Platonic Academy (Akadimia Platonos)
Aristotle studied here for twenty years before leaving to found his own school — and the word "academy" has followed ever since.
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Founded by Plato around 387 BC, this is regarded as the first institution of higher learning in the West — biology, astronomy, mathematics, and political science all investigated on the same grounds. The site is older than the school: a sacred olive grove dedicated to Athena stood here before the Academy existed, and the Spartans refused to touch it during their invasions of Attica. The Roman general Sulla had no such qualms, axing the trees in 86 BC to build siege engines.
What to look for
- The altar of Prometheus — the finishing point of a torchlit night race run from altars inside the city
- Traces of the olive grove sacred to Athena, which the Spartans spared but Sulla destroyed in 86 BC
- The archaeological boundary Cimon walled off, enclosing a site that had sheltered Athena's cult since the Bronze Age
The site is in the Akadimia Platonos archaeological park in Kolonos, northwest of the ancient city walls — not the city centre.
Platonic Academy (Akadimia Platonos) is one of 36 sights worth the detour in Athens, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Athens pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Athens
- ParthenonA temple built to celebrate a war victory that went on to become a church, a mosque, and a gunpowder depot — blown apart in 1687 and still being reassembled.
- Acropolis of AthensA flat-topped rock 150 m above the city where Pericles spent the 5th century BC erecting the buildings that still define Athens.
- Classical AthensDemocracy was invented here in 508 BC — and it took a bribe at Delphi to get it started.
- Olympic Stadium Athens "Spyros Louis"Santiago Calatrava's white steel roof arches over the same track where Athens opened the 2004 Olympics — and hosted three Champions League finals.
- ErechtheionThe one Greek temple that broke every rule of classical architecture — and scholars still can't agree on what it was actually called.
- Daphni MonasteryGold-ground mosaics survive inside an 11th-century monastery built on top of an Apollo sanctuary the Goths wrecked — and Lord Elgin took the rest.