Lyceum of Aristotle to open in next days

• Category: News

A new archaeological site in Athens is ready and will officially open to visitors within the next days: the Lyceum of Aristotle, that was actually Aristotle's school of philosophy. Located right next to the Byzantine and Christian Museum, only few steps from Syntagma Square in Athens city centre, this Lyceum was part of a large complex which also houses a gymnasium, where the city's soldiers and riders were trained in the art of war.

The Lyceum and the adjacent Palaestra (wrestling school) was discovered by archaeologists in 1996 and revealed valuable information about the topography of ancient Athens. For 15 years, archaeologists had been excavating and studying this site on the banks of Ilissos River, most of which today runs underground.

The entrance to this site is found on the corner of Vassilissis Sofias Ave and Mourouzi Str, just behind the elegant building of the Military Officer's Club. The perimeter of the site is today planted with herbs like levanter, thyme, oregano, laurels and other trees, giving visitors a good insight of how this spot would look like in the ancient times. A large part of the site has also been planted with grass.

This ancient site is expected to become a pole of attraction for this corner of Athens, as it can easily be combined with visits to the close by Byzantine and War Museums.