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Greece is one of the top olive and olive-oil producers in the world. The Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil in Sparta – the first of its kind in Greece -- explains the major role of the products in the country's economy, religion, and culture. Exhibits also examine the development of olive-growing technology and olive-oil production in Greece from prehistoric times to the early 20th century. Pictured is an olive press from the prehistoric era.

The Parliament Building in Athens, Greece, was originally constructed as the Royal Palace in 1843. It has served as the home of the Greek parliament since 1934.

The elaborate Changing of the Presidential Guard ceremony at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma (Constitution) Square in Athens, Greece.

The Acropolis, a flat-topped rock about five hectares (12.4 acres) in area, overlooks the sprawling city of Athens, Greece. Various famous ruins, including the Parthenon, crown its heights.

Built in the 5th century B.C., the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, is dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”), the patron deity of ancient Athens. The temple crowns the Acropolis, a flat, rocky outcrop that is the highest point in Athens at 150 m (490 ft) above sea level. The temple became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 as part of the Acropolis.

Located on the north side of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, the Erechtheion Temple is dedicated to Athena, Poseidon, and the legendary Greek hero Erichthonius. Built between 421 and 406 B.C., the temple's north side has a large porch with six Ionic columns, and the south has the famous "Porch of the Maidens", with six draped female figures (caryatids) as supporting columns. One of the six figures was removed in the early 19th century and resides in the British Museum in London; it was replaced by a copy. The Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, holds the remaining original five figures, replaced by replicas onsite.

The first known plays were performed in the Theatre of Dionysus on the south side of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, in the 4th century B.C. The theater, which seats approximately 17,000 spectators, is considered the oldest in the world and is the prototype for Greek theaters. It fell into disuse and decay but was rediscovered in 1765, with restoration beginning in the late 1800s. The theater has been part of the Acropolis of Athens UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus (also called the Herodeion or Herodion), is Roman theater located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The building was completed in A.D. 161 and then renovated in the 20th century. The theater, with a seating capacity of 5,000, still serves as a venue for concerts.

The Temple of Hephaestus in the Agora, the ancient marketplace in Athens, is the best preserved classical temple in Greece and was dedicated to Hephaestus and Athena. The Agora was founded in the 6th century B.C. and was the heart of the city for 1,200 years.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus (Olympieion) in Athens, Greece. Construction began in 520 B.C. but was not completed until A.D. 132 in the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian. Sixteen of the original 104 Corinthian columns survive (15 standing, one fallen). The Acropolis can be seen in the distance.

Hadrian's Arch in downtown Athens, Greece, was built in A.D. 131 or 132 to honor the Roman Emperor Hadrian, possibly for restoring much of the city and completing the nearby Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Parthenon and Acropolis can be seen in the left background.

Entrance arch into the Roman Agora and Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece. The Romans used this area as the principal marketplace and agora beginning in the 1st century A.D. It was the commercial and administrative center of the city until the 19th century.

The Tower of the Winds is an octagonal structure in the Roman Agora in Athens, Greece, that Andronicus of Cyrrhus erected around 100-500 B.C. Considered the world's first meteorological station, the tower stands 12.8 m (42 ft) high and features sundials, a water clock, and a weather vane. The tower is also known as a horologion (a Greek term for a sundial or timekeeping device) or horologium (the Latin name), and its water clock showed the time when the sun was not shining. The friezes along the top of the tower represent each wind direction and face a point on the sundial.

The Stoa of Attalos in the Agora in Athens, Greece, dates to the 2nd century B.C. and was a marketplace, with both arcades divided into shops. Between 1952 and 1956 the American School of Classical Studies reconstructed the building and converted it into a museum. The statues on display were once on temples in the marketplace.

The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, Greece, was built in 335 to 334 B.C. to commemorate a victory in a musical competition. It stands alongside an ancient street that once led to the Theater of Dionysus and was lined with similar monuments. The Lysicrates Monument is the only one still standing, in part because it was incorporated into the walls of a Capuchin monastery in 1658.

Kallimarmaro in Athens served as a racecourse in Ancient Greece. After it was restored, it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the first modern Olympics in 1896, as well as the venue for several track and field events. It continues to be the torch-lighting location for all modern Olympic Games.

Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, Greece, was the site of the 1896 Olympic Games. The tablets on the right list the Olympic winners.

The National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece, was established in 1829; the current museum building was completed in 1889. The museum has the world's richest collection of Greek artifacts from antiquity.

The Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, opened in 2009. Its mission is to display every artifact found on or near the Acropolis.

The Orthodox Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea in downtown Athens, Greece, is dedicated to Saint Mary. It was built over a pagan temple in about A.D. 1050, making it one of the oldest churches in the city.

A statue of Melina Mercouri in downtown Athens, Greece. Mercouri was a world-famous actress who was active in the resistance movement against the military regime in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Later, during the 1980s and 1990s, she served as Minister of Culture.

Houses perched on top of 300 m (980 ft) cliffs in the city of Fira on Santorini (Thera) Island in the Mediterranean Sea. Fira is the principal city on the island, and Santorini Island is the southernmost of the Greek Cyclades.

View of the 400 m (1300 ft)-deep volcanic caldera off the coast of Santorini/Thera Island. In the foreground is the island of Nea Kameni. In the background is the island of Therasia. Santorini, Nea Kameni, and Therasia were separated by a volcanic eruption, known as the Minoan Eruption, in about 1630 B.C.

Interior view of Panathiniako Stadium, constructed for the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

A view of the theater in Delphi, Greece, and the remains of the Temple of Apollo. Delphi was the site of the most famous oracle in the classical Greek world.

The Lion Gate at the Late Bronze Age site of Mycenae, Greece. The archeological site is located 90 km (55 mi) southwest of Athens on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes all reputedly lived in the royal palace of the fortified city.

The monument to Leonidas and the Spartans at Thermopylae, Greece, 200 km (125 mi) north of Athens. The memorial structure celebrates a battle in 480 B.C. in which a few thousand Greek soldiers, led by King Leonidas, held at bay for three days a much larger invading Persian force, allowing the rest of the Greek army to escape.

Harbor and ship on the island of Patmos, Greece, as seen from the shrine of St. John the Evangelist. According to tradition, it was here that the saint, living in exile from Ephesus, wrote the Biblical Book of Revelation.

Mandraki Harbor at Rhodes, Greece, once the site of a massive statue to the Greek sun god, Helios. Standing some 30 m (100 ft) high and erected in the third century B.C., it became known as the Colossus of Rhodes and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Greek town of Mykonos on the eponymous island in the Aegean Sea. A tourist destination, Mykonos is known for its nightlife, sandy beaches, and many windmills.

Located 200 km (120 mi) southeast of mainland Greece, the island of Santorini sits on the edge of a sunken caldera formed by a volcanic explosion that occurred about 1630 B.C. The eruption destroyed and buried Akrotiri, a large Bronze Age Minoan seaport on the island. Excavations begun in 1967 are ongoing.

Rousanou Monastery in the Meteora region of Greece was one of 20 monasteries built on natural sandstone pillars in the 14th century by monks taking refuge from the advancing Turks. It was only accessible by ladder or rope and net.

Agio Triada Monastery is one of six remaining monasteries in Greece's Meteora region that are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Each of these monasteries is built on a natural sandstone pillar.

Grand Meteora Monastery, one of six remaining 14th-century monasteries all located near the town of Kalmbaka in Greece's Meteora region.

Varlaam Monastery at the Meteora complex in Greece is one of six remaining 14th-century monasteries built on natural sandstone pillars.

Located on the island of Aegina, Greece, this temple was built around 570 B.C. and dedicated to the goddess Athena.

Greece is one of the top olive and olive-oil producers in the world. The Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil in Sparta – the first of its kind in Greece -- explains the major role of the products in the country's economy, religion, and culture. Exhibits also examine the development of olive-growing technology and olive-oil production in Greece from prehistoric times to the early 20th century. Pictured is an olive press from the prehistoric era.