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Athens Greece History
This chronicle will take you from the Neolithic period, where according to the archaeological findings it is estimated that the first attempts at establishing a city were made at Pelasgous, by the first habitants who, in 1400 B.C. began fortifying the Acropolis mountain with walls, to the age of Copper around 800 B.C., when the final union of Athens into an integrated country took place, and there, for the first time, we find the Panathinaia, the leading fest of Athens in honor of the goddess Athena.
The "journey" continues with reference to the last king of Athens, Kodros (1068 B.C.), according to the valuable information of one of the most significant philosophers of all times, Aristotle. History then moves on to the four tribes the Athenian population was divided into in the 8th - 7th century and to 636 B.C., when Cylon, taking advantage of the farmers disappointment, unsuccessfully tried to take over the tyranny with a coup, the well-known "Cylonian Agos".
In 624 B.C. you will understand precisely what the legislation of Dracontas consists of, in 594 B.C. how the opposing parties of the inhabitants and the wealthy of the time commonly chose Solon to govern, the tyranny of Pisistratos in the mid 6th century B.C., the assassination of Hipparchos in 514 B.C. and the significant alterations made by Klisthenis in 508 B.C. which laid the foundations for the Athenian Democracy.
The Chronicle describes the memoirs of the Persian king, in 500 B.C., when Athens sent help to the rebelling cities of Ionia.
The Athenian courage in the battles of Marathon in 490 B.C. and in Artemisio in 480 B.C., the appearance of the leading role of Athens in 478 B.C., the well-known victory of Evrimedondas that contributed to the liberation of all Greek cities from Persian domination can all be explored.
The "golden century" of Athenian Democracy unfolds before you in the 5th century B.C., a while after Periklis (490-429 B.C.) took charge of the Democratic Party and the First Peloponnesian War came to an end.
Then the Acropolis monuments were built.
An era in which, if you lived you would get the chance to meet Socrates, the Sophists, and the three great dramatists, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides for whose plays we still crowd at the cashier office of the Athens Festival every summer, as well as the Ancient theater in Epidavros, where most revivals are staged.
The Chronicle continues with the conclusion of the unique spiritual and artistic flourishing of Athens, as a result of the Second Peloponnesian War (431-421 B.C. and 416-404 B.C.), the humiliating Athenian defeat in Sicily by the Lakedemonians, the prosperous period of the Macedonian Dynasty, the Russian domination, during which under Adrianos (117-138 B.C.) the temple of Olympian Zeus was completed, the currently preserved aquarium was constructed and the Library was built.
An important milestone is the year 53 B.C., when Apostle Paul educated Christian principles to the Areios Pagos, before Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. 396 B.C. was a terrible period as Athens fell into the hands of Gothic invaders.
The rise to the empire throne of Ioustinianos (482-565) played an important role in the downfall of the ancient Greek world, but also from the era of the Emperor Irakleio (574-640) a long period of obscurity and predatory attacks began for Athens.
In 1204 the Crusades entered the Acropolis fort.
The Frankish occupation was maintained until 1308, while Catalan domination continued up until 1387.
Following Constantinople's fate, Athens was occupied in 1456.
The era of the Turkish occupation is described in 14 stages.
In the beginning of the 19th century the Chronicle reminds us that in 1800 when Lord Elgin assigned himself as an ambassador in Constantinople, invoking the disasters which befell the ancient Athenian monuments, parts of the interior decoration of the temples on the Acropolis were removed in a destructive manner.
In 1834 we see how Athens is declared to be the capital of Greece, by order of the Regency and a year after the first public elections took place which resulted in Anargyros Petrakis being elected as mayor.
In 1843 we discover the secret councils in the house of a significant Greek, Makrigiannis, the great civil and Athenian guard revolution, which lead to the granting of a Constitution.
In 1862 we observe the abolishment of Othon's kingdom.
A year later, we see his succession by George the First.
In 1882 and for the following 15 years we observe the domination of the leading personality of Harilaos Trikoupis.
In 1896 we learn about the revival of the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
During the period of 1899-1908 we see the developments made in Athens by the Athenian Mayor, Spyros Merkouris.
Information on the activities of the greatest political personality of the 20th century, Eleftherios Venizelos, whose policies lead to outstanding accomplishments in our role as a nation and internal achievements as a country, is provided and is a significant period of modern history.
We move on to the period of unrest and war, during which an English company undertook to produce electrical power throughout the entire area of the capital.
The telephones that operated through a phone center were replaced by automatic telephones.
In 1928 the first civil airport was created in the Delta Falirou area and the airport in the Hellinikon area was founded in 1934.
You can also see the dictatorship enforced on the country in 1936 by Ioannis Metaxas, the Second World War, the period of occupation and the political journey that lead to the "Decembriana" and the Varkiza agreement, the dictatorship of April 21st 1967, the student and civil riot in 1973, the meta-political era up until September 6th 1997, when the International Olympic Games Committee entrusted the Olympic Games of 2004 to Athens Greece.


















