Panoramio, Volkoff Aleksey

The Athenian Acropolis (Greek: Ακρόπολη Αθηνών) is an acropolis in the city of Athens, a 156-meter rocky hill with a gently sloping summit (about 300 m long and 170 m wide). The first fortifications on the rocky spur measuring 300 m by 130 m, rising on the outskirts of Athens, appeared long before the classical period. As early as archaic times, majestic temples, sculptures, and various cult objects were located here. The Acropolis is also called “Cecropia” (Cecropia) or “Kekrops” (Kekrops) — in honor of Cecrops, who according to legend was the first king of Athens and the founder of the Acropolis.[1] In the Mycenaean period (15th—13th centuries BC) it was a fortified royal residence. In the 7th—6th centuries BC, extensive construction took place on the Acropolis. Under the tyrant Peisistratos (560—527 BC), on the site of the royal palace, the Temple of Athena Hekatompedon was built (that is, a temple one hundred steps long; fragments of the pediment sculptures have survived, and the foundation has been identified). In 480 BC.

Flickr, Alex Sabiroff

The Erechtheion (ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον — the temple of Erechtheus) is an outstanding monument of ancient Greek architecture, one of the main temples of ancient Athens, located on the Acropolis north of the Parthenon. The building dates from 421—406 BC. It was built in the Ionic order. The temple is dedicated to Athena, Poseidon, and the legendary Athenian king Erechtheus. Begun after the death of Pericles — around 421 BC, the Erechtheion was built in difficult circumstances and was completed on the eve of the fall of Athens in 406 BC. It stood on the site of the mythical dispute between Athena and Poseidon for possession of Attica. The temple was a kind of repository for the most important relics of the polis. This function passed to it from the archaic Hekatompedon, most likely built under Peisistratos and destroyed during the Greco-Persian Wars. It housed the wooden idol of Athena, fallen from heaven, a statue of Hermes brought by Cecrops, the golden lamp of Callimachus, which burned all the time, although oil was poured into it only once a year.

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Hekatompedon is the oldest temple of the Athenian Acropolis, dedicated to the goddess Athena, the ancient predecessor of the Parthenon. Built in the middle of the 6th century BC during the reign of Peisistratos, within the territory of the even more ancient Mycenaean royal palace dating to about the 14th century BC, the temple stood opposite the Propylaea. The temple received its conventional name because of the size of the cella — 32.8 m (that is, 100 feet) by 16.4 m (respectively 50 feet). Εκατόμπεδος literally translates as one hundred feet long. The ruins of the temple were discovered during excavations in the 19th century by the German archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld: the bases of two megaron columns have survived. At the end of the 19th century, sculptures of this temple's pedimental compositions were also discovered. The subjects of the images were borrowed from ancient Greek mythology. The left metope depicts Heracles fighting a sea monster, a half-man, half-fish, huge scaly Triton.

Flickr, Kyri Sarantakos

The Parthenon (ancient Greek: Παρθενών — virgin; pure) is a monument of ancient architecture, an ancient Greek temple located on the Athenian Acropolis, the main temple in ancient Athens, dedicated to the patroness of this city and all of Attica, the Virgin goddess Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ Παρθένος). It was built in 447—438 BC by the architect Callicrates to the design of Ictinus and decorated in 438—431 BC under the direction of Phidias during the rule of Pericles. At present it is in a semi-ruined state, and restoration work is underway. A huge number of architectural elements of ancient structures and their foundations have been preserved on the Acropolis. The question of attributing them to one or another structure known from the sources is, as a rule, disputed. The first temple to Athena known in modern times, whose existence is recognized by the majority of scholars worldwide, was probably built on the Acropolis under Peisistratos. It was called, like the naos of the modern Parthenon later, Hekatompedon (that is, one hundred feet long).

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Chalkotheke (Χαλκοθήκη) is a special building on the Athenian Acropolis, with an opisthodomos (inner room), belonging to the Parthenon and serving as a storage place for sacrificial utensils and weapons. Here were kept, among other things, shields, cuirasses, spears, greaves, catapults, and other projectile weapons belonging to the city; weapons taken from the enemy at various times were also stored here. In the topography of Athens, it is placed by some in the southeastern corner of the Acropolis, by others (Dörffeld) west of the Parthenon, on the southern edge of the plateau, and by still others in its northern part, closer to the western corner.

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The Statue of Athena Promachos (Athena the Warrior, ancient Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόμαχος) is a huge bronze statue by Phidias on the Athenian Acropolis. The statue was erected in 465—455 BC. It stood on a high pedestal between the Erechtheion and the Parthenon. Athena was depicted in a helmet, with a shield and a spear, and the helmet and the spearhead were golden. That is why sailors approaching Athens saw from afar the gold glittering in the sun. In other words, Athena served as a 'beacon'.

Flickr, RandallWorld

Propylaea (ancient Greek: προπύλαιον, from ancient Greek προ — before and ancient Greek πύλαι — gates) is a ceremonial passage or entranceway formed by porticoes and colonnades[1], arranged symmetrically along the axis of movement toward some site (primarily a sacred one; later — into an architectural ensemble or a palace-and-park complex)[2]. The most common are propylaea formed by two walls enclosing the passage on the sides, and one transverse wall with openings crossing the passage approximately in the middle of its length; with colonnades on both facades. They are characteristic of the architecture of Ancient Greece (already known in the era of Aegean culture). An outstanding architectural monument is the famous Propylaea framing the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens (437—432 BC). Later, at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, architects of classicism turned to this type of structure, in particular this was reflected in the form of triumphal gates[3]. In the second half of the 19th century and in the 20th century.

Flickr, photosmr

The Temple of Nike Apteros (that is, wingless victory) is an ancient Greek temple on the Athenian Acropolis, located to the southwest of the Propylaea and standing on a pyrgos — a small rocky projection reinforced by an eight-meter retaining wall[1]. It was built by Callicrates in 427—421 BC according to a design of 450 BC. The temple is dedicated to Athena Nike (ancient Greek: Αθηνᾶ Νίκη — Athena the Victorious). The structure is an amphiprostyle with two Ionic porticoes of four columns each. The stylobate has three steps. The continuous Ionic frieze depicted episodes of the Greco-Persian Wars and the gods Athena, Poseidon, and Zeus. The temple is made of marble. Inside stood a statue of Athena holding a helmet in one hand, and in the other a pomegranate — a symbol of victorious peace.

Flickr, Specimen plants

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Herodion (Greek: Ωδείο Ηρώδου του Αττικού) is located on the southern slope of the Acropolis. Herodes Atticus built it in 165 AD in honor of his deceased wife Regilla. The odeon has the classical form of an ancient theater with 5000 seats, in which almost everything from the time of construction has survived to this day, with the exception of the statues in the niches and the multicolored marble cladding. You can enter only during concerts and performances by paying for a ticket. The marble cladding of the audience seats and the stage was restored in the 1950s. Since then, the Odeon has been one of the main performance venues of the annual Athens Festival, which takes place in the capital of Greece from June to September. Maria Callas, the Bolshoi Ballet, Mikis Theodorakis, Nikos Portokaloglou, and many others have performed on the Odeon's stage.

Flickr, wgauthier

The Asklepieion (ancient Greek: Ἀσκληπιεῖον, Latin Aesculapium) is an ancient Greek temple dedicated to Asclepius, the god of medicine. Asklepieia were not only cult structures, but also places of healing. They had a significant influence on the development of medicine in Ancient Greece. The priests of Asclepius, the Asclepiads, were engaged in the treatment of the sick. In the initial stages, it consisted of performing certain rituals. The sick person had to spend the night in the Asklepieion, after which he would tell his dreams to the priest-Asclepiad. Based on the dream, treatment was prescribed[1]. It was also the duty of the priests to compile tablets describing the course of the illness and the therapeutic measures undertaken that led to the desired result. Thus, the Asclepiads contributed to the accumulation of medical knowledge in the temples of Asclepius, the god of medicine. About 300 Asklepieia are known to have existed. The most famous were the Asklepieia of Kos, Knidos, and Epidaurus.

Flickr, Svetlana Babadzhan

The Theatre of Dionysus is an ancient theatrical building in the city of Athens (Greece). The Theatre of Dionysus is located on the southeastern slope of the Acropolis hill and is among the oldest theaters in the world. The theater was built in the 5th century BC and was wooden. Performances in the theater took place twice a year — during the Lesser Dionysia and the Greater Dionysia. During the Greater Dionysia, theatrical competitions were held in Athens. Usually three tragedians competed. Each of the participants staged three tragedies and one satyr drama, which playfully reworked a mythological plot. Authors of comedies also competed, staging one play each. The results were recorded in special inscriptions - didascaliae, which were kept in the Athenian state archive. Overall supervision of the theatrical spectacles was exercised by the Athenian archon. Around 326-325 BC, the theater was reconstructed: the wooden stage and the rows of seats were replaced with marble. The stone seats were arranged in 67 rows, reaching the base of the Acropolis.

Flickr, slmblue3

Temenos (ancient Greek: τέμενος) is a sacred area dedicated to a particular deity. It was believed that, while in the Temenos, a person could feel the presence of this deity. The concept of the Temenos arose in the classical culture of the Mediterranean, primarily in ancient Greek religion, as a section of a temple intended for the worship of the gods. Some ancient authors use this term to denote the Sacred Grove[1], isolated from everyday urban life, while at the same time other authors describe the Temenos as a place in the very center of the city, not far from the agora, which was part of temples[2]. The most vivid example of a Bronze Age Temenos is the Minoan sanctuary of the Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete, Greece. The palace temple had a massive temenos in the northern part[3]. Another example is the Temenos of Zeus and Apollo at Olympia. Temenoi were also widespread in the ancient Greek colonies, in particular in the poleis of the Northern Black Sea region.