Theatre Museum has displays charting the development of this art since ancient times.