The city of Athens, Greece is one of the world’s oldest cities with a history spanning approximately 3,400 years. According to Greek mythology, the city was named after the goddess Athena after she won a competition with Poseidon over who would become the protector of the city. The city’s location (in the fertile plains of Attika between the Parnitha, Penteli, and Hymettos mountains), proximity to the Saronic Gulf, and its mild climate were probably the main reasons why the founders of the city chose to live there.
The city was founded when the king Theseus united several settlements of Attica into one state. The last king of ancient Athens was Kodros and after he sacrificed his life to save the homeland, the nobles ruled over the land until the people of Athens overthrew the sons of Peisistratos, Hippias and Hipparchos, and began to organize a democracy. The main creator of the first democracy, Kleisthenes, radically reformed the constitution and restructured the government organization created previously by Solon to give all citizens the right and duty to participate in the governance of the state. The creation of Democracy was one of the most significant achievements of the ancient Greeks.
The 5th century BC, under the rule of Pericles, was one of the most glorious periods in Athenian history and laid the foundations of western civilization. It was during this Golden Age that the Parthenon was built, and the fields of art, philosophy, and drama developed significantly. The Peloponnesian wars between the Athenians and Sparta brought an end to the Golden Age, but Athens continued to be an important cultural and intellectual center for centuries to come. By the mid-4th century BC, the Northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming a dominant force in Athenian affairs and in 338 BC the army of Philip II effectively ended Athenian independence. The conquests of Alexander the Great made the traditional Greek city state obsolete and by the 2nd century BC, Greece was taken over by the Roman Republic. Athens remained a center for learning and philosophy during its 500 years of Roman rule. The conversion of the empire to Christianity ended the city’s role as the center of pagan learning and the schools of philosophy were closed in AD 529 marking the end of the ancient history of Athens.
By 529, Athens was under Byzantine rule where they saw great periods of uncertainty as well as prosperity. In 1204 the Fourth Crusade conquered Athens and the Latins ruled until 1458 when the city fell to the Ottoman Empire.
After the Greek Revolution of 1821, Greece was established as a modern independent Greek state in 1830 by the Treaty of London and Athens was made the capital. A Bavarian prince, Otto, was proclaimed King of Greece and one of his first tasks as a king was to conduct a detailed archaeological and topographical survey of Athens. During the time of King Otto’s rule, Athens had a population of only 4,000-5,000 people who were located in the district of Plaka. Athens was chosen as the capital of Greece for historical and sentimental reasons. Once the capital was established, a modern city plan was laid out and many public buildings were erected.
Athens experienced its first period of explosive growth following the disastrous Greco-Turkish War in 1921 when more than a million Greek refugees from Asia Minor were resettled in Greece. Modern day suburbs of the city such as Nea Ionia and Nea Smyrni began as refugee settlements.
Athens was occupied by the Nazis in World War II and experienced terrible privations during the later years of the war. Heavy fighting between Communist forces and the royalists backed by the British broke out in 1944.
After WWII, Athens began to grow as people migrated into the city looking for work. Greece joined the European Union in 1981 which brought in many new investments to Athens, but also increased social and environmental problems. At the time, Athens had some of the worst traffic congestion and air pollution in the world which posed a great threat to the ancient monuments. Traffic vibrations weakened the foundations and the air pollution corroded the marble. Because of the environmental and infrastructure problems, the city failed to secure the 1996 centenary Olympic Games even though it was the host of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896.
Since the failed attempt to secure the 1996 Olympics, the city and the Greek government, aided by the European Union funds, started major infrastructure projects such as building a new Athens Airport and a new metro system. The City of Athens also restricted the use of cars in the city center to reduce the air pollution problem. As a result of its efforts, Athens was rewarded the 2004 Olympic Games which were a great success and brought renewed international prestige to the city.
The most recent polls performed in 2001 state that the city has grown to a population of 745,514 within the city’s administrative limits and 4,013,368 within the Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) making it the 7th most populous LUZ in the European Union. The population density within the city is 19,133 people per square kilometer and the density within the LUZ is 1,370 people per square kilometer. Most recently, the city along with the entire country of Greece is suffering from a major economic crisis. Hopefully the city will recover from this crisis soon so it can return to being one of the oldest and greatest cities in the world.
Sources:
“A Brief Reference to the History of Athens.” Athens Greece Guide. Web. 1 Jan. 2011. <http://www.athensguide.org/athens-history.html>.
“HISTORY OF ATHENS.” HistoryWorld – History and Timelines. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac45>.
“History of Greece – Ancient Greek History.” Around Greece. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.aroundgreece.com/ancient-greece-history/index.php>.
My Big Fat Greek Blog... Gazi, Athens 