Jewish tour and Athens sightseeing in 6 hours

Athens

Welcome to Athens, the historical capital of Europe. Welcome to the birthplace of democracy, arts, science, and philosophy of western civilization. Home of Plato, Socrates, Pericles, Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus. Athens is one of the world’s oldest cities. It’s recorded history spanning around 3.400 years and it is being inhabited since the 11th millennium B.C. E. Today, under the shadow of the Parthenon, the contemporary urban scenery of the sprawling city reflects its exciting history, its multi-cultural modern personality as well as the infrastructure and facilities. The perfect Mediterranean climate with the legendary greek sunlight, the unique combination of glorious history with modern, urban innovation, the coexistence of great culture with astonishing natural beauty, the high standard hotel accommodation ... We will pick you up from your accommodation in Athens. Our tour starts traveling directly to the Acropolis in order to avoid traffic and crowd.

The Jewish Community of Athens has two functioning synagogues, both on the same street facing each other, in the area of Thission, near the city center. The older of the two is the Romaniote one, built-in 1904, at 8, Melidoni Steet. It is called Etz Hayyim, a common name for Romaniote synagogues. Still called “the Ioannina Synagogue” by the community’s older members, it is the smaller of the two and is used today only during the High Holidays. The ground floor houses the community’s offices, in rooms originally intended for a Jewish school. Right across the street, at number 5, is the newer and larger, Beth Shalom Sephardic synagogue, built-in 1935 of white Pentelic marble and the architecture is an austere Greek Revival style, renovated in 1975, and the one fully used today. Its exterior is in white marble with neoclassical elements, while the spacious interior bears not much resemblance to the Greek tradition regarding synagogue design.

Acropolis

Pass-by Only

The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world. In the second half of the 5th-century bc, Athens, following the victory against the Persians and the establishment of democracy, took a leading position amongst the other city-states of the ancient world. In the age that followed, as thought and art flourished, an exceptional group of artists put into effect the ambitious plans of Athenian statesman Pericles and, under the inspired guidance of the sculptor Pheidias, transformed the rocky hill into a unique monument of thought and the arts. The most important monuments were built during that time: the Parthenon, built by Ictinus, the Erechtheon, the Propylaea, the monumental entrance to the Acropolis, designed by Mnesicles, and the small temple Athena Nike.