Hotels of Athens

My first stop was at the Statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis. A few words about this Great Man: He was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Kolokotronis' s greatest success was the defeat of the Ottoman army under Mahmud Dramali Pasha at the Battle of Dervenakia in 1822. In 1825, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in the Peloponnese. Today Kolokotronis ranks among the most revered of the protagonists of Greece' s War of Independence. The Statue of Kolokotronis is in front of the Old Parliament building in Athens, work by Lazaros Sochos. (By Wikipedia)

Hotel Grande Bretagne.

Amazing view from GB Roof Garden Restaurant & Bars. You can see the Hellenic Parliament, which is the parliament of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The Parliament is the supreme democratic institution that represents the citizens through an elected body of Members of Parliament (MPs). It is a unicameral legislature of 300 members, elected for a four-year term. During 1844–63 and 1927–35 the parliament was bicameral with an upper house, the Senate and a lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, which retained the name Vouli. Several important Greek statesmen have served as Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament. Also you can see the the National Garden (formerly the Royal Garden), which is in the center of the Greek capital, Athens. It is located directly behind the Greek Parliament building (The Old Palace) and continues to the South to the area where the Zappeion is located, across from the Panathenaiko or Kalimarmaro Olympic Stadium of the 1896 Olympic Games. The Garden also encloses some ancient ruins, tambourines and Corinthian capitals of columns, mosaics, and other features. On the Southeast side are the busts of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece and of the Philhellene Jean-Gabriel Eynard. On the South side are the busts of the celebrated Greek poets Dionysios Solomos, author of the Greek National Hymn and Aristotelis Valaoritis. (By Wikipedia)

The last Athens florist shop below Greek Parliament.

Next stop at the Acropolis Museum. The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on the surrounding slopes, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. It also lies over the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens. The museum was founded in 2003, while the Organization of the Museum was established in 2008. It opened to the public on 20 June 2009. Nearly 4,000 objects are exhibited over an area of 14,000 square metres. The Organization for the Construction of the new museum is chaired by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Professor Emeritus of Archaeology, Dimitrios Pandermalis. (By Wikipedia)

AthensWas Hotel. Here is the website: http://athenswas.gr/en

Melina Mercouri Monument.
Melina Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.
As an actress, Mercouri made her film debut in Stella (1955) and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday (1960, with future husband Jules Dassin), Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn. She won the award for Best Actress at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. She was nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, three Golden Globe Awards and two BAFTA Awards. A political activist during the Greek military junta of 1967–1974, Mercouri became a member of the Hellenic Parliament in 1977 and became the first female Minister for Culture of Greece in 1981. In 1983, Mercouri proposed the programme of the European Capital of Culture, which was established by the European Union in 1985.
Mercouri was a strong advocate for the return to Athens of the Parthenon Marbles, which were removed from the Parthenon and are now displayed in the British Museum in London. Mercouri died on 6 March 1994 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, from lung cancer. She was survived by her husband, Jules Dassin. She had no children. She received a state funeral with Prime Minister' s honors at the First Cemetery of Athens four days later. The Melina Mercouri Foundation was founded by her widower. After her death, UNESCO established the Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes (UNESCO-Greece) which rewards outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world' s major cultural landscapes. (By Wikipedia)

The Arch of Hadrian most commonly known in Greek as Hadrian's Gate is a monumental gateway resembling – in some respects – a Roman triumphal arch. It spanned an ancient road from the center of Athens, Greece, to the complex of structures on the eastern side of the city that included the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It has been proposed that the arch was built to celebrate the arrival of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and to honor him for his many benefactions to the city, on the occasion of the dedication of the nearby temple complex in 131 or 132 AD. It is not certain who commissioned the arch, although it is probable that the citizens of Athens or another Greek group were responsible for its construction and design. There were two inscriptions on the arch, facing in opposite directions, naming both Theseus and Hadrian as founders of Athens. While it is clear that the inscriptions honor Hadrian, it is uncertain whether they refer to the city as a whole or to the city in two parts: one old and one new. The early idea, however, that the arch marked the line of the ancient city wall, and thus the division between the old and the new regions of the city, has been shown to be false by further excavation. The arch is located 325m southeast of the Acropolis.
(By Wikipedia)

Building at Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, which is a pedestrianized street, adjacent to the south slope of the Acropolis in the Makrygianni district of Athens. It is named after Dionysius the Areopagite, the first Athenian convert to Christianity after Apostle Paul's sermon, according to the Acts of the Apostles. The street runs from east to west. It starts from Amalias Avenue near the Arch of Hadrian and ends near Philopappos Hill where it continues as Apostolou Pavlou Street, the rest of the pedestrian zone which goes around the archaeological site of the Acropolis and the Agora. The street was first mapped in 1857 in a more northern than today' s position, adjacently to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It was redesigned and acquired its shape in 1955 by architect Dimitris Pikionis who also designed the paved paths of the archaeological site. The street was finally pedestrianized in 2003. (By Wikipedia)