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The Athens Acropolis

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The Acropolis can be seen from all over Athens. There is evidence that humans were living there as early as 6,000 BC. The most famous building on the Acropolis, the Parthenon, was built sometime during the "Golden age" of 460-430 BC. Although the Acropolis buildings have been ravaged by war, pollution, and the removal of some of its most beautiful carvings to foreign museums, they still retain their grandeur and majesty.

We took a short photo-op only partway up the Acropolis. Note the lack of any protective fencing before the sharp drop-off behind us!

“Acropolis” means “high city”, so many cities in Greece have an Acropolis. This isn’t surprising; ancient people tended to settle in hilly locations because they’re easily defended and you can see who’s coming to attack you. The Athens Acropolis, in fact, started out as a mountain and, over the centuries of use, the Athenians leveled off the top of it.

In the Golden Age of Greece the Acropolis was used exclusively for temples. The Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess Athena. The Parthenon survived largely intact until it was blown up by the Turks in the 1700s; unfortunately, it was being used by the Greeks for storage of ammunition, which made it a logical target. The beauty of the Parthenon's design has inspired people to try and re-create it at least twice that we know of. One is here in Nashville, Tennessee. Another is in Edinburgh, Scotland on Calton Hill, which was left incomplete due to lack of funds.

Unfortunately, our shots of the Parthenon were among those when Regina’s camera failed, so we’re relying on post cards for many of the pictures on this page.

This is our admission ticket. The entrance area was well-populated with guides who wanted to take people through the ruins - for a pretty steep sum. One chided some American tourists in excellent English that it was "a big mistake" to go through without the expertise of a guide. We passed.

The Temple of Athena Nike - probably the most famous building on the Acropolis. You can't walk into the building now but its grace and majesty are obvious even when you walk near it. An interesting fact is that to compensate for the imperfect human eye, there is not a single straight line or right angle in the entire building.

The most sacred space on the Acropolis was the Erechtheion which includes these figures supporting the roof of a portico. This is quite remarkable since neither porticos nor weight-bearing statures are common in Greek temples. (The original caryatids were removed to a nearby museum to protect them from the air pollution; these are replicas.)

View of the Temple of Olympian Zeus from the Acropolis. We later walked down and visited that one, too. The area in the foreground is a part of the Agora, the old marketplace.

The huge Theatre of Dionysus just below the Acropolis is partially restored.

A larger view of the Erechtheion showing the main temple with the portico of the Caryatids at left.

The modest view at left is the site of the Aereopagus. Just adjacent to the Agora, it's hillside formed a natural amphitheatre. It became a popular spot for philosophers and others to teach and to preach. It was here that Paul's sermon in "Acts of the Apostles" took place (Acts 17-19:30). You can just see the Acropolis in the background.

The Acropolis at night. We were blessed to have this view from the balcony of our room in the Attalos and from the lounge in the Hilton - but this shot is borrowed from a postcard.