Guide with focus on history and culture of city
Among the plethora of guide books to Athens published in time for the Games, «Heritage Walks in Athens» has a focus on culture and history presented in a particularly attractive and handy format. Who better to present this aspect of Athens than the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and the Cultural Heritage (Elliniki Etairia), an association with a long tradition of promoting the best of what Greece has to offer. The mood is set very successfully by the use of photographs from the early 20th century by Swiss photographer Fred Boissonas. A historical overview of the city provides the background for the eight Heritage Walks. The first four take the visitor through antiquity – The Acropolis, Hills and Municipalities of Ancient Athens, Agora and Areopagus, The City Center from Antiquity to the Ottoman Period. The next four, Athens: Medieval and Modern, The Heart of the Modern Greek State, Museums, Collections and the National Park and Athenian Neoclassicism, connect past and present. An extremely practical guide, co-published with the Municipality of Athens Cultural Organization, it has starting points, metro stations and historical information edited by archaeologist Irini Gratsia, with contributions by archaeologist Fani Mallouhou, historian Costas Stamatopoulos and Anne McCabe, board member of the society’s sister organization, the Society for the Preservation of the Greek Heritage (USA). Visitors are also invited to visit the Society’s headquarters in a beautifully restored building at 28 Tripodon, Plaka, tel 210.322.5245.
