Today we took in the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora! We all slept really well so we set out on foot a little later than planned. By the time we got to the Acropolis it was mid-morning and it was hot! Our "skip-the-line" tickets meant skip the buying line and get in the I-already-have-a-ticket line. Oh well... We have opted for self-guided audio tours which so far, have been good.
While waiting in the very long line, a news crew was filming and walked down the line and of all the people picked Jac to interview!! It was quite funny because he and his dad had just had a conversation about hoping to be picked and answering with ridiculously southern accents and phrases. Jac did well though. I am sure his communications professors would have been pleased. :-)
We started at the base of the Acropolis with the Theater of Dionysus. You can see from the photos that only some of the rows of the seats are remaining but it originally held 15-17,000 people! It and most of the Acropolis dates to around 500 BC. That's just mind blowing to me! You can also see that even then, they had fancier seats for more the important or influential people.
 |
| View behind the stage area |
There were remnants of a variety of other monuments, colonnades and stoas for various gods and goddesses that I hadn't heard of before as well as influential people in the city.
 |
| I liked the Greek letters on this and still hard to believe it has survived so long! |
 |
| These two make up a panoramic view about halfway up the slope. |
The next stop on the tour was Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It is a theater that is much newer - first or second century after Christ! It held about 5-6,000 spectators. It also originally had a wooden roof. It has been renovated and is still in use today. You can see the chairs and such being set up for an orchestra event tomorrow. Many people have performed there - Frank Sinatra being one of them.
 |
| A little further up the slope. |
Finally we made it to the base of the entrance gate to the Acropolis. The gate actually had giant marble doors and part of them are still in place but they are never moved anymore. Jutting out from the top of the gate area on the right is the Temple to Athena Nike (pronounced Nee-Kee) and which means Victory. She was the Goddess of Victory. And, of course, a famous American company has capitalized on the name! Her temple is pretty small in comparison to others but also very intact.
 |
| A view from the base of the gate. In the very center you can see a temple - the Temple of Hephaestus - which we visit later in the day. |
 |
| View from inside the gate. |
 |
| Temple of Athena Nike on the corner of the gate area. |
 |
| Temple of Athena Nike |
After entering the gate, the Acropolis houses two temples - the Parthenon and Erechtheion. Both were beautiful! The Parthenon is dedicated to Athena and is huge!! There are so many amazing details in the construction and how it was put together that I am convinced the ancient Greeks were mathematician wizards! They used a variety of optical illusions in construction. For example, the architects purposely designed the parallel columns to slant inward because they knew that parallel columns that were straight appeared to the eye as if they bent away from each other. The inward slant has also help it stand to this day as a form of protection against the many earthquakes in the area over the years.
The views of the city of Athens from atop the Acropolis are amazing. My not-so-little-guy said he stood there and tried to imagine it without all of the houses but as a landscape with vegetation. It was really hard! Our cab driver yesterday told us that over 10 million people live in Greece and over half of them are in Athens!!
The Erechtheion was one of my favorites. I loved the ladies holding up the weight of the roof. It seemed oddly symbolic to me. Not sure about you, but I seem to carry everything in my shoulders! This temple was named for a king - Erechtheas. Both it and the Parthenon are undergoing restorations in areas. On one side of the temple is a sizable olive tree. Olive trees are said to have first appeared here because they are the tree of the goddess Athena. The particular tree in the photos was planted by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1917 as a tree for peace in the new world as in the ancient world.
 |
| Olive Tree planted by President Theodore Roosevelt |
 |
| Restoration specialist working on a column |
After a trek back down the giant hill, we opted for some lunch nearby at a nice rooftop cafe. It was delicious! I am all about some good food and today's choices did not disappoint! After lunch, we decided to head back to the Airbnb since it was the hottest part of the day and then continue our ancient ruins touring when it cooled off a bit.
 |
| My Greek Salad |
 |
| Jac had to test out the playground equipment we passed on the way back. |
 |
| Apparently he had one of these at his elementary school! :-) |
After the temperature dropped a bit, we headed back out to see the Ancient Agora. This area was basically a giant gathering area for both governmental and commercial benefit. Lots of debates and governmental decisions and it became popular for people to sell goods there eventually. It covers a wide area and contains numerous ruins. Some are simply foundational stones of buildings that once stood and then you have the Temple of Hephaestus which is the most intact ruin there is. Socrates is said to spent a lot of time here and even said to be imprisoned and eventually put to death by poison here. The area also contains what is known as Europe's oldest road. The main road through the Agora is called The Panathenaic Way and archeologist have discovered 60 layers of gravel on this road and date it back to 600 BC - AMAZING!
No comments:
Post a Comment