Athens, Greek city renowned for its antiquity, its wise men, and the great military leaders it produced. It is of little importance today in comparison to what it once was. There are between fifteen and sixteen thousand inhabitants who speak an adulterated form of the Greek language. The territory belongs to the Turks. It is situated on the Saronic Gulf and is the capital of Livadia. Long. 41° 55’. Lat . 38° 5’.

Athens is commonly called Setines . There is a citadel which was the Acropolis of the Ancients and which is situated between two hills: one was once the Museum , the other Mount Anchesmus . There are some antiquities. Those of the castle are the best preserved. This castle is on a hill. It contains a white marble temple with porphyry black marble columns and is said to be magnificent and spacious. On its frontispiece are the figures of armed cavalrymen. Around them are some smaller figures and some low reliefs etc . In the lower part of the castle, there remain seventeen white marble columns of the three hundred original ones of Theseus’s palace. These columns are at least eighteen feet in circumference and of proportionate height. One can read on the outside of a gate which is still intact: The city of Athens is assuredly that of Theseus , while on the inside is written: This city is Adrian’s and not Theseus’s . One can still see the fanari , known as Demosthenes’s lantern. It is said to be where the great orator isolated himself to study his art. It is a little marble tower surrounded by six fluted columns and covered with a dome. At its top is an architectural ornament representing a three-beaked lamp. The frieze shows fourteen groups of two figures each. They represent Greeks fighting or performing sacrifices. There also remain a few vestiges of the Areopagus, a temple dedicated to Victory, Lycurgus’s arsenal, a temple to Minerva, the tower of the Winds Vitruvius mentions, and a few other monuments.