Cultural sightseeing in Greece

Greece is a country with an amazing culture and the greatest legacy. Annually, the state is visited by more than 20 million people. They all come here to touch and see the immortalized monuments and historical sights. The largest cities in the country are Athens and Thessaloniki. Athens is not only the capital, but also a cultural center. The city has about 200 museums and private galleries. The legendary Athens Acropolis annually attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists. Tours to the ancient cities of Delphi, Rhodes, Mystra, and Gortina on the island of Crete will be equally fascinating from a cultural point of view. A large number of Orthodox churches have survived in Greece. The monasteries of Meteora belong to the most famous.

It’s almost impossible to visit all the museums of Athens during one trip, so rich the history of the country and its cultural heritage are. New Acropolis Museum is a must-see in the capital. It was specially built to store the unique Elmina Marbles, which are masterpieces of the ancient Greek art from the Athenian Acropolis. More than 20 thousand exhibits from prehistoric times are stored in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Sculptures, funerary masks, dishes, figurines, and funerary gifts are among the exhibits. The Byzantine Museum houses about 25 thousand exhibits of Christian art. The Museum of the Athenian Agora is located in the Stoic Attaly, built in the 2nd century BC. It displays various archaeological finds dating back to different eras. The museum of Cycladic culture contains objects of the everyday life and art of the civilization that existed 5 thousand years ago.

Athens Acropolis is one of the main monuments of the ancient Greek civilization. It is located on a 150-meter high rocky hill. That’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are more than 20 buildings created before our era. The Parthenon, the statue of Athena Parthenos, the theater of Dionysus, the temple of Nicky Ateros, and Hecatompedon are among them. The Temple of Olympian Zeus was built long before the onset of our era. According to a legend, it was founded on the site of the sanctuary of Deucalion, the forefather of the Greek people. The temple is located near the Acropolis. This place has the great value for the culture of the country. The Panathinaikos Stadium in Athens was built in the 4th century BC. The stadium constructed of white marble was the main arena for the Panathenaic Games. The stadium accommodated about 50 thousand people. The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held there. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

In Thessaloniki, it's worth to look into the archaeological museum, which houses pre-historic artifacts and a large number of antiquities, including the golden head and the shield of the Medusa Gorgona. The museum dedicated to ancient Greek, Byzantine and post-Byzantine musical instruments has 200 different items that have been used for the last 4 thousand years. In the museum of Byzantine art, tourists can recreate a complete picture of the great state. Numerous Thessalonikan monuments of early Christian and Byzantine history are in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Arc de Triomphe of Galerius, the Basilica of Saint Dimitrios of the 3rd century, and the Church of Saint Sophia of the 7th century are among them. There is an acropolis in Thessaloniki with the remains of the ancient Greek temples.

The Rhodian fortress is one of the cult buildings of antiquity. The former is situated on the island of Rhodes, in the city of the same name. Once, one of the eight Wonders of the World - the Kolos of Rhodes - was there. For many hundreds of years, the Hospitallers of this impregnable fortress has been protecting it from the Muslims. You can also see the Rhodes acropolis, where the ruins of the temple of Apollo, the amphitheater, and the stadium are preserved. A large number of museums and historical monuments are found on the island of Crete, in the town of Heraklion. This place was named after the legendary Hercules. It is worth to visit the palace-temple in Knossos. This ancient city was the center of the Minoan civilization and the cult of Zeus.