HADRIANS ARCH
From Plaka (the Old Town of Athens) taking the other street at the Lysicratos monument crossroads, Lysikratous str. (Odhos Lysikratous) you emarge at the edge of Plaka near one of the most hazardous road junctions in Athens, the meeting of Dionysiou Aeropagitou, Amalias and Sygrou.

Across the way facing Leoforos Amalias, stands Hadrians Arch, erected by the emperor to mark the edge of the Classical city and the beginning of his own.
On the near side its frieze is inscribed This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus and on the other This is the City of Hadrian and not of Theseus.

Since there are few obvious signs of a Roman city, this makes a little sense to today’s visitor, but there are Roman remains south of the temple of the Olympian Zeus and recent excavations suggest that the Roman city occupied at least the Zappion Area.

How to get there: by walk from Plaka or Syntagma Square (aprox 5 min walk)
nearby metro: Acropolis station

Directly behind the arch, the colossal pillars of the
Temple of Olympian Zeus

(Apr-Sep daily 8am-7pm; Oct-March daily 8:30m-3pm; EUR 2; entrance of Vassilisis Olgas)

dominate their surroundings. The largest temple in Greece and according to Livy, the only temple on earth to do justice to the god , it was dedicated by Hadrian in 131 AD, some 700 year after the tyrant Peisistratos had laid its foundations.

Hadrian marked the occasion by contributing a statue to Zeus and a sutitably monumental one of himself, although both have since been lost. From the temple, a shady root up to Syntagma or Kolonaki leads through the Zappio and the National Garden

HOTELS WE RECOMMEND IN THE AREA

ROYAL OLYMPIC HOTEL ***** The Royal Olympic is a 300 room and suites delux class hotel, centrally located just across from the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. All rooms are fully equipped with private facilities, satellite/Pay-TV... High-Season - 126 EUR/Double Room