North of Filopappou Hill, this hill was the official meeting place of the Democratic Assembly in the 5th century BC – really, the first site of democracy. You can see the speakers' steps, where the great orators Aristides, Demosthenes, Pericles and Themistocles addressed assemblies. (More recently, politicians have used it for photo ops.) The hill is often empty, save for birds, and its view of the Acropolis' front steps gives a real sense of the temples' centrality to ancient Athenian life.
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Hill of the Pnyx
Athens
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.55 MILES
This dazzling museum at the foot of the Acropolis' southern slope showcases its surviving treasures. The collection covers the Archaic period to the Roman…
0.39 MILES
Designed to be the pre-eminent monument of the Acropolis, the Parthenon epitomises the glory of Ancient Greece. Meaning 'virgin's apartment', it's…
0.4 MILES
The Acropolis is the most important ancient site in the Western world. Crowned by the Parthenon, it stands sentinel over Athens, visible from almost…
0.45 MILES
This lush, tranquil site is named for the potters who settled it around 3000 BC. It was used as a cemetery through the 6th century AD. The grave markers…
0.36 MILES
The Agora was ancient Athens' heart, the lively hub of administrative, commercial, political and social activity. Socrates expounded his philosophy here;…
1.4 MILES
This outstanding museum, based in the 1848 Villa Ilissia, offers exhibition halls, most of them underground, crammed with religious art. The exhibits go…
Benaki Museum of Greek Culture
1.18 MILES
In 1930 Antonis Benakis – a politician's son born in Alexandria, Egypt, in the late 19th century – endowed what is perhaps the finest museum in Greece…
National Archaeological Museum
1.4 MILES
Housing the world's finest collection of Greek antiquities in an enormous neoclassical building, this museum is one of Athens' top attractions. Treasures…
Nearby Athens attractions
0.1 MILES
Northwest of Hill of the Pnyx, this hill is home to the old Athens observatory, built in 1842.
2. Church of Agios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris
0.12 MILES
At the foot of Filopappou Hill, this 16th-century church may not be the oldest in Athens, but it is certainly one of the loveliest, with a heavy timber…
3. Church of Agia Marina Thission
0.13 MILES
Striped like a multilayered cake and bursting with red-tile domes, this 1931 church perches on the northwest side of the Hill of the Nymphs. Its murals,…
0.18 MILES
On the slopes of Filopappou Hill, follow the path to this warren of rooms carved into bedrock. It's said to have been the place Socrates was imprisoned in…
0.21 MILES
This rocky outcrop below the Acropolis has great views over the Ancient Agora. According to mythology, it was here that Ares was tried by the council of…
6. Herakleidon Museum Building B
0.22 MILES
This eclectic private museum, split over two locations, examines the interrelation of art, mathematics and philosophy, explored through rotating exhibits…
7. Herakleidon Museum Building A
0.24 MILES
The smaller section of this private museum devoted to ancient Greek technology occupies a restored mansion. It has an exhibition on automata, featuring an…
0.25 MILES
The main Acropolis entrance is used by tour groups so can be very busy. Come here for the disabled accessible lift.