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Athens

Acropolis

The Acropolis is considered the most important antique monument of the whole western world. Crowned by the Parthenon it seems to guard Athens and can be seen from every corner of the city. The marble glows in a perfect white in midday sun, honey-colored in the setting sun and gleaming superior in the spotlights at nights. It really captures your eyes as soon as you spot it.

Perikles began transforming the Acropolis into a city of temples after the oracle of Delphi 510 B.C. told him that it would be a place of gods. The Parthenon, a Doric temple of incomparable harmony and elegance is the largest temple ever constructed in the history of Greece and is (excluding the wooden ceiling) entirely made of marble.

The Parthenon serves two purposes: It is home of the gigantic statue of Athene put out by Perikles and was a treasury chamber for all the tributes of Delos. It was constructed at a place where already four other temples were situated to the glory of Athene.

Next to the Parthenon is the Erechtheion, which can be identified by its photogenic caryatides, six female statues carrying the atrium. The Acropolis museum exhibits a collection of sculptures and reliefs, which were found right here.

Antique Agora

The Agora (market) was the heart of social and cultural life in the antique city centre of administration, trade and politics. All streets led to the busy and crowded place, where Socrates was proclaiming his philosophy and where Paulus was having daily speeches in order to win over people for Christianity.

The construction of the Agora started in the sixth century before Christ. Destroyed by the Persians 480 B.C. the Greeks almost instantly started with the construction of a new Agora. At the times of Perikles the place was overcrowded and the centre of action, until 267 AD, when a gothic tribe from Scandinavia destroyed it again.  

A good starting point for research of the antique place is the Stoa of Attalos, which was originally constructed between 159 and 138 Before Christ. Its expensive stores were attracting many native Athenians. Located within the Stoa is the Agora museum, accommodating a model of the Agora and archeological discoveries in the top level. The temple of Hephaistos in the west of the Agora is dated from 449 B.C. and is considered the best preserved Doric temple of Greece.