Nestled into the side of a pine-covered hill in the sunny Peloponnese peninsula is the ancient amphitheater of Epidaurus, which was built in the fourth century BCE. Its perfect acoustics and excellent state of preservation means it’s the perfect venue for a modern-day festival: the Athens and Epidaurus Festival. Held for over 60 years, the festival features music, performance art, and dance from June to August each year.

At the Tomb of the Kings in Paphos, Cyprus, each of the colonnaded seven chambers served as the grave of an important political official. The tombs were built in the third century BCE, when Egyptian architecture was the dominant style. Unlike other Greek tombs, the Tomb of the Kings resembles a house for the living, not an encasement for the dead.

Located 26 miles from Athens, Marathon is best known for being the birthplace of long-distance running, but it was also the location of a decisive battle between the Athenians and the Persians in 490 BCE. Marathon's rounded tumulus is a burial mound consisting of the remains of almost 200 soldiers who died in that battle. Today, the tumulus serves as the starting point of the annual Athens marathon.

Located just off the coast of Mykonos, Delos is a peaceful alternative to the party island. It was considered sacred by the ancient Greeks, as the birthplace of the gods Apollo and Artemis. One of the island’s highlights are the ruins of a temple dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine and pleasure.

British poet Lord Byron was just one of many European “Philhellenes” (lovers of Greek culture) in the early 19th century. Byron visited Greece in the early 1820s as Greece was fighting for independence from the Ottoman Empire. At some point, the poet elegantly scratched his name into a stone column at the clifftop temple to Poseidon at Cape Sounio — however, some have argued that the carving may not have been the work of Byron himself.

Some ancient Greek temples are now little more than rubble, but the Temple of Concordia — located near Agrigento Sicily — has remained incredibly well-preserved since its construction in the fifth century BCE. While it has no roof, its impressive columns and floors remain largely intact. The temple owes its longevity to the fact it was converted into a Greek Orthodox Church by the Byzantines in the sixth century CE, then used and maintained for thousands more years.

Dating back 4,000 years and acting as a crossroads between the Mediterranean and Asia, the ancient city of Troy has a prominent place in Ancient Greek mythology, but until relatively recently, physical evidence of Troy was scarce. That changed in 1870, when German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann and his team brushed away the dirt at a site in western Turkey to reveal marble tombs and other artifacts of the ancient city.

The Mycenaeans, a society based in the southern Peloponnese peninsula, were one of the oldest and most powerful civilizations in Ancient Greece. In the 9th century BCE, the poet Homer wrote of the capital Mycenae as “well-built, rich in gold.” It was the seat of King Agamemnon, who, according to legend, led a triumphant Greek army to victory in the epic Trojan War.

In the mountainous region of Epirus in northern Greece lies an ancient site shrouded in mystery: the Necromanteion of Acheron. Dating to the fourth century BCE, the site is situated close to the Acheron and Kokytos rivers, said to be the waterways of Hades, god of the underworld. The Necromanteion housed an oracle of the dead, an arched and damp underground chamber which people would visit to speak to the souls of deceased loved ones.

This Shakespearean comedy is set in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, which is located in modern-day Turkey just outside the city of Selçuk. The play’s action takes place over a single day and occurs in three main locations: the market, the region surrounding Antipholus’s house, and an area surrounding a local monastery.

Now situated near Turkey’s rocky Aegean coastline, the Greek city of Ephesus dates back to the 10th century BCE. Thanks to profits from the spice and silk trades, it would become one of the most important commercial cities in the ancient Greek world. One of the vast temples in the city, dedicated to Artemis, is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Surrounded by pines and just steps away from the Acropolis of Athens, the Pnyx makes for a scenic hilltop picnic spot. In ancient times, however, it served a much more elevated purpose: a political meeting place where male citizens would gather to debate and vote on important issues facing their city. It was the world’s earliest known example of democracy.

If you’re looking for the real-life Atlantis, the closest you might get is the ruined town of Akrotiri on the Greek island of Santorini. This Minoan settlement was once a thriving trade center, but a volcanic eruption around 1600 BCE buried the town under ash. Its inhabitants had fled the scene long before, leaving the place a ghost town. Some historians believe the tragedy of the town inspired Atlantis, the lost island of Plato legend.

In the middle of a busy intersection in modern-day Athens stands the epic Temple of Olympian Zeus, a Greek (and later Roman) temple dedicated to the chief god of Mount Olympus. Its wind-blown columns are impressive to behold, but one column at the temple’s western end lies in domino-esque pieces on the grass, thanks to a 1852 earthquake that knocked it over.

Greek myths tell the tale of the Minotaur of Crete, kept by the ancient King Minos in a subterranean labyrinth built by Daedalus, the father of Icarus. Half-man and half-bull, the Minotaur was supposedly fed 14 young aristocrats every year to satisfy its enormous appetite. The dark and deadly labyrinth in which the Minotaur lived is believed to be based on the elaborate underground passageways found at the Palace of Knossos, Minos’ supposed home.

Located in central Greece, Delphi was a religious sanctuary built in the eighth century BCE and dedicated to Apollo, the Greek god of light, knowledge, and harmony. The site was also home to the priestess Pythia, better known as the Oracle at Delphi, who was famed for divining the future. Delphi also hosted the Pythian Games, which were the second-most important games in Greece after the Olympics.

Similar to the modern Olympics, the ancient Greek Olympics took place every four years, starting in 776 BCE and ending in 396 CE. Fires were lit at the Olympia site to mark the start of the competition, which included races of all kinds: sprinting, marathon running, horse riding, and chariot championships. Athletes from all the Greek states took part in the competitions.

Built in 330 BCE to host athletic competitions in Ancient Greece, the Panathenaic Stadium is a horseshoe-shaped ancient arena in the center of Athens that was restored to its former glory in 1896 in time for the first modern Olympic Games. The first person to finish the marathon competition at the stadium during the 1896 games was Spyridon Louis, a Greek water carrier.

As the most prominent landmark in Athens, it’s perhaps no surprise that the Parthenon was built between 447 and 438 BCE as a dedication to the city’s namesake goddess, Athena. Citizens would pass through the marble columns and friezes of the hilltop temple to pay their respects to the goddess of wisdom. At its center was a towering statue of the goddess covered in gold — a statue which has since been lost to time.

The Acropolis stands as a shining beacon on a hill above Athens. It’s fitting then that the name “Acropolis” literally means “city at the top.” For centuries, the limestone hill has been inhabited, serving as the home of real-life kings as well as the home of mythical gods. The centerpiece of ancient Greece is capped with several temples including the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nike.