The Acropolis - Main.
This main hill overlooking the whole city, was a sacred site for ancient Athenians. At the top you can view the
ruins of three temples built in the 5th century BC: the Parthenon, the Temple
of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion. To reach the plateau, you must enter through
a monumental gateway, the Propylaea, also built in the 5th century BC. From the
top of the Acropolis, you get a sweeping view of Athens and the Saronic Gulf.
The path leading up to the Acropolis is off Dionysiou Areopagitou Street.
The
Propylaea.
This monumental gateway is your royal reward for winding your way to the top of the Acropolis. As you enter the small rectangular hall, stop for a moment to marvel at the six Doric columns. Built of pure marble, this was the first building to combine Ionic and Doric styles. It was designed by the architect Mnesikles and constructed in 437-432 B.C. It comprises a central building and two lateral wings. The colonnades along the west and east sides had a row of Doric columns while two rows of Ionic columns divided the central corridor into three parts. The walls of the north wing were decorated with painted panels or wall paintings and that is why it was called the "Pinakotheke". The ceiling of the Propylaea had coffers with painted decoration and a perforated sima around the roof.
The Temple of Athena Nike.
On the south side of the Propylaea, this small temple once contained a sanctuary and an altar for animal sacrifices. It was constructed in ca. 420 B.C. by the architect Kallikrates. It is built in the Ionic order, and it is amphiprostyle with a row of four columns in front of each of its narrow sides. The relief frieze on the upper section of the walls depicts the conference of gods on the east side, and scenes from battles on the other three. A marble parapet decorated with the relief representation of Nikae (Victories), protected the edge of the Bastion on which the temple was erected.
The Parthenon.
It is the most important and characteristic
monument of the ancient Greek civilization and still remains its international
symbol. It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patron goddess of Athens. It
was built between 447 and 438 B.C. and its sculptural decoration was completed
in 432 B.C. The construction of the monument was initiated by Perikles, the supervisor
of the whole work was Pheidias, the famous Athenian sculptor, while Iktinos and
Kallikrates were the architects of the building. The temple is built in the Doric
order and almost exclusively of Pentelic marble. It is peripteral, with eight
columns on each of the narrow sides and seventeen columns on each of the long
ones. The central part of the temple, called the cella, sheltered the famous chryselephantine
cult statue of Athena, made by Pheidias.
The sculptural decoration of the Parthenon is a unique combination of the Doric metopes and triglyphs on the entablature, and the Ionic frieze on the walls of the cella. The metopes depict the Gigantomachy on the east side, the Amazonomachy on the west, the Centauromachy on the south, and scenes from the Trojan War on the north.
The relief frieze depicts the Procession of the Panathenaea, the most formal religious festival of ancient Athens. The scene runs along all the four sides of the building and includes the figures of gods, beasts and of some 360 humans.
The two pediments of the temple are decorated with mythological scenes: the east, above the building's main entrance, shows the birth of Athena, and the west, the fight between Athena and Poseidon for the name of the city of Athens.
The Parthenon retained its religious character in the following centuries and
was converted into a Byzantine church, a Latin church and a Muslim mosque.
The Turks used the Parthenon as a powder magazine when the Venetians,
under Admiral Morosini, sieged the Acropolis in 1687. One of the Venetian bombs fell on the Parthenon and caused a tremendous explosion that destroyed a great part of the monument which had been preserved in a good condition until then.
The disaster was completed in the beginning of the 19th century, when the British ambassador in Constantinople, Lord Elgin, stole the greatest part of the sculptural decoration of the monument (frieze, metopes, pediments), transferred them to England and sold them to the British Museum, where they are still exhibited, being one of the most significant collections of the museum.
The Erechtheion
Ahead on your left as you face the Parthenon was
built in ca. 420 B.C. in the Ionic order on the site of the legendary contest
between Athena and Poseidon, the temple was a shrine to Athena and the twin deity
Poseidon-Erechtheus. Its most distinctive feature was the ingenious design of
the six support columns on the south side—carved in the shape of maidens, or caryatids.
The originals have been replaced by models, but three genuine caryatids are on
display in the Acropolis Museum a few yards away. It has a prostasis on the east
side, a monumental propylon on the north, and the famous porch of the Caryatids
on the south. The main temple was divided into two sections, dedicated to the
worship of the two principal gods of Attica, Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus. A
relief frieze, bearing a representation possibly of the birth of Erechtheus, decorated
the exterior of the building.
Acropolis Museum. It’s wonderful to step inside this cool museum after touring the archaeological sites. All the antiquities from the Acropolis, including three of the original pedimental sculptures from the Parthenon and several sculptures of humans and animals dating back to the 6th century BC.
Note: The visit for all the above is included in the admission for
the Acropolis Museum. Open Monday-Saturday 8 am-6:30 pm and Sunday 8 am-2 pm.
Tel. 01-03210219.
