At Global Alliance, we take the “Worldwide” in our company name very seriously. We pride ourselves in offering premium limousine services to our clientele not only in our home base of Toronto but around the globe. Through our sophisticated network of trusted worldwide affiliates, Global Alliance can provide professional chauffeured services in hundreds of international cities. We will discuss many of the major worldwide destinations served via our affiliate network on this blog. Today’s destination is the historic cradle of Ancient Greek civilization, Athens.

The capital and largest city in the modern nation of Greece, Athens has a population of over three million. One of southeastern Europe’s biggest economic centres, Athens is an especially popular tourist destination due to its accommodating weather, renowned cuisine, and in particular its rich history and plentiful preserved historical sites and attractions.

Athens’ history of human civilization goes back nearly three-and-a-half millennia. In the classical period, Athens (named for Athena, the Greek goddess of war and wisdom) was a powerful city state renowned for its trading port of Piraeus and as Western Civilization’s first important centre of arts, learning, philosophy (renowned thinkers Aristotle and Socrates taught at their own institutions in the city), and democracy. Athens’ influence, first on the Roman Empire and then later on European and world culture and civilization as a whole, is enormous. Although Athens has gone through centuries of upheaval and changing rulers since its golden age in the classical period, it remains a vibrant city with great pride in its illustrious history.

That history is visible in many historic sites in and around the city. Most notable and iconic is the Acropolis, an ancient citadel comprising many ruined structures from Athenian history, most prominently the colonnaded Parthenon. Many other ancient Greek temples, theatres, public buildings, and archaeological sites survive throughout the city, revealing their ruined history to curious visitors. Major museums such as the National Archaeological Museum preserve items from sites throughout the city and the entire ancient Greek realm and display them to the public.

Athens has also preserved its status as a cultural hub. Its long tradition in the theatre remains particularly robust, with over 100 stages (some ancient, such as the Odeon of Herodes Atticus) hosting performances year-round, especially during the summertime Athens Festival. The ancient Greeks also gave the Western world the tradition of organized spectator sports, which remain popular in Athens today. The city played host to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, a revival of the ancient Greek sporting competition held in nearby Olympia, as well as more recently in 2004, which occasioned major improvements to the city’s infrastructure. Soccer is particular popular in Athens as it is in Greece as a whole, as is basketball. World-famous sports clubs based in the city such as Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, and AEK Athens compete nationally and throughout Europe in both of these sports and more besides.

Athens International Airport is the city’s main air transport hub, and handles an estimated 15 million passengers annually. The port of Piraeus retains its ancient reputation for bustle as Europe’s largest passenger port (and the second largest in the world). In addition to being a key port of call for Mediterranean cruise ships, it is a launching point for numerous ferries to the thousands of Greek islands spread like jewels across the Aegaen Sea.

Please feel free to contact Global Alliance Worldwide Chauffeured Services for all of your transportation needs in Athens, Greece.