Meet your guide at Athens Acropolis metro station, and start by listening to a comprehensive summary about the city’s underground excavations. When the metro network in Athens was constructed, a large-scale excavation project got underway that revealed an estimated 50,000 ancient findings.
After getting the lowdown on the project and its discoveries, visit four of the most significant metro stations where small museums have been created to exhibit the more interesting relics. At the Acropolis metro station itself, see evidence of graves, houses, workshops and baths that date back to the Helladic period.
Travel by metro to Syntagma station to see a Classical sculpture, the ruins of a sub-Mycenaean cemetery, a Roman bath complex and a section of the ancient Peisistranian aqueduct.
Roughly halfway through the tour, enjoy a break for a strong Greek coffee at a local coffeehouse, and then continue to Monastiraki where an old riverbed, believed to be the old Iridanos River, can be seen. The bustling neighborhood is thought to have been in constant use from the Mycenaean era, evidenced by the buildings, workshops and water supply systems that have been uncovered. Some of the most important archaeological excavations were carried out in the area, and residential remains dating as far back as the 8th century were found.
Your last stop is Kerameikos station where a section believed to be one of Ancient Athens’ most significant cemeteries was discovered. Some 1, 200 graves from the 7th century to Roman times were examined, as well as burial grounds that date to the start of the Peloponnesian War.
The tour finishes at Kerameikos station. Before leaving, receive an information pamphlet about the excavations and learn some more about Athens’ underground treasures in your own time.