In Greece there are many architectural objects of high historical value. One of them is Athenian - what is it? Acropolis means "high city" in Greek. This is a limestone flat hill above the city (about 80 m high) with steep slopes on all sides, except for the western one. In ancient times, the main function of this structure was protection from invaders.
Ancient settlements
The ancient Acropolis in Athens is mentioned long before the onset of the classical period of history. As a result of the excavations, elements of cultural heritage were discovered that corresponded to the Bronze Age (mainly early and middle). In the VII-VI centuries. BC e. temples were built, but later destroyed by the Persians.
According to legend, the Greek Acropolis was founded by the Athenian king Kekrops. The elevation in the center bears a name derived from his name - "cecropia" (cecropia).
Meaning of words
“Parthenon, propylaea, acropolis” - what do these concepts mean, and what is the origin of these words?
- Parthenon - the main temple in the Greek Acropolis, dedicated to the goddess Athena. From the Greek "parthenos" is translated as "virgin". This is the name given to Athena.
- The word "propylaea" comes from the Greek propylaion. This is the front arch at the entrance to the Acropolis of Athens. It has two multilevel Doric porticos.
- The meaning of the word "acropolis" in Greek is literally translated as "acro" - a hill, "polis" - a city. That is, it is a fortified part located on a hill.
- The Erechtheion is a temple dedicated to Poseidon and Athena. It has an asymmetric composition, located on several levels.
- Hekatompedon is the very Acropolis, which is dedicated to Athena.
Acropolis and its purpose
Acropolis - what is hidden in this ancient name and what is its meaning? It was the main place for finding the king. Also inside there were many temples where prayers were offered to the Greek gods and sacrifices were made. At the time of the conquest by the Turks, the Acropolis acted as a mosque for them. Today it is an ancient monument of architectural art.
The Acropolis of Athens as an architectural ensemble
The Acropolis forms the appearance of the city of Athens. In ancient times, this place had the significance of a sanctuary and a cultural center. All internal structures, temples form a single ensemble. The architecture of the Acropolis is unusually skillful, all its parts are integral, there is no place for chance - buildings and monuments, their location are carefully thought out and extremely logical. This ensemble was built asymmetrically and corresponds to two main principles during its heyday: harmony in the balance of the masses and the perception of architectural art in the dynamics of its construction. Temples Parthenon and Hekatompedon - the center. The Acropolis consists of 21 elements of buildings (the theater of Dionysus, the statue of Athena Promachos, the Propylaea, the Athenian altar, the sanctuary of Zeus and others).
Production material
What does the Acropolis look like today? What materials are all of its buildings made of?
Currently, many of the architectural monuments of the acropolis are undergoing restoration. Therefore, when looking at the sights, you can see that some of them are surrounded by scaffolding. Many buildings have retained their grandeur over the centuries; they can be used to judge the uniqueness and complexity of all architectural details. Examining the ancient columns, one might think that the material of their manufacture is limestone. In fact, all the elements of the Acropolis were built of marble, which was quite dilapidated under the influence of atmospheric phenomena, and some of its parts were destroyed by wars.
Propylaea
On the western side of the hill is the entrance to the Acropolis. What is Propylaea? This question worries many people who first visited the main attraction of Athens. The Propylaea is the main entrance to the Acropolis, a majestic marble gate. They have five openings for the passage. The widest of them (instead of steps it is equipped with a ramp) is located in the middle and was previously intended for riders and driving animals for sacrifice. Its width is 4.3 m. The facades of the gates consist of six-columned Doric porticos. In ancient times, the Propylaea, of all the structures of the Acropolis, was the most famous and was mentioned much more often than the Parthenon.
Parthenon
The Parthenon is the main temple for which the Acropolis is famous, where the bas-reliefs depict scenes from ancient Greek myths, including the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. The size of the temple is quite impressive: its width is 30 m, length is about 70 m. The columns standing around the perimeter are 10 m high. The structure of the columns is amazing: they expand towards the center, and the corner ones are installed with a slight inclination relative to the floor. Thanks to the cunning of the ancient architects, the temple looks the same proportionally, no matter from which side it is observed. Inside was installed the famous sculpture of the goddess - Athena-Virgo. It was created by the main creator of the Acropolis, the architect Phidias. The hands and face of the goddess were made of ivory, parts of clothing and weapons were made of gold, the sparkle of the eyes was achieved through the use of natural gems. The statue has not survived to this day. Its appearance was restored thanks to the found ancient copies.
Erechtheion
A temple where several gods were glorified at once: Athena, Poseidon and Erechtheus (the ancient king of Athens). Inside was the well of Poseidon, filled with salt water. According to legend, this well arose as a result of a trident strike, which the great Poseidon held in his strong hand. Based on the fact that the temple building was intended for various purposes, it had two entrances, from the north and east sides. Each of them contained its own portico, mounted on Ionic columns. The opening was decorated with an ornate pattern with many carved details and was considered the most beautiful architraves of the era of Pericles. Not far from the temple there was a cave in which the sacred snake of the goddess Athena lived. The snake personified the great ruler of the city - Erechtheus. Until now, the interior decoration of this temple has not been preserved, only in the writings of contemporaries can one find a description of the premises.
Theater of Dionysus
Greek theaters were always built on a hillside, where seats were set up for spectators, in front of which there was a wooden stage. The audience seats had the shape of a semicircle (they were called "theatron") and surrounded the platform where the choir was located (the platform was called the orchestra). In the IV century. BC e. seats for spectators were made in the form of a recess in the rocky ground and then lined with marble. Theater of Dionysus - the first monumental Greek theater, located on the southern slope of the Acropolis. Until our time, marble chairs, which were intended for significant guests and honorary residents of Athens, have been preserved. The capacity of the theater is 17 thousand people.
Temple of goddess Nike
This is another temple that has survived to our time, which is part of the ensemble (Acropolis). What is "apteros" - the word for the name of the goddess? Usually Nika was depicted with wings behind her back. But this temple is an exception to the rule, since the people of Athens decided to keep the victory for themselves. Therefore, the wings were deliberately not made in order to prevent Nike from flying away and leaving her in the city forever. Accordingly, "apteros" means "wingless".
The temple has four Ionic columns, the upper parts of which are decorated with spiral scrolls. The temple of Nike Apteros was built during the Peloponnesian War, so the bas-reliefs depicted the victory over the Spartans and Persians. At the time of the capture by the Turks, the sanctuary was dismantled for the construction of military fortifications. To date, the Temple of Nike is often closed to visitors due to restoration.
That which is destroyed by time
Some architectural objects have not survived to this day. In their place, only foundations or shapeless ruins of buildings that once adorned the Acropolis were found. What did they store, what did they look like in their heyday? For example, Hekatompedon or Pandroseion? This can be judged by the results of excavations or by the literary evidence left to the world by Ancient Greece. At the site of Hekatompedon, the remains of columns and parts of sculptural compositions were found. The sanctuary of Artemis was almost completely destroyed: only insignificant remains of it and a warehouse where weapons were stored were found.
New Museum
Located on the territory of the Acropolis, it began its work in 1874. Basically, there are elements that were previously located in the Upper City. The collection became larger and, after a while, the available premises became insufficient. Not far from the Acropolis, they began to build a new, more spacious building. But the work did not always go smoothly, as there were some obstacles and problems associated with the choice of architects or land. At the beginning of construction, at the stage of preparing the land for laying the foundation, historically significant architectural objects were discovered. As a result, the construction of the museum was suspended.
In 2009, a three-level museum complex with a glass floor was opened, thanks to which visitors have the opportunity to observe the excavations.
The strongest impression is made by the Acropolis. Full immersion into the depths of millennia is possible only here, and even in the arena of the Olympic Stadium. Its deep horseshoe-shaped bowl, built in the 4th century BC in the gorge of a wooded hill, can accommodate 70,000 spectators. The stadium was completely restored when the Olympic Games were revived in 1896. From the echoing arena, only the steep slopes of the marble stands are visible, and in the gap between them - the old city park. At the Athens stadium, there is an amazing feeling of space, a desire to move, which happens at the bottom of a crater or on the ice of a lake that has sunk into the lowland.
Acropolis, translated as "upper city", is a fortified place of temple structures. In mountainous Hellas they were erected on high hills. The modern look of the Athenian Acropolis was formed 23 centuries ago. Construction was carried out after the devastating war with the Persians and was inspired by Pericles. An outstanding orator, remaining a simple citizen of Athens, ruled the republic for 30 years. On the entrance ticket to the Acropolis, there is a portrait of Pericles and Plutarch's words about him: "He made the city the greatest ... rose above the power of kings and tyrants ... but did not change his position even for a drachma."
Having liberated their homeland and made Athens the capital in 1833, the Greeks began to build up the city to the north and east of the Acropolis, behind the steep slopes of the hill, and the western approaches became a reserved place. Traces of the conquerors were destroyed, and only from books can one learn that the French knights erected a high castle at the entrance to the Acropolis, and the Turks built bastions and turned the temple of Athena into a mosque. Now there are only thousand-year-old walls and pristine groves.
Location
The uniqueness of the Acropolis cannot be felt in isolation from the surrounding area. The hill on which the Acropolis stands is like a miracle in itself. The flat top is everywhere, except for the western slope, surrounded by cliffs up to 80 meters high. They are made of bluish granite with red patches. To the west, a granite ledge turns into a softly contoured slope covered with groves of olive trees, pines and cypresses. It descends into the valley and adjoins the wooded slopes of the opposite hill.
The Hellenes believed that the places for their temples (and they were considered the houses of the gods) were chosen by the gods themselves. Sacred was not only the temple, but no less so was the hill on which it stood. The architects sought to comprehend the "divine" choice of the location of the temple, so that by its construction it would give a harmonious completeness to the area. The walls of the Acropolis merge with the slopes of the rock into a single whole. Due to this, the steepness of the slopes increases, and the walls seem very high. In fact, they almost do not protrude above the top of the hill. In the architecture of the walls - the repetition of rock forms: uneven ledges, shifted planes, edges of vertical folds. The smooth upper cut of the wall without towers emphasizes the unexpected flatness of the top. On it stands the temple of Athena, from a distance similar to a lamp, with white sheaves of columns and a light overlap on top.
Acropolis on the map of Athens
Athenian Acropolis today
... One has only to climb the Acropolis, the illusion of a meeting with ancient Hellas is immediately broken. At the top - crowds of tourists, clicking cameras, restoration work. It is better to wander through the deserted groves on the slope of the Acropolis, climb the opposite hill Philopalpus. Once densely built up, it has preserved only the ruins of a monument on its summit, a chapel covered with foliage and the remains of a cave - the alleged place of imprisonment and death of Socrates. There is not a soul on the quiet rocky paths. An empty chapel the height of a man, next to it is a bench and an autumn plane tree burning with gold. From the bench, the Acropolis is visible at a glance. Here it is, the ancient source of our culture. Its walls saw people whose names make the heart beat harder: Socrates, Aristotle, Alexander the Great... Somewhere on these slopes, Socrates wrote the very first and, probably, the most important phrase in the book of science: "Truth is born in a dispute." This argument, carried out according to the rules of logic, was called analysis.
Aristotle was accused of insulting the gods and expelled from Athens immediately after the death of his powerful student Alexander the Great. God in Aristotle is devoid of any resemblance to the gods of Olympus: he is only an abstract beginning of world movement. The Acropolis captures a completely different understanding of the world.
Parthenon - the main building of the Acropolis
The main building of the Acropolis is, that is, the temple of the Virgin. Dedicated at first to the unwanted, but later beloved daughter of Zeus, Athena. Scenes of her birth from the head of Zeus were depicted on the high reliefs of the temple. She is widely known as the patroness of cities. Athena planted an olive that now covers the slopes of the Acropolis, gave government advice, was in charge of fortress walls, political alliances and wars, medicine, sciences and crafts, was proud of the art of weaving yarn, but one day, unable to defeat the mortal woman Arachne in a weaving contest, she tore her fabric , beat her rival with a shuttle and, having disgraced her so, turned her into a spider.
The beauty and prestige of Athens more than once served as their protection. When Alexander the Great had to storm the city, he did not dare to raise his sword against him, even if the Athenians refused to fulfill his minimum requirements. In the already defeated Hellas, Athens remained in a privileged position, and the Romans even continued to decorate the city. For example, they completed the construction of a huge temple of Zeus, the remains of which have survived to this day. Athens remained the spiritual center until the 6th century AD, when the Greek (Byzantine) emperor Justinian banned the teaching of philosophy and rhetoric, and the Parthenon was turned into a temple of the Virgin Mary.
Athenian Acropolis in the photo
The Parthenon of Athens is one of the main attractions of Greece.
Everyone has heard about such a world landmark as the Acropolis of Athens, many can give a brief description of it, and everyone knows where this monument of history and culture is located from history lessons at school.
However, the Acropolis of Athens is much more than a few paragraphs from a school textbook.
A bit of history
According to myths and legends, this ancient monument of human civilization was founded by Kekrops, a sage and warrior, who was half a snake and half a man, and the first king in Athens. What exactly did he like about the towering hill, even today having a height of over 150 meters - with its flat top, close to heaven and convenient for construction, or convenience from a strategic point of view - myths do not tell.
Costas Tavernarakis/flickr.com
Like it or not, whether Kekrops ever lived or is it a collective image, it is not known, it is only known that the earliest finds made by archaeologists do not belong to the classical time in Greek history, but to the archaic era. Moreover, these are not just the remains of settlements or ceramics, but the foundations of religious buildings and the remains of sculptures.
Each time brought something different to the hill of the Athenian Acropolis. In the Mycenaean era, that is, from the 15th to the 13th centuries BC, he served not only the gods, but also the kings of Athens, since it was on the hill that the residence of the kings was located, however, according to archaeologists, it was quite modest.
The most intensive construction in the acropolis and, of course, the restructuring of old buildings, during which the architecture of the entire complex changed, took place from the 7th to the 6th centuries BC.
And the most famous building, which became a kind of symbol of Greece and actually illustrates the acropolis in Athens - a huge temple of the goddess of wisdom and war at that time, Pallas Athena, Hekatompedon, the predecessor of the Parthenon, was erected during the reign of Peisistratus, that is, between 560 and 527 years before our era.
Peisistratus was not only a tyrant whose cruelty was reflected in the centuries, but also the son and student of Hippocrates himself. By his direct order, the royal ancient residence was demolished and Hekatompedon grew on the site of the palace, which had a length of exactly one hundred paces.
A lot is known about this monument of the Athenian Acropolis, excavations have unearthed a perfectly preserved foundation, the remains of pediments, bases and fragments of statues, and much more. The possibilities of reconstruction made it possible to fully present the plan of the building, and computers helped scientists create a three-dimensional model that ideally fits the ancient description of this temple.
Jean-Pierre Dalbera/flickr.com
The Old Museum of the Acropolis has a permanent exhibition, which presents both layouts with the development of the hill in various cultural eras in general, as well as recreated “in miniature” copies of various buildings of the Acropolis, which are the “stars” of ancient culture, including models of the royal palace, and the Parthenon and, of course, the Hekatompedon.
For the first time serious destruction, after which it was never fully restored, the Athenian Acropolis was subjected to a sad and tragic year in the ancient history of Athens - 480 BC.
It was the time of the war with the Persians, as a result of which, during the siege and storming of the city, all the buildings on the hill remained for a long time lying in dust and ruins, since the inhabitants of the city vowed to start restoring the temples only when the last Persian left the lands of the Greeks.
In 447 BC, the time of destruction and oblivion for today's main attraction of Greece ended. The hands of Pericles “reached” the Acropolis, who not only decided to restore individual buildings, but, on the contrary, to build a new, uniform in its architectural design, huge complex of the Athenian acropolis, so that all of Greece would see in it a symbol of eternity and greatness of Athens.
What the Athenian Acropolis looks like today, of course, if we imagine the rest of the sights of antiquity as a whole, was first presented on the diagrams in front of Pericles by Phidias himself, the most famous sculptor, engineer and architect of antiquity, whose name has survived to this day.
Carole Raddato/flickr.com
Not only Phidias worked on the creation of the plan for the new complex on the hill, but the best and most worthy Athenian architects of that time worked under his supervision. History has preserved their names - Mnesicles, Callicrates, Iktin and Archilochus, in addition to architecture, he also earns satirical poetry.
His poetic activity is known to our contemporaries much better than his architectural works, and it was Archilochus who made most of the engineering calculations for the Parthenon - the future main building of the entire complex under construction on a hill, conceived so that a walk along the Athenian Acropolis would always lead to it, to the Parthenon.
Since the time of this global development, initiated by Pericles, significant changes have bypassed the Athenian Acropolis, but every historical time has sought to find its own use for buildings on a hill above Athens.
For example, in the 5th century AD, Christians turned the Parthenon into a sanctuary of the Mother of God, and the statue of Athena herself was taken to Constantinople, and after the capture of Greek land in the 15th century by the Turks, the Parthenon was turned from a church into a mosque and even attached to the construction of minarets. However, the Turks over time appreciated the military strategic benefits of the location of the hill where the Acropolis is located, and from the mosque the Parthenon became an arsenal.
However, some sights of the Acropolis that survived Christianity could only envy such a fate. For example, the small temple of Nike Apteros, which played the role of a chapel for Christians, was dismantled by the Turks - a number of additional fortifications were erected from the blocks, and a harem was located in the Erechtheion, which stood just north of the Parthenon.
In the 17th century, namely in 1687, during the siege of Athens from the sea, a direct hit by a cannonball practically demolished the central part of the temple of Pallas Athena, moreover, the Venetians, trying to take the sculptures out of the Parthenon, smashed most of them in a hurry.
In the 19th century, the British distinguished themselves, namely, Her Majesty's diplomat Thomas Bruce Elgin, who was the 11th Earl of Kincardine and the 7th Earl of Elgin, an art connoisseur and one of the creators of the antique collection of the British Museum, his patron and trustee. This "exceptional culture" lord ordered everything that could be broken physically to be broken and loaded onto ships.
Thus, they left for Britain:
- Dozens of meters of frieze with metopes - that is, sculptural compositions.
- All statues from the Parthenon left after the Venetian robbery.
- Caryatid portico of the Erechtheion.
During the liberation Greek rebel war against the Turks, at the same time, in the 19th century, the entire Athenian Acropolis almost perished, even the hill itself might not have remained on the map. The Turks attempted to undermine, which was prevented by Kostas Hormovitis, who became a national hero, whose name many Greek streets bear to this day.
However, shelling from the sea still greatly damaged the sights, while the Erechtheion suffered the most, as if the Turks were trying to destroy the building that was most changed and most often used, turning it into a harem.
Almost from the moment of the declaration of independence of Greece from the Turks, the restoration and restoration of the appearance of the Athens Hill began, and the first tour of the Athenian Acropolis took place at the end of the 19th century.
The first thing every tourist who is going to see the sights of the Athens Hill with their own eyes should know is that all the statues and columns standing on it are not originals, but the subject of the works of modern sculptors involved in reconstruction. To see real sculptures and everything that has been in the temples at least since the time of Pericles, you need to go not to Greece, but to London, Paris and Rome.
The finds of archaeologists, which are the result of work since the beginning of the last century, are also not in the open air. They are presented in the expositions of the Museum of the Athenian Acropolis. Interesting facts about the history of the finds and their study, as well as curiosities at the excavations, will be told by a local guide.
Today, the Acropolis of Athens is not only a visiting card of the country for tourists, and not just a hill where you can see architectural dilapidated sights, it is a whole historical, cultural and entertainment complex, which includes both the Acropolis itself and the historical monuments adjacent to its hill .
The territory of the complex is open around the clock, moreover, at night life here is in full swing. Although museums are closed in the evenings until morning, with the onset of twilight, amazingly beautiful lighting turns on, and students and young people from all over the world gather on Ares Hill with guitars and cheap wine - to the attention of Russian youth - beer is not honored at these parties.
Guillen Perez/flickr.com
In the reconstructed ruins of the theater of Dionysus, performances of a completely different plan very often take place:
- here tenors with world names sang;
- various laser and light shows came here;
- simple street mimes performed here as part of various festivals;
- there were and are performances of Greek theaters.
This site has preserved incredible acoustics and, of course, it is worth taking a seat on a semicircular stone bench, which, by the way, are genuine, since the theatrical “pit”, which still remembers Socrates, was dug out only in the last century, respectively, no one managed to pull the stones apart. The theater of Dionysus can still accommodate about 17 thousand people, all 67 rows for spectators are completely ready to receive them.
Carole Raddato/flickr.com
In addition to the theater of Dionysus, there is another historical site, partly preserved from the time of Pericles, and partly a reconstruction. This is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the place where all city meetings were held, where politicians spoke, and where Pericles himself had a brief address, in fact, a message to citizens that the last Persian had left the Greek land, and it was time to restore the temples on the hill.
Robert Anders/flickr.com
Now the Odeon, as well as under Pericles, is designed for 5,000 people, but you can go inside during performances only with tickets. As a rule, dancers perform here, for example, the ballet of the Russian Bolshoi Theater often comes on tour.
The not completely restored Erechtheion deserves special attention when visiting the complex. Dedicated to Poseidon and named after King Erechtheus, mythically the son of the god of the seas, this large temple boasts a number of reconstructed statues and even illumination in the evening, providing great opportunities for fine art photography.
Today, the entire hill is a huge construction site, and reconstruction, restoration and archaeological research are being carried out simultaneously and everywhere. However, it looks very neat and does not interfere with the tourist buses with curious lovers of antiquities in them, or tourists walking on their own, or photographers, performing artists, or anyone else.
How to get there?
Before getting from Athens airport to the entrance to the historical complex, it is worth considering that it will take the whole day to see everything that is on the hill and near it, apart from the fact that the most beautiful and interesting here happens after sunset.
Brian Jeffery Beggerly/flickr.com
Therefore, if you come directly to Athens, you should first decide on a hotel, but if you need to spend a few hours between flights in transit, then you should use one of three possible ways to leave the airport and visit the Acropolis of Athens:
- Bus - its stop is located between entrances 4 and 5 of the airport, number X95, you need to get to the final one, to the square with the loud name SYNTAGMA. The ticket costs 5 euros, buses leave every 20 minutes, and the driver takes the fare. From the square you need to literally climb up, on foot, along the pretty paving stones of Makrigianni Street. It is impossible to get lost - the hill with the Acropolis is perfectly visible and it is quite difficult to confuse it with something else.
- Metro - the station is located at the airport itself, it is easy to find it by the signs, the final destination is the same - SYNTAGMA square. There is only one branch at the airport - blue. It's impossible to get confused. The fare is 8 euros, tickets at the metro ticket office at the entrance to the station. The Greek metro has a "collective" ticket system and a round-trip ticket. For example, a round-trip ticket costs 14 euros, that is, already a savings of 2 euros. The more people travel together "back and forth", the cheaper the trip. Having reached the square, you can either get off and walk along the Athenian streets, or transfer to the neighboring red line and drive to the ACROPOLI station. That is, before the entrance to the museum and the historical complex itself.
- Taxi is not the most budget option, the only plus is that the car will deliver directly to the steps of the entrance to the historical complex. The taxi rank is located between the 2nd and 3rd entrances to the airport. The cost will be 35 euros during the day, that is, from 5 am to midnight, and 50 euros for those wishing to ride at night.
Video: empires of stone - Acropolis, Athens, Greece.
What is the price?
The sightseeing "train" stops near the New Acropolis Museum. This is a sightseeing tour, very interesting and, most importantly, allowing you to decide where to go first. The price of the "train" is 6 euros, the duration of the mini-tour is 60-70 minutes.
The cost of visiting individual monuments sometimes changes, it depends on the load on them from archaeologists and restorers, for example, if the building is closed to the public, then after opening the ticket will be more expensive than it was before closing.
However, everything is very democratic in general, for example, visiting the Panathinaikos Stadium, where the ancient Olympic Games and other athletic competitions were held, costs 3 euros.
The entrance general ticket to the complex costs 12 euros, is valid for 4 days from the date of purchase, and includes the right to visit:
- theater of Dionysus;
- Temple of Zeus
- the ruins of the Adrian Library;
- ancient ancient cemetery - Keramik;
- Parthenon;
- Agora, both classical and late, the so-called Roman.
At any time, you can interrupt the inspection and go down from the entrance to the complex to Mnisikleous street, immersed in greenery and restaurants for every budget and taste, it is impossible to make a mistake with the direction, you need to focus on the visible Mount Lycabettus, with which the street connects the historical complex of the Acropolis.
After a snack, you can return to the tour, or just go for a walk, because the ticket to the Acropolis is valid for four days, an unlimited number of times, such a “restriction” makes visiting the complex extremely convenient and allows you not to get tired during the inspection.
Greece ... At the sound of this word, Olympus appears with a host of gods, beautiful and courageous heroes and crowded policies. This is a picturesque country with a rich history, every corner here is a cultural heritage that takes those who visit it back into the depths of centuries. The famous monument of Greek culture is the Acropolis of Athens, a brief description of which is presented in this article.
Acropolis - the heart of Athens
In the center of the great Greek capital, Athens, rises a hill 156 meters high, visible from any part of the city. You can climb this hill only from the sea: other slopes are steep and present a serious obstacle. At the top of the hill is a temple complex called the Acropolis ("Upper City" in Greek). The Acropolis served as the abode of the city rulers, as it was the most protected part of the city. Now it is the most popular and famous place in Greece, which attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world. It is very interesting both as a monument of history and as a monument of architecture. The Acropolis has seen a lot in its centuries-old life: the heyday of Greek culture, and its decline, and the conquests of the Romans, and the formation of the Ottoman Empire, and the emergence of modern Greece. Many times the heart of Athens was destroyed by enemy shells, and now the remains silently remind of eternal values in the hustle and bustle of this world.
A bit of history
Picturesque pedestals and columns with a panoramic view of the capital of Greece today is the temple complex of the Acropolis (Athens), whose history begins around the 16th century AD.
The founder of the Acropolis is the first Athenian king - Kekrops. In those days it was just a hill fortified with huge stones. In the 6th century BC. at the direction of King Pisistratus, the entrance gates to the Upper City - Propylaea are being erected. In the 5th century BC. under the leadership of the ruler Pericles, Athens became the center of Greek politics and culture, and at the same time, active construction was underway in the Acropolis. The main temple of Athens, the Parthenon, the temple of Nike Apteros, the theater of Dionysus, and the statue of Athena Promachos were built. The remains of these structures make up the Athenian Acropolis, a brief description of them will be given below.
In time, a new temple appeared on the hill - the Temple of Rome and Augustus. Then a long period of wars began, construction was no longer carried out, the Greeks tried to protect what they had.
Over the centuries, the Athenian Acropolis experienced many disasters. Architecture, monuments (Athens is very rich in cultural heritage) were constantly destroyed. The Byzantine rulers made the Parthenon a church, the Ottomans a harem. In the 19th century, it was almost completely destroyed by the Turks. Having finally achieved independence, the Greeks are trying to restore the temple complex and return it to its original appearance.
Currently, everyone can visit the Athenian Acropolis. A brief description of the complex, architectural features and a rich history can be found during an excursion or by studying special literature.
Propylaea - entrance to the Upper City
For those visiting the Athenian Acropolis, a brief description of the main entrance will be very interesting. The idea belongs to the architect Mnesicles, who designed the main passage in the form of porticos and colonnades, located symmetrically on both sides of the path to the hill. The entire composition was made of different types of marble and included 6 Doric columns, 2 Ionic columns, 5 gates and the main corridor, as well as pavilions adjacent to the west side. Unfortunately, only a few columns and fragments of the corridor have survived to this day.
Great Parthenon
The age of Pericles is the architecture of the classics. The Acropolis of Athens was built according to the ideas of the sculptor Phidias. He, apparently, belongs to the idea of the Parthenon.
The name of the temple means "virgin", and it was conceived in honor of the goddess Athena. Unfortunately, after the explosion of the Venetian bomb in the 17th century, only the columns survived, but according to some descriptions, one can imagine its appearance. In the center of the temple was a statue of Athena in precious decoration, surrounded by more modest statues of various Greek heroes. The temple itself, approximately 70x30 meters in size, was surrounded by marble columns 10 meters high.
Temple of the Erechtheion and Temple of Nike Apteros
It was the Erechtheion temple, named after King Erechtheus, that was considered a place of worship for the goddess Athena, because her wooden statue, according to legend, fell directly from heaven, was kept here. There was also a trace from the lightning of Zeus, which killed the above-named king, and the salty spring of Poseidon, reminiscent of his struggle with Athena for dominion over the Adriatic. A lot of sculptures of the goddess of war and wisdom are kept by the Athenian Acropolis (architecture, monuments). Athens, named after this goddess, is the heart of Greece, and every temple, every statue here is imbued with reverence for the patroness of the city.
Many temples included the ancient Athenian Acropolis. The description briefly tells about the temple of Nike Apteros. This is a marble structure with four columns, in which there was a statue of the goddess of victory, holding a helmet in one hand, and a pomegranate fruit in the other, symbolizing peace. The Greeks deliberately deprived the statue of its wings so that Victory could no longer fly away from them and never leave their sacred city.
Theater of Dionysus
Let's continue our short excursion to the Athenian Acropolis (brief description). For children, perhaps the most interesting place will be more precisely, its preserved fragments. Initially, this theater, built for performances during the Lesser and Greater Dionysias (that is, every six months), was wooden. Two centuries later, the stage and most of the steps were replaced with marble ones. During the Roman Empire, instead of theatrical performances, gladiator fights were held here. The huge stage and many marble chairs in the open air could accommodate the whole city. The first rows were intended for honorary citizens, the rest - for ordinary spectators.
Even now, after so many centuries, the theater of Dionysus impresses with its size and majesty.
What else to see in the Acropolis?
In addition to these famous sights, the Athenian Acropolis, a brief description of which we continue, is also interesting for other monuments that are practically not preserved, but still worthy of attention. These are temples, or sanctuaries, of Aphrodite and Artemis, the temple of Rome and Augustus, a small temple of Zeus. In the 19th century, a French scientist discovered a secret emergency gate to the Upper City. They were named after him - the Bule Gate.
The panoramic view of the great city of Athens, which opens from the top of the hill, can also be considered part of the cultural heritage. The whole capital (with its old and new buildings) is at a glance, a white city against the backdrop of a blue sea that can be seen in the distance.
What should tourists know?
The Acropolis is open to visitors all year round, from 8.00 to 18.30 on weekdays and in a reduced mode (from 8.00 to 14.30) on holidays. There are certain public holidays when the museum is closed to the public. Please read the opening hours carefully before planning your tour. The entrance ticket costs 12 euros and is valid 4 days after purchase (there is a reduced rate for students and pensioners and free admission for schoolchildren).
You can visit the Acropolis either with a guided tour, or with an individual guide, or on your own. In the latter case, only the cost of the entrance ticket is paid, but it should be noted that without the guide's comments, the tour of the monument will not be interesting. It is better to get an audio guide or an accompanying story.
July and August are the peak of tourist trips to Athens, so you need to be prepared for queues and a large number of visitors to the temple complex. It is better to plan a visit in the early morning when there are fewer visitors.
When visiting in the summer, you should wear a hat and take a sufficient amount of drinking water (you can buy it on the territory of the complex, but the price will be unreasonably high).
You should visit the Acropolis in comfortable shoes, prepare for walks over fairly long distances.
In the temple complex, nothing can be touched with your hands, not even stones!
300 meters from the Acropolis is the new archaeological museum, where you can see interesting excavations and finds right in the ground, walking on the glass floor. The cost of visiting is not high.
There is an open-air cafe on the roof of the museum, where they offer delicious coffee and inexpensive local dishes. The view of the Acropolis from there is simply amazing!
Can be purchased to leave the Acropolis in your memory for a long time, description and photo: Greece, Athens, picturesque nature and famous sights will remind you of yourself from the pages of the album.
Tourist impressions
The Athenian Acropolis leaves no one indifferent: the reviews of tourists are mostly enthusiastic, filled with vivid emotions. The grandeur of the temple complex in Athens is amazing! Every stone, every piece of marble keeps a centuries-old history, the memory of prosperity and destruction, defeats and victories, the memory of great warriors and cruel conquerors.
Despite the fact that only fragments of its former splendor have survived to this day, a special atmosphere of the culture of the ancient Greeks hovers here, and people who ascend the hill seem to become a little closer to this heritage, as if they are surrounded by those deities in whose honor the most beautiful temples and sanctuaries were built. and colonnades!
In the distant, legendary times, when the Achaean kings built "strong-walled" palaces made of huge blocks of stone, and their squads attacked Crete and the Aegean coast, in Attica, on the Acropolis - a rocky hill 156 m high located in the center of the plain, irrigated by the Ilissus River and its tributary Eridanus, the city of Kekropia arose, the future world-famous Athens ...
The ruins of the Acropolis are best viewed in the early summer mornings or evenings. At dawn, the first rays of the sun, sliding along the slopes of the mountains of Parnet and Egalea, paint the rocks of Salamina in a pinkish-violet color, run along the peaks of the Pnyx and the Areopagus and linger for a long time on the Acropolis. The evening sun gilds and ignites the Parthenon; the clear air gives life to the shadows, and it seems that the ruins are as beautiful as the newly built temples were once beautiful. In the middle of the day, the Acropolis is flooded with bright light, lengthening the black shadows of the capitals and ceilings of the columns. At this hour, the sun burns like molten metal, blinding the eyes. And on those rare days in Athens, when the sky darkens, as before a storm, the temples on the mountain become dull and gray, like the ashes of bygone centuries...
According to legend, Athens was founded by the legendary king Kekrops. The Greeks attributed to him the establishment of monogamous marriage, the founding of 12 cities, the prohibition of human sacrifice and the establishment of the cult of Zeus the Thunderer, Olympian Zeus. With the name of another legendary king - Erichtonius (or Erechtheus, although there is great confusion in the identification of these two names), the son of the blacksmith god Hephaestus and the goddess of the Earth Gaia, the establishment of the cult of the goddess Athena in Attica and the renaming of Kekropia in her honor, the beginning of coinage, the introduction of chariot races. A descendant of Erichthonius was king Aegeus, whose son. Theseus, killed the Minotaur and freed Athens from the heavy tribute to Crete. Theseus, who after his return from Crete became the king of Athens, is considered the founder of Athenian democracy.
In distant legendary times, legends about how it arose take us away.
... the magnificent city of Athens,
The region of King Erechtheus, whom Mother Earth gave birth to in ancient times, was raised by Pallas Athena.
And she brought her into Athens, and she placed her in her shining temple. Homer. Iliad
Back in the II millennium BC. the territory of the Acropolis coincided with the original territory of Athens and was surrounded by defensive walls. Particularly powerful fortifications were built on the western, gently sloping side of the hill. Here was erected Enneapilon - "Nine-Gate", a bastion with nine gates. Outside the walls was the ancient palace of the Athenian kings - the "Palace of Erechtheus." Later, the sanctuary of the goddess Athena appeared in this palace, and even later all the buildings of a secular nature found other places for themselves, and the Acropolis became the center of the religious life of ancient Athens. The name of the Sacred Rock was assigned to it - numerous sanctuaries dedicated to the goddess Athena, the patroness of the city, were located here.
Athens, named after the daughter of Zeus Athena, served as the main center of the cult of this goddess. According to Greek mythology, Athena emerged fully armed from the head of Zeus. She was the beloved daughter of the god of thunder, whom he could not refuse in anything. The eternally virgin goddess of the sky, she, along with Zeus, sent thunder and lightning, but also heat and light. Athena is a warrior goddess who reflects the blows of enemies; patroness of agriculture, popular assemblies of citizenship; the embodiment of pure reason, the highest wisdom; goddess of science and art. Climbing the hill of the Acropolis, the ancient Hellenes seemed to enter the kingdom of this many-sided goddess.
The creation of the majestic ensemble of the Acropolis is associated with the victory of the Greeks in the Greco-Persian wars. Representatives of all Greek cities, who gathered in 449 BC, adopted the plan for building the Sacred Rock proposed by Pericles. The grandiose architectural and artistic ensemble was to become a worthy monument to the great victory. The wealth of Athens and its dominant position provided Pericles with ample opportunities in the construction he conceived. To decorate the famous city, he drew funds at his own discretion from temple treasuries, and even from the general treasury of the states of the Athenian Maritime Union.
Whole mountains of snow-white marble, mined nearby, were delivered to the foot of the Acropolis. The best Greek architects, sculptors and painters considered it an honor to work for the glory of the universally recognized capital of Hellenic art. Several architects participated in the construction of the Acropolis. But, according to Plutarch, Phidias was in charge of everything. In the whole ensemble, one can feel the unity of its design and a single principle that has left its mark on the details of all the most important monuments.
The hill on which the monuments of the Acropolis were erected is uneven in outline. The builders did not come into conflict with nature, but, having accepted it as it is, they ennobled it with their art, creating an ensemble that is more perfect in its harmony than nature. Harmonious buildings of the Acropolis reign over a shapeless block of rock, as if symbolizing the victory of reason over chaos. On an uneven hill, the ensemble is perceived gradually. Each monument lives its own life in it, each is deeply individual, and its beauty is revealed to the eye in parts, without violating the unity of the impression.
Above the steep slope of the sacred hill, the architect Mnesicles erected the famous white marble buildings of the Propylaea - the solemn entrance to the Acropolis, with Doric porticoes located at different levels, connected by an Ionic colonnade. Striking the imagination, the majestic harmony of the Propylaea immediately introduced the visitor to the world of beauty, affirmed by human genius. On the other side of the Propylaea stood on the square of the Acropolis a giant bronze statue of Athena Promachos, Athena the Warrior, sculpted by Phidias. The fearless daughter of Zeus personified the military power and glory of her city. From the foot of the statue, vast distances opened up to the gaze, and the sailors, rounding the southern tip of Attica, clearly saw the high helmet and spear of the warrior goddess sparkling in the sun.
Beyond the square rose the columns of the Parthenon, the great temple, under whose shadow once stood another statue of Athena, also sculpted by Phidias: the statue of Athena the Virgin, Athena Parthenos. Like the Olympian Zeus, it was a chrysoelephantine statue, that is, made of gold and ivory. About 1200 kg of precious metal went into its manufacture. Today, only the testimonies of ancient authors, a reduced copy that has survived to this day, and coins and medallions with the image of Athena give us an idea of \u200b\u200bthis masterpiece of Phidias.
The columns of the Parthenon, which once shone with the whiteness of Pentelicon marble, seem to have been covered with a noble patina over the past centuries. Painted in brownish-gold tones, they stand out in relief against the blue sky. The Parthenon was the temple of Athena Polias (Guardian of the City) and was usually called simply "Temple" or "Great Temple".
The Parthenon was built in 447-438. BC. architects Iktin and Kallikrat under the general direction of Phidias. In agreement with Pericles, he wished to embody the idea of a triumphant democracy in this most important monument of the Acropolis. The design of the temple was carefully thought out. The book about the work of Iktin and his assistant Catlikrates is unfortunately lost, but the very fact of its existence points to a large preliminary theoretical work. This largely explains the speed of construction, which, according to Plutarch, bordered on a miracle: the temple was built in just 9 years. Finishing work continued until 432 BC.
The pinnacle of ancient architecture, the Parthenon was already recognized in antiquity as the most remarkable monument of the Doric style. It is almost impossible to notice with the naked eye that in its appearance ... there are practically no straight lines. The columns of the Parthenon (eight on the facades and seventeen on the sides) are slightly tilted inward with a slight convex curvature of the basement and ceiling horizontals. These deviations from the canon, which are barely perceptible to the eye, are of decisive importance. Without changing its basic laws, the heavy Doric order here acquires an unconstrained elegance, which creates a powerful architectural image of impeccable clarity and purity.
The Erechtheion is the second most important monument of the Acropolis. In ancient times, it was the main temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. And if the Parthenon was assigned the role of a public temple, then the Erechtheion is rather a priestly temple. Here the main sacraments related to the worship of Athena were performed, and an ancient statue of this goddess was kept here.
All the main shrines of Athens were concentrated within the walls of the Erechtheion. The temple itself was built on the site of the legendary dispute between Athena and Poseidon for power over Athens. According to legend, the gods gave the right to resolve this dispute to the elders of Athens. The judges decided to give the victory to that of the gods, whose gift would be more valuable to the city. Poseidon struck with his trident and a salt spring gushed out of the slope of the Acropolis. Athena struck with a spear - and an olive tree grew on the Acropolis. This gift seemed more useful to the Athenians. Thus, Athena emerged victorious in the dispute, and the olive tree became the symbol of the city.
In one of the halls of the Erechtheion one could see the trace left by the trident of Poseidon on the rock during his dispute with Athena. Since this shrine was always to be in the open air, openings were made in the ceiling of the portico, which have survived to this day. Nearby was the entrance to a cave located under the temple, where the sacred snake of the goddess Athena lived, which was considered the personification of the legendary king and hero, the patron of Athens Erechtheus (or Erichthonius - these two mythological heroes are sometimes separated, sometimes identified), after which the temple got its name.
Under the northern portico of the temple, the tomb of Erechtheus was preserved, and in the western part - a well with salt water. He was considered the very source that Poseidon created, and. according to legend, communicated with the sea. In front of the Erechtheion, since ancient times, a sacred olive tree grew, which grew from the blow of the spear of the goddess Athena, and in the corner near the western facade of the temple there was Kekropeyon - the tomb and sanctuary of the legendary Kekrops, the first king of Attica. Today, the world-famous portico of caryatids, the architectural symbol of the Erechtheion, rises above it. There is an assumption that the prototypes of the caryatids of the Erechtheion were the harrephors - the servants of the cult of Athena, who were elected from the best families of Athens. Their functions included the manufacture of a sacred peplos, in which the ancient statue of Athena, kept in the Erechtheion, was annually dressed up.
The goddess Athena appears on the Acropolis and in another of her incarnations - Athena Nike, the goddess of victory. The first sanctuary of Nike on the Acropolis was destroyed by the Persians during the Greco-Persian Wars. In 448 BC, on the occasion of the peace that ended the war with the Persians. it was decided to build a new temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis, or, as it was also called, the temple of “Wingless Victory”: although the goddess of victory, Nike, was always depicted as winged, Athena the Victorious could not, and should not have had wings.
The Propylaea and the temple of Athena Nike, standing nearby, complemented each other. Their architectural connection created a unique ensemble of the entrance to the sacred rock of the Acropolis. The temple was built by the architect Callicrates in 427-424. BC. This graceful small building, built of marble, has dimensions of 5.6 × 8.3 m. In front of the temple of Athena Nike, there was an open-air altar intended for sacrifices.
During the Turkish rule, the temple of Nike was dismantled and used to build fortifications. In the 1830s, after Greece gained independence, the Turkish fortification was carefully dismantled, and the Temple of Nike was rebuilt. In 1935-1940. it was reconstructed again, and now it appears in all its glory - of course, adjusted for the all-destroying effect of time. And, as you know, it is inexorable, and today the monuments of the Acropolis, which survived wars, perestroika and human vandalism, are exposed to man-made dangers: for several decades, acid rain and poisonous smog have corroded the white marble of ancient temples. There are many plans to save the Acropolis, but so far none of them have been implemented, so the restorers will probably not be out of work for a long time.
