A tour guide overheard on the path between the Acropolis and the Agora: “Here’s the thing – for Greeks one big question has always been: do we belong to the east or the west? Is Athens the most eastern European city or the most western eastern city?”

The answer? Actually it’s a lot of both. The fault line between East and West has run through the Aegean for millennia. The Trojan war. The Persian wars. The first extant ancient drama, The Persians by Aeschylus was written by a participant and observer of the last Persian war in 479 BCE. That drama, written and produced in 472 BCE, certainly illustrates the Greek understanding and pride that it had been an existential fight and that they had won. But a major part of the play also shows an understanding of the price of war – and is told from a point of view very sympathetic to the suffering of the Persians and the immense losses they had suffered.

This thread, this fault line can be followed through the centuries that followed. One more recent piece of evidence – the 400 years Greece was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Another – a walk through the city of Athens – Kolonaki could be a lovely square in any European city, while the markets along Athinas street and throughout Plaka could easily be in a Beirut or Amman.

So it should come as no surprise that Athens is the home to one of the most important collections of Islamic art in the world.

The Museum of Islamic Art, one of the Benaki museums in the city, is a jewel. Stunning. As you advance from floor to floor, you move from the early period of Islamic civilization (7th– 9th centuries) up to the 19th century Ottoman period. Ceramics, textiles, jewelry, tiles, medical devices, military equipment – carefully curated and offering up their beauty and surprises. You will be surrounded by deep color and luminous metal.

And as a treat to end your wandering through the centuries, the lovely café on the top floor offers a quiet and soothing view of the city and delicious treats. You can’t do better than a glass of ginger and orange tea – it will refresh you and send you off to discover other hidden gems of Athens.