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The Acropolis of Athens |
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The Acropolis of Athens |
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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.
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