Agora Athen

History

The Agora used to be a public space used as a market place and a venue for assemblies, particularly for assemblies of the people. Here, on the Agora, the first ever democratic vote was passed by the local citizens. This square has existed since the 5th century and has since been a cultural and societal counterpart of the Acropolis, the political and cult centre of Athens.

From the 4th century on, the Agora had been abandoned as a public meeting space and gave way for several other public hubs such as the Roman Agora in Athens. The Agora was destroyed several times during the past centuries and the idea of rebuilding it seemed not to be pursued thoroughly enough.

The Agora was rediscovered in the 19th century and listed as a historical excavation site. As a consequence, several parts of the original Agora were reconstructed, for instance, the Stoa that is nowadays used as a museum.

Edifices

The Agora was home to 30 important edifices such as the temple of Hephaestos and numerous columned halls as well as administrative buildings and libraries. Wall remains are the ruins left of the many ancient buildings with several yet to be identified. Another cultural site that was placed on the Agora was the Dionysus theatre. One can still see where the stage was placed and the seating rows that were cut into the rock and arranged in a semicircle.  

By public transport

The Agora is directly located at the foot of the castle mountain, which the Acropolis is built on. It's easy to come here on foot if you already happen to be on the Acropolis.

Alternatively, you can choose to come here by metro. If you take the metro line 1, get off at the station “Monastiraki”. In the vicinity one can also find a few bus stops, which are not too far from the Agora.

By car

In order to protect the old city centre of Athens, the city council encourages all visitors, if possible, to travel by public transport through the city. And what is more, one will rarely find a car park.