3 Best Sights in Athens, Greece

To see and be seen, Athenians gather not on Kolonaki Square—hub of the chic Kolonaki district—but at the cafés on its periphery and along the Tsakalof and Milioni pedestrian zones. Clothespin-thin models, slick talk-show hosts, middle-aged executives, elegant pensioners, university students, and expatriate teen queens can be spotted lounging at the square (officially known as Filikis Eterias).

One of Athens's most popular meeting places, the square is always alive with fruit sellers, bunches of youths hanging out, and street dance performances. If you are coming by metro, look for the special glassed-in view revealing the ancient Iridanos riverbed, where the water still flows. The square takes its name from the small Panayia Pantanassa Church, commonly called Monastiraki ("Little Monastery"). It once flourished as an extensive convent, perhaps dating to the 10th century, and once stretched from Athinas to Aiolou. The nuns took in poor people, who earned their keep weaving the thick textiles known as abas. The buildings were destroyed during excavations, and the train (and later metro) line construction that started in 1896. The convent's basic basilica form, now recessed a few steps below street level, was altered through a poor restoration in 1911, when the bell tower was added.

At the top of the city's main square stands the Greek Parliament, formerly King Otto's royal palace, completed in 1838 for the new monarchy. It seems a bit austere and heavy for a southern landscape, but it was proof of progress, the symbol of the new ruling power. The building's saving grace is the stone's magical change of color from off-white to gold to rosy-mauve as the day progresses. Here you can watch the Changing of the Evzones Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier—in front of Parliament on a lower level—which takes place at intervals throughout the day. On a wall behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the bas-relief of a dying soldier is modeled after a sculpture on the Temple of Aphaia in Aegina; the text is from the funeral oration said to have been given by Pericles.

Pop into the gleaming Syntagma metro station to examine artfully displayed artifacts uncovered during subway excavations. A floor-to-ceiling cross section of earth behind glass shows finds in chronological layers, ranging from a skeleton in its ancient grave to traces of the 4th-century BC road to Mesogeia to an Ottoman cistern.

This is the capital's key zone for mass demonstrations and protests, Christmas celebrations (the city's tree is set up here), and political speeches. It is increasingly a hot spot for shopping or a rendezvous at the many nearby trendy cafés, top notch restaurants, and a growing number of ethnic street food places.