Editing Athens (section)

=== Middle Ages ===
{{Further|Byzantine Greece|Duchy of Athens}}
[[File:At_the_Byzantine_Monastery_of_Daphni_on_October_31,_2019.jpg|thumb|The [[Daphni Monastery]], an 11th-century [[Byzantine]] monastery northwest of central Athens, is a designated [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].]]
The city was threatened by [[Saracen]] raids in the 8th–9th centuries—in 896, Athens was raided and possibly occupied for a short period, an event which left some archaeological remains and elements of Arabic ornamentation in contemporary buildings<ref name="EI2">{{cite encyclopedia | article = Atīna | first = Franz | last = Babinger | author-link = Franz Babinger | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume I: A–B | publisher = Brill| location = Leiden and New York | year = 1986 | isbn = 90-04-08114-3 | pages = 738–739 | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/atina-SIM_0849 }}</ref>—but there is also evidence of a [[mosque]] existing in the city at the time.<ref name="ODB" /> In the great dispute over [[Byzantine Iconoclasm]], Athens is commonly held to have supported the [[iconophile]] position, chiefly due to the role played by Empress [[Irene of Athens]] in the ending of the first period of Iconoclasm at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787.<ref name="ODB" /> A few years later, another Athenian, [[Theophano of Athens|Theophano]], became empress as the wife of [[Staurakios]] (r. 811–812).<ref name="ODB" />

Invasion of the empire by the Turks after the [[Battle of Manzikert]] in 1071, and the ensuing civil wars, largely passed the region by and Athens continued its provincial existence unharmed. When the Byzantine Empire was rescued by the resolute leadership of the three [[Komnenos]] emperors [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexios]], [[John II Komnenos|John]] and [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel]], Attica and the rest of Greece prospered. Archaeological evidence tells us that the medieval town experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century.
[[File:Acropolis_Frankish_tower.jpg|thumb|Photograph of the [[Frankish Tower (Acropolis of Athens)|Frankish Tower of the Acropolis of Athens]] in 1874 (the year before it was demolished) with the ruins of the [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]] and view west over the Athenian plain towards [[Mount Aigaleo]]]]

The [[Ancient Agora of Athens|Agora]] (marketplace) had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon the town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. The growth of the town attracted the [[Venice|Venetians]], and various other traders who frequented the ports of the Aegean, to Athens. This interest in trade appears to have further increased the economic prosperity of the town.

The 11th and 12th centuries were the Golden Age of [[Byzantine art]] in Athens. Almost all of the most important Middle Byzantine churches in and around Athens were built during these two centuries, and this reflects the growth of the town in general. However, this medieval prosperity was not to last. In 1204, the [[Fourth Crusade]] conquered Athens and the city was not recovered from the [[Roman Catholicism|Latins]] before it was taken by the [[Ottoman Turks]]. It did not become Greek in government again until the 19th century.

From 1204 until 1458, Athens was ruled by Latins in three separate periods, following the [[Crusades]]. The "Latins", or "[[Franks (Crusaders)|Franks]]", were western Europeans and followers of the [[Latin Church]] brought to the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] during the Crusades. Along with rest of Byzantine Greece, Athens was part of the series of feudal [[fiefs]], similar to the  [[Crusader states]] established in [[Syria (region)|Syria]] and on [[Kingdom of Cyprus|Cyprus]] after the [[First Crusade]]. This period is known as the ''[[Frankokratia]]''.