The Parthenon
The Parthenon, dedicated by the Athenians to Athena Parthenos, the
patron of their city, is the most magnificent creation of Athenian
democracy at the height of its power. It is also the finest monument on
the Acropolis in terms of both conception and execution. Built between
447 and 438 BC, as part of the greater Periklean building project, this
so-called Periklean Parthenon (Parthenon III) replaced an earlier marble
temple (Parthenon II), begun after the victory at the battle of
Marathon at approximately 490 BC and destroyed by the Persians in 480
BC. This temple had replaced the very first Parthenon (Parthenon I) of
c. 570 BC. The Periklean Parthenon was designed by architects Iktinos
and Kallikrates, while the sculptor Pheidias supervised the entire
building program and conceived the temple's sculptural decoration and
chryselephantine statue of Athena.
Erechtheion
The elegant building known as the Erechtheion, on the north side of the
sacred rock of the Acropolis, was erected in 421-406 BC as a replacement
of an earlier temple dedicated to Athena Polias, the so-called ''Old
temple''. The name ''Erechtheion'', mentioned only by Pausanias (1, 26,
5), derives from Erechtheus, the mythical king of Athens, who was
worshipped there. Other texts refer to the building simply as ''temple''
or ''old temple''. The building owes its unusual shape to the
irregularity of the terrain - there is a three-metre difference in
height between the eastern and western parts - and the multiple cults it
was designed to accommodate. The eastern part of the building was
dedicated to Athena Polias, while the western part served the cult of
Poseidon-Erechtheus and held the altars of Hephaistus and Voutos,
brother of Erechtheus. This is where, according to the myth, Athena's
sacred snake lived. The sanctuary also contained the grave of Kekrops
and the traces of the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the
possession of the city of Athens.
Propylaea
The Propylaia of the Athenian Acropolis were built on the west side of
the hill, where the gate of the Mycenaean fortification once stood. The
first propylon, or gate, was constructed in the age of Peisistratos
(mid-sixth century BC), after the Acropolis had become a sanctuary
dedicated to Athena. A new propylon, built in 510-480 BC, was destroyed
by the Persians in 480 BC and repaired after the end of the Persian
Wars, during the fortification of the Acropolis by Themistokles and
Kimon. The monumental Propylaia admired by modern visitors were part of
the great Periklean building program. They were erected in 437-432 BC,
after the completion of the Parthenon, by architect Mnesikles. The
original building plan was particularly daring both in architectural and
artistic terms, but was never completed.
Temple of Athena Nike
The temple of Athena Nike stands at the southeast edge of the sacred
rock atop a bastion, which in Mycenaean times protected the entrance to
the Acropolis. The Classical temple, designed by architect Kallikrates
and built in 426-421 BC, succeeded earlier temples also dedicated to
Athena Nike. The first one of these, a mid-sixth century BC wooden
temple was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC. The eschara, the altar
believed to have supported the cult statue of the goddess, dates to this
period. Under Kimon, c. 468 BC, a small temple of tufa was erected
around the base of the statue and a new altar was built outside the
temple. The foundations of these early temples and altars are preserved
inside the bastion under the floor of the Classical structure. Pausanias
(1, 22, 4) refers to this temple as that of the Apteros Nike, or
Wingless Victory, and mentions that the cult statue of the goddess had
no wings so that she would never leave Athens. Apart from the cult of
Athena Nike other, earlier cults were also practiced on this site. On
the west side of the bastion was a Mycenaean double-apsed shrine and on
the east side, the pre-Classical shrines of the Graces and of Hekate
Epipyrgidia. The construction of the Classical temple of Athena Nike was
part of the Periklean building project. Several inscriptions, mostly
decrees of the city of Athens, provide information on this particular
part of the project.
Brauronion
The Brauronion, located just south of the Propylaia inside the sacred
enclosure of the Acropolis, was a shrine dedicated to Brauronian
Artemis, protector of women about to give birth and who had just given
birth. It probably functioned as an adjunct to the great sanctuary of
the goddess at Brauron, Attica. It was founded in the mid-sixth century
BC, possibly by Peisistratos, who was originally from the Brauron
region.
Temple of Rome and Augustus
The temple of Rome and Augustus was erected in the late first century BC
east of the Parthenon or of the Erechtheion. Several architectural
elements of the building were found east of the Parthenon and many more
were brought here after their discovery elsewhere. Nearby are the
irregular tufa foundations (approximately 10.50x13 metres) of a building
generally considered to be the Roman temple. Another theory, however,
based on the construction technique of these foundations and on
depictions of the Acropolis on Roman coins, places the temple east of
the Erechtheion.
Pedestal of Agrippa
The pedestal of Agrippa stands west of the Propylaia, directly opposite
the north wing and the so-called Pinakothiki, and is the same height as
the temple of Athena Nike to the south. Originally it was built in
honour of Eumenes II of Pergamon in 178 BC to commemorate his victory in
the chariot race of the Panathenaic games. Atop the pedestal was a
bronze quadriga (four-horse chariot) driven by Eumenes and his brother,
Attalos. This chariot was replaced by another in approximately 27 BC,
dedicated by the city of Athens to Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law of
Augustus, in gratitude for the odeion that he erected in the Agora. The
following inscription is still visible on the west side of the pedestal:
?The city (dedicates this) to Marcus Agrippa, son of Leukios, three
times consul and benefactor?. Below this inscription are the traces of
an earlier one, which probably referred to Eumenes and was erased.
Beule Gate
The Beul? gate, by
which the Acropolis is accessed today, stands to the west of the
Propylaia. It was built in the mid-third century AD as part of a program
to protect the sacred precinct, possibly after the destructive invasion
of the Herulians in 267 AD. Together with another gate located under
the tower of Athena Nike, it was built into a strong fortification wall
erected west of the Propylaia. The gate was named after the French
archaeologist who investigated this area in 1852.
Acropolis fortification wall
Because of its
geomorphology, the Acropolis has been a refuge since prehistoric times.
The first, so-called 'Cyclopean' wall, was built along the top of the
hill in the Mycenaean period, at approximately 1200 BC. Remains of this
wall are still visible to the southeast of the Propylaia, while its
course can be traced fairly accurately. A curved enclosure wall, the
co-called 'Pelargic' wall mentioned by Thucydides, was also built to the
northwest during this period. This wall had several doors, hence its
name 'enneapylon' (nine-doored). The main entrance to the fortress was
on the west side, next to a bastion, which later supported the temple of
Athena Nike. This Mycenaean wall remained in use with minor repairs and
changes until 480 BC, when it was severely damaged by the Persians.
Chalkotheke
East of the Brauronion and along the south wall of the Acropolis was the
Chalkotheke, an elongated building whose name and function are known
from ancient inscriptions. The building housed mainly the metal votive
offerings - weapons, statuettes and hydriae, dedicated on the Acropolis
and considered to belong to the goddess Athena. According to an edict of
the fourth century BC, all of the objects contained in the Chalkotheke
had to be listed on a stone stele to be erected in front of the
building. The Chalkotheke was erected in the fifth century BC, but was
enlarged and repaired in later years, as architectural elements found in
this area show. Interestingly, Pausanias does not mention the building,
possibly because it had no artistic or historical merit in his time.
Old temple of Athena
The earliest temple to Athena Polias on the Acropolis, called 'the Old
temple' in ancient literary sources, was located between the Erechtheion
and the Parthenon. It was probably built in the third quarter of the
sixth century BC, on the site of an earlier, Geometric temple and of the
even earlier Mycenaean palace. The Old temple was damaged by the
Persians in 480 BC, but was repaired soon after; parts of its
entablature were incorporated in the Acropolis fortification wall. The
temple was damaged again in 406 BC after the completion of the
Erechtheion and was never rebuilt. Traces of the temple's altar to
Athena are visible on the bedrock, east of the building.
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