{"id":1395,"date":"2014-07-25T16:09:47","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T20:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svetanyc.com\/?p=1395"},"modified":"2015-11-06T17:46:48","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T22:46:48","slug":"athens-greece-july-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/192.168.2.119:1984\/svetanyc\/2014\/07\/athens-greece-july-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Athens, Greece. July 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"
July 21, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n D. and I caught\u00a0a very late flight from London to Athens<\/a> that didn’t land till 4.00 the next morning. D. parents met us at the airport and drove us to their apartment in Chalandri<\/a>, a quiet tree-lined residential neighborhood in the northern Athens, where we were going to stay for the following 3-4 days.<\/p>\n Thus, Greece<\/a> was the second pit stop of our journey.<\/p>\n July 22, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n I like to give detailed historical previews of the cities\/countries I am visiting, but in order to describe the history or the importance of Athens to the world, I would need to spend years to research and just as many to record. That is why, I am going to give just a “snapshot” of it.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Just as everything else in Greece (and you will read it in my future posts as well), the history of Athens is closely\u00a0interwoven with mythology, making it impossible to extricate facts from fiction. Continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years, Athens is a cradle of Western civilization, home of Plato’s Academy<\/a> and Aristotle’s Lyceum<\/a>, and don’t forget – a birthplace of democracy. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, going back to\u00a0the 11th\u20137th millennium BC when the earliest Neolithic settlers established themselves on the hilltop site of, what is now known as, Acropolis. By 1400\u00a0BC the settlement had become an important centre of the\u00a0Mycenaean<\/a> civilization and the Acropolis was the site of a major\u00a0Mycenaean fortress, whose remains can be recognized from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean<\/a> walls. Athens survived a\u00a0Dorian<\/a> invasion of 1200 BC, but\u00a0like many other Bronze Age settlements<\/a>, went into economic decline for around 400 years afterwards.<\/p>\n Iron Age<\/a> burials, in the Kerameikos<\/a> and other locations, richly demonstrate that from 900\u00a0BC onwards Athens, ruled by aristocrats and generals, was one of the leading centers of trade and prosperity in the region. Widespread social unrest led to the reforms of Solon<\/a>\u00a0in 594 BC which improved the conditions of the poor, by introducing the annulment of debt and the implementation of trial by jury.\u00a0These would pave the way for the eventual introduction of democracy by Cleisthenes<\/a> in 508\u00a0BC. Despite Persians’ double take-over of the city, Athens won the battles of Salamis (480 BC) and Platea (with help of Sparta) and its power no longer knew the bounds. Pericles<\/a> (ruler from 461 BC to 429 BC) transformed the city by building Parthenon and most of the monuments on the Acropolis and the decades that followed became known as the Golden Age of Athenian democracy<\/a>. Athens of that time we associate with names of\u00a0Aeschylus<\/a>, Sophocles<\/a> and Euripides<\/a>\u00a0(the playwrights),\u00a0historians Herodotus<\/a> and Thucydides<\/a>, and the physician Hippocrates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Peloponnesian Wars<\/a> (431 BC-404 BC) let the jealous state of Sparta<\/a> gain the upper hand, and sadly, Athens was never to return to its former glory. Nevertheless, as if drawing its final breath, Athens of the 4th century BC bore\u00a0three world’s greatest philosophers: Socrates<\/a>, Plato<\/a> and Aristotle<\/a>. In 338 BC, Athens was conquered by Philip II of Macedon<\/a> and after his assassination, his son, Alexander the Great<\/a> favored Athens over other city-states. In 186 BC the Romans defeated the Macedonians, destroyed the city walls and took precious sculptures to Rome, however during 300 years of “Pax Romana”<\/a> Athens continued to be a major seat of learning; many young Romans attended Athens’ schools and Greek was lingua franca of many wealthy Romans.\u00a0The Roman emperor Hadrian<\/a>, in the 2nd century AD, constructed a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the subdivision of the Roman Empire<\/a> into east and west, Athens, for some time, remained an intellectual center, however, after Emperor Justinian <\/a>closed its schools of philosophy in AD 529, the city went into decline and between 1200 and 1450 was continually invaded by countries preoccupied with grabbing the bits of crumbling Byzantine Empire<\/a>. The capture of Athens by the Turks in 1456 was followed by 400 years of Ottoman<\/a> rule. The Acropolis became the home of the Turkish government, the Parthenon was converted into a mosque and the Erechtheion<\/a> became a harem.<\/p>\n After 8 years of\u00a0Greek War of Independence<\/a>\u00a0(with help from Russia, France and Britain), Greece gained back its independence and city of Nafplio<\/a> was named the country’s capital till 1834 when it was moved to Athens – then, a sleepy village of 6,000. After suffering a great deal during the German occupation in 1940s, the country plunged into a bitter civil war that took even more lives than WWII. And despite recession, increasing poverty, staggering unemployment rate, unstable government, Athens and Greece in general still remain one of the world’s most visited places, partially due to its invaluable contribution to the world’s art, theater, philosophy, literature, architecture (….fill in the blank), but also because of the unparalleled hospitality of Greek people, unforgettable beauty of the country, dishes that will make you drool, sunsets that you will never forget and many more. Let’s explore, I am on this journey with you.<\/p>\n Since D and I arrived very early in the morning, we didn’t\u00a0leave the apartment\u00a0till around 11.00. We took a very comfortable and clean\u00a0Subway<\/a>\u00a0to the Monastiraki stop<\/strong><\/a> (North of Acropolis map<\/a>) and from there we proceeded by foot (yes, you can!) to see all the highlights of Athens.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n I have to mention that every subway stop (or pretty much any construction in the city) is an archeological site with its own right. Athens not only carefully preserves these sites, but also gives a detailed background on each and every one, where it is possible. Basically, the best way to experience the history of Athens is to move from one subway station to another.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n There couldn’t be a better spot to start my acquaintance with the city but at a small picturesque Monastiraki square, which houses a 10th century church, the old Tzistarakis Mosque<\/a> converted into the Kyriazopoulos Folk Ceramic Museum<\/a>, and is only steps away from Athens’ famous flea market, Hadrian’s Library and the Ancient Agora.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Pantanassa church<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is known to be built in 10th century (church attendant told us – 8th century) as a\u00a0katholikon<\/a> of a now-vanished monastery. The church was known as the Great Monastery,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0and then later as monastiraki (“little monastery”), which eventually became the name of the whole area.\u00a0St. Philothea<\/a>\u00a0helped to convert it from a monastery for men to a monastery for women. Since “pantanassa” means “Queen of All” in Greek (one of the traditional epithets of the Virgin Mary in Greek Orthodoxy), the Turks spared it during the invasion considering it to be bad luck to destroy anything that is associated with\u00a0a\u00a0name of the Virgin Mary. Luckily for us, Pantanassa church was open (free of charge, no photos) and an attendant, upon my inquiry, gave us a brief history of the church in Greek.\u00a0This\u00a0fascinating little place was packed with relics and icons and deserved a thorough future investigation.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Just a few steps away to the south – Hadrian’s Library<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(map<\/a>). We bought a unified Acropolis pass for \u20ac12 which gave us entrance to 7 different sites within a 4 day period:<\/p>\n The largest structure erected by Hadrian (122 m by 82 m), the Library was built in AD 132-134 in a typical Roman Forum<\/a> architectural style.\u00a0It wasn’t a library as we known today, but more a cultural complex, with lecture halls, a transcription room, a library hall – known as the Bibliostasio – and possibly even a theater.\u00a0The complex was built around a large rectangular inner garden with a pond.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The main room of the library<\/em>, the one that Pausanias<\/a> called “oikimata”, was at the eastern part of the peribolos. It had 5 large halls and 4 smaller of secondary use. The main hall, the bibliostasio, was rectangular in plan, it had a tall, continuous podium of at least two storeys that supported a series of passageways. The walls on each storey had niches with wooden cupboards in which the books were kept. The total number of niches was 40, accommodating approximately 16,800 “books”. The wider, arched niches on the main axis probably housed statues of Athena and the deified emperor. The two halls at the left and right of the bibliostasio were probably subsidiary rooms (reading and transcription rooms), the corners served as lecture halls, while the smaller rooms at the back were\u00a0staircases for the upper floor.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The two corner halls of the eastern side of the monument were small somewhat sloping auditoria<\/em>, used for lectures and text readings. They had marble seats and prohedriae (seats of honor) of a slightly curved form which were accessed by two staircases, along the long walls.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Library building was seriously damaged during the sack of Athens in 267 AD by the Germanic Heruli tribe<\/a> and was later repaired by Herculius<\/a>, the Prefect of Illyricum (AD 407-412). In the early fifth century a tetraconch church<\/em> was constructed in the interior courtyard on top of ruins. There are two versions of who commissioned the church, either Herculius or the empress Eudocia<\/a>, former Athenais, daughter of the sophist Leontius and wife of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius B (AD 425-430). The main church consisted of a central hall, which ended on the east side at a semicircular apse. On the west side there was a narthex, which provided access to the main church though three gates. There is also a large atrium, which had galleries on three sides except that next to the narthex. The church was destroyed in the late 6th century, at the same place two churches were built successively – a three-aisled basilica<\/em> in the 7th century\u00a0and a domed\u00a0Byzantine church, known as the church of the Megali Panaghia<\/em>, in the end of 11th-early 12th century. It was burnt and demolished in 1885, so that the first archeological excavations could take place.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n In the 12th century, the Chalkokondyli family built a small domed church of the not fully developed cross-in-square type dedicated to Saint Asomatos<\/em>,\u00a0adjoining part of the facade and propylon of the library. It was named Saint Asomatos because it was devoted to Archangel Michael by its synonymous founder, while because of its position at the Hadrian library’s propylon was named “Sta Skalia” (on the stairs). At the beginning of the 18th century the narthex fell into misuse and after 1843 the church was demolished. On the floor of the main temple, as well as in the narthex, were excavated eleven cist and vaulted graves, in which were buried mainly members of the Chalkokondyli family. Today, the only preserved visible remains of this church are the wall and wall paintings on the Library’s facade with depictions of the Prayer at Gethsemane, Judas’ Betrayal of Christ and the busts of\u00a0Saints.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n There is a small exhibition area<\/em> in the Library where the colossal (over 3 m high)\u00a0statue of Nike<\/a> in the type of the Victoria Romana is on display together with other finds from excavation in the area. It was found in 1988 built in the foundations of the Ottoman cistern that is located near the south wing of the Library. The statue – remarkably made of one single block of white Pentelic marble – is fairly well preserved. Nike is depicted at the exact moment of her touchdown, placing her right foot on the globe, her robe (peplos) waving, her upraised arms probably holding a shield. Statues of Nikai were often made with the aim of celebrating outstanding military victories, and it is possible that the Nike from the Library was set up to commemorate Augustus<\/a>‘ victory against the Parthians<\/a> (17-16 BC). The statue might have been part of a larger composition by the entrance of the Roman Agora, where once stood several statues of members of Augustus’ family. The statue of Nike was probably transferred into the area of the Library where it was later\u00a0destroyed in one of catastrophic invasions of the Slavs towards the end of the 6th century AD, and was much later used in the construction of the Ottoman cistern, where it was eventually found.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The most prominent remainder of the original library is a section of the outer wall, with huge Corinthian columns (made from marble from Karystos in southern Euboia) in front of the wall, on either side of the main entrance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though, very few of the Hadrian Library’s original structures remain, the informative\u00a0and intelligent commentaries and plaques on the site were able to fill in the picture. We leisurely spent 30 minutes there, before proceeding to Roman Agora, just 5-10 minutes walk south.<\/p>\n Agora means “market place” in Greek and there are few of them in Athens, most famous are the Roman Agora and just a short walk from it – the Ancient Agora. Two different places built in different epochs. Roman Agora<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(Roman Agora Map<\/a>, free entry with Acropolis Pass) was built during the rule of the Roman Emperor Augustus, between 19-11 BC. This\u00a0small but important archeological site is evidence of the fascination that Roman Emperors had for the city of Athens. Roman Agora housed the commercial activities of Ancient Athens, when the ancient Agora’s central part was taken over by large buildings and there wasn’t enough space for the commerce. Entrance to the Roman Agora is from the west, through the well-preserved Gate of Athena Archegetis<\/em> which is flanked by four Doric columns. The gate was dedicated by the Athenian deme in 11-10 BC, during the archonship of Nikias and sponsored by Julius Caesar<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n In the middle, there was a building<\/em> (111 m by 104 m) with a large, rectangular open courtyard surrounded by stoas, shops and storerooms. It had two propyla – Gate of Athens from the west and the other propylon, on the east side, has Ionic columns<\/em> made of grey Hymettian marble, with bases of Pentelic marble.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The courtyard was paved during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138). It was at this time that the inscription containing the decree of Hadrian regulating the tax obligations of the oil-merchants was placed at the main door of the west Propylon. There are several other buildings in the Roman Agora, one of them is the so-called Agoranomeion<\/em>, allegedly built in the 1st century AD. The wide staircase, the facade, with three archways, and parts of the north and south walls of the edifice are preserved. The inscription on the epistyle on the facade states that the building was dedicated to Athena Archegetis and the divi Augusti.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The other extraordinary building is a well-preserved The Horologion of Kyrrhestos or Tower of the Winds<\/em> (Aerides) that functioned as a sundial, weather vane, water clock and compass. 12 m high and 8 m in diameter, it was built in the 1st century BC by the astronomer Andronikos<\/a> from Kyrrhos in Macedonia. It is an octagonal tower of Pentelic marble standing on the three-steps base. It has a conical roof, a cylindrical annex on the south side and two propyla. A bronze weather-vane in a shape of Triton<\/a> (no longer preserved) on the roof indicated the directions of the winds, personifications of which are carved in relief at the top of each of the sides. Their names are inscribed beneath the cornice: Boreas, Kaikias, Apeliotes, Euros, Notos, Lips, Zephyros and Skiron. The rays of sun-dials are carved on each side, beneath the scenes of the winds and inside the building was a water-clock, which was operated by water running down from the Acropolis. In the early Christian period, the monument was used as a church, and in the 18th century, it was a Dervish monastery. Sadly, Tower of the Winds was all covered up for restoration.<\/p>\n The rest of the ruins are hard to make sense of but there are 1st century Vespasianae<\/em> (public toilets) to the right of the entrance which might catch your attention.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The date at which the Roman Agora was destroyed in not known with certainty. In any event, after the raid by the Herulians (AD 267), when the city contracted within the late Roman wall, the commercial and administrative center was transferred from the Ancient to the Roman Agora and Hadrian’s Library, where it remained till the middle of the 19th century. In the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods it was occupied by houses, workshops, churches and the Fethiye Cami <\/a>or Mosque of the Conqueror (1456).<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Ancient Agora is located just 100 meters south-west of Roman Agora, it is a pretty straightforward 10 minute walk. Note, Roman Agora was a mere warm-up in both, size and history. Please follow this Ancient Agora Map<\/a>\u00a0and the picture below (courtesy Eyewitness Travel Guides), otherwise, you get lost! Keep in mind that Agora, like every city’s market place\u00a0continuously grew and developed, some buildings fell in ruins while other rose on top of them. When I refer to a building that is not on the map, I will mention the closest object to it on the map.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Ancient Agora<\/strong><\/a> (free entry with Acropolis Pass), lying in a heart of ancient Athens, was the crowded administrative, commercial, political and social center, a true cradle of democracy,\u00a0where grand ideas were born (Socrates expounded his philosophy here and in AD 49 St. Paul came here to spread Christianity). First developed in the 6th century BC, the Agora was destroyed by the Persians in 480 DC, however, it was rebuilt almost immediately and flourished till AD 267 (yes, Herulian tribe got\u00a0it too). In the 10th century AD, following a long period of desertion, a Byzantine neighborhood grew up in the Agora area. During Ottoman time, it was a residential area which was demolished after Independence for archeological reasons.\u00a0This site, with a multitude of temples and public buildings, housed the city’s most important events from the Mycenaean era until late antiquity.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n We entered from the south-east corner (p.28 on the map) and walked clock-wise. Please allow yourself at least 2-3 hours to explore this place in details. Just as we walked in, there was a Church of the Holy Apostles<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(near p. 27), an early 10th century church, built to commemorate St. Paul’s teaching in Agora. The original floor-plan of the church was that of a cross, with apses on the four sides and a narthex on the west side. The disposition of the tiles on the outer walls show “Kufic” decorative patterns of eastern origin. Building went through 4 different re-incarnations and among the many medieval monuments, known to have existed in the Agora, it is the only one preserved. The few surviving wall-paintings in the central aisle are of the 17th century, however, it contains the paintings from other nearby churches as well.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The same area contained at some point\u00a0the East stoa, the Library of Pantainos<\/a>, the\u00a0Nymphaeum<\/a> and a temple.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Continuing along the southern border of the Ancient Agora is Middle Stoa<\/em> and South Square <\/em>(p.12 and 17). Middle Stoa is the largest building in the Agora, 147 m long and 17.5 m wide, oriented east-west, with a Doric colonnade on each of its four sides. It is assumed that at the two corners of the monument the intercolumniations were covered with high, thin panelling (like that of the interior Ionic colonnade), which separated the Stoa into two passageways of equal width. In the east section, steps and three column-drums are preserved in their original position. In Roman times the flat terrace at its north was used as the shortest way of crossing the Agora from east to west. It was destroyed by fire in AD 267.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A large fountain house<\/em> (p.15) was constructed in the south-west corner of the Agora near a major crossroad of the ancient city. The building is in a poor state of preservation. It consists of a large L-shape draw basin with a floor area of just over 100 sq m surrounded by a colonnaded porch with unfluted columns. Water was brought in a great stone underground drain, which has been traced to the east for some 220 m. The new fountain house\u00a0could be an indication that Athens may have suffered a period of severe drought in\u00a0the middle of the 4th century BC. At the end of of the 4th century, a room was added at the north-west of the building, where the hydriai<\/a> could be filled with water directly through the pumps. In the 2nd century BC the fountain house was further modified. The building was destroyed by the Roman troops under Sulla<\/a> in 86 BC.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Heading north across from the fountain, there is one of the more significant public buildings of the Agora –\u00a0Tholos<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(p.10),\u00a0<\/em>a round structure with six interior columns and a propylon at the east that was added in the 1st century BC. It was the headquarters of the 50 prytaneis<\/a> who served as the executive committee of the Boule (Council) for an interval of 35-36 days, after which they were replaced by prytaneis from another tribe, so that by the end of the year representatives of all ten tribes had a turn in the administration. Those in office dined in the Tholos, with 1\/3 of them spending all night in the building, so that there were always responsible officials on hand (!!!) In the Tholos were housed the official weights and measures of the Athenian state. It was built atop a pre-existing building complex of the mid-6th century BC, which had a similar functional purpose, and went out of use around AD 400.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Slightly north of Tholos is the New Bouleuterion<\/a><\/em> and Propylon (near p.8), a rectangular prostyle building build in the late 5th century BC. It served as a new meeting place of the 500-member Boule (Council), made up of 50 citizens from each of the ten tribes, chosen by allotment each year (divisions into which, for administrative and political reasons, Cleisthenes in 507 BC organized the citizens of Athens). As a legislative body the council prepared the bills that afterwards were voted on in the Assembly of all citizens (Ekklesia of the Demos). For a time the New Bouleuterion functioned along with the Old Bouleuterion, which apparently due to lack of space came to be used only as a repository of state archives. The partial preservation of the New Bouleuterion at ground level makes it difficult to establish the arrangement of the benches on the interior. It was definitely smaller than the Old building but more sophisticated, with an amphitheater-like system of 12 levels of semicircular benches.\u00a0In the second half of the 4th century BC the entranceway acquired a monumental propylon of the Ionic order, that stood immediately south of the Old Bouleuterion.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Old Bouleuterion and Metroon\u00a0<\/em>border the New Council building.\u00a0Old Bouleuterion (p.6), built in early 5th century BC, was a large, nearly square building situated in part over the earlier building complex (early 6th century BC) that may have served as a meeting place of an early Council. 500-member (replaced an earlier 40-member body) Cleisthenic <\/a>Boule met every day in the\u00a0Bouleuterion to prepare the legislative bills. The building was the site of the worship of the Mother of the Gods and housed not only her cult statue (attributed to Agoracritus<\/a> or less probably to Pheidias<\/a>), but also the public archives of the city. Its foundations are preserved under the Metroon, a building built in 150 BC. It is a prostyle building with 4 rooms, inside which were kept public documents: decrees, law codes, financial records, catalogues of ephebes and of votives, along with legal documents. Also, the second room from the south housed the temple of the Mother of the Gods, from which the name of the building, Metroon, derives. Her altar probably stood immediately east of the Metroon, on “West Street”. From its destructions in AD 267 until Byzantine times, parts of the building probably served as a tavern, a synagogue and an oil-press.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian<\/em> was located near the Metroon, facing the government buildings to the west.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Along the Old Bouleuterion, across the street, ran a gallery of the Monuments of the Eponymous Heroes<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(p.7).\u00a0<\/em>A pedestal, built in 330 BC, was 16 m long, enclosed by stone posts connected to one another by three wooden beams. It housed\u00a0the bronze statues of the mythical heroes of each of the ten Athenian tribes (such as\u00a0Erechtheus<\/a>,\u00a0Aegeus<\/a>,\u00a0Pandion<\/a>, Acamas<\/a>, Hippothoon<\/a>, Aias<\/a> (Ajax) etc). A fluctuation on the number of tribes over the years necessitated the removal or addition of statues. On the sides were hung wooden boards with announcements meant for the citizens of Athens, legal decrees coming up for vote, lists of citizens conscripted into the army, civic honorary distinctions, forthcoming lawsuits.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Between the building of Old Bouleuterion and\u00a0the Monuments of the Eponymous Heroes, along the road runs the Great Drain <\/em>(between p.6 and p.7). Built in early 5th century BC, drain has width and breadth of 1 m and its purpose was to convey to the Eridanos River waste from the buildings of the Agora and rainwater from the surrounding hills. At the beginning of the 4th century BC two branches were added immediately south of the Tholos to bring rainwater and waste from a broader section of the Agora into the main channel.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Altar of Zeus Agoraios<\/em> <\/a>(meaning “Zeus<\/a> of the Agora”, p.9) is a 4th-century BC altar located just west of the Monuments of the Eponymous Heroes, constructed from white marble, 9 m deep and 5.5 m wide.\u00a0<\/span>It was one of the first objects to be discovered inside the Agora during the excavations of 1931. Evidence of marks done by masons from the Augustan period show that it was moved from an initial source later identified as the Pnyx<\/a> located outside the ancient Agora.\u00a0An ancient scholar noted, “it may not be coincidence that Zeus, whose special task was to govern the political assemblies of the Athenians, should depart the Pnyx at just the time when Augustus is said to have curtailed sharply the powers of those same assemblies.”<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n We obviously couldn’t skip the most imposing building rising above the western part of the Agora, one of the first Pericles’ projects – Temple of Hephaistos<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(p.1).\u00a0<\/em>Built between 460-415 BC, a Doric peripteral temple, with pronaos (fore-temple) cella (inner shrine), and pisthonaos (rear temple), is the best preserved of its type in the Greek world. It occupied the crest of the Kolonos Agoraios Hill and was designed by an unknown architect (some say by Ictinus<\/a>) probably in honor of Hephaestus<\/a>, patron of metal-workers, and Athena Ergane<\/a>, patroness of potters and crafts in general. It is built mostly of Pentelic marble, with its decorative sculpture in Parian. The east side, which faces the Agora, received special attention: it has ten metopes showing the Labors of Herakles<\/a>, and the four easternmost metopes showing the Labors of Theseus. From these last, the temple and its surroundings took the name “Theseion” in recent years. The friezes show a scene from the Battle of Theseus and the Pallantides\u00a0and\u00a0the Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs. Fragments of sculpture from the pediments are on display in the Museum of the Stoa of Attalos. The east pediment seems to have shown the Deification of Herakles, his entry onto Mount Olympus<\/a>. The two bronze cult statues of the cella are believed to be the work of Alkamenes (appx. 421-415 BC).<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The temple was converted into the church of St. George probably in the 7th century. In the early 19th century the church was used as a burial place for Protestants and for many European Philhellenes who died in the Greek War of Independence in 1821. The building remained in use through 1834, when it was the site of the official welcome of King Otto<\/a>, the first king of the modern Greek state. Since then, until the 1930’s it was used as a museum. After spending 2 hours on the hot July sun, it was a pleasure to quietly sit in the garden surrounding the Temple and enjoy the best views of Ancient Agora and the Acropolis.<\/p>\n Upon coming down from the hill, we proceeded to the Odeion of Agrippa<\/a><\/em> (ca 15 BC) (p.22), a grand and luxurious building designed for musical performances; it is known in the ancient sources as the “Odeion”, the “Kerameikos Theater” or the “Agrippeion” after its donor, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa<\/a>, son-in-law of the Emperor Augustus. The central part of the building, which rose, as if a separate structure, above a surrounding stoa, included an oblong rectangular stage, a semi-circular “orchestra” and an auditorium built like an amphitheater, with space for around 1,000 persons. The building originally had a pitched roof, without interior support, which collapsed around AD 150. Then the building was reconstructed with the addition of a transverse wall that reduced the seating capacity almost by half. The north face took the form of a stoa, the epistyle of which supported six colossal statues of Tritons and Giants. The building was destroyed by fire in AD 267.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Gymnasium or “The Palace of Giants”<\/em> (AD 410-530) was an impressive structure and included a section of the central area of the Agora, covering older buildings such as the Odeion, parts of the Middle Stoa and the South Stoa. It contained a bathing establishment, surrounded by several rooms, two colonnaded courtyards, and a garden at the south, covering, in all, 13,500 sq m. Its entrance facing the Panathenaic Way was monumental, with a triple opening and four pillars on which were placed the colossal statues of the Triton and Giants from Odeion. Originally the building was considered a gymnasium, but it was probably a palace, seat of a high administrative official.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Just east of the Stoa of Attalos, there is a Monopteros<\/em> (p.24), built in mid 2nd century AD; it is a small circular building, 7.17 m in diameter, surrounded by a colonnade of eight unfluted monolithic columns of green marble, which rise from a three-stepped foundation. The roof, its form that of a tholos, bore a richly decorated geison of Pentelic marble. The structure is usually considered to have housed the statue of some deity or hero, but it is likelier that it was a spring-house. It was destroyed in AD 267.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Next to the monopteros was the\u00a0bema<\/em>\u00a0–\u00a0an elevated platform used as an orator’s podium.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n And finally, the substantial Stoa of Attalos<\/a><\/em> (p.23) which occupies the entire eastern side of the Agora. \u00a0Built in 159-138 BC, the Stoa was a gift of Attalos II<\/a>, Kind of Pergamon. The building was 120 m long and 20 m wide and had two floors with a second series of columns on the interior and 21 shops at the back of both floors. The Stoa of Attalos was a place for Athenians to meet, walk and to do business. The Heruli in AD 267 destroyed it and its ruins were incorporated into the Late Roman Fortification Wall. The restoration, based on studies by the architect John Travlos, was carried out in 1953-1956, sponsored by John D. Rockefeller Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Stoa of Attalos houses the\u00a0Museum of Ancient Agora<\/a><\/em>, displaying\u00a0clay, bronze and glass objects, sculptures, coins and inscriptions from the 7th to the 5th century BC, as well as pottery of the Byzantine period and the Turkish conquest.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n I admit, whether because of the weather or tiredness,\u00a0we didn’t find\/visit Arsenal<\/a> (p.2), Temple of Apollo Patroos<\/a> (p.5), Stoa Basileios<\/a> (p.3), Poikile Stoa<\/a> (p.18), Altar of the Twelve Gods<\/a> (p.20), Basilica (p.19) and Temple of Ares<\/a> (p.21). But most of all I regret of not locating the\u00a0Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios<\/a> (p.4), one of the places where Socrates expounded his philosophy. Oh well, there is always another time!<\/p>\n We left from the same entrance where we came in and proceeded towards the Areopagus hill. It sounds a bit complicated but the route is easily distinguishable, you just aim for the Parthenon on the south. A few minutes walk, on your left (don’t miss!) the “Eleusinion in the City”<\/strong> used to dominate the north slope of the Acropolis. It is a shrine sacred to the mystery religion of the goddesses Demeter and Kore (Persephone), together with their mortal counterpart Triptolemos. These Eleusinian deities were already worshipped here in the 6th century BC, in an open-air shrine surrounded by a wall. In the 5th century, a small rectangular Ionic temple was built in a shrine, oriented north-south. Of this Ionic tetrastyle amphiprostle temple, with an inner shrine and shallow pronaos are preserved only the groundwork of three sides. In the 4th century BC the need to reinforce the embarkment of the temple led to the construction of a stronger retaining wall. The area north of the temple, which is at a lower level, acquired a number of rooms in the early Roman period, which have been interpreted as shops or as storerooms for grain for the temple. In the corners at the east are round bases for dedications of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. On the south and farther uphill from the Eleusinian stand a section of the Hadrianic aqueduct (2nd century AD) and remains of the round building ca. 8 m in diameter, built in the 2nd century BC and thought to be a shrine of Pluto<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The shrine was bordered by the Panathenaic Way <\/a>on the west and the two branches of the “Steed of the Tripods” on the north and south. The Panathenaic Way extended from the Dipylon in the Kerameikos to the entrance to the Acropolis, cutting diagonally through the central square of the Agora. It was mainly of soil, but in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD the section in the north-east corner of the Agora and that along the west side of the Eleusinion was paved with stone.<\/p>\n Once you see lots of people crowding in around a small hill area, you know, you are on the\u00a0Areopagus Hill<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>This rocky outcrop (115 m), derives its name probably from Ares, the god of war, and the Ares-Erinyes or Semnes, underground goddess of punishment and revenge. A judicial body, the Areopagus Council, met on this hill to preside over cases of murder, sacrilege, and arson (though it is hard to imagine). It was also a place of religious worship, with many sanctuaries of Semnes or Eumenides<\/a>, probably located in a cavity at the north-east side of the hill. In the Mycenaean and Geometric periods (1600-700 BC) the northern slope of the hill served as a cemetery, with both vaulted tombs and simple cist graves. From the 6th century BC onwards the hillside as a whole became a residential quarter belonging to the fashionable district of Melite. Cutting still evident in the bedrock attests to the district’s many roads, wells, drains, reservoirs, floors and irregular buildings. By the Late Roman period (4-6th century AD) four luxury houses, which probably served as philosophical schools, had replaced the houses of the Classical era.<\/p>\n The Areopagus also associated with the spread of Christianity into Greece. Some time near the middle of the 1st century AD the Apostle Paul<\/a> is said to have converted a number of Athenians by teaching the tenets of the new religion from the summit of this hill. In AD 51 St. Paul delivered his famous “Sermon to an Unknown God” from the hill and gained a conversion of\u00a0Dionysius the Areopagite<\/a>, who later became the patron saint of the city of Athens, and according to tradition, was the city’s first bishop. The church of St. Dionysius the Areopagite was a three-aisled basilica with a narthex at west, central apse, diakoniakon and prothesis. Built in the middle of the 16th century, it was probably destroyed by an earthquake in 1601. The church and grounds were completely enclosed to the north and west by the monumental Archbishop’s Palace. This two-storey Palace was built between the middle of the 16th and end of the 17th century and consisted of a complex of rooms which included warehouse, a kitchen, a dining hall, and two winepresses. Remains of the church as well as the Archbishop’s Palace (16th-17th century) are still preserved on the northern slope of the hill. The nearby “cave of the Furies” inspired the playwright Aeschylus to set Orestes trial here in his play Eumenides (The Furies<\/a>). Persians and Turks used the hills during their attack on the Acropolis citadel but there is little left to see on the hill right now except for lots of tourists and slippery stones. Nevertheless, it offers one of the most beautiful views of the Ancient Agora and the Acropolis, better than the Acropolis itself (don’t burn me at stake for saying that, but it is true).<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Alright, so here we are, approaching the jewel of Greece, the most recognizable site and building in the world – the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Remember, the Parthenon is not Acropolis, even though many people use it interchangeably, which makes it even more confusing. Acropolis is the name of a hill, while Parthenon is one of its famous buildings (Acropolis Map<\/a>, i will refer to it extensively while describing the site) “decorating”\u00a0the peak of the hill. Well, I was really looking forward to “meeting” the Parthenon….but it turned out to be\u00a0not as breathtaking or owe-inspiring as I thought it would be. Different travel books describe it as the most beautiful building in the world, whose white Pentelic marble “gleam white in the midday sun” and rises over the city “brilliantly illuminated at night”. Well, that was not the case. I was hot, I was tired, I felt that I’ve seen more than enough for one day and the site didn’t look exciting for me at all. \u00a0But we were already there …. so, to bring some spice and excitement, I needed to do a bit of a historical digging and here is what I uncovered…<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n (picture credit: Eyewitness Travel Guide, Athens – I find this picture to be more visual and easy to understand).<\/p>\n For many centuries the\u00a0Acropolis<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>was the most important religious center of the city. First traces of occupation go back to the Neolithic period (4,000-3,000 BC). In Mycenaean times it was the seat of the king, whose megaron stood roughly on the site on where the Erechtheion was built many centuries later. After the 11th century BC it became the home of the cult of Athena, patron goddess of the city that took her name, and of other gods, and was adorned down to the end of antiquity with majestic temples, brilliant buildings and a vast number of votive monuments. People used to live on the Acropolis up till the late 6th century BC, but in 510 BC the Oracle of Delphi<\/a> declared that this place should be the “only\u00a0god’s land”. After the place was destroyed by Persians in 480 BC, Pericles set about his ambitious artistic plan to build the Parthenon, the Propylaia and, a little later, the temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion. With no shortage of money or talent, all structures\u00a0were erected between 447 and 406 BC, remaining to the present day the witnesses to the Greek Classical civilization.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Time, people and the course of history weren’t very kind to the Acropolis – multiple occupations, pilfering by foreign archeologists (I get you, Lord Elgin<\/a>), inept prior renovations etc. took their toll on the monuments. Needless to mention a real “blow” of 1687 when the Venetians opened fire at the Acropolis where the Turks stored their gun powder, causing a massive explosion.<\/p>\n There are over a couple of dozen monuments on the Acropolis and even though I wouldn’t be able to describe them all, I dutifully expose as many of them as possible. There are two entrances to the Acropolis, one is on the west side, just as you leave the Areopagus Hill and another is from the south-east corner, next to the Acropolis Museum. We entered through the west gate and exited through the eastern one. Even before\u00a0we approached the main entrance, on the right side we could see a splendid structure of Odeon of Herodes Atticus<\/a><\/em> (p.17), one of the two theaters on the slopes of the Acropolis.<\/p>\n This Roman theater seats about 5,000 spectators and is very much in use today as a stage for drama, music and dance performances held during the Athens festival<\/a>. It was built by the Roman consul Herodes Atticus between AD 161-174, in memory of his wife Regilla, by hollowing out of the rock on the southern slope of the Acropolis. The theater was originally enclosed by a roof made of famous Lebanese cedar, which provided shelter and better acoustics. Behind the stage, its distinctive colonnade once contained statues of 9 Muses. It was destroyed by the Herauli tribe in AD 267 and first time excavated in 1857-1858 (completely restored in 1950-1961). In modern time, the theater witnessed the performances of the world-stars like\u00a0Maria Callas<\/a>, Frank Sinatra,\u00a0Luciano Pavarotti<\/a>, Sting,\u00a0Andrea Bocelli<\/a>, Diana Ross, Liza Minelli and many more. Due to the time constrains, we weren’t able to attend any plays at the Odeon, but it is something to be added to the “bucket list”.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Once inside (free entry with Acropolis pass), a short way along the path, there is a west gate – \u00a0Beul\u00e9 Gate<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(near p.21)\u00a0<\/em>on the left, named after the French archeologist Ernest Beul\u00e9<\/a>, who uncovered it in 1852. It was built in AD 267, after the raid of the Heruli and as a part of the Acropolis fortification, on the base of the monumental marble stairway, dated to AD 52, which leads to the Propylaia. It is flanked by two rectangular towers and incorporates stone from earlier building, such as the choregic monument of Nikias (319 BC) that was situated near the Stoa of Eumenes on the south slope of the Acropolis. Part of the original monument’s dedication is still visible over the architrave. There is also an inscription identifying a Roman, Flavius Septimius Marcellinus, as donor of the gateway. The gate was in used for several centuries, while rooms were added to the inner side for protection from the weather for the guards and those who entered the castle. Probably in the 6th century, the height of the door opening was reduced with the placement of a lintel. In addition, in the 11th century an upper floor was built on the gate to provide better protection of the castle entrance and the lintel was decorated with an eagle and a snake in relief. At the time of the Frankish occupation of the De la Roche<\/a> dukes (1204-1311), the usage of the gate ceased, whereas during the Ottoman occupation, in 1686, \u00a0the Turks destroyed the Temple of Athena Nike, then used the marble to build a bastion for artillery over the gate.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The 8.9 m tall pedestal on the left, halfway up the zigzagging ramp leading to Propylaia, once supported a bronze life-size quadriga<\/a>\u00a0(Monument of Agrippa<\/a><\/em>, p.21), dedicated by the Athenians to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son-in-law and general of the Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus. Agrippa was a benefactor of the city, as indicated by the incised honorary inscription on the western face of the pedestal. Today only the pedestal is preserved. The quadriga, which would have been mounted by Agrippa, is gone. The dedication was made between 27 BC when Agrippa became consul for the third time and 12 BC, the year of his death. Important to say, that the monument was not originally intended for the Roman general. The archeological features of the pedestal, the technical details of its upper surface, as well as traces of an earlier defaced inscription indicate that the monument was erected in the first half of 2nd century BC and originally bore the chariot of one of the Pergamene kings<\/a>, probably Eumenes II<\/a> or Attalus II<\/a>. The deme dedicated the monument in order to commemorate a victory of the Pergamene Kings in a chariot race in Panathenaic Games<\/a>. The Pergamene Kings benefited the city by funding the erection of two important public buildings, the Stoa of Eumenes to the south of the Acropolis and the Stoa of Attalos in the Ancient Agora.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Across from the monument of Agrippa, there is a small but beautiful Temple of Athena Nike<\/a><\/em> (p.1) (goddess of Victory), built in 426-421 BC to commemorate the Athenians’ victories over the Persians. Designed by Callikrates<\/a>, the almost square temple stands on a 9.5 m bastion (which has been used as both observation post and an ancient shrine); built of Pantelic marble, it\u00a0has four graceful Ionic columns 4 m high at each portico end. Legend records the temple site as the place from which King Aegeus<\/a> threw himself into the sea, believing that his son Theseus<\/a> had been killed in Crete by the Minotaur. The temple frieze had scenes from mythology, the Battle of Plataea (475 BC) and Athenians fighting Boeotians and Persians. Parts of the frieze are in the Acropolis Museum, as are some relief sculptures, including the beautiful depiction of Athena Nike fastening her sandal. The temple also housed a wooden statue of Athena. The temple of Athena Nike was taken apart and put back in 3 times: the Turks dismantled it in 1686 in order to use the platform for the cannon, it was carefully reconstructed in 1836-1842, but then it was taken apart again 60 years later when the platform started to crumble. In 1998 the temple was dismantled one last time due to the faults in its floor, it was “rebuilt” in 2010 according to the information resulting from more recent research.<\/p>\n\n