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Athens Facts & Worksheets

Athens is the capital city of Greece, and also its largest city. It is known as one of the world’s oldest cities, a city where civilization has sprung its roots.

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Athens is the capital city of Greece, and also its largest city. It is known as one of the world’s oldest cities, a city where civilization has sprung its roots. Athens constitutes the majority of Greece’s Attica region. The earliest recorded history of the city spans about 3,400 years. According to these historical records, the first human settlement of Athens took place sometime between the 11th and 7th millenniums BC.

See the fact file below for more information on the Athens or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Athens worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

GEOGRAPHY

  • Athens is located in the Central Greece region, colloquially known as Roúmeli.
  • It is also the capital city of this region.
  • The colloquial name Roumeli or Rumelia means “the land of the Rūm (Romans)” as it originally referred to the land seized by the Ottoman Empire.
  • It is the most populous region in Greece.

ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

  • The administrative region to which Athens belongs is Attica.
  • The Attica region administers the entire metropolitan area—the area where urban life is densely concentrated—of Athens.
  • Aside from Athens, which makes up the majority of the region, Attica also encompasses the cities of Eleusis, Megara, Laurium, and Marathon.
  • Attica also administers small islands of the Peloponnese peninsula and the islands of Salamis, Aegina, Agistri, Poros, Hydra, Spetses, Kythira, and Antikythera.
  • However, although several nearby cities and islands were mentioned, 95% of Attica’s inhabitants are Athenians.

GOVERNMENT & DEMOGRAPHICS

  • Athens is divided into 7 districts.
  • Athens is administered through a Mayor-council government.
  • The current mayor of Athens is Kostas Bakoyannis from the New Democracy party.
  • As of 2012, the population of Athens was 3,781,274.
  • The people of Athens are called Athenians.

PATRON SAINT

  • The Patron Saint of Athens is Dionysius the Areopagite.
  • Not to be confused with the Greek God, Dionysius the Areopagite was a judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens.
  • A feast is held on the third day of October in the name of Athens’ patron saint.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

  • Athens was founded when King Theseus united several states in the region of Attica.
  • The last king to rule Athens was King Kodros.
  • When the monarchy ended, Athens was ruled by wealthy landowners or the nobles.
  • The nobles formed their Supreme Court and elected 9 rulers of Athens.
  • This type of administration sparked riots between the poor and rich people of Athens.
  • Solon, a noble, split the Athenians into 4 classes according to their income. The rich people were called Archons, and they were the only people who had the right to be rich. However, Solon gave power to the poor through the assembly of citizens or Ecclesia of Demos.
  • Even though Solon reassured the Athenians, they demanded more social justice. It was Cleisthenes who gave all the power to the Ecclesia of Demos.

MYTHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

  • According to Greek Mythology, the city was given its name after a competition between two Greek Gods, Athena and Poseidon, to decide who would become the protector of the city.
  • Poseidon offered the people a spring with sea water while Athena offered an olive tree.
  • The people of Athens chose Athena as their protector.
  • It is believed that the city was named after Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.
  • However, scholarly studies and linguistic evidence suggest that the goddess took her name from the city.

CLASSICAL ATHENS

  • Athens was a remarkable city during the classical period, or in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
  • Classical Athens gave birth to several breakthroughs in the field of arts, learning and philosophy.
  • Athens was considered the center of philosophy in Greece because, historically, it was where Plato’s Akademia and Aristotle’s Lyceum were established.
  • Plato’s Akademia or The Academy is a school founded by Plato, one of the major figures in Western philosophy, in 387 BC in Athens.
  • Aristotle, another major figure in Western philosophy, studied at The Academy and became Plato’s student for twenty years.
  • After studying at The Academy, Aristotle founded his own school that was also based in Athens. It was named the Lyceum.
  • The Lyceum or Lycaeum was a temple dedicated to Apollo Lyceus or “Apollo the wolf-god,” founded in 335 BC.
  • The Lyceum was popular for being a Peripatetic School, a school where teachings were derived from its founder, Aristotle.
  • Some other prominent philosophers were Athenians, including Socrates, Pericles, Aristophanes, and Sophocles.
  • Athens was also the birthplace for prominent writers and politicians of the ancient Western world.
  • Since Athens made several major contributions to the ancient world, it is often referred to as the cradle of Western civilization.

Athens Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Athens across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Athens worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Athens which is the capital city of Greece, and also its largest city. It is known as one of the world’s oldest cities, a city where civilization has sprung its roots. Athens constitutes the majority of Greece’s Attica region. The earliest recorded history of the city spans about 3,400 years. According to these historical records, the first human settlement of Athens took place sometime between the 11th and 7th millenniums BC.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Athens Facts
  • Who, What, Where?
  • Sequencing Events
  • Fact or False?
  • Greek Gods and Goddesses
  • Prominent Philosophers
  • Greek Philosopher Search
  • About Athens
  • Postcard Captions
  • Athens Comic Strip
  • My Exploration Plan

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Link will appear as Athens Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 9, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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