At a glance
🎟️ 20€
Including the museum in the Stoa of Attalos. Free for EU citizens under 25.
🕗 8:00–20:00
In summer. In winter 8:00–17:00.
🚇 Monastiraki
Line 1, two stops from Victoria. The entrance is 200 metres further on.
⏱️ 90 minutes
For the temple, the Agora and the museum. One hour without the museum.
The Temple of Hephaestus
Work on the temple began in 449 BC, just before the Parthenon, and finished decades later. It was dedicated to Hephaestus and Athena, the gods of craftsmen. Around it, in those years, smiths and bronze workers had their workshops. Athenians call it the «Thissio», because its metopes show the deeds of Theseus, and the name passed to the whole neighbourhood and to the metro station.
It has 34 Doric columns, six on the short sides and thirteen on the long ones, and survives almost whole. What kept it standing was its use: for centuries it was the Church of Saint George Akamatis, until 1834. You cannot go inside, but you can walk all the way round it. On the east side, above the entrance, the metopes show the labours of Heracles.
Columns, entablature, pediments: what is missing from the Parthenon you see here in place.
The temple stands on the Agoraios Kolonos hill, above the ruins of the Agora.
Under the colonnade the coffered marble ceiling survives. Very few temples still have it.
Photos: Jakub Hałun (CC BY 4.0), Berthold Werner (CC BY-SA 3.0), John Samuel (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
What to see in the Agora
Most buildings of the Agora survive only as foundations. Without a plan they look like scattered stones. With a little order, you see a whole city at work.
- Stoa of Attalos: the gift of King Attalos II of Pergamon to Athens in the 2nd century BC. The American School of Classical Studies rebuilt it in 1953–1956. Today it houses the Museum of the Ancient Agora.
- Panathenaic Way: the wide road that crosses the Agora diagonally and climbs towards the Acropolis. The Panathenaic procession passed along it.
- Bouleuterion and Tholos: on the west side, below the temple. The Council of Five Hundred met in the Bouleuterion. In the round Tholos the prytaneis whose turn it was to run the city ate, and some of them slept.
- Holy Apostles: a 10th-century Byzantine church at the south end. Wall paintings survive inside.
At the north edge of the Agora you will hear and see the trains of Line 1. The tracks were laid in the 19th century and cut across part of the ancient square. Beneath them lies part of the Altar of the Twelve Gods, the point from which Athenians measured distances.
In the middle of the Agora. They decorated the entrance of a large building from Roman times.
The procession route. It runs diagonally, straight towards the Acropolis.
Below the temple. The Council of Five Hundred met here.
The round building of the prytaneis, next to the Bouleuterion.
Photos: Janmad (CC BY-SA 4.0), George E. Koronaios (CC0, CC BY-SA 4.0), C messier (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
The museum inside the Stoa of Attalos
The Museum of the Ancient Agora is on the ground floor of the stoa, with the same ticket. It is small and very human. You will see ostraka, pieces of broken pots on which Athenians scratched the name of the politician they wanted to exile. Among them are ostraka with the name of Themistocles. Next to them is part of a kleroterion, the stone machine that chose jurors at random, and a clay water clock that timed the speeches in the courts.
Walk along the colonnade outside too, with its busts and statues. On a summer midday it is the coolest spot in the Agora.
Rebuilt in the 1950s on the ancient foundations.
Two storeys of columns. On the ground floor, the Museum of the Ancient Agora.
On a summer midday, the coolest spot in the Agora.
Portraits of Athenians and Romans in a row, under the wooden ceiling.
A 10th-century Byzantine church at the south end of the Agora.
Photos: Pedro P. Palazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0), Julian Lupyan (CC0), JPRoy2101 (CC BY-SA 3.0), Jebulon (CC0) · Wikimedia Commons
Tickets and opening hours 2026
The ticket costs €20 and includes the museum. EU citizens under 25 get in free with an ID card or passport. The combined ticket for the archaeological sites has not existed since April 2025. What replaced it is explained in our guide to the combined ticket. Tickets are sold at the ticket office or on hhticket.gr.
In summer the site is open 8:00–20:00, closing earlier from mid-September. From November to March it is open 8:00–17:00. Last entry is before closing time, so don’t turn up in the last half hour. Free-entry days, such as the first and third Sundays of each winter month, are listed in our calendar of free museum days.
💡 Which entrance to use
The main entrance is at Adrianou 24, two minutes from Monastiraki Square. From there the order comes naturally: Stoa of Attalos, Panathenaic Way, temple. There is also a south entrance near the Holy Apostles, handy if you are coming down from the Acropolis. In summer go at 8:00. The temple hill has no shade, and by 11:00 the sun is fierce.
The main entrance, two minutes from Monastiraki Square.
Photo: George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
A 90-minute plan
- 0:00–0:25: Stoa of Attalos and the museum. Look for the ostraka and the kleroterion.
- 0:25–0:45: Panathenaic Way and the centre of the Agora, with the statues of the Giants and Tritons.
- 0:45–1:10: up to the Temple of Hephaestus and round it. The view takes in the whole Agora and the Acropolis.
- 1:10–1:30: Bouleuterion, Tholos and down towards the Holy Apostles.
🗺️ The tour of the Agora, stop by stop
The purple line follows the paths of the site, from the Adrianou entrance to the south exit. The numbers follow the order of the plan. Tap each stop to see the time.
🚇 How to get there from Ioulianou 50
It is one of the easiest sights to reach from the apartment: one line, no change. Allow about 20 minutes door to door.
- Ioulianou 50 → Victoria station: 3 minutes on foot.
- Line 1 (green), towards Piraeus: Omonia, and at the second stop get off at Monastiraki.
- Monastiraki → entrance: come out on Monastiraki Square and walk 200 metres along Adrianou Street, next to the tracks, to number 24.
🚇 Ioulianou 50 → Ancient Agora on Line 1
Two stops without changing to Monastiraki, then 200 metres along Adrianou to the entrance.
If you are heading up to the Acropolis afterwards, leave by the south side of the Agora. The Areopagus and the main entrance of the Acropolis are 10–15 minutes uphill.
Where it is in relation to the apartment
📍 From Angels Athens to the Ancient Agora and the Temple of Hephaestus
See at a glance how to get there from the apartment at Ioulianou 50. Drag the map and zoom in for details.
What else is nearby
Adrianou Street around the entrance is lined with tavernas looking out over the tracks and the Agora. Two minutes to the east is Hadrian’s Library , and a little higher up the Roman Agora. To the west, the Apostolou Pavlou pedestrian street leads to Thissio, with cafés facing the Acropolis.
Shops and tavernas, from the entrance to Plaka.
Two minutes east, next to the metro.
A little higher up, with the Tower of the Winds.
To the west, the pedestrian street to Thiseio.
Photos: George E. Koronaios (CC BY-SA 4.0), Badseed (CC BY-SA 3.0), Zde (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Frequently asked questions
Can you go inside the Temple of Hephaestus?
No. The temple is fenced off, but you see it from very close and from every side.
Is it worth it if I have already seen the Acropolis?
Yes. The Acropolis was the place of the gods. The Agora shows how people lived below it, and its temple is better preserved than the Parthenon.
Is there shade and water?
A little shade under the trees and in the Stoa of Attalos. Bring water, especially for the climb to the temple.
How much time do I need?
An hour and a half for everything. One hour if you skip the museum.
— Kathy
