According to legend, this cavern holds the passage that Persephone used to travel to and from the underworld.

Only open for two days a year, this church links ancient Greek and modern Christian celebrations.

This striking sculpture of Icarus honors Greece's fallen flyers.

The hallucinogenic center of the ancient world.

Elaborate stone houses constructed from the ruins of war.

A unique housing complex born from the aftermath of the Greek Civil War.

This mystical orb covered in strange symbols is thought to have been used in ancient Greek magical rituals.

A memorial dedicated to a tragic event during the Axis occupation of Greece.

This small chapel holds the mummified heart of one of the heroes of the Greek Revolution.

Large collection from the 3rd millennium BCE.

This 15th-century island fortress later served as home to the executioners no one wanted to live near.

This Byzantine Church was moved from Paris to Athens block by block.

A Byzantine-era church hidden in a wooded area below the Acropolis.

These caves secretly held national treasures during World War II.

The ruins of an ancient mansion sits in front of and underneath a contemporary art gallery.

When construction began on this hotel, developers were surprised to find the ruins of an ancient civilization.

A historic building houses one of the most important archaeological institutes in Europe.

A crushed gate and giant bronze head serve as a reminder of Greece's fight for freedom.

An important example of architectural history slowly decays in the city center.

Scars of this building's past life as a violent prison still cover its walls.

Preserved portions of Athens's ancient defenses are on display in a subterranean parking garage.

The ruins of an ancient Roman tomb hidden in the basement of a trendy clothing store.

There are many Byzantine-era churches still standing in Athens, but this is the only one with a 2,500-year-old column rising through its roof.

The Cycladic architecture makes this Athens neighborhood feel like an island paradise hidden in the shadow of the Acropolis.