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Athens Modern Greek: Αθήνα, Athína Greek pronunciation:
[aˈθina], Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athênai) is the capital
and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica
region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its
recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its
earliest human presence starting somewhere between the
11th and 7th millennia BC. Classical Athens was a
powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the
seagoing development of the port of Piraeus, which had
been a distinct city prior to its 5th century BC
incorporation with Athens. A centre for the arts,
learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and
Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the
cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of
democracy, largely because of its cultural and political
impact on the European continent, and in particular the
Romans. In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan
metropolis and central to economic, financial,
industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in
Greece. In 2015, Athens was ranked the world's 29th
richest city by purchasing power[9] and the 67th most
expensive in a UBS study.
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