Athens .

Athens , one of the oldest cities in the world . Named about in the late 16th - early 15th century BC. AD in honor of the goddess Athena. Located in central Greece and is the economic, cultural and administrative center of the country. From 500goda BC. Oe. up to 300goda BC. Oe., Called the Golden Age of Greece , Athens was a center of culture and intellectuals, and is the cradle of Western civilization. During this period the city-state reached the peak of its development. Athens identified many areas of the later European culture.Here, the schools of philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle laid the foundations of European philosophy , is laid the foundation of a democratic system , which became later a model for all humanity, and became known - Western civilization .

After the Golden Age of Athens continued to be the richest city and a center of culture and knowledge to the Roman Empire .

Then they were enslaved first the Byzantine Empire , and later in 1458 captured by the Turks and the city became part of the Ottoman Empire.After the collapse of the empire, when the city became the capital of the new Greek kingdom in 1833 , he was half destroyed , and almost uninhabited.

The transformation into a modern city of Athens took place mainly in the twentieth century .

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