Athens Tour Guide – Unforgettable Athens Shore Excursions
What You’ll See On Piraeus Athens Shore Excursions
The main harbor for the city of Athens, Piraeus Athens is located on the Saronic Gulf, a little more than seven miles outside of the city proper. Piraeus Athens contains much for visitors to do and see, including sightseeing tours and other Athens excursions – and if you like, you can combine sightseeing with an enjoyable outing by taking Athens shore excursions. These are more than just a tour of the city, since they combine a visit to Piraeus Athens with all of its points of historical interest and beauty and of course, the opportunity to see the city of Athens from a different viewpoint.
Athens shore excursions are one of the best ways to experience this historic city and when you first enter the port, you may be amazed by the abundance of boats to be found there. Once you begin your shore excursion onboard one of the many boats docked here, you will take a trip across the Saronic Gulf, where you can see some of the most famous ancient buildings in the world, including the Tower of the Winds, the Agora and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
Now that you know what you might see and the kind of trips you can take from the port at Piraeus Athens, you may want to know a little more about some of the sights that you can see while on Athens shore excursions, starting with the Agora.
The Agora is situated just northwest of the Acropolis and the area was once the site of homes until 6 B.C., when the area was ordered to be redeveloped by Peisistratus as the center of civic government. A drainage system was added, trees planted and temples built to Hephaestus, Zeus, Hermes, Aphrodite and Apollo. Also built in the Agora were the monument of the Eponymous Heroes, the Peristyle Court, the Altar of the Twelve Gods, the Stoa of Poikile and others. Many visitors are surprised by how many of these ancient buildings are still intact.
The Tower of the Winds is a Pentelic marble clock tower. Some of it’s features are some sundials, a windvane and a water clock. It was thought to have been built in 50 BC. Others claim it to have been built in 2 BC before the rest of the forum was actually built. The structure is 12 meters high and 8 meters in diameter and what rests on the top is a Triton, which is like a weathervane which determines direction of wind. The reason why it was set at the top of the Tower of the Winds was to resemble what is now known as a clock tower. Next on our list is the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
The Temple of Olympian Zeus was once the largest in all of Greece and housed an enormous statue of Zeus, the supreme god of the Greek pantheon. Construction on the temple began in 6 B.C., but the temple was not completed until 638 A.D.
Now that you have an idea of what you will be seeing and have a little bit of the history behind these amazing structures for when you go Athens sightseeing. Now I leave it up to you to make that trip to Piraeus Athens and experience this all for yourself.
Observe Athens through this selection of sightseeing tours beginning from its port. Piraeus, Athens port, is the gate for cruiseships to the rich ancient Greek society. Choose your excursions at Athens Excursions
