Destination: Athens

Paul was invited to speak to the city council Aeropagus, which met on Mars Hill. Thus, Paul was able to spread the Good News about Jesus in Greece's cultural heart.

Visit the Acropolis, which has overlooked Athens for over 2,000 years; habitation traces indicate that it was occupied as early as the Neolithic Age. View the Temple of Athena Nike, and its successor, The Parthenon. The Parthenon is the crowning achievement of the Doric order, built to demonstrate the wealth of Athens in tribute to its patron goddess, Athena.

The Acropolis Museum contains a superb collection of sculptures from the area. The monuments of the Acropolis have withstood the ravages of past centuries, both of ancient times and those of the Middle Ages. Until the 17th century, foreign travelers visiting the monuments depicted the classical buildings as being intact.

Visit the Theater of Dionysus, located on the southern slopes of the Acropolis. Able to seat up to 17,000 people, the theater was used for the performance of major dramatic works written by men such as Sophocles and Euripides. The theater was closely tied to the Cult of Dionysus as well, who used performances as celebrations of their deity.

Discover the Ancient Agora, the political heart of Athens from 600 BC. With shops, a theater, and schools, the agora served as the center of social and commercial life. Highlights of the complex include the Hephaisteion, a particularly well-preserved temple, and the Stoa of Attalos, a reconstructed, colonnaded building that houses a small museum with finds from the agora.

To truly understand Greek culture and its place throughout history, a visit to the National Archaeological Museum is essential. Home to some of the most important artifacts from a variety of locations and eras, the museum today is considered one of the world’s finest. The museum’s collections span thousands of years, dating all the way back to the Neolithic Era (6800-3000 BC). While it would be impossible to list all that the museum has to offer, highlights include items from Thessaly, Mycenae and the island of Thira (Santorini), along with an unrivaled amount of sculpture, pottery and jewelry.

The old tomato factory D. Nomikos in Vlychada was transformed in 2014 into a modern Industrial Museum to offer its visitors a flashback to the past, following the procedure of cultivation, processing and production of small-fruited tomatoes. The small-fruited Santorini tomato, a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product since 2006, is one of the most famous and traditional products of Santorini. At the Museum the visitor learns the traditional methods of cultivation followed by the tomato farmers of Santorini, the history of island and its inhabitants and discovers their traditions.