Greece was the birthplace of European civilization. The period from 700BC saw the rise of the great city states of Athens, Corinth and Sparta, frequently engaged in long struggles for supremacy, and uniting only when faced with the common threat of invasion by the Persian Empire. The zenith was reached in the fifth century BC when Athens became the cultural and artistic center of the Mediterranean, producing magnificent works of architecture, sculpture, drama and literature. Greece today offers the traveller the comforts of modern Europe in close proximity to the stark beauty of the ancient world. There is no denying that the historical and cultural heritage of Greece continues to resonate throughout the modern Western world - in its literature, art, philosophy and politics. Reminders of the country’s glory are all over Greece - from Athens’ Parthenon and Delphi’s Temple of Apollo, to the ruins on Crete of the Minóan city of Knossós, a civilization reaching even further back into history. Scattered throughout the calm blue waters of the Aegean are Greece’s 1,400 islands, the largest of which is Crete, each with its own special story. The serenity of islands like Skópelos contrasts with the hedonistic party islands such as Mykonos and Páros where the worship of Dionysus, the god of revelry, continues to the beat of garage and house music. Athens’s previous glory in sports was restored when the Olympic Games returned home in 2004.