Athens

History in Scripture

Paul waited here alone, provoked by a city full of idols, disputed in the synagogue and marketplace, and then addressed the Areopagus on the unknown god, the resurrection and repentance (Acts 17). Some mocked, some believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite.

The ancient city

Athens was past its political prime but still the intellectual capital of the Greek world, home to Stoic and Epicurean schools and crowded with temples and altars beneath the Acropolis.

The site today

The Acropolis and the Areopagus rock are open to visitors, and Paul's speech is inscribed on a bronze plaque at the foot of the hill.

Key passages