Underground Athens by Athens Underground: Sections Through Soil and History, plus Kerameikos

Duration (approximate): 4 hours and 30 minutes

Athens and it illustrious monuments attract millions of visitors
every year; few visitors however are aware that treasures also lie underground,
as this is a very ancient city; some of these treasures are on display at a
number of Athens Metro (subway) stations, as the works to create the subway
network were combined with meticulous and painstaking archaeological
excavations. The resulting findings exposed through the sections of hospitable
Athenian soil include ancient houses, streets, sanctuaries, cisterns, workshops
and aqueducts, as well as more than 50,000 ancient artifacts. A large part of
the findings is exhibited in six Athens Metro stations, thus affording the
latter the rare dual function of being modern constructions full of movement
and technology whilst also serving as museum and stratigraphic sections of
their particular localities.

This novel and delightful half-day tour focuses on the exhibits
of three modern Athens Metro stations, in combination with an illuminating
visit to the open-air archaeological site of Kerameikos and the Agora.

The programme is led by a licenced archaeologist-guide, lasts approximately
four hours and thirty minutes and is offered round the year.

Schedule

Due to the closing times of Kerameikos archaeological site as
well as to make the best use of daylight, we have two versions of this tour,
namely one for the summer period opening times and the other for the winter
period, as follows:

Winter schedule:

(November-April): Kerameikos archaeological site (12:00 hrs start) - Monastiraki
metro station - Syntagma metro station - Acropolis metro station (18:30 hrs
end)

Summer schedule: (May-October):

Acropolis metro station (15:30 hrs start) - Syntagma metro station –
Monastiraki metro station - Kerameikos archaeological site (20:00 hrs end

Points of Interest and programme highlights:

Monastiraki metro station: Of particular interest to
archaeology buffs will be an underground exhibition showing a portion of the
course of Eridanos, a stream repeatedly mentioned in accounts of

ancient Athens and which flowed from Lycabettus hill, through the Agora of
ancient Athens to the archaeological site of Kerameikos. The stream's bed was
covered with earth for the most part since antiquity, only to be revealed
during the Athens Metro excavations.

Syntagma metro station:  Excavations
here during the construction of the station revealed a

sculpture workshop dating from the Classic Era, a Roman bath complex, a cemetery
dating back to the sub-Mycenaean and the Byzantine times, a section of the
Peisistratian Aqueduct, the ancient road leading from the gates of the walls of
Athens to the municipalities of Messogaia and the bed of Eridanos stream.

Acropolis metro station: The first level of the
station houses copies of sculptures of the Parthenon, along with findings from
the excavations at the station, including items from the daily lives of ancient
Athenians as well as artifacts of public life, spanning in all from the 17th
century BC to the 12th century AD. A stratigraphic section of and ancient road
is exhibited in the second level, whilst in the third level and along the train
platforms for a length of 25 m (82 ft) there are replicas of the Parthenon
zophoros, the originals of which are in the British Museum.

Kerameikos archaeological site: Kerameikos (meaning
'the place of the ceramics') was the main area of production of the famed
pottery of Attica. As the region was crossed by a stream and was prone to frequent
flooding, Kerameikos was not suitable as a settlement and gradually became a
place of burial, becoming in the end the most important necropolis of ancient
Athens.

At Kerameikos our licenced archaeologist-guide will be
enlightening us about the findings housed in its little museum as well as about
the functions of this very important part of ancient Athens.

Meeting points and times:

The below two meeting points have been selected conveniently to
cover most central Athens hotels, both by foot and via the nearby metro
stations.

 (A) Winter schedule

(November-April): At 11:45 just outside Monastiraki metro station.

 (B) Summer schedule

(May-October): At 15:15 hrs just outside Acropoli metro station.

Drop off points:

(A) Winter schedule: The tour ends at Acropolis metro station.

(B) Summer schedule: The tour ends at Monastiraki metro station.

Price inlcudes:

Licenced archaeologist-guide throughout the tour

Museum and metro tickets

Not included:

Gratuities (optional)

Refreshments

Please note that all times and durations are indicative and may
vary.