History of Athens Timeline

In the early 4th century AD, the eastern Roman empire began to be governed from Constantinople, and with the construction and expansion of the imperial city, many of Athens's works of art were taken by the emperors to adorn it.

Image source: Constantinople

In 896, Athens was raided and possibly occupied for a short period by Saracens, an event which left archaeological remains and elements of Arabic ornamentation in contemporary buildings; evidence also suggests a mosque existed in the city at the time.

Image source: Saracen

The medieval town experienced rapid and sustained growth starting in the 11th century, benefiting from Italian trade. The 11th and 12th centuries were the Golden Age of Byzantine art in Athens, when almost all the most important Middle Byzantine churches in and around the city were built.

Image source: Byzantine art

In 1204, the Fourth Crusade conquered Athens, and the city was not recovered from the Latins before it was taken by the Ottoman Turks. From 1204 until 1458, Athens was ruled by Latins in three separate periods following the Crusades.

Image source: Fourth Crusade

In 1311, Athens was conquered by the Catalan Company, a band of mercenaries called Almogavars. After Thebes was lost after 1379, Athens became the capital of the duchy again. It was held by the Catalans until 1388.

Image source: Catalan Company

In 1388, the Florentine Nerio I Acciajuoli took the city and made himself duke. His descendants ruled the city as their capital until the Turkish conquest of 1458, disputing it with Venice, which ruled from 1395 to 1402 before the Florentines prevailed.

Image source: Nerio I Acciaioli

The first Ottoman attack on Athens, which involved a short-lived occupation of the town, came in 1397 under the Ottoman generals Yaqub Pasha and Timurtash.

Image source: Ottoman Empire

Finally, in 1458, Athens was captured by the Ottomans under the personal leadership of Sultan Mehmed II, beginning more than three centuries of Ottoman rule.

Image source: Mehmed II

In 1640, a lightning bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction. From the early 17th century, Athens had come under the jurisdiction of the Kizlar Agha, the chief black eunuch of the Sultan's harem.

Image source: Propylaea

In 1687, during the Morean War, the Acropolis was besieged by Venetians under Francesco Morosini, and the temple of Athena Nike was dismantled by the Ottomans to fortify the Parthenon. During the Venetian occupation the two mosques were converted into churches, but the Venetians abandoned Athens back to the Ottomans on Apr 9, 1688.

Image source: Morean War

This peaceful situation was interrupted in 1752–1753, when the execution of the previous Kizlar Agha resulted in the dispatch of a new pasha, Sari Muselimi.

In 1759, the new pasha destroyed one of the pillars of the Temple of Olympian Zeus to provide material for a fifth mosque for the city—an illegal act, as the temple was considered the Sultan's property.

Image source: Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens

Through protests in Constantinople, the Athenians achieved the recall of Haseki several times, but he always returned, until his final downfall and execution in 1795.

Between 1801 and 1805, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, arranged for the removal of many sculptures from the Parthenon, known as the Elgin Marbles.

Image source: Elgin Marbles

In 1822, a Greek insurgency captured the city, but it fell to the Ottomans again in 1826, though the Acropolis held until June 1827. Ottoman forces remained in possession until March 1833, when they withdrew.

Image source: Greek War of Independence

In 1832, Otto, Prince of Bavaria, was proclaimed King of Greece, and Athens re-emerged as the capital of the independent and self-governing Greek state.

Image source: Otto of Greece

The finest legacy of this era are the buildings of the University of Athens (1837), National Gardens (1840), National Library of Greece (1842), Old Royal Palace (1843), Old Parliament Building (1858), City Hall (1874), Zappeion (1878), Greek National Academy (1885) and New Royal Palace (1897).

Image source: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Athens hosted the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first Olympic Games of the modern era.

Image source: 1896 Summer Olympics

Athens experienced its second period of explosive growth following the disastrous Greco-Turkish War in 1921, when more than a million Greek refugees from Asia Minor were resettled in Greece after the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922.

Image source: Population exchange between Greece and Turkey

Greek entry into the European Union in 1981 brought a flood of new investment to the city, but also increasing social and environmental problems.

Image source: Enlargement of the European Union

The city's environmental and infrastructure problems were the main reason why Athens failed to secure the 1996 Centenary Olympic Games. Following this failure, both the city and the Greek government, aided by EU funds, undertook major infrastructure projects such as the new Athens Airport and a new metro system.

Image source: 1996 Summer Olympics

As a result of its infrastructure improvements, Athens won its bid to host the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, returning the Games to their birthplace after 108 years.

Image source: 2004 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Greek Riots began in Athens following the killing of a 15-year-old student by an officer, sparking widespread protests and civil unrest.

Image source: 2008 Greek riots

As of May 2024, construction of a new metro line in Athens, Line 4, is underway—the biggest infrastructure project in Greece at present. The project is expected to be completed in 2029.

Image source: Athens Metro