Combo Tickets: Ancient Agora & Roman Agora with Audio Guide

Unlock the stories of Athens’ two great marketplaces with a single combo ticket to the Roman and Ancient Agoras, complete with two self-guided audio tours on your smartphone.

Getting started

Once you receive your ticket by email, download the app and the two audio tours before your visit. Begin your adventure at the entrance to the Roman Agora (Epaminonda 6–22), just a short 230-meter walk from Monastiraki metro station along Areos Street.

Athens under Roman rule

Explore the Roman Agora, Athens’ bustling marketplace under Roman rule, where marble gates, ingenious timekeepers, and lively shops reveal the city’s blend of Greek tradition and Roman innovation.

• Athena’s marble getaway: Your journey begins at the Gate of Athena Archegetis, a marble gateway donated by Julius Caesar and Augustus. Hear how traders, philosophers, and citizens once passed through its towering columns, a passage that reflected both Roman influence and devotion to Athens’ patron goddess.

• Where the winds tell time: Next, head to the Tower of the Winds, an ingenious octagonal clock that combined sundials, a water clock, and carved figures of the eight wind gods, an age-old blend of art, science, and mythology.

• Water, trade, and everyday life: Walking further, you’ll encounter the fountain house, the Vespasianae (public latrines), and the outlines of ancient shops. Your audio guide brings these modest ruins alive with tales of bustling trade, gossip, and the social interactions that defined daily life under Roman rule.

• Athens through the ages: The tour concludes at the Mosque of the Conqueror, a 15th-century Ottoman addition built atop the ruins of the Roman marketplace. Once a place of worship and later repurposed as a museum and storehouse, it embodies the many transformations Athens has undergone—from ancient Greek democracy to Roman rule, Byzantine influence, and finally Ottoman conquest.

The birthplace of democracy

Afterward, walk to the Ancient Agora on Adrianou Street, a lively stretch near Monastiraki Square and Thissio station. Here you’ll come across temples, stoas, and assembly halls that once carried the voices of debates, philosophies, and decisions that shaped the course of Western history.

• The heart of Classical Athens: Stop by the Temple of Hephaestus, one of the best-preserved Doric temples in Greece. Dedicated to the god of fire and craftsmanship, it stood watch over workshops where artisans forged bronze and marble creations for the city. Along its walls, you can still make out carved scenes of the hero Theseus battling legendary creatures like the Minotaur and the Centaurs.

• Where democracy took shape: At the Bouleuterion, 500 citizens were chosen by lot to draft Athens’ laws, debate new policies, and post decrees for all to see. It was here that Aristides earned the title ‘the Just’ for his honesty, and Pericles delivered speeches that propelled Athens into its Golden Age of art, philosophy, and empire.

• Inside the Stoa of Attalos: Now housing the Museum of the Ancient Agora, this reconstructed colonnade displays artifacts that reveal both the ingenuity and the harshness of Athenian justice. Ostraka, pottery shards once used to vote unpopular leaders into exile, sit alongside clever devices that randomized jury selection, showing how Athenians balanced fairness with severity in their pursuit of democracy.

• Voices of the people: Finally, climb the Pnyx, the great stone platform where citizens once assembled to hear orators and cast their votes on war, peace, and policy. Nearby, the Prison of Socrates recalls the philosopher’s trial and execution, sparking reflection on freedom of speech, civic duty, and the city that both nurtured and condemned its greatest thinker.

Your tour concludes at the Stoa of Attalos, where history, artifacts, and stories converge, leaving you with a vivid sense of how Athens forged ideas that still resonate across the world today.

A complete journey through Athens’ legacy

Together, these tours create a seamless narrative: the Roman Agora shows you how Athens adapted under new rulers, while the Ancient Agora takes you back to its Golden Age. With the Acropolis rising above both sites, and stories of gods, philosophers, and everyday citizens guiding you at every step, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how Athens became one of history’s most influential cities.