Socrates, Plato, Demosthenes ;and the works of architects e. Iktinos, Kallikrates, Mnesikles and artists e. Pheidias, Agorakritus, Alkamenes. These monuments are the testimony of a precious part of the cultural heritage of humanity. The perfection of ancient building techniques ensured the resistance of the monuments to natural forces through time.
Despite the unavoidable damage of time, they still display their beauty and convey their inestimable artistic and historic value, preserving all the features that directly and tangibly associate them with the events and ideas of Democracy and Philosophy.
Inevitably, t he vicissitudes of history between the 5th century BC and our days have caused extensive damage that is being successfully addressed with the ongoing restoration and conservation works, which increase both the stability and the legibility of the monuments. The authenticity of the Acropolis hill, crowned with the masterpieces of Greek Classical art and architecture, is well preserved. In order to maintain the authenticity and structural integrity of the monuments, an integrated intervention begun in and continues today.
The works are based on clear theoretical and scholarly foundations, and follow the principles of the Venice Charter. The interventions are limited to the absolutely necessary and respect the ancient structural system, while remaining consistent with the principle of reversibility. Moreover, the techniques and the tools used for the restoration works are similar to those of the ancient craftspeople, while the white marble used for completing the eroded architectural elements is quarried from the same mountain as in antiquity Mt.
Therefore, the restorations are fully compatible with the original parts of the monuments. The Acropolis has been operating as an archaeological site since , shortly after the establishment of the modern Greek State. Moreover, the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs implements the legislative decrees concerning the safeguarding of the property and its peripheral zone which corresponds to the boundaries of the ancient city of Athens and its surroundings and ensures the visual integrity of the site.
Especially for the restoration, protection and monitoring of the property, an advisory body, the Committee for the Restoration and Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments, was founded in and is responsible for planning, directing and supervising the interventions.
The extensive research programme and the methodology implemented are innovative in this field and act as a reference point for other restoration projects. The financial resources for the works on the site are derived from the State budget as well as from European Union funds. Special attention has been paid to the accessibility of the site, to pathways and to visitor facilities, especially for disabled people. Furthermore, emergency plans for visitor security and scientific studies for the protection of the site, such as monitoring of earthquake activity, are being carried out.
By the middle of the 8th century B. It is likely that the first temple of Athena Polias was constructed in this period in order to house a wooden cult statue of the goddess. In the 2nd quarter of the 6th century B. Another monumental temple was built towards the end of the 6th century, and yet another was begun after the Athenian victory over the Persians at Marathon in B. However, the Acropolis was captured and destroyed by the Persians 10 years later in B.
Although the Athenians and other Greeks were eventually victorious over their eastern enemies, the Acropolis lay in ruins. In the mid-5th century, the Athenians were persuaded by the statesman Perikles to rebuild the temples on the Acropolis on a grand scale, and it is during the second half of the 5th century B. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many elaborate dedications were set up on the Acropolis by foreign non-Athenian rulers, general, and statesmen.
While still functioning as a religious center, the Acropolis, in a sense, became a kind of "museum" or "theater of memory" linking the "glory days" of Athens with the new powers of the Hellenistic and, later, Roman world. In A. Athens was invaded and partially destroyed by the Heruli from northern Europe. In the aftermath, a new fortification wall was built around the city, running from the Acropolis north to the Library of Hadrian, east for a few hundred meters, and then finally back south towards the North and East Slopes of the Acropolis.
The course of this "Post-Herulian" or Late Roman fortification wall is not completely known on the eastern side, and it is likely that they included part of the South Slope of the Acropolis as well. According to tradition, the city owes its survival to the heroic personal sacrifice of king Kordos. In subsequent years Athens was ruled not by one king but by a group of men, the Aristocrats.
Administrative functions moved away from the Acropolis towards other parts of the city where later the Agora developed. The Acropolis then became exclusively a place of worship and never hosted another ruler, partly because the new realities of city administration made it inconvenient, and partly because the Athenians wanted to eliminate all references to a monarchy.
History of the Acropolis Geography The Acropolis rock is part of a Late Cretaceous limestone ridge Higgins that cuts through the Attica plateau in the northeast to the southwest axis and includes the Likavitos hill, the Philopappos Museum hill, the hill of the Nymphs, and the Pnyx. Prehistoric Era While the area around Attica was inhabited during the Upper Paleolithic period — BCE , archaeological evidence suggests that the small caves around the Acropolis rock and the Klepsythra spring were in use during the Neolithic Period BCE.
The founder of the Athenian democracy, Pericles, was the one who rebuilt it under the form it has kept until today. He made it into a city of Temples, and, as everything else created at that period, turned it to the ultimate achievement in terms of classical Greek architecture and sculpting. The Acropolis in Athens has, since then, been through a lot, and its remains reflect each and every period of the city. The Parthenon was turned into a church dedicated to Agia Sofia by the Christians of Byzantium, while the domination of the Franks in turned the hill into a fortress and residence for the noble Franks.
The Ottoman occupation of the 15th century turned the building into a mosque. When Greece finally became independent from the Turkish occupation, the conservation of the monuments became a task of major importance, and it has remained so until today. View more tours. This monument is the symbol of the Ancient Greek civilization. It is the most important monument until today. It was dedicated to the patron goddess of the city, Athena since Parthenon means also the apartment of the virgin.
Athena was the goddess of wisdom, war and also a virgin. The Parthenon is located on the top of the Acropolis hill. It was created between and B. The famous Athenian sculptor Phidias was the supervisor of the whole project, which is a fine example of the Doric architectural style. It is made of Pentelic marble and is made of 8 Doric columns on each of the narrow sides and 17 columns on each of the long side. The most amazing fact about this perfect achievement is that its columns are made in a zigzag to give the impression that its foundations are straight.
Its central part used to have a pool of water and to shelter a 40 feet high statue of Athena, made of gold and ivory. The combination of Doric metopes and the Ionic frieze on the walls are considered unique masterpieces. On the east side, the metopes depict the fight of the Gods against the Giants and on the east side the Lapith battle against the Centaurs.
The south side shows the triumph of the Greeks against the Amazons and the north the victory of the Athenian on the Trojans. The frieze that covers the sides of the temple depicts the most important religious festival in Ancient Greece, the Panathenaea. The designs include the figure of Gods, animals, and more than humans.
The two pediments of the temple show the birth of Athena and the fight between her and Poseidon for the name of the city. The temple suffered many transformations, while its final destruction happened in the 19th century: the British ambassador in Constantinople, Lord Elgin, stole its decorations and sold them to the British Museum where they can still be seen.
This Temple is located in the most sacred part of the whole sacred hill. That side of the Acropolis was indeed the sanctuary where all the cults and ceremonies of Poseidon and Athena were taking place. It took its name after Poseidon killed Erechtonius, a mythical king who had the body of a snake. The temple was a part of Pericles project and is located on the northern side of the Parthenon. It is an amazing example of the Ionic architecture, composed of three different dimensions basic parts which are the main temple, the northern and the southern porches.
The two parts of the main temple are respectively dedicated to Athena and Poseidon. The northern porch of six columns leads to the Temenos of Pandrossos, the place where the sacred gift of Athena to the city, the olive tree, grew. The northern porch of the temple is the most famous since it is the one with the Caryatids, the six women replacing the columns that support the marble roof.
The Caryatids were sculpted after some beautiful young models that were women from Karyes, a village of Lakonia. This little temple was built between BC from a design of the architect Kallikrates. It is perched on a platform on the south-west edge of the Acropolis and is also closed to visitors.
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