Lykabettos Hill - A Panorama over Athens

On my first evening in Athens, I was waiting for the others to arrive the next day, and so I was free to roam and explore. Not far away from my hotel was Lykabettos Hill, the highest point in the city centre giving you a great panoramic view of the city! It took about 20 minutes to climb on winding pathways, and these photos were my rewards:

Having arrived on a cloudy day shortly before dawn, the view was like this: Not the sunniest, but still I could see a lot from a far, for example a colourful open-air amphitheatre in which artists such as Ray Charles, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel once performed and the Panathenaic Stadium (on which I will write more in another post). Although is was a hot day, many people were also watching the distant sunset ... it seemed to be a very popular place for people to go in the evening!

Somewhere in the distance you could also see the Hellenic Parliament (from my first post) and the Temple of Olympian Zeus (which I will describe later). Meanwhile, the first lights were being switched on as the sun was setting in the distance. An emotional evening!

With the red sunset hidden behind the clouds, the night life of the city was slowly waking up; the streets became brighter with the light of the street lamps. In some distance, you could see the famous Acropolis illuminated. However, the view would be even better in the pitch black of the night. So I waited and talked to some girls from Portugal who had come to work and travel ...

The night was taking over the city, and in the park below, only one single lamp was illuminating the dark green area like a lost soul ... meanwhile, I also saw St George's chapel, a beautiful small Orthodox chapel with golden mosaics in the interior where you could buy candles to pray for the deceased. Out of respect for the place I will not upload photos of it here, but maybe you can find others online ... or go there yourself!

Finally, the moment arrived ... a great reward for climbing the hill and waiting for some hours (I guess): The fully illuminated Acropolis was clearly visible as a sharp contrast to the black night engulfing the city. Like a bastion of light in a fallen world, it loomed on the hilltop and was waiting for us to see it the other day (in daylight, of course). Hang on for my next posts!

Photo gallery