Athens (Greek: Αθήνα Athína) a powerful city-state in ancient Greece named after its patron goddess, Athena. In Ancient Greek Athens was called Athinai (Αθήναι, plural for Athena), Athens was the leading city in Greece during the greatest period of Greek civilization during the 1st millennium BC. During the "Golden Age" of Greece (roughly 500 BC to 300 BC) it was the Western world's leading cultural and intellectual center, and indeed it is in the ideas and practices of Ancient Athens that what we now call "Western civilization" has its origins. After its days of greatness, Athens continued to be a prosperous city and a centre of learning until the late Roman period.

The schools of philosophy, however, were closed in AD 529 after the Byzantine Empire converted to Christianity. Athens lost a great deal of status and became a provincial town.

Aphidnae

Decelea

Eleusis

Laurium

Phalerum

Rhamnous

Athens today

The Parthenon

Archons of Athens

History of Athens

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