Renovation work on the aged Piraeus-Kifissia electric railway (ISAP) on the stretch between the central Athenian neighborhoods of Monastiraki and Thisseio have brought to light one of the most exciting archaeological discoveries of recent years.

Archaeologists believe that remnants found during construction in the area of the Ancient Agora, on the northwestern slope of the Acropolis, belong to the famed Altar of the Twelve Gods, one of Athens’s most ancient monuments and a landmark that marked the very center of ancient city, from which all distances were measured -- like an ancient Syntagma Square, which marks the starting point in terms of street numbers.

The find has created a lot of excitement among Greek archaeologists, who believe that it will change the map of Ancient Athens as we know it. “Thucydides mentions only a handful of monuments in his historical works,” explained archaeologist Androniki Makri. “Of these, even fewer have actually been found and they are located in the archaeological sites surrounded by the mass of this densely built city. If I had to say what kind of attitude we, all Greeks, should have toward these monuments, I would obviously answer that we should be guarding and protecting them, promoting them and showing them off in any way possible.”...