Diet Coke, breakfast sausage with a side of Acropolises. Wow!!!
The girls made it to breakfast with about 8 minutes to spare before we had to meet our guide for a walking tour of Athens. Somehow the managed to get the necessary coffee and croissants 🥐 consumed in that time frame and we all arrived in the lobby ready to go.
Our first stop was the Greek House of Parliament to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown solider. The guard is changed every hour. The tomb is guarded by Evzones of the Presidential guard. The figure in the middle is a naked man holding a round Greek shield in his left hand and a classic green helmet. The left and right side have the names and location of major battle where Greek soliders lost their lives.
The guard is expected to look perfect. The vest is all hand made. They are expected to stand at attention and essentially not more for 1 hour.
The guard changing.
One more view
After the guard change we walked past the National Gardens, one of the few large green spaces in the city of Athens.
Narional Gardens entrance.
From the gardens we journeyed on to our next stop which was the Arch of Hadrian. It marked the transition from ancient Athens to Hadrianopolis (New Roman city). On one side of the arch is the inscription, “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus.” The opposite side reads, “This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus.”
The Arch of Hadrian.
The Arch of Hadrian and a column from the Temple of Olympian Zeus in the background.
From here we turn and began our journey to the Acropolis.
The streets of Athens
Neoclassical Greek Balcony. Small and supported by Marble
The Lysikrate’s monument on the street of tripods.
The street of tripods connected the ancient Agora with the Sanctuary and Theater of Dionysus. Tripods were prizes awards to sponsors by the city for their victory in dithyrambic contest. The above monument was established in 334/335 B.C.
The remnants of the Sanctuary or Dionysus.
The remnants of the Sanctuary or Dionysus.
The Theater of Dionysus. It could hold 17,000 people back in the day.
Another view of the Theater of Dionysus
Asklepieion of Athens it just past the Theater of Dionysus. The temple is in honor of the god Asclepius, the healer. He had the power to bring people back from the dead which made him unpopular with Hades.
Ancient Greek would come here with their ailments seeking treatment.
The Stoa of Eumenes sits between the Theater of Dionysus and the Odelon of Herodes Atticus.
Odelon of Herodes Atticus.
The capacity is around 5,000. It was once covered with a roof of Lebanese Cedar. It was constructed in 161 AD. It is still rocking to this day. Yanni live at the Acropolis was filmed here. Elton John performed here during his Medusa tour. Mayt next we will see Trampled by Turtles here?
Once we moved past the Odelon of Herodes Atticus we start to enter the Acropolis itself.
Entering the main gate of the Acropolis from the west.
The columns of the Propylaia
Looking back down half way up the entrance.
Coming up the steps the Propylaia is imposing in its size
One more view of the Propylaia.
The Propylaia was built around 432-437 BC. I don’t think my pictures do this structure justice.
On the right of the Propylaia is the Temple of Athena Nike. The temple was built in 420 BC and was the first completed temple on the Acropolis. Nike, the winged goddess of victory and Athena were worshiped in this form. Nike is often depicted as winged meaning that victory was fleeting but in Athena she is often depicted without her wings to demonstrate the superiority of the Athenians.
If you want a lot more detail. One of my great friends, Peter Schultz aka Trigger wrote this paper.
The Temple of Athena Nike as seen from the Propylaia
You can see some of the frieze on the east side below the roof line.
The Athena Polias or Erechtheion
This building was found on the north side of the Acropolis. Check the columns out on the porch. They are Korai statues. We will see the originals in the Acropolis museum.
The Parthenon. Is Massive. This is the west side. Most of its destruction occurred when gunpowder stored within was ignited by a cannonball during a battle in 1687 the Turks were dug in on the summit. With a single cannonball. The marble was generally resistant to cannonball fire. Had the Turks not made the mistake of storing their gun powder in the Parthenon it might look very different today.
The Parthenon was built by order of Pericles in 495-429 BC and replaced an older temple to Athena. Phidias was charged with the sculptures while Ictinus and Callicrates were the architects.
Over the years since it’s construction It has been controlled by Christians and turned into a church. It has been controlled by Muslims and a mosque was built within its walls and the Nazi flew their flag during WW II. The details are fascinating and too much for this blog. I am afraid you may already be bored to tears. Let’s get to some pictures.
Parthenon
The Parthenon has survived Romans, Turks, Venetians but will it survive these 3.
The Erechtheion.
The porch of the Erechtheion with the Koria statues
200 year old olive tree next to the Erechtheion.
North side of the Erechtheion
Parthenon the eastern face
Hey look we are at the Parthenon
Inside, the Parthenon there once stood a 40 ft tall sculpture or Athena. A British lord chiseled out the frieze from multiple side of the Parthenon and some of the panel now live in the British Museum of Natural History.
The Nazi flag was raised in 1941 at the beginning of the Nazi occupation in Greece. The was taken down from by Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santos in one of the first acts of resistance.
Kari and I at the Parthenon
The Parthenon rocks
The Temple of Athena Nike again
One more family photo
We followed our guide back down the mountain to the Acropolis Museum. It was beautifully laid out to match the Acropolis above.
The Theater of Dionysus from above.
The ruins of Ancient Greece below the museum.
Model of the East sculptures as they would appear depicting the birth of Athena as a full grown women with armor from the head of Zeus. The small winged goddess Nike is preparing to place a laurel on her head. The other gods are shocked except Dionysus on the left who is looking away distracted by the party.
Athena versus Poseidon
Panels from the Friezes on the Parthenon, white are plaster replicas, the dark are original marble pieces, blank space are lost to antiquity.
The girls in front of the original Koria.
The Koria in all her glory.
A frieze the centaur killing a Thespian.
The detail on the Koria (front)
The Koria from the back
A sculpture of Socrates, I believe the child is supposed to represent a young Dionysus.
A hologram of what the 40 ft statue of Athena looked like with Nike in the right hand and a shield in the left.
Pottery given to the winner of the Athenian games
Pottery found at the site given during marriage ceremonies. The bigger the vase the richer the family.
Athena Nike sculpture
Athena Nike up close
We left the museum at around 1:30 completing our 4+ hour tour of the Acropolis. I could have stayed 4 more but our party was very satisfied with our experience. The most surprising thing to me was that all these building would have been painted with bright colors to accent the sculptures and enhance the story.
The girls and our guide.
After this we stopped for lunch.
A beer
Grilled octopus
Chicken Gyros
After lunch we returned to the hotel to regroup. What happens next will have to be another blog post. This may be the first midday cliffhanger in the history of Anseth Family Adventures……
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