HE pre-Olympic facelift given to Athens has left the city looking better than it has for generations. Improvements that might have taken years to complete have been speeded up in the race to prepare for the Games.

The result has been a transformation, aesthetically, environmentally, and culturally. Athens has become a contemporary capital, and life is easier and far more pleasant than it used to be.

Built between 447- 432 BC as a temple to Athene, the Parthenon is one of the world’s most famous tourist attractions

A new transportation network has made it simpler to get around, with a new metro and tram, ring road, and suburban railway. Visitors to the city pass through the new international airport, Eleftherios Venizelos, which has won widespread praise for its standards of safety and service since it was opened in 2001.

Millions of euros have been spent on revamping the roads and sidewalks, on restoring city squares, and on creating new parks and pedestrian districts. The facades of prominent buildings have been cleaned up and hotel accommodation has been upgraded.

The beneficiaries of all this effort are, of course, not just Athenians themselves, but visitors as well. Projects to raise the city’s tourist appeal include the lighting of ancient monuments, the opening and renovation of museums, and the creation of Europe’s largest archeological park, in which visitors can stroll from one ancient site to another untroubled by traffic.

For too long Athens has been regarded as a stopping off point for visitors who are on their way to the islands but cannot come to Greece without seeing its most famous monument, the Parthenon. With its brand new look, Athens—Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited city—now has a far greater claim to being regarded as a place worth visiting in its own right.