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If you’re only in Athens for a day, this is the one sight to see. The temples, especially the great Parthenon, built to honour Athena, have been the dominating influence in Western architecture for over 2,000 years. They continue to astonish and inspire. (see See Acropolis)

This is one of Athens’ oldest churches, built in the early 11th century over a 2nd-century monument in the ancient Agora. Though it underwent a great deal of damage during the Ottoman occupation, the remains of its frescoes have been preserved and restored within.

Claiming the highest point in modern-day Athens – the peak of Lykavittos Hill – Agios Georgios boasts views as far as the Saronic Gulf, the island of Aegina and the Peloponnese coast. Services are held both inside and outside.

The Agora, the marketplace where philosophers held forth, tradesmen bickered and statesmen hammered out the terms of the first democracy, was the city’s heart and soul for 600 years. This is one of the most hands-on sites in Athens and includes the Temple of Hephaestus, the best-preserved ancient Greek temple. (see The Agora)

Built in the 6th century, this beautiful monastery church has been used in the course of its life as a prison, insane asylum and army barracks, as well as a revered place of worship. And, like so many churches in and around Athens, its foundations rest upon an ancient temple, this one to Apollo. The magnificent mosaics and awesome vaulted dome are being restored, and the church is hoping to reopen in 2006. (see Dafni)

Hadrian built this luxurious Corinthian-columned building in AD 132. Most of the space was actually a showy marble courtyard, with gardens and a pool. There were also lecture rooms, music rooms and a theatre. The library itself was on the east side, where you can see marble slots for manuscript scrolls. (see Hadrian’s Library)

This fascinating site around ancient Athens’ walls should not be missed. It contains evidence of all the activities that take place at a city’s edge: tombs (raised circular mounds for war heroes, pompous marble statues for great statesmen), temples, important roads, pottery workshops, and a brothel. It’s also a shady oasis in the congested city centre. (see Kerameikos)

This 11th-century monastery on the cypress-clad slopes of Mount Hymettos makes a wonderful day trip (best reached by car). The chapel, dedicated to the Presentation of the Virgin, is built atop Classical ruins, its walls decorated with cloisonné (enamelled) masonry and late 17th-century paintings. The ram’s-head fountain is said to cure infertility. (see Kesariani, Mount Hymettos)