ECEC'2006

April 17-19, 2006 - Athens Imperial Hotel, Athens, Greece

Conference Venue





















 

Conference Venue

 

History

  

 

 Athens was the leading city in Greece during the greatest period of Greek civilization during the 1st millennium BC. During the "Golden Age" of Greece (roughly 500 BC to 300 BC) it was the Western world's leading cultural, commercial and intellectual center, and indeed it is in the ideas and practices of ancient Athens that what we now call "Western civilization" has its origins. After its days of greatness, Athens continued to be a prosperous city and a center of learning until the late Roman period. Athens had a estimated peak population of 310,000 in the year 430 BC.

The schools of philosophy were closed in AD 529 by the Christian Byzantine Empire, which disapproved of the schools' pagan thinking. During the Byzantine era, Athens gradually lost a great deal of status and, by the time of the Crusades, it was already reduced to a provincial town. It faced a crushing blow between the 13th and 15th centuries, when the city was fought over by the Greek Byzantines and the French and Italian Crusaders. In 1458 the city fell to the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror. As the Emperor entered the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued a firman (imperial decree) that Athens' ruins not be disturbed, on pain of death. The Parthenon was in fact converted into a splendid mosque.

 
Despite the Sultan's good intentions to preserve Athens as a model Ottoman provincial capital, the city's population went into decline and conditions worsened as the Ottoman Empire declined as well starting in the late 18th Century. As time went by, the Turks slackened their care for Athens' old buildings; the great Parthenon itself was used as a warehouse for ammunition during the Venetian siege of Athens in 1687, and consequently the temple was severely damaged when a Venetian shell targeted the site and set off several casks of gunpowder stored in the main hall.

The Ottoman Empire relinquished control of Athens after the Greek War of Independence. The city was inhabited by just 5,000 people at the time it was made the capital of the newly established kingdom of Greece in 1833. During the next few decades the city was rebuilt into a modern city adhering mainly to the Neoclassic style. In 1896 Athens was the host city of the 1896 Summer Olympics. The next large expansion occurred in the 1920s when suburbs were created to house Greek refugees from Asia Minor. During World War II the city was occupied by Germany and fared badly in the war's later years. After the war the city started to grow again.

 

 
Athens Today  

With its suburbs, Athens has a population of about 3.5 million representing around 35% of the total population of Greece. Athens has grown very rapidly in the years after the war until ca. 1980 and suffered from overcrowding, traffic congestion and air pollution; it is one of the most polluted cities in Europe. These problems still persist, although the massive investment of recent years in infrastructure has had a significant effect in easing the problem.

Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica, which is bound by Mount Aegaleo on the west, Mount Parnitha on the north, Mount Penteli to the northeast, Mount Hymettus on the east, and the Saronic Gulf on the southwest. Athens has expanded to cover the entire plain, and is thus unlikely to grow significantly in area in the future, because of the natural boundaries. The geomorphology of Athens frequently causes temperature inversion phenomena partly responsible for its air pollution problem.

The ancient site of the city is centered on the rocky hill of the Acropolis. In ancient times the port of Piraeus (modern name Pireas) was a separate city, but it has now been absorbed into greater Athens.

The centre of the modern city is Syntagma Square (Constitution Square), site of the former Royal Palace, the Greek Parliament and other 19th century public buildings. Most of the older and wealthier parts of the city are clustered around this area, which is also where most of the tourist attractions and museums are located.
 

Above text and some pictures courtesy Wikipedia
Athens Map  

Athens Historical Centre Map

You can download a bigger pdf version of the map above by clicking on the picture. Picture courtesy the City of Athens.
 

The EUROMEDIA 2006 conference, together with the ECEC'2006 and FUBUTEC'2006 conferences are co-located at the
Athens Imperial
Karaiskaki Sq.
GR 10437, Athens, Greece.
tel : +30 210 52 01 600
fax: +30 210 52 25 521
 reserv_ai@grecotel.gr

   

 

How to get to Athens
and other General Information

By Air

Athens ATH international Airport Eleftherios Venizelos

Flights Information Arrivals- Departures(+30) 210 3530000
SPATA Airport Schedule Tel:  2103530000

Airport Control Offices

Civil Aviation Authority SPATA: Tel:: 2103534149/50

Olympic Airlines Airport tel: 210 9368424, 210 9362369, 210 9368270
Olympic Airlines Domestic & International Flights Tel: :210 9666666

Airport Police Dept: Tel: 2103538172
OTE (Greek TELECOM) Airport Services Tel:: 210 3539143
GNTO Office (Greek National Tourism Organization) Tel :2103530445-8

Map of the Airport

More about Air travel on: http://www.travelling.gr/helloathens/Airlines.html#a

"Eleftherios Venizelos" Athens International Airport is served on a 24hour basis by all bus lines, except for bus line X94. Click on the line of your choice and see the frequency of service, the stops and the route diagram. The "Athens International Airport" is served also by the Suburban Railway (www.proastiakos.gr) and the metro (www.ametro.gr)

X92 Kifisia - Athens International Airport (average travelling time 45')
The line connects the airport with Platanos Sq. Kifisias.
X93 Kifisos Intercity Bus Station - Athens International Airport (average travelling time 65')
The line connects the airport with the intercity bus stations of Kifisou and Liosion.
X94 Ethniki Amyna Metro Station - Athens International Airport (average travelling time 45'-50')
The line connects the airport with the nearest metro station "Ethniki Amyna" (metro line 3)
X95 Syntagma - Athens International Airport (average travelling time 70')
The line connects the airport with Syntagma square in the city center (connection with metro lines 2 and 3)
X97 Dafni Metro Station - Athens International Airport (average travelling time 70')
The line connects the airport with the Metro station of Dafni.
Click here to see the airport bus routes on a map

Airport Ticket Price List

EXPRESS BUS LINES
The ticket price for the airport express bus lines is € 2.90 and it permits only one trip to or from the airport.
The airport ticket can be purchased from the ticket kiosk at the airport, from the drivers of the airport express buses, at all metro stations and at the blue or yellow ticket outlets.

METRO
Fares
Single fare €6
Return ticket (within 48 hours) €10
Single fare for 2 persons (flat ticket) €10
Single fare for 3 persons (flat ticket) €15
Teens (under 18 years), Students €3
Senior Citizens (65+ years) €3
The airport ticket can be purchased from the ticket kiosk at the airport and at all metro stations.

SUBURBAN RAILWAY
Fares
Single fare €6
Return ticket (valid for 1 month) €10
Single fare for 2 persons (flat ticket) €10
Teens (under 18 years), Students €3
Senior Citizens (65+ years) €3
The airport ticket can be purchased from the ticket kiosk at the airport and at all suburban railway stations.
For further information please visit the websites : www.ametro.gr and www.proastiakos.gr

The City of Athens is serviced by a thick transportation network primarily based on OASA ( http://www.oasa.gr or http://www.oasa.gr/uk/index_uk.asp )

By Train

The new suburban rail connects the Athens airport Eleftherios Venizelos with the Olympic stadium OAKA and the areas of West Athens.

To get to the station take the Metro, bus or a taxi.

Map Below shows how metro station is near train station

By Tram and Metro

The new Athens tram covers at the moment 26 kilometers with 47 stops and connects central Athens with the southern suburbs Faliron until Glyfada within 40-50 minutes. The tram will run on 24 hours basis. Ticket price 60 cents up to 5 stops cost 40 cents Young people under 18 pay 30 cents.  http://linuxweb.internet.gr/tramsa/html/gr/index.php

The new Athens Metro gives the best way to travel trough Athens direct connections with the important sites and the Athens

For all information directions Tickets and Maps please visit the Official Site of Athens Metro: www.ametro.gr

 


 

By Bus and Car

There are three bus lines to and from the airport. All buses depart from the designated area on the inner curbside of the arrivals level of the Main Terminal Building exactly outside the Exit (doors 4-5)
Line E94 connects the Ethniki Amina Metro Station with the Airport. Passengers can transfer from the Metro line to the Airport Bus at this departure point. This bus stops running before the metro stops running which is around midnight.
Line E 95 Syntagma Square - Airport Express has its departure point at the center of Athens (Syntagma Square) and via Vas. Sofias Avenue, Mesogion Avenue and Attiki Odos terminates at the airport.
Line E96 Pireaus - Airport Express starts from the center of Pireaus (Karaiskaki Square) and via Posidonos Avenue, Varis-Varkizas, and Varis-Koropiou Roads terminates at the airport. Both the Syntagma and the Pireaus buses run for 24 hours, generally every twenty minutes but every 40 minutes after midnight.
There is a (new) bus E93 connecting the Airport (door 5) with the bus terminal at Kiffissou street. The interval is generally 35 minutes (65 at night)

For more information on bus travel: http://www.travelling.gr/helloathens/BusProvinces.html

By Taxi

 The regular taxi queue will start from Door 4 of the Arrivals Level and extend up to Door 1. A taxi should cost you about 15-25 Euro to the center. For tips on using Taxis in Athens. See Tom Mazaraki's Taxi Tips

Travel Information Courtesy: www.athensguide.org

USEFUL WEBSITES


My personal museums of choice in Athens

National Archeological Museum of Athens

The National Archaeological Museum ranks among the top ten museums in the world. Its impressive collection is housed in a beautiful neoclassic building near the juncture of Alexandras Avenue on Patission Avenue. There is a gift shop, and a cafe in the sculpture garden. Children under 6 and EU students get in free.

The museum is a five minute walk from Victoria Station and a 10 minute walk from Omonia. The Trolly #'s 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,11,13, and 15 all stop there.

Hours:
Tue-Fri: 8am-7pm
Mon:12:30pm-7pm
Sat, Sun & Holidays:8:30am-3pm
(there is an internet cafe right next door where you can send e-mail home)

War Museum

The Museum was inaugurated in 1975. Its aim and mission is the exhibition of war momentoes, the documentation and study of war history as well as the presentation of the struggles for freedom of the Greek nation from ancient times to the present day. The permanent exhibition area of the Museum includes Room 1, which is devoted to antiquity and covers the Stone Age and the Early Bronze Age, with an emphasis on the Mycenean era; Room 2, in which themes from the prehistory of Greece are presented through groups of photographs or drawings; Room 3 presents the Byzantine period, Room 4 the period of Frankish rule, Rooms 5-6 the Greek War of Independence, Room 7 the new Greek State, Room 8 is devoted to the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars, Room 9 to the Balkan Wars and the First World War, room 10 to the historic period of the Greco-Italian War of 1941-1941 and the German invasion. On the mezzanine, the room is devoted to the first Greek airmen and the ground floor to the P. Saroglou collection. There is also an important and well-organized library in the Museum.
2 Rizari Street and Vass. Sofias Avenue (next to the Byzantine Museum) Tel 729-0543

War implements from ancient times to this century including armor, swords, torpedos, and fighter planes. Photographs of various Greek campaigns and battles. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 2pm. Sunday from 9:30am to 2pm. Closed Mondays. Admission free. 


For more museums: http://www.greece-museums.com/

 

 		 

 

Page created by Philippe Geril. Last update 28-02-06
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