Piraeus-Athens City Tour- Cape Sounion

Departing from Piraeus you will pass by the Stadium of Irinis & Filias. You will start off with a tour of the city, where you will view the Olympieion (The Temple of Olympian Zeus) from the 6^th century BC, one of the largest Corinthian style temples in Greek history and Hadrian’s Arch (2^nd Century AD) which divided the Greek city from Hadrian’s new Roman city. Arriving at Syntagma Square, see the Royal Palace, built for Otto I of Bavaria and the present day Parliament. In front of the Palace stands the Monument of the Unknown Soldier where two soldiers (Evzoni) stand guard continuously. Drive further along and pass the neoclassical buildings of the University, Academy and Library before arriving at the Stadium, which stands on the site of the Ancient Stadium laid out under Lycurgus in the 4^th Century BC and rebuilt in 1896 on its original plan for the modern Olympic Games. Drive again via Syngrou Avenue, following the road you will enter Poseidon avenue and cross the aristocratic district of Glyfada. Following the road next to the sea, you will have a view for about one hour until arriving to Sounion. There will be enough time for a guided tour and beautiful pictures to be taken. Along the enchanting Attic coastline with its jagged inlets, we reach Cape Sounion, at the tip of which the most famous monument in Greece after the Parthenon: the Temple of Poseidon. Besides the remains of the walls fortified in 409 BC for the Peloponnesian War and of the small propylaia leading into the sanctuary, there still stand the 16 tall, graceful columns of the temple. Built in 444-440 BC by the same architect responsible for The Temple of Hephaistos of the Athenian Agora and the temple of Nemesis at Ramnous, it had 6 columns on the ends and 13 on the sides, each with 16 grooves instead of the usual 20 to provide better resistance to erosion by the sea elements, and a frieze sculptured on the architrave showing exploits of Thesus, the Gigantomachy, and Centaurs and Lapiths in battle. On the facing hill, the remains of the Sanctuary of Athena Sounio. You will take the same road back to the port of Piraeus.