Greek Adventure 2014: Athens Tour Acropolis & Parthenon

STOP A4: Acropolis & Parthenon:

What the Acropolis looked like in antiquity!

Acropolis is The holy rock of Athens, the citadel and sanctuary of the city in antiquity. It stands high above the city - guarding its people from  antiquity to modern today.  It stands proud showing off its white ancient temples, its ancient history. From the Temple of Zeus we could see the Acropolis in all its glory reigning over us from above like the gods of antiquity. 

 Marble pathways masterfully crafted  and catching the sun's rays sparkle everywhere.
 

The temples on the "Sacred Rock" of Athens are considered the most important monuments in the western world because they have exerted more influence on our architecture than any of the other monuments. The great marble masterpieces were constructed during the late 5th Century BC reign of Pericles, the Golden Age of Athens. Most were temples built to honour Athena, the city’s patron goddess. Still breathtaking for their proportion and scale, both human and majestic, the temples were adorned with magnificent, dramatic sculptures of the gods.

 

The Acroplois stands on a flat-topped rock 150 m (490 ft) above sea level. The surface area is about 3 hectares (7.4 acres). 

After the palace was built a very impressive cyclopean massive circuit wall was constructed. It's about 760 meters long and stands up to 10 meters in height, it ranges from 3.5 to 6 meters thick in diameter. This wall served as the main defense for the acropolis until the 5th century. It consisted of 2 parapets each built using very large stone blocks, then cemented with earthen mortar (emplekton). 

 

The wall, built in Mycenaean style, follows the natural contour of the terrain. The gate was arranged obliquely, with a parapet and tower overhanging the entrance on the right-hand side, facilitating a good defense strategy. On the north-side are two more lesser approaches up the hill, which are quiet steep and narrow set of steps cut into the rock.

 

As we made our way up the marble stairs on our right we came across the impressive and very beautiful now partially reconstructed Theatre of Herodes Atticus. 

 It was filled with modern day speakers as the crews were setting up for a modern day concert. Such a stark reminder of where we are today. Antiquity versus a modernday 2014. I was a little sad that I could not see the theatre in all its rawness without the intrusion of modern day, nonetheless it was breathtaking and we stood in awe dwelling on our imagination and the surreal feelings of knowing that so many theatre productions in antiquity played out right here where we were standing, the the ancient residents of the city had stood where we were now. Wow.

 

 

 

 

as we continued our walk we came across the Cave of Zeus and surrounds another sacred area 

 
Archaeological Remains:

Today the Archaeological remains  to the entrance to the Acropolis is a monumental gateway called the Propylaea. 

 

the white and cream marble sparkle in the sun's rays transporting you back in a world of antiquity and glory.

On the south side of the entrance is the tiny Temple of Athena Nike 

 

 

 

 We then walked up to the Parthenon which was on our right as we continued our journey. It is at the centre of the Acropolis. It is also called the Temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the virgin). 

 

 

 

 

 

On the east side of the entrance and to the north of the Parthenon is the stunningly beautiful temple known as the Erechtheum.  It is made up of three temples with a Porch of the Maidens. the statues of the maidens are incredibly detailed and beautiful and you cannot help but get carried away and take many photographs!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found many remains of temples and ruins scattered

 

all over the top of the Acropolis. Beautifully crafted pillars and designs were still evident.

 

tons of marble  was used and when the sun shines it glitters like white gold and fairy dust, magic, quiet breathtaking!!  With all of the stop start it is small wonder that any of the beautiful temples were ever finished! Thank goodness some were or we would not be able to marvel and such ingenious architecture and engineering.

 

the views from some of the sacred and ancient view points are spectacular!!

 

A couple of hundred metres away below is the remains of an outdoor theatre known as the Theatre of Dionysus

 We then made our way back out and down through the main entrance to discover more hidden treasures.

 

 

 

 

 on the way down we came across this temple with lion statues and a bust all in marble!!

 

 

 

 

we followed the stairs down to continue our adventure. We soon discovered some caves and an exciting nine-gate wall, the Enneapylon had been built around the biggest water spring the Clepsydra at the northwestern foot. Archeologists were active in a dig at the site of the spring and it was really excited to sit a short while and watch the delicate work at play!!

 

 

 

 

 

 we then continued down the ancient paths to discover the ruins of an old catholic church - St Nicholas - what a special find!!!!

 

 Church of St Nikolaos
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

several other gems around the area can be found.....

 
The Greek Theatre of Dora Stratou

 
Filopappos Hill and the Monument of Filopappos.


the prison of Socrates 

 

The Pnyx

Site Plan:

Site plan of the Acropolis at Athens showing the major archaeological remains

1.    Parthenon; 2.    Old Temple of Athena; 3.    Erechtheum; 4.    Statue of  Athena Promachos;                5.    Propylaea; 6.    Temple of Athena Nike; 7.    Eleusinion; 8.    Sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia or Brauroneion; 9.    Chalkotheke; 10. Pandroseion; 11. Arrephorion; 12. Altar of Athena; 13. Sanctuary of Zeus polieus; 14. Sanctuary of Pandion; 15. Odeion of Herodes Atticus; 16. Stoa of Eumenes; 17. Sanctuary of Asclepius or Asclepieion; 18. Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus; 19. Odeion of Pericles; 20. Temenos of Dionysus Eleuthereus; 21. Aglaureion

The Acropolis Restoration project:

The Project began in 1975 and is now nearing completion. The aim of the restoration was to reverse the decay of centuries of attrition, pollution, destruction by acts of war, and misguided past restorations. The project included collection and identification of all stone fragments, even small ones, from the Acropolis and its slopes and the attempt was made to restore as much as possible using reassembled original material (Anastylosis) - with new marble from Mount Penteli used sparingly. All restoration was made using titanium dowels and is designed to be completely reversible, in case future experts decide to change things. A combination of cutting-edge modern technology and extensive research and reinvention of ancient techniques were used.

The Parthenon colonnades, largely destroyed by Venetian bombardment in the 17th century, were restored, with many wrongly assembled columns now properly placed. The roof and floor of the Propylaea were partly restored, with sections of the roof made of new marble and decorated with blue and gold inserts, as in the original. Restoration of the Temple of Athena Nike was completed in 2010^]

A total of 2,675 tons of architectural members were restored, with 686 stones reassembled from fragments of the originals, 905 patched with new marble, and 186 parts made entirely of new marble. A total of 530 cubic meters of new Pentelic marble were used.

Every four years the Athenians held a festival called the panathenaea that rivaled the Olumpic Games in popularity. During the festival, a procession (believed to be depicted on the Parthenon frieze) traveled through the city via the Panathenaic Way and congregates on the Acropolis. There, a new robe of woven wool is placed on either the statue of Athena Polias in the Erechtheum or on the statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon (during the Great Panathenaea, held every four years