9.8: Our last day: the Parthenon and Plaka

Our tour guide today was Nina; she was very knowledgeable.

We went for a bus tour and she showed us the Gates of Hadrian

First stadium of modern Olympic s which was built in 1986. It’s the only Olympic stadium made of marble

Acropolis was the area of the gods built in 5th BC. The buildings did not actually have horizontal steps, but they actually curve up a bit toward the center of the building. The building columns also lean toward the center, so if the lines were taken up to the sky, they would all meet like a pyramid.

The Parthenon, the largest and most sacred, was dedicated to Athena, the virgin. 8x17 column temple, Doric style.

Amphitheater, odeon of herodes used for musical concerts which is still used! Holds 5000 spectators. It was built in 2nd century AD and used to have a wooden roof.

Buildings in Athens are required to be low so as to not block the acropolis and show respect for the ancient ruins.

Paul preached from this rock (Mars) and his words are found in the Acts of the Apostles.

Agora with only 1 remaining temple dedicated to the god Hephaestus (the god of fire) and then converted to honor St. George.

Entrance gate was made to look like a temple so as to prepare those entering to act respectfully. It is called Propylaea (entrance to the Acropolis)

Restored temple was dedicated to Athena Nike (victorious Athena).

Smaller temple was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon to help unify the two gods who fought to name the city. The smaller temples had 6x13 columns.

The Dionysus theater from 6th BC

Tortoise!

There used to be a very small Parthenon museum near the Acropolis but they decided to build a bigger one to house all the artifacts. When digging the foundation they found city remains and built the museum atop of those.

A recreation of the east and west peaks of the Parthenon roof.

The real statues from Athena’s temple!

This was a waterspout on one of the corners of the roof. If you look closely (2 pics up) you may be able to make it out...

Models throughout the years

Then we went to plaka, the modern day agora! Agora was basically a market and it is the root for agoraphobic (fear of crowds) because it was always crowded! The ruins are below