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The Acropolis hill, so called the
"Sacred Rock" of Athens, is the most important site of the city. During
Perikles' Golden Age, ancient Greek civilization was represented in an
ideal way on the hill and some of the architectural masterpieces of the
period were erected on its ground.
The first habitation remains on the Acropolis date from the
Neolithic period. Over the centuries, the rocky hill was continuously
used either as a cult place or as a residential area or both. The
inscriptions on the numerous and precious offerings to the sanctuary of
Athena (marble korai, bronze and clay
statuettes and vases) indicate that the cult of the city's patron
goddess was established as early as the Archaic period (650-480 B.C.).
During the Classical period
(450-330 B.C.) three important temples were erected on the ruins of
earlier ones: the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Nike,
dedicated to Athena Parthenos, Athena Polias, and Athena-Apteros Nike,
respectively. The Propylaea, the monumental entrance to the sacred area
was also constructed in the same period.
The monuments on the Acropolis reflect the successive phases of the
city's history. Some of them were converted into Christian churches,
houses of the Franks and later on, of the Turks. After the liberation
of Athens from the Turks, the protection, restoration and conservation
of the monuments was one of the first tasks of the newly-founded Greek
state. This major effort is continued until today, with the large-scale
restoration and supporting of the monuments, which started in the
1970's and is still in progress.
The first excavations on the hill were conducted between 1835 and 1837.
More systematic work was carried out in 1885-1890 by Panagiotis
Kavvadias.
The most important monuments on the Acropolis are:
The Parthenon. It is the most important
and characteristic monument of the ancient Greek civilization and still
remains its international symbol. It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos,
the patron goddess of Athens. It was built between 447 and 438 B.C. and
its sculptural decoration was completed in 432 B.C. The construction of
the monument was initiated by Perikles, the supervisor of the whole
work was Pheidias, the famous Athenian sculptor, while Iktinos and
Kallikrates were the architects of the building. The temple is built in
the Doric order and almost exclusively of Pentelic marble. It is
peripteral, with eight columns on each of the narrow sides and
seventeen columns on each of the long ones. The central part of the
temple, called the cella, sheltered the famous chryselephantine cult
statue of Athena, made by Pheidias.
The sculptural decoration of the Parthenon is a unique combination of
the Doric metopes and triglyphs on the entablature, and the Ionic
frieze on the walls of the cella. The metopes depict the Gigantomachy
on the east side, the Amazonomachy on the west, the Centauromachy on
the south, and scenes from the Trojan War on the north.
The relief frieze depicts the Procession of the Panathenaea, the most
formal religious festival of ancient Athens. The scene runs along all
the four sides of the building and includes the figures of gods, beasts
and of some 360 humans.
The two pediments of the temple are decorated with mythological scenes:
the east, above the building's main entrance, shows the birth of
Athena, and the west, the fight between Athena and Poseidon for the
name of the city of Athens.
The Parthenon retained its religious character in the following
centuries and was converted into a Byzantine church, a Latin church and
a Muslim mosque.
The Turks used the Parthenon as a powder magazine when the Venetians,
under Admiral Morosini, sieged the Acropolis in 1687. One of the
Venetian bombs fell on the Parthenon and caused a tremendous explosion
that destroyed a great part of the monument which had been preserved in
a good condition until then.
The disaster was completed in the beginning of the 19th century, when
the British ambassador in Constantinople, Lord Elgin, stole the
greatest part of the sculptural decoration of the monument (frieze,
metopes, pediments), transferred them to England and sold them to the
British Museum, where they are still exhibited, being one of the most
significant collections of the museum.
The Erechtheion was built in ca. 420 B.C.
in the Ionic order. It has a prostasis on the east side, a monumental
propylon on the north, and the famous porch of the Caryatids on the
south. The main temple was divided into two sections, dedicated to the
worship of the two principal gods of Attica, Athena and
Poseidon-Erechtheus. A relief frieze, bearing a representation possibly
of the birth of Erechtheus, decorated the exterior of the building.
The Temple of Athena Nike was constructed in
ca. 420 B.C. by the architect Kallikrates. It is built in the Ionic
order, and it is amphiprostyle with a row of four columns in front of
each of its narrow sides. The relief frieze on the upper section of the
walls depicts the conference of gods on the east side, and scenes from
battles on the other three. A marble parapet decorated with the relief
representation of Nikae (Victories), protected the edge of the Bastion
on which the temple was erected.
The Propylaea. The monumental gateway of
the Acropolis was designed by the architect Mnesikles and constructed
in 437-432 B.C. It comprises a central building and two lateral wings.
The colonnades along the west and east sides had a row of Doric columns
while two rows of Ionic columns divided the central corridor into three
parts. The walls of the north wing were decorated with painted panels
or wall paintings and that is why it was called the "Pinakotheke". The
ceiling of the Propylaea had coffers with painted decoration and a
perforated sima around the roof.