Online Tickets for the Acropolis of Athens

The Parthenon is an imposing sight and the sanctuary dedicated primarily to its patron, the goddess Athena, which stands in the center of the Acropolis of Athens.
Here below there is all you need to know before buying your Acropolis entrance tickets online, our Parthenon tours and visits.

Opening and closing hours of the Acropolis:
From 08:00 am throughout the year, closing time depends on the season and can vary from 16:00 to 20:00.

Free entrance without a ticket
6 March (in memory of Melina Mercouri), 18 April (International Monuments Day), 18 May (International Museums Day)
The last weekend of September annually (European Heritage Days), 28 October, every first Sunday from November 1st to March 31st

Closed on public holidays: January 1st, March 25th, May 1st, Orthodox Easter Sunday, December 25th, December 26th

Opening and closing hours of the new Acropolis Museum:
Summer season (1 April - 31 October)
Monday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (last admission: 3:30 p.m.)
Tuesday - Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (last admission: 7:30 p.m.)
Friday 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (last admission: 9:30 p.m.)

Winter season (1 November - 31 March)
Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (last admission: 4:30 p.m.)
Friday 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (last admission: 9:30 p.m.)
Saturday - Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (last admission: 7:30 p.m.)

Closed on public holidays: 1 January, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 1 May, 25 and 26 December
On Good Friday, the Acropolis Museum opens from 12 noon to 6 p.m. and on Easter Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On August Full Moon and European Night of Museums, the Acropolis Museum operates until 12 midnight.
On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (24 and 31 December), the Acropolis Museum opens from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Free entrance without a ticket:
6 March (In Memory of Melina Mercouri), 25 March (Greek National Holiday), 18 May (International Museum Day), 28 October (Greek National Holiday)

Greca gives you the opportunity to skip the line and buy your entrance ticket online both for the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum.
Check our tour with the Acropolis and the Acropolis museum guided tour and ticket included, here.
Check our tour with the Acropolis guided tour and ticket included, here.

Find all you need to know before buying your ticket entrance for the Parthenon and the Acropolis:
The Acropolis of the fifth century BC is the most accurate reflection of the splendor, power and wealth of Athens at its greatest peak, the golden age of Perikles.

Discoveries show that the hill was inhabited from a very early period. Around the thirteenth century BC a wall was built around it and the citadel became a Mycenaean kingdom.
The Acropolis became a sacred place in the eighth century BC the cult of Athena Polias was established. The sanctuary started to flourish during the Peisistratos era in the mid-sixth century BC, when Panathinaia, the city's greatest religious festival was found. , In 490 BC, after the battle of Marathon, the Athenians started to build a large temple, the so-called Pre-Parthenon. That temple left unaccomplished due to the Persian invasion to Attica in 480 BC. It was the first time it was set fire to its monuments.

In the mid-fifth century BC, Acropolis was the greatest cultural center of its time, Perikles started a building project which lasted the entire second half of the fifth century BC. Athenians and foreigners alike worked on this project. The temples on the north side of the Acropolis housed primarily the earlier Athenian cults and those of the Olympian gods, while the southern part of the Acropolis was dedicated to the cult of Athena.

By the end of the Peloponnesian war. During Roman times, few things were built east of the Parthenon. The Acropolis retained its prestige and continued to attract.

After the establishment of Christianity and especially in the sixth century AD the temples were converted into Christian churches. The Parthenon was dedicated to Parthenos Maria (the Virgin Mary). Under Frankish occupation (1204-1456) the Propylaia were converted into a residence for the Frankish ruler and in the Ottoman period (1456-1833) into the Turkish garrison headquarters. In 1801, Lord Elgin caused further serious damage in the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon, the temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion. The Acropolis was handed over to the Greeks in 1822, during the Greek War of Independence, and Odysseas Androutsos became its first Greek garrison commander.

A Committee for the Conservation of the Monuments on the Acropolis was created in 1975 with the aim to plan and undertake large-scale conservation and restoration on the Acropolis. The project, conducted by the Service of Restoration of the Monuments of the Acropolis in collaboration with the First Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, is still in progress.

In the year 2007, Bernard Tschumi along with Michael Photiadis and their associates completed the construction of the New Acropolis Museum.