Hadrian's Arch, Temple of the Olympian Zeus, and the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation

After enjoying several of the sites at the west end of Dionysiou Areopagitou, we walked that scenic pedestrian street past the Acropolis to the east end where it meets Vasilissis Amalias Avenue. One of the most famous landmarks there is Hadrian's Arch.

There is also a marble bust of Melina Merkouri in this area.

We were heading to the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation and passed the Sanctuary of Olympian Zeus. Although we did not enter the Temple of the Olympian Zeus site, we got some good photographs of it from the outside.

On our way to the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, we passed this statue of U.S. president Harry S. Truman (it was in good shape when we saw it).

We also walked past the Panathenaic Stadium again.

The "Piano Stairs" are located very close to the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation.

The entrance to the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation faces the same open area square that this church faces.

The admission to the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation included personal audio guide devices that allowed the visitor to enter the nunber of the piece of display to hear a detailed description of each piece.

Much of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation collection can be viewed online.

The Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation has quite a few pieces displayed, but provides a lot of space between each piece on multiple floors in the building. It's not as massive as the Uffizi Gallery, for example, but it's still a sizable collection of varied works.

I found the pieces that used magnets and applied other laws of physics to be particularly novel.

Athens is full of things to see that are close to one another and we covered the attractions covered in this post in a matter of hours.

Ayios Demetrios Loubardiaris Church, Pnyx, Filopappos Hill, and Socrate's Prison

There is a nice park area just west of the Acropolis in Athens with several sites worth visiting, including great views of the Acropolis.

One of Athens's most famous pedestrian streets is the wide paved Dionysiou Areopagitou. This pedestrian street passes underneath the Acropolis and on its west end leads to the parks area with so many sites of interest nearby.

As you head west away from the Acropolis on Dionysiou Aeropagitou, one of the first unique sides (besides the beautiful tree-lined path) is the Church of Agios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris (English portion of sign says "Church of Ayios Demetrios Loubardiaris") on the right.

Continuing west on Dionysiou Areopagitou, the options of short hikes to the Pnyx and Filopappou Hill are available on the right and left respectively. We chose to go to the right to Pnyx Hill first.

The Pnyx is a place of historical interest, but it's difficult to focus on those historical qualities with the kinds of views one sees from here.

We visited the Prison of Socrates on the way from Pnyx to Filopappou Hill.

During the short (but steep at times) hike up to Filopappou Hill, one is rewarded with amazing views of the Acroplis.

The Monument of Filopappos is at the top of Filopappou Hill.

The Philopappos Monument is not the only reward for hiking to the top of Philopappos Hill; the views of Athens are great!

This park area to the west of the Acropolis is far less crowded and is much quieter than the Acropolis area and other busy areas of Athens. It provides a large area that combines natural park beauty with several easily accessible sites and great views.

Ancient Agora of Athens

We did not take the time to enter the Roman Agora or Hadrian's Library in Athens because we wanted to leave plenty of time to appreciate the Ancient Agora of Athens.

The Temple of Hephaestus is a highlight of the Ancient Agora of Athens.

In some ways, I was more impressed by the Temple of Hephaestus than I was by the Parthenon, probably because there was no scaffolding on the Temple of Hephaestus, there were very few other people in the area at the time, and we could get very close to the Temple of Hephaestus.

Speaking of the Parthenon, there are some great views of the Acropolis from the Ancient Agora.

There are also nice interior views of the Ancient Agora and its a scenic place to walk around.

The Church of the Holy Apostles in Ancient Agora is an old and beautiful restored structure.

The Agora of Athens Museum is an interesting structure in which some of the artifacts are in open areas on two floors and other, smaller artifacts are in a long, narrow section that runs along the inside.

The next two photographs show a stairwell from the second floor down to the first floor of the museum.

The Ancient Agora of Athens features interesting historial architecture and artifacts along with beautiful natural and city views.