The Acropolis is the highest hill in the city of Athens. In ancient times it was the religious center of Athens.

The Acropolis rises 260 feet above the bustling city of Athens. Every city-state in ancient times had an Acropolis, which was the tallest hill in the city, and was where important temples were built.

During the Golden Age (or early Classical Period) in Greece, the ruler of Athens, Pericles, decided to make the Acropolis of Athens the most beautiful in all of Greece. He hired all of the best architects and artists and set them to work. He wanted the Acropolis to reflect the power and beauty of its city, Athens. Only priests and special people were actually allowed to go into the temple.

The Parthenon was the most impressive temple on the Acropolis. It was a temple to Athena, and it's name is derived from Athena Parthenos, which means Athena the Maiden. The two architects that designed it were Ictinus and Callicrates, and it took fourteen years to build.

The Parthenon is 228 feet long, 101 feet wide, and 65 feet high. Initially the Parthenon had a wooden roof covered with clay tiles, but the roof was ruined in the 17^th century. Seventeen fluted columns on the longer sides and eight on the shorter side used to support the roof.

Optical Illusions

Fluting in the columns catches shadow and made the columns look slim and elegant. The columns were intentionally designed to bulge slightly outward. This is called entasis. If they had been made perfectly straight it would look like they were leaning inwards. Now it looks like the columns are straight. The stairs leading up to the front of the Parthenon are slightly taller in the middle than on the sides. If the stairs had been made completely level it would look like the temple and stairway sag in the middle. The columns also have a golden glow at dusk and dawn because the marble is full of streaks of iron.

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Decoration of the Parthenon

The temple is decorated with relief figures, and free-standing sculptures, that were built and designed by Phidias. The relief is a band of carved marble that runs around the top of the outer walls of the temple; this is called a frieze. It is 520 feet long and portrays a march of young Athenian men leading sheep and cows to be sacrificed to Athena. Some of them are on horseback. It takes place at the finishing ceremonies of the pan- Hellenic games. There are also maidens and government magistrates and in once part a group of sitting Olympic gods are watching the figures.

Triangular pediments on the front and back gables of the temple are adorned with free-standing sculptures. The figures over the main entrance show the birth of Athena and the ones on the back show the contest between Athena and Poseidon.

Inside the temple was a magnificent statue of Athena made of a wooden core with gold plating on the outside.

Decorations on the Parthenon.

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Other Structures of the Acropolis

On the Acropolis, not only is there the Parthenon but many other Structures. The Erectheum was a temple built on the north side of the Acropolis. It was named after Erectheus who was a legendary ancestor of the Mycenaean kings of the city. The columns were ionic, but on the sought side of the temple there is the small Porch of the maidens, where Caryatids hold up the roof. Caryatids are carved marble female figures.

There was also a small temple to Athena Nike who was the goddess of victory. It was built to honor the Greek victory over the Persians. A frieze on the outer wall shows a battle between the Greeks and Persians from the Persian Wars.

The Propylaea is a ceremonial entrance way to the Acropolis. The columns are an odd mixture of Doric and Ionic marble columns, and the stone changes color during the day. It changes from gold and honey in the small hours, and rose and gray near dusk.

Near the Propylaea was a large bronze statue of Athena.

At the bottom of the Acropolis was a town and another temple to the God Hephaestus. There was also a theater near the bottom.

History of the Acropolis

499 B.C. Pericles is chosen as Commander in Chief for Athens. Pericles was an outstanding ruler and he was determined to leave a mark on the city. He made many changes to make living in Athens easier, but also many concerning the Acropolis. Pericles wanted the Acropolis to reflect the power and beauty of it's city, Athens. Under his watch lavish temples and structures were built on the Acropolis. This was the last and most important phase for building up the Parthenon.

146 B.C. Romans invaded Greece. Many Roman rulers had a great love for Athens and some repaired things that had been ruined before.

267 A.D. Masses of Herouloi crossed the Aegean and attacked Athens and destroyed it ruthlessly.

400 A.D. At this time a recovery began from the sacking.

529 A.D. The temples were turned into churches and the Parthenon became a church to Aghia Sophia (divine wisdom), and the Erectheum also became a church. It is unknown to whom, though.

1000 A.D. Basil II visits the Acropolis and gives gifts to Athena and fixes the Parthenon.

1205 A.D. Franks are in control of Athens. The Acropolis became a fortress again after 2000 years. The Parthenon was a cathedral church, the Notre Dame d'Athenes at this time.

1456 A.D. Turks captured Athens and the Parthenon became a mosque.

1687 A.D. The Parthenon was destroyed by the Venetians while they were trying to take sculptures from the Parthenon.

1815 Decorations taken from the Parthenon and other buildings of the Acropolis by Lord Elgin are sold to the British Museum.

1827 During the war between the Turks part of the Erectheum was destroyed and Athens taken over by the Turks. After the war the temples that were ruined were fixed.

1894 An earthquake brought scholars to Athens and from then on restorations have been made for structures on the Acropolis. There are still restorations going on now.

Present Day In 1975 the Ministry of Culture decided to set up a Working Party to study the problems and ways of take care of the monuments of the Acropolis. It has specialized scientists and ministerial representatives who started their study with the Erectheum, which had the most problems. In 1977 the real Caryatids were put into the Athens museum and fake ones held the Erectheum.

There are threats to the ancient buildings on the Acropolis. Pieces of the building frequently fall because of the placement of metal rods that hold it together, and the outer layer of the marble disintegrates because of the swell of sulphur in the air.

I really enjoyed the museum because of all of the interesting sculptures. I was amazed because some of them still had color on them and were very intact. One of these that I thought that looked comical was one of a three-bodied demon. Traces of its black beard can still be seen.

I also thought that the skill in some of the sculptures were wonderful. My favorite particular piece was a beautiful sculpture of a dog crouching.

Along with the dog the most striking sculptures were the huge lionesses. Two lionesses crouch and are attacking two bulls.

One of the two lions.

I thought that the Parthenon was an amazing place. YouÕre in this big city and in the middle of the city is a big chunk of country with ruins. We even found an endangered tortoise in the middle of the sight.

I found it amazing to experience what I had been hearing about all my life in school. Everything felt familiar because I had learned about it before. The views were not very impressive because of the numerous apartment buildings that took away the pleasant appearance.

But in the distance some mountains can be seen and if you could imagine that all of the apartment buildings are gone it's quite easy to see what it would have looked like in Ancient times. The mountain was appealing and made it look slightly strange with miles of apartments and then a vast mountain. It was quite an interesting sight if not beautiful.

Even though I knew before that the sight was very important, if I hadn't ever heard about it before I'd quickly realize how significant it is. There were so many kinds of different people there. I recognized German, English, American, Japanese, Chinese, and IÕm sure there were many others. It wasnÕt even tourist season and there were plenty of tourists there!

This was an amazing place and I can really appreciate the site now that I've been there and actually seen it.