Acropolis, Athens
The Parthenon, the Erechtheion and the Propylaea. UNESCO listing (opens the UNESCO site) ↗︎
History
The story of Greece
Europe's first great civilisation grew on Crete, where the Minoans built the palace of Knossos around 2000 BC. On the mainland the Mycenaeans followed, the world of Homer's heroes. The first recorded Olympic Games were held in 776 BC, and in the fifth century BC Athens built the Parthenon and invented much of what we still call philosophy, theatre and democracy.
Alexander the Great carried Greek culture to Egypt and India; Rome conquered Greece and was conquered by its art. For a thousand years Greek was the language of the Byzantine Empire, whose churches and monasteries fill the country. Venetians held many islands, and the Ottomans ruled until the War of Independence began in 1821. Athens became capital of the new kingdom in 1834 and hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
A short timeline
- Minoans and Mycenaeansc. 2000 to 1100 BC
Knossos on Crete; Mycenae on the mainland.
- Archaic Greece776 BC
The first recorded Olympic Games.
- Classical Athens5th century BC
Pericles and the Parthenon, built from 447 BC.
- Alexander and after4th century BC
Greek culture from Alexandria to India.
- Byzantium4th to 15th centuries
Thessaloniki, Mystras and the monasteries.
- The modern state1821 to today
Independence; Athens capital from 1834; the 1896 Olympics.
