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Published: March 18th 2009
Athena
Athena on top of high pillar outside Academy(?) in Athens.On Sunday the 8th of March I woke up after a few nights heavy partying à la Athens style. It was my birthday and I decided to take my friend to Akropolis as he's never been there and I wanted to go back myself. A perfect birthday gift for the history freak I am, especially on a Sunday, seing as they have a free entrance on Sundays. Sneaky even when it comes to buying presents for myself haha!
Anyway, as we stayed at the Exarchion Hotel next to Exarchia Square, (as usual), I figured it was a good idea to take a walk. I wanted to take a few photos of the university, the library and the academy buildings between Elefterious Venizelou street and Academias Street and also I wanted to take a photo of the parliament building at Syntagma Square. It's about a 15 minutes walk to Syntagma and when you're there your more than halfway to Monasteraki Square where you get off the tube to go to the Akropolis.
The university, the academy and the library are all place next to eachother with the university in the center, and then I'm a bit uncertain which building is
The Propylae
Me in the stairs just in frint of the Propylae. The Main entrance monument. the library and which is the academy but I think the library comes first if you come from the direction we come from. It's always a bit difficult to find out what things are in Athens as they mostly lack any information in english,german or french. Doesn't matter which building is which 'cause they're all beautiful buildings with a very ancient touch and with the classic huge marble pillars in front of the main entrance that you automatically can't help connect with ancient times. The univesity also has fantastic wall paintings above the main entrance and all buildings are fronted and surrounded by lovely statues. (See Pics.)
I also managed to get a very good pic of the statue of of the protector Godess Athena when she's standing on a high pillar next to one of the buildings (posibly academy). I absolutely love this statue so I was happy I managed to get a good one this year. Once those pics were taken we kept walking towards Syntagma and came there 3 - 4 minutes later, after snapping a few more photos on the way. THe house of parliament isn't anything impressive in itself but it's allways nice having
Erechtheion
The Erecehtheion tempel. Magnificent! a pic of it and the funny dressed guards outside. I must be honest with you, when I see these funny dressed guards I can't help thinking, so this is what the brave warriors of ancient hellas eventually became? haha. Reminds me more of Buckingham Palace than spartan warriors, but then again, it's 2009 so what can we expect really?
When we reacehd Monasteraki Square I was pleased to see they were finally done with the construction work there 'cause last time the place has been chaos. Now the square was an open place and it was much easier to avoid a major crash with any of the other tourists. My anticipation was as always huge and my heart started beating a bit faster when you could see thee Akropolis hill with all the ruins and trees and the mighty Parthenon tempel on top of it.
First we checked out the museum with antiquities found at the akropolis site and then we slowly walked up the hill where you get to see alot of old ruins from different periods of ancient history. I must remind you to don't forget to turn around and have a look at the
lovely view of the modern Athens you get from up there. It's almost as impressive as the hill itself. ALMOST!
It's impossible for me, as I lack the knowledge, to describe everything you can see at the Akropolis hill so I'll stick to the most intresting ruin, which is of course the Parthenon tempel at the top. I will give you a short overlook history of the whole Akropolis hill itself though.
What is the Akropolis?
That's a question many have asked themselves, and people seem to think that the Akropolis is the name of the huge marble monument/tempel on top of a hill in Athens which is wrong as it's actually more of a name of the whole hill itself. The word "Akropolis" is two words put together "Akros" ( something like "edge" or "high above") and "polis" (being the geek word for "city"). More or less, with my not so accurate translation, it means something like the "City on the edge", "city high above" or "City on the hill". I hope you get it anyway. In ancient Greece this is usually how cities were built. On top of high hills, to protect the citizens and the View
From the cliff of Akropolis city from invaders. All the important tempels and buildings were built on the hill and the hill itself were protected by city walls. Eventually the prosperous cities grew bigger and reached far below the hill and outside the city walls so the Akropolis often became the center of ancient cities. The place were all the citizens went to protect themselves in case of emergency of an invading force.
The Akropolis we see today started being built around 467 BC and most of the runis we see today were built in a period of 60 years from there on. The original akropolis of Athens were destroyed by the persians during the 480's BC on order by King Xerxes I of Persia. According to Herodotus and many historians this was one of Xerxes' main goals with his whole invasion of the greek states. To punish them for their crimes during the ionian revolt in Asia minor where the eastern ionian greek states under the lead of Aristagoras, the tyrant of Miletus, started a war and rose against their persian rulers in 499 BC. Aristagoras turned to his greek 'brothers' from the west when the persian army marched towards Ionia to recapture
Parthenon
From other side. the states that revolted and so the athenians decided to set sail for Asia minor and help the ionians. They invaded Sardis, the capital city of the state Lydia where Atraphernes (Brother of Darius I ruled) and when the athenians arrived they found the city defenceless as the Lydian army were already marching towards the city of Miletus. The athenians burned the entire city of Sardis to the ground. The ionian revolt is an intresting story but not the one we're supposed to talk about now, I'm just giving you some background details. That war lasted 'til the ioninan greeks were finally defeated at the battle of Lade in 494 BC.
However, when the Persian King Darius I heard of what the athenians did during the siege and capture of Sardis he swore revenge upon all living athenians and he swore to burn Athens to the ground. This is the first clash of ancient titans (Greece and Persia) and this was the little sparkle that started the greatest fires of war in history. Darius invaded Greece in 490 BC but was defeated by Athenian forces at the battle of Marathon but 10 years later his son King Xerxes I
of Persia succeeded where his father had failed and Athens was burn to the ground, so was the center, the akroplis. As we all know the persians were eventually defeated by united greek forces under the lead of Athens and Sparta.
After the war against the persians most of the greek states were very prosperous wheres Athens and Sparta were the strongest ones. Pericles, a very strong and democratic leader of Athens at the time decided to rebuild the Akropolis and to build the Parthenon tempel at the top of the hill in honour to the Godess Athena. And it is the ruins of Pericles Athens we can see today. The Akropolis of today is a gateway through time and if you go there beyond those gates you can actually have a look at the same city where so many famous greeks once stroled. The superfamous democrat politician Pericles among others. The period after the persian war and before the peloponesian war was a very prosperous period for Athens where the ecnomical growth had an impact of the whole society and Athens slowly became a mighty emprire. The social and cultural life flourished and you can see this at
the Acropolis too. From the top you can spot the Theatre of Dionysos, where many famous dramatists are said to have performed. Aristophanes, Sophocles and Euripides to mention some.
The Erechtheion
The Akropolis was the cultural and the religious center of ancient Athens so except for the Parthenon tempel and Dionysos Theatre you can also find the Erechtheoin which is an ioan tempel raised in the 420's BC. This tempel served more than one cult and wasn't dedicated only to one God. The name comes from the mythical greek King of Athens, Erechtheus who was worshiped in the tempel. One part of the tempel was dedicated to godess Athena Polias and another part served the cult of Poseidon-Erechtheus. The Erechtheion tempel is also associated with some of the most famous holy relics of ancient Greece. The marks of Posedions trident and the well of salt water that are both results from Poseidons strike with his trident in the struggle against Athena to win the power of the city of Athens. The sacred olive tree that sprung from the ground when Athena's spear hit the rocks in the same struggle against Poseidon. Within the tempel live the sacred snake that
symoblised the spririt of the mythic king Cecrops. The snake was taken care of by the priestessess of Athena that served in the tempel 'cause the snakes health and well -being was important to protect the city of Athens.
There are more to tell, much more, but none that I know enough about. Those intrested can read alot about the Erechtheion tempel. The story behind it and it's functions are even more intresting than the Parthenon tempel and the ruins that still remain today are almost as impressive as the Parthenon ruins.
Just in front of the Erechtheion, well, in between the Erechtheion and the Parthenon are the ruins of the old tempel dedicated to Athena, the one that was destroyed by Xerxes forces I guess? But this is just the very ground foundations of the tempel so you can't see too much of it. The persians truly carried out their orders well....
The first thing you meet when you reach the top is the Propylaia which is like the pillar entrance on top of the stairs. It is the monument over the main area of the Akropolis. The building of the Propylaea was started after the Parthenon
was finished but the work on the Propylae was never really finished due to the outbreak of the Peloponesian war. I guess Pericles and the leaders of Athens figured it wasn't worth financing buildings when the war against Sparta and the peloponesian league would cost ALOT.
The Parthenon Tempel.
I know I've told you about my meeting with Akroplis and this tempel before, and I told you a bit about it's history from brief memory. Well, as I've told you already it's allmost impossible to describe the feelings and the overall "WOW" and "aha" experience you get. When you go there make sure you've gotten into some of it's history first, and make sure you've got the time to stay there for a while. No point just rushing up the hill and look at everything and just rush back down. It takes a while to really get into what you're seing. When I'm there I always try to picture how life must have been there and what it must have been like looking down on the city from that majestic building up there. Thinking about what the building was used for and how it must have
View
View of Athens from Acropolis been for the people who used it. This majestic white marble pillar building has truly faced all the tests of time but still it stands and still the spirit of Athena lives there, if one does not belive in the spirit of Athena, the protector of Athens, then the importance of the whole Akropolis site and the Parthenon tempel watching over the modern city and being the most important symbol for ancient and modern Athens might be enough to overwhelm you anyway! I lack the right words to describe it better, but all I can say is that the first time I saw this building up close, that's when my interest for history came to life again. I instantly felt I HAVE to know all about this tempel and the ancient Greece.
What is the Parthenon tempel?
The Parthenon tempel was built in the 5th century BC, after the the persian invasion in 480 when the original Athena tempel was destroyed. This was built as a replacement for that tempel. It served as a tempel in honour of the godess Athena but served many purposes within other fields than religions aswell. E.g. as a treasury for the delian Tempel
Tempel below the Acropolis league, (the league of states where Athens was the ruler and their allies more or less served them), that eventually grow into the Athenian Empire. During this period the Parthenon must have been filled with treassure from all over the ancien meditteranean world.
The Parthenon was built during the second half of the 5th century BC (being started in 447 BC) and was one of the main projects in Pericles building plan for Akropolis. (Parthenon, Erechtheion, tempel of Athena Nike and the Propylaia. The famous sculptor Phidias was the supervisor of the building but the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates carried out the orders. The building was done somwhere in 432 - 431.
When this tempel was in use it was filled with treassures and art. Frieze and wall paintings, sculptures and so on. For the art interested it's a must to see this place too. It's serves as one of the most important buildings in art history aswell as in political history and hidtory in general. But I won't mention too much about the art and the interior of the Parthenon as I must admit I don't know too much. It hosted on of the most famous Chryselephantine
Ruins
Ancient runis... statues. (A word for an important cult statue that served religious purposes in ancient Greece). This statue was the Athena Parthenos. However, this statue has never been connected with any specific religious cult and nor has the tempel itself. It was never dedicated to any specific cult like for instance Athena Polias, the cult of Athena the protector Athens. The statue in the Parthenon had no altar and wasn't served by any priestess
In Pericles time it's more likely to belive that the tempel served more as a storage for the treasury of the delian league and a meeting place for men who ruled the Athenian empire to the end of the Peloponesian war. It was still used as a tempel to Athena aswell during this time though, but served the state as much as any religious purposes.
After the fall of the Athenian Empire it still served as a tempel for Athena for many years, even when Athens was just a province city of the Roman Empire. Eventually however it was turned into a Christian church and later also a muslim mosque but I've told you about this already...
Before we started walking back
down again I needed to take a few picture of the magnificent theatre we passed on our way up.Just south of the Akropolis hill, visible from the top you can see the very famous Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It doesn't belong to the original Akropolis hill but was built by Herodes Atticus in 161 AD and is an ancient amphitheathre aswell. I don't know too much about this theathre but from just looking at it it's more impressive than the Dionysos theathre as this one remain much more intact and it's very impressive from above. You can really get an awesome perspective on how it must have been being a person in the audience sitting above the stage in this half circel shaped "arena:ish" balcony. The theatre is very impressive and left me speachless the first time I saw it. And so it did this time. I always have to stop by and look down for a few minutes. Too bad it was raining when we were going back and we were in kind of a hurry as they were going to close the whole place in 10 minutes and we had to go all the way back again...
Ruins2
Just below the Acropolis Hill After my visit I was filled with inspiration to study more as always. I want to know it all and I had to go buy another book one day later even if I had a very limited budget.
ON our way back we found a nice and rather cheap tavern and had ourselves a greek salad and some chicken. Yummi!
A few beers in the evening finished my birthday. A perfect day! Unfortunately later in the evening the flu hit me right between my eyes...
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