Athens
Well, we completed our island hopping, and have headed back to Athens.
We spent two days here walking around the city, enjoying what it has to offer.
Temple of Olympian Zeus
This temple took almost 700 years to complete. It was begun in 6th century BC by the Greeks, then lay abandoned, half built for centuries. Finally, Hadrian completed it in 131AD. This temple was dedicated to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods who lived on Mount Olympus. At one time it contained two statues, a statue of Zeus (ruler of the gods) and one of Hadrian (ruler of the Greeks).
The columns are 56 feet high (compared to the 34 feet high columns of the Parthenon).
The finished temple was 360 feet by 145 feet.
Hadrian's Arch
This arch marks the entrance to Hadrian's planned community, Hadrainopolis. Hadrian built the arch in 132AD to mark the line between the Greek and Roman Athens. An inscription on the west side reads, "This is Athens, ancient city of Theseus."
Acropolis
Of course, Roger and I do not go the typical route to anywhere,
so why would we go to the Acropolis on the most traveled route...
well, we wouldn't.
And what a wonderful, delightful walk we had.
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| Church of Agios Georgios of the Rock |
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| More cats posing for the camera. We are just amazed at all the cats around Athens. |
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| Yes, this is the path we chose to take to go to the Acropolis! |
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| Mount Lycabettus |
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| Church of the Metamorphosis |
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We are on top of Mars Hill (Areopagus), where Paul preached his famous
sermon about the identity of the "Unknown God." Acts 17
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| Erechtheion |
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
This is an ancient amphitheater built into the hillside below the Acropolis which was designed to seat 5000 and is still used today for performances. The Odeon was built in 161AD, by Herodes Atticus, in memory of his wife. Herodes was Greek with Roman citizenship. He was legendary as an orator and a friend of the famous Emperor, Hadrian.
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Propylaea
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This was the grand entrance gate of the Acropolis designed by the architect, Mnesicles. Pilgrims would make an annual trek through here for the Panathenaic Festival. The Propylaea was meant to look like a miniature Parthenon, becoming a compliment to it, structurally speaking.
Erechtheion
Constructed around 410BC, also designed by architect Mmesicles. This temple was more prestigious because it is where the Panathenaic parade ended and stood on one of the oldest sites on the hill, where the Mycenaeans had built their palace, centuries before. The stones in front of the Erechteion are part of that palace.
One of the entrances, the Porch of Caryatids, has six lady columns. These columns are made with features that are both functional and feminine. Pleated robes as fluting, fruit basket hat as the capital, and locks of hair as buttresses. There has been an olive tree in front of the Erechtheion, as seen in the picture below, on this spot for thousands of years. It marks the sacred place where Athena first planted one. Olive trees have been called “the gift of Athena to Athens.”
This is supposedly the spot where Athena and Poseidon fought it out for naming rights to the city. Poseidon threw his trident, which opened a gash in the earth to bring forth the gift of water. Athena won the contest by stabbing a rock with her spear. This sprouted the blessed olive tree that stood near the Porch.
Parthenon
I have dreamt of seeing the Parthenon since I was a little girl. One of my school projects, I created a replica of it out of popsicle sticks. I fell in love with this structure at a young age. As I stared at it, I could not take in that I was actually here, after all these years. What an incredibly blessed life I live.
The Parthenon was completed in 440 BC taking only a decade to complete. Supervised by Pheidias, the architects- Ictinus and Callicrates, and sculptors- Agoracritos and Alcamenes were responsible for this fine b. The Parthenon is full of optical illusions giving it a balanced feel. The steps arch several inches upward in the middle to compensate a sagging illusion were it straight. This also assists in draining the water. The columns tilt slightly inward to give the illusion of being straight.. It is for this reason it has withstood so many earthquakes. Also, the corner columns are a bit thicker than the others, or else they would have appeared smaller. And all the columns bulge slightly in the middle to give the appearance of bearing a lot of weight. Because of these optical illusions, the building appears to be all right angles and full of straight lines.
The crossbeam atop the eight columns on the East and West side was decorated with panels of relief carvings called metopes. The West side depicted the Athenians battling the Amazons, the legendary race of female warriors. Originally the Parthenon had 92 Doris style metopes designed by Phedias. One of the metopes used to depict Athena holding on to the Olive tree competing with Poseidon and his trident to be Athen’s patron god.
The east side, as pictured below, was the original entrance to the temple. Over the doorway, the triangular pediment depicted the central event in Athenian history- the birth of Athena, their patron goddess. The scene depicted the gods gathered at a banquet- Dionysus is the one reclining, looking like he is drunk. According to myth, Zeus got a headache and asked Hephaistos to relieve it. As the other gods looked on in astonishment, Hephaistos split Zeus’ head wide open, and - at the peak of the pediment- out rose Athena. These statues on the metopes had perfect anatomy and bulging muscles showing through their robes.
Views from the Acropolis over the city
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| Mount Lycabettus |
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| Temple of Olympian Zeus |
Views from our hotel
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| Sunset over Athens |
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| Parthenon lit up |
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| Lycabettus Hill alight |
Kalimera, Athens
Mount Lycabettus
This hill is a tourist destination and can be ascended by the Lycabettus Funicular, a funicular railway which climbs the hill from a lower terminus at Kolonaki (The railway station can be found at Aristippou street). Lycabettus appears in various legends. Popular stories suggest it was once the refuge of wolves, (lycos in Greek), which is possibly the origin of its name (means "the one [the hill] that is walked by wolves"). Mythologically, Lycabettus is credited to Athena, who created it when she dropped a limestone mountain she had been carrying from the Pallene peninsula for the construction of the Acropolis after the box holding Erichthoniuswas opened.
Watching the sunset from Mount Lycabettus
Kalinihxta (Good Night!)
We were going to travel within Greece mainland to visit several cities that we have known about throughout our lifetime, however, we decided to go on to Crete. We hope we will get back to visit those cities we missed one day. But even if we do not, we are truly happy!
Information on this post comes from Rick Steves, Wikipedia,
and tourist information on signs and brochures.
