Modern Athens is a bustling, overgrown city, continually coming to terms with
its illustrious past. Dominated by the Parthenon, the world-famous symbol of
classical antiquity, it has been touched by every aspect of Greece's turbulent
history, suffering invasions and occupations, sieges, division and dictatorship,
and has grown dramatically into a metropolis of four million people. Mixing old
and new, the Greek capital is a treasure house of eastern Orthodox and western
culture, rich in the visual arts, architecture and poetry. Michael Llewellyn
Smith describes the history and culture of Athens, site of the 2004 Olympic
Games and city of monuments enduring, purged and restored. Exploring its