Our trip, in February 2015, gave us two and a half days, which turned out to be quite sufficient for seeing the city’s main sites, both WHS and not.

It was interesting walking past Syntagma Square to see the protesters with their banners decrying Angela Merkel for her insistence that the Greeks continue to walk the path of austerity.

Athens offers a very reasonably-priced ticket that for €12 allows you entry to ten different sites, including the Acropolis.

Walking up to the Acropolis from its south slope we passed the Theatre of Dionysus. This open-air theatre was dedicated to the god known to the Romans as Bacchus – the patron of wine and drama. It was in this theatre that the works of Sophocles and Euripides would have been premiered, and you can still sit on the marble benches. It was quite an amazing place to be.

In addition to the Parthenon, the summit of the Acropolis houses several buildings. They include the Erechtheion, a temple dedicated to Athena and Poseidon. One of the most interesting features of this building is the Porch of the Caryatids, in which six supporting columns were sculpted in the shape of female figures.

The Parthenon itself is not just a pretty building – it has been central to the identity of Athens for dozens of centuries. UNESCO cites the Acropolis as being “the supreme expression of the adaptation of architecture to a natural site”.

The newly-built Acropolis Museum stands near the foot of the hill, in which are housed various statues found across Greece but particularly in Athens and on the Acropolis. The highlight is on the top floor, where you will find one half of what we in Britain call the Elgin Marbles.

Also worth a visit is the National Archaeological Museum - it is really the archetypal classical museum: chock-full of marble statues and other artifacts from across the Hellenic lands, including the enigmatic Antikythera mechanism.