Strolling Through Athens: Fourteen Unforgettable Walks through Europe's Oldest City

by John Freely

Athens, city of the gods, birthplace of modern democracy, artistic and cultural center of the ancient world, is steeped in myth and legend. Now, in this newly reissued book publishing just in time for the 2004 Olympics being held in Athans, travel writer John Freely guides readers on a series of walks to the city's most vibrant and historic areas, from the magnificent Parthenon, center of Athens for four thousand years, to the winding streets of Plaka, the crumbling ruins of the Agora and the color and bustle of Monastiraki. We are led to the theatre of Dionysus, scene of the tragic plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles and to the spot where Phidippides ended his legendary run from Marathon. Vivid descriptions of Athens' most famous monuments and archeological sites are interwoven with mythology and anecdote; secret gems are discovered and the past resurrected with every step. This guide, more than any other available, reveals how the heart of ancient Athens still beats beneath the living, modern city.

Genres: History

379 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

About the author

John Freely was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, New York to Irish immigrant parents, and spent half of his early childhood in Ireland. He dropped out of high school when he was 17 to join the U. S. Navy, serving for two years, including combat duty with a commando unit in the Pacific, India, Burma and China during the last year of World War II. After the war, he went to college on the G. I. Bill and eventually received a Ph.D. in physics from New York University, followed by a year of post-doctoral study at Oxford in the history of science. He worked as a research physicist for nine years, including five years at Princeton University. In 1960 he went to İstanbul to teach physics at the Robert College, now the Boğaziçi University, and taught there until 1976. He then went on to teach and write in Athens (1976-79), Boston (1979-87), London (1987-88), İstanbul (1988-91) and Venice (1991-93). In 1993 he returned to Boğaziçi University, where he taught a course on the history of science. His first book, co-authored by the late Hilary Sumner-Boyd, was Strolling Through İstanbul (1972). Since then he has published more than forty books.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Go to the travel section of any bookstore, and you are likely to find plenty of guidebooks and other materials designed to provide informed strolls through major cities. As informative and even fun as these may be, however, they tend to focus on a few major cities: New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and so forth. This is just one of the reasons why John Freely’s book is worthy of attention, as it is one of the few that offers people a walking guide through one of the most historic cities in the world. In it, he offers fourteen tours of Athens that are designed to guide readers through the city’s storied neighborhoods. Though most of the tours are focused on the city’s past, particularly its “classical” era – it includes ones for those more interested in exploring what the city’s more modern neighborhoods have to offer as well. Each one is supplemented with descriptive explanations, basic maps, and plans that provide the details to enrich one’s experience in the city. In short, it’s an excellent tool for planning one’s visit to Athens, and a good book to have at hand when discovering the city for oneself.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freely's knowledge of the city is really impressive, and makes me frustrated that I missed so much when I was there. But the landmark numbers on the maps are so small that they're very difficult to read, and even worse, they are sometimes out of sync with the list of sites. The glossary at the end is rather poorly written too.