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Acropolis part 9 my first time Macron visit Athens

Acropolis part 9 my first time
2017 after a trip to Naxos island

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On the first day of his visit the French President will meet
 the President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos 
and afterwards the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
 At 7pm Macron and Tsipras will go to ancient site Pnyx,
 the Athens hill that is considered to be the birthplace of democracy,
 where Macron is expected to urge fellow Europeans to deal 
with the democratic crisis he believes the continent faces, 
according to his aides. As was the case with the ex President
 of the USA Barrack Obama - who chose to address the world 
with the farewell speech of his career from the Acropolis - the symbolism 
of ancient monuments of the country were democracy was born is heavy.





Acropolis,Visiting Acropolis,Acropolis part 9,Macron visit Acropolis,Macron visit Athens

Visiting Acropolis part 8 Propylaea my first time

Acropolis part 8 my first time
Propylaea
2017 after a trip to Naxos island

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The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis of Athens,
and was one of several public works commissioned by the Athenian leader Pericles
in order to rebuild the Acropolis a generation after the conclusion of the Persian Wars.
Pericles appointed his friend Phidias as the supervisor
and lead architect of this massive project, which Pericles allegedly financed
with funds appropriated from the treasury of the Delian League.
According to Plutarch, the Propylaea was designed by the architect Mnesikles,
about whom nothing else is known.
Construction began in 437 BC and was terminated in 432,
when the building was still unfinished.

The Propylaea was constructed of white Pentelic marble and gray Eleusinian marble or limestone,
which was used only for accents. Structural iron was also used, though William Bell Dinsmoor
analyzed the structure and concluded that the iron weakened the building.
The structure consists of a central building with two adjoining wings
on the west (outer) side, one to the north and one to the south.

The core is the central building, which presents a standard six-columned
Doric façade both on the west to those entering the Acropolis
and on the east to those departing. The columns echo the proportions
(not the size) of the columns of the Parthenon.
There is no surviving evidence for sculpture in the pediments.

The central building contains the gate wall, about two-thirds of the way through it.
There are five gates in the wall, one for the central passageway,
which was not paved and lay along the natural level of the ground,
and two on either side at the level of the building's eastern porch,
five steps up from the level of the western portico.
The central passageway was the culmination of the Sacred Way,
which led to the Acropolis from Eleusis.

Entrance into the Acropolis was controlled by the Propylaea.
Though it was not built as a fortified structure,
it was important that people not ritually clean be denied access to the sanctuary.
In addition, runaway slaves and other miscreants could not be permitted
into the sanctuary where they could claim the protection of the gods.
The state treasury was also kept on the Acropolis, making its security important.

The gate wall and the eastern (inner) portion of the building sit
at a level five steps above the western portion, and the roof of the central building
rose on the same line. The ceiling in the eastern part of the central building
was famous in antiquity, having been called by Pausanias (about 600 years
after the building was finished) "...down to the present day unrivaled."
It consisted of marble blocks carved in the shape of ceiling coffers and painted blue with gold stars.

Acropolis,Visiting Acropolis,Acropolis part 8,Propylaea

Visiting Acropolis part 7 North view of Athens, Lycabettus Hill ,Strefi Hill ,my first time

Visiting Acropolis part 7 North view of Athens Lycabettus Hill ,Strefi Hill my first time
Acropolis part 6 my first time at Parthenon
2017 after a trip to Naxos island

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Mount Lycabettus (/ˌlaɪkəˈbɛtəs/), also known as Lycabettos,
Lykabettos or Lykavittos (Greek: Λυκαβηττός, pronounced [likaviˈtos]),
is a Cretaceous limestone hill in Athens, Greece at 300 meters (908 feet) above sea level.
Pine trees cover its base, and at its two peaks are the 19th century
Chapel of St. George, a theatre, and a restaurant.

The name also refers to the residential neighbourhood
immediately below the east of the hill.

The 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").
Another etymology suggests a Pelasgian, pre-Mycenean, origin (Lucabetu=mastoid hill)[1].

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 Erichthonius was opened.

Strefi Hill (Greek: Λόφος Στρέφη) is a limestone hill
and urban natural park in the Greek capital of Athens.
It is located on the border of Neapoli neighborhood and Exarcheia,
northwest of mount Lykavittos[1]. Its earliest name was Aghesmos (Greek: Αγχεσμός).
It is approximately 150 meters above sea level
In the 19th and early 20th century, it belonged to the Strefis family,
which operated a stone quarry there until the 1920s.
After the quarry was closed and trees were planted, the area was opened to the public in 1938,
making it a popular destination for outings. In 1963,
the Strefis donated the hill to the city of Athens. Strefi Hill
offers lush vegetation, winding paths, and terraces with views of the Acropolis,
the city, and Lykavittos. On the hill there is a small open-air theater,
a basketball court, a playground, and a cafeteria.

North view of Athens,Lycabettus Hill,Strefi Hill,Acropolis,Visiting Acropolis,Acropolis part 7,Parthenon,Theatre of Dionysus

Visiting Acropolis part 6 South view of Athens, Acropolis Museum, Theatre of Dionysus, my first time

Visiting Acropolis part 6 South view of Athens Acropolis Museum Theatre of Dionysus  my first time
Acropolis part 6 my first time at Parthenon 
2017 after a trip to Naxos island

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The Theatre of Dionysus (or Theatre of Dionysos, gr: Θέατρο του Διονύσου)
 is an ancient theatre in Athens on the south slope of the Akropolis hill,
 built as part of the sanctuary of Dionysos Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator).
 The first orchestra terrace was constructed on the site around the mid- to late-sixth century BC, where it hosted the City Dionysia.
 The theatre reached its fullest extent in the fourth century BC
 under the epistates of Lycurgus when it would have had a capacity of up to 17,000,
 and was in continuous use down to the Roman period. 
The theatre then fell into decay in the Byzantine era and was not identified,
 excavated[and restored to its current condition until the nineteenth century.

The Acropolis Museum (Greek: Μουσείο Ακρόπολης, Mouseio Akropolis)
 is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site 
of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found
 on the rock and on the surrounding slopes, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman
 and Byzantine Greece. It also lies over the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens.

The museum was founded in 2003, while the Organization of the Museum was established in 2008.
 It opened to the public on 20 June 2009.[1] More than 4,250 objects
 are exhibited over an area of 14,000 square metres. The Organization for the Construction
 of the new museum is chaired by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
 Professor Emeritus of Archaeology, Dimitrios Pandermalis

Visiting Acropolis part 5 Parthenon my first time

Acropolis part 5 my first time at Parthenon 
2017 after a trip to Naxos island

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After the Athenians defeated the Persians at Marathon, in 490 BC,
 they began building a very large temple, the so-called Pre-Parthenon.
 This temple was still unfinished when the Persians invaded Attica in 480 BC,
 pillaged the Acropolis and set fire to its monuments.
 The Athenians buried the surviving sculptures and votive offerings inside natural cavities
 of the sacred rock, thus forming artificial terraces, and fortified the Acropolis with two new walls,
 the wall of Themistokles along the northern side and that of Kimon on the south.
 Several architectural elements of the ruined temples were 
incorporated in the northern wall and are still visible today.

In the mid-fifth century BC, when the Acropolis became the seat of the Athenian League
 and Athens was the greatest cultural centre of its time, 
Perikles initiated an ambitious building project which 
lasted the entire second half of the fifth century BC. 
Athenians and foreigners alike worked on this project, receiving a salary of one drachma a day. 
The most important buildings visible on the Acropolis today - that is, the Parthenon,
 the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the Τemple of Athena Nike, 
were erected during this period under the supervision of the greatest architects,
 sculptors and artists of their time. 

The temples on the north side of the Acropolis housed primarily
 the earlier Athenian cults and those of the Olympian gods, 
while the southern part of the Acropolis was dedicated to the cult of Athena in her many qualities: 
as Polias (patron of the city), Parthenos, Pallas,
 Promachos (goddess of war), Ergane (goddess of manual labour) and Nike (Victory).






Acropolis,Visiting Acropolis,Acropolis part 3,Parthenon

Visiting Acropolis part 4 Erechtheion Parthenon my first time

Acropolis part 4 my first time
Erechtheion Parthenon
2017 after a trip to Naxos island

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The Erechtheion or Erechtheum (/ɪˈrɛkθiəm, ˌɛrɪkˈθiːəm/; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο)
is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece
which was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon.

The temple as seen today was built between 421 and 406 BC.
Its architect may have been Mnesicles, and it derived its name from a shrine
dedicated to the legendary Greek hero Erichthonius. The sculptor
and mason of the structure was Phidias, who was employed by Pericles to build both
the Erechtheum and the Parthenon. Some have suggested that it may have been built in honor
of the legendary king Erechtheus, who is said to have been buried nearby.
Erechtheus was mentioned in Homer's Iliad as a great king and ruler of Athens
during the Archaic Period, and Erechtheus and the hero Erichthonius were often syncretized.
It is believed to have been a replacement for the Peisistratid temple of Athena Polias
destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC.

The need to preserve multiple adjacent sacred precincts likely explains the complex design.
The main structure consists of up to four compartments,
the largest being the east cella, with an Ionic portico on its east end.
Other current thinking would have the entire interior at the lower level
and the East porch used for access to the great altar of Athena Polias
via a balcony and stair and also as a public viewing platform.

The entire temple is on a slope, so the west and north sides are
about 3 m (9 ft) lower than the south and east sides.
It was built entirely of marble from Mount Pentelikon,
with friezes of black limestone from Eleusis which bore sculptures executed in relief
in white marble.It had elaborately carved doorways and windows,
and its columns were ornately decorated (far more so than is visible today);
they were painted, gilded and highlighted with gilt bronze and multi-colored
inset glass beads. The building is known for early examples of egg-and-dart,
and guilloche ornamental moldings.The Theory of Mouldings, p22,
Charles Howard Walker (1926), has detailed drawings of some of the decorations.

Porch of the Maidens
On the north side, there is another large porch with six Ionic columns, and on the south,
the famous "Porch of the Maidens", with six draped female figures (caryatids)
as supporting columns. The porch was built to conceal the giant 15-ft beam
needed to support the southwest corner over the Kekropion, after the building
was drastically reduced in size and budget following the onset of the Peloponnesian war.

Visiting Acropolis part 3 Parthenon my first time

Acropolis part 3 my first time at Parthenon
2017 after a trip to Naxos island

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The Parthenon (/ˈpɑːrθəˌnɒn, -nən/; Ancient Greek: Παρθενών; Greek: Παρθενώνας,
Parthenónas, [parθeˈnonas]) is a former temple[4][5] on the Athenian Acropolis,
Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens
considered their patron. Construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire
was at the peak of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although decoration
of the building continued until 432 BC. It is the most important surviving
building of Classical Greece, generally considered the zenith of the Doric order[by whom?].
Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art.
The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece,
Athenian democracy and Western civilization, and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments.
To the Athenians who built it, the Parthenon and other Periclean monuments
of the Acropolis were seen fundamentally as a celebration of Hellenic victory
over the Persian invaders and as a thanksgiving to the gods for that victory.

The Parthenon itself replaced an older temple of Athena, which historians
call the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was destroyed
in the Persian invasion of 480 BC. Like most Greek temples,
the Parthenon served a practical purpose as the city treasury.
For a time, it served as the treasury of the Delian League,
which later became the Athenian Empire.
In the final decade of the 6th century AD,
the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

After the Ottoman conquest, it was turned into a mosque in the early 1460s.
On 26 September 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building
was ignited by Venetian bombardment during a siege of the Acropolis.
The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures.
From 1800 to 1803,[10] Thomas Bruce,
7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures,
now known as the Elgin Marbles, with the alleged permission of the Turks of the Ottoman Empire

Since 1975 numerous large-scale restoration projects have been undertaken;
the latest is expected to finish in 2020.

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