The Holy Church of Saint Sophia sits tucked along a pedestrian walkway beneath the Acropolis, surrounded by some of Athens' grandest neoclassical architecture. You could easily walk past this little church without noticing it.

The name Hagia Sophia translates as Wisdom in Greek, but the dedication goes further: it honours Sophia and her three daughters, Faith, Hope and Love, all martyred in Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. The story is darker than most church dedications. Hadrian executed the three young women for their Christian beliefs, then their mother Sophia died of grief three days later while praying at their graves.

The church occupies a privileged spot on the route to the Herodes Atticus theatre, that massive stone structure where concerts and plays still fill warm Athenian nights.

VoiceMap's photography tour pauses here to capture the contrast between this modest Byzantine sanctuary and the neoclassical palaces that line the path, using the church to illustrate how layers of Athens' architectural history compress into a single sightline below the Sacred Rock.