The Agora: Where Democracy Started

A tree-shaded rectangle below the Acropolis where Socrates argued, Pericles politicked, and the idea that citizens should govern themselves was tested for the first time. The Stoa of Attalos houses ballots, jury tokens, and ostracism shards — democracy as a technology requiring physical tools.

The Temple of Hephaestus at the west end: best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world, more complete than the Parthenon, less crowded by a factor of a hundred. Every parliament, every election, every jury trial traces to this rectangle of ground.