The ruined doorway is a portal to the building's turbulent and torturous past.

This historic structure has been used as a mosque, a barracks, a prison, a school, and a bakery.

An often overlooked ancient site in downtown Athens with substantial history (and nature).

The only ancient site that remains on the south bank of the sacred Ilissos river.

The site where hundreds of Greeks were tortured by the Nazi secret police is now a cosmetics store.

A man's head is enshrined beneath a statue near the first building constructed for the modern Olympic Games.

This small museum once served as a royal hunting pavilion for King Otto Friedrich Ludwig.

This ancient hydrological marvel is now the base of a modern outdoor cinema.

The railway carts travelers to central Athens's highest peak, which offers stunning vistas of the city.

A sprawling collection of books and manuscripts about ancient Greece that would have put their famed libraries to shame.

The oldest standing Byzantine church in Athens is tucked within a monastery in the middle of an upscale shopping district.

A sharp sculpture made of thousands of pieces of jagged glass.

Legend says this sacred tree was a gift from goddess Athena.

The ruins of an ancient fortification wall sit in front of and underneath this boutique hotel.

This building displays the scars of the “Dekemvriana,” a dark time in modern Greek history.

The home of Greece’s national poet sits crumbling in the middle of a popular tourist district.

One of the greatest collections of coins in the world is housed in the former mansion of an archeological pioneer.

This abandoned shopping arcade has new life as an art installation.

The Lobotesis family has been baking some of the best savory pies in Athens since 1910.

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

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

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

This Ottoman-era Greek Orthodox Church was built to honor Agia Pareskevi, a Christian saint.

A tiny Greek Orthodox church from the Ottoman era hides on a busy city street.