Greece is located in southeastern Europe at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is the birthplace of democracy and Western philosophy. Two important cities in classical Greece were Athens and Sparta. The Parthenon, built in the 5th century BC, is a famous temple dedicated to the goddess Athena located on the Athenian Acropolis. Greek temples historically housed deity statues and rituals took place outside. The island of Santorini is located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km from mainland Greece, and is formed from the remains of a volcanic caldera. Rhodes is the largest island in the Dodecanese and was its historical capital, while Crete is the largest Greek island