Which capital city contains the Acropolis?

The story behind the answer

Which capital city contains the Acropolis? Athens. The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel rising above the Greek capital.

The word acropolis means “upper city,” so it can describe fortified high places in several Greek cities. In everyday use, however, “the Acropolis” usually means Athens’s rocky citadel and its celebrated monuments, especially the Parthenon, dedicated to the goddess Athena.

The most famous buildings were developed during Athens’s 5th-century BC golden age, when Pericles coordinated a major rebuilding programme. The complex also includes the Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The hill had been inhabited long before classical Athens, with evidence of settlement dating back to the 4th millennium BC.

A common mix-up is treating the Acropolis and Parthenon as identical. The Acropolis is the entire fortified hill and archaeological complex; the Parthenon is one temple within it. The monuments suffered serious damage in 1687, when a Venetian bombardment ignited gunpowder stored inside the Parthenon.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

Add question to a list

Choose a list to keep this question in: