Athens Ancient Polis/Modern Metropolis

About

This three-week summer school offers an intensive introduction to Athens as both an ancient polis and a modern metropolis. Through lectures, site visits, and field trips, participants explore the city’s cultural and architectural evolution from antiquity to the present. The programme includes 150 hours of guided learning (5 ECTS), providing an integrated understanding of Athens as a dynamic historical and urban landscape.

Teaching is in English and delivered by archaeologists, historians, and urban specialists. Classroom sessions address key themes—architecture, democracy, funerary culture, and heritage management—while visits to major sites such as the Acropolis, Kerameikos, the Byzantine and Christian Museum, and the Museum of Islamic Art offer direct engagement with the city. Field trips to Delphi, Sounion, Epidaurus, Mycenae, and Nafplion broaden the geographical and historical scope

Course leader

Dimitris Plantzos, Professor of Classical Archaeology

Target group

This programme is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of archaeology, history, classics, anthropology, architecture, heritage studies, and related disciplines. It is also suitable for students of urban studies, museum studies, and cultural management who wish to gain first-hand experience of Athens as an ancient and contemporary urban landscape

Course aim

The aim of this course is to provide students with an integrated understanding of Athens as both an ancient polis and a modern metropolis. Through a combination of lectures, on-site teaching, and field excursions, participants develop a critical appreciation of the city’s historical layers, cultural transformations, and urban dynamics from antiquity to the present

Fee info