The history of Attica is, in its major part, the history of Athens. The myths and traditions about the ancient and continuous history of Attica have been substantiated by the findings that have been retrieved on the Acropolis and around other parts of Attica. It is possible that the old myths reflect the wars which the leaders of Acropolis led in order to achieve total ruling of the territories around Athens. However, the total merging of the territories in Attica with Athens happened much later, about 2800 years ago. This merging is reflected in the myths of Thesseus and the portrayal of the population of Athens in the myths.
The olive tree has been treated as sacred in the ancient ages since, according to mythology, goddess Athena (also known as Minerva) gave the city an olive tree as a token of her protection after her conflict with god Poseidon (Neptune). Another important gift from the Gods was the vine tree, which God Dionyssos gave the Athenians.
Athens developed into a great industrial and naval force approximately 2800 to 2700 years ago. A milestone in the city's history has been the period of Pisistratus tyranny. During this time the exporting commerce of Athens reached Sicily, Egypt and the Black Sea. New monuments were built and the city experienced its first cultural and artistic spring.
Athens was also a primary actor during the war with Persia. This activity, aided by the appearance of democratic governing, helped Athens become Greece's leading city and the center of an allied state.
The quest for the success of Athens climaxed during the "Golden Age" of Pericles. During those years Athens was world famous for it's power, civilization, culture and science. This was the period when the Ancient Athenian Wonder was achieved. The Golden Age was ended by the destructive Peloponnesian War, because the war resulted in the destruction of Atticas' naval forces and the restriction of the state to Athens and the island of Salamina.
About 2400 years ago the territory was not powerful enough to avoid becoming part of the Macedonian states under the rule of the Macedonian King Fillipe II. Then, 2150 years ago, Athens was occupied, together with the rest of Greece, by the Romans. Although the Romans were conquerors, they allowed Athens to maintain it's personality.
About 2000 years ago, Gothic tribes brought destructive invasions and looting to Athens. The gradual integration with the Byzantine Empire was completed with the shut down of Philosophic Schools, the modification of shrines to Christian temples and the general rural confrontation of Athens.
After year 1214, when Constantinople was occupied by the Franks, Athens was given to French dukes. Their successors were Catalans, Neapolitans. In 1456 the Turks transformed the Acropolis to a Muslim Temple "Tzami," and the Erechtheion to a harem.
In 1834, one year after its revolution from the Turks, Athens was proclaimed the capital of Greece. Before this, it was a small, old village with very few people and piles of ancient ruins and stones. Since Athens was made the capital, its rebirth from the ruins was initiated. New buildings were built in a close architectural connection with the ancient Greek style, and the Acropolis and the rest of the ancient monuments were restored.
People who visit or spend their vacation in Greece need not advance further from the limits of Attica in order to get acquainted with the basic periods of Greek history; Ancient, Roman, Byzantine, Frank, Turkish Occupation, Modern Greek are all available to explore.
The Arios Pagos
The Arios Pagos is located northwest of the Acropolis. It is a rock with an artificially leveled top, lower than the Acropolis Rock. The ancient Parliament went to session here.
The Ancient Market
The site of the Ancient Market is located on the bottom of the Holy Rock, Hifaistos' Temple (Thisio) and Attalus' Tunnel. The Persians destroyed all of the buildings in the Ancient Market 2500 years ago, however, the buildings were rebuilt later.
Adrianus Library
Located near the Roman Market, the Adrianus Library was a gift to Athens from Emperor Adrianus, built in the second century. The archaeological site is fenced, but all of the ruins are visible from the outside.
Ceramicus
Ceramicus is the ancient graveyard of Athens. It includes part of the city's ancient wall.
Filopappou Hill
Filopappou Hill was built opposite from the Acropolis in the second century. It houses the monument of the Roman benefactor of Athens, Gaius Julius Antiochus Filopappou.
Lysikratous Monument , or Diogenis' Lantern
Lysikratous Monument, also known as Diogenis' Lantern, is a monument built about 2400 years ago. It is in Plaka and is an open archaeological site.
Located opposite of Arios Pagos right next to Filopappou Hill, Pnyka Hill was where the Municipality's sessions were held.
Adrianos' Gate was built by Emperor Adrianus about 2200 years ago. Behind it remain the ruins of Olympian Zeus' Temple, the largest Temple of Ancient Greece.
Located east from Aiolou Street, construction on the Roman Market was started by Julius Caesar but it was finished by Emperors Adrianus and Traianus.
Most visitors to Athens head almost instinctively for the Acropolis, to begin their explorations at the site where Athens itself began. From the Acropolis, one can see virtually all of Athens today, except for its furthest urban sprawl. Beyond lie the protective mountain ranges of Parnes, Hymettos and Pentelikon, famous today as in antiquity for fine marble and honey.
In looking at the Acropolis, it is easy to see why this abrupt steep-sided rock was chosen as the first citadel of ancient Athens. It is a superb natural defensive site. Once fortified, it was virtually impregnable, although defenders were hampered by the lack of water on the Acropolis. Still, the Acropolis was a fitting home for the virgin warrior goddess, Athena.
Many of the temples built on the Acropolis were shrines to Athena, as is the Parthenon which remains today. Its predecessor, the massive Hekatompedon of Peisistratus, was located slightly to the north of the Parthenon, beside the present Erechtheion. The Hekatompedon (also known as the "Old Temple of Athena"), was burnt in the Persian sack of Athens about 2500 years ago. Its foundations remain on the Acropolis, and are the only remnants of the buildings which were on the Acropolis before the sacking of the city. Parts of the temple were built into the north wall of the Acropolis, where some of the massive column drums may still be seen.
However grand the buildings which adorned the Acropolis were, they did not survive the Persian onslaught. Fortunately, many of the buildings erected by Pericles a half century later have survived, and it is the Periclean Acropolis which we visit today. The most famous of these buildings is the Parthenon which was built about 2450 years ago. It is flanked by the temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion, both of which were built shortly after the Parthenon. In addition, Pericles was responsible for building the monumental entranceway to the Acropolis, the Propylaia, about 2400 years ago .
As one toils up the slopes of the Acropolis, past the souvenir stands, the freelance guides, and the refreshment stalls, one is aware of the mighty presence of the Propylaia, designed by the famous architect Mnesicles. The Propylaia sits on uneven terrain, on a wedge-shaped bit of the rock, whose anomalies governed the irregularities of the building itself. The terrain may have defeated the project, which was never completed. In essence, the Propylaia has a central hall flanked by two wings, one of which contained the famous Pinakotheke (Picture Gallery), with many pictures by the legendary Polygnotos. It is understood from Pausanias that the pictures were both of legendary figures such as Perseus and of historical personages like Alcibiades. "Among the paintings is Alcibiades; there are symbols in the painting of his victory in the horse-race at Nemea. Perseus is on his way to Seriphos, bringing Medusa's head..."
To the right of the entrance is the little Ionic temple of Athena Nike (Victorious Athena). In Mycenaean times, there was evidently a small shrine here, and Peisistratos constructed a more substantial altar, destroyed in the Persian conflagration 2500 years ago. The Periclean temple stood until it was destroyed by the Turks in 1686; happily, it was reconstructed and restored first in the 19th, and then again in the 20th centuries. The sculptural frieze of the temple, in a departure from tradition, showed not the contests of the gods, but scenes from the Battle of Plataea, in which the Greeks decisively defeated the Persians almost 2500 years ago.
Some say that it was from this spot that Aegeus kept watch for his son Theseus, when he returned from Crete, after slaying the Minotaur. Others, however, believe that Aegeus kept watch from Cape Sounion, and threw himself into the sea from that cliff. Whichever the case, if the nefos is not too enveloping, one has a spectacular view across the Bay of Phaleron and the Saronic Gulf toward the mountains of the Peloponnese.
Once up on the Acropolis, most will be drawn irresistibly to the Parthenon, the greatest monument of Doric architecture in all Greece. The temple, designed by the architect Iktinos, held the monumental gold and ivory (chryselephantine) statue of Athena designed by the sculptor-architect Pheidias. The name, "Parthenon", refers to the room where the goddess Athena (Athena Parthenos), had her statue.
The Parthenon is of Pentelic marble, of a purity of texture and color which astonishes all visitors. Along with a handful of monuments (the Taj Mahal, Saint Mark's in Venice), the Parthenon is familiar from countless photographs long before one actually sees it. Consequently, almost every visitor is oppressed by a secret fear: can the Parthenon possibly be as beautiful as one expects? Happily, the answer, despite the ravages of time, is yes. No photographs and no descriptions can prepare one for the unique golden glow of the Parthenon's columns.
The Parthenon has an exterior colonnade of eight Doric columns at each end, and seventeen Doric columns along each side. Each of these columns bulges slightly in the middle, a device which prevents the massive columns from seeming lifeless and overly regular. In addition, this swelling (known in Greek as "entasis") corrected the optical illusion whereby perfectly straight columns appear to be slightly concave.
Within the temple itself were two chambers, one in which the statue of Athena Parthenos stood, and one which housed the temple treasury. Visitors to the Parthenon today, disappointed not to be allowed inside, should take some comfort from the fact that most Athenians in antiquity never were permitted inside the temple either. Only priests ever entered the treasury, and the statue itself was viewed only rarely. One of those who saw the statue was Pausanias, who describe the Athena as standing "upright in an ankle length tunic with a head of Medusa carved in ivory on her breast. She has a Victory about eight feet high, and a spear in her hand and a shield at her feet, and a snake beside the shield; this snake might be Erichthonios."
The temple itself was adorned with sculptures of a quality never before and never since equaled. The metopes (rectangular panels above the columns) were sculptured with scenes from the Trojan War, and from the Battles of the Athenians and Amazons, the Lapiths and Centaurs, and the Gods and Giants. In addition, a sculptured frieze above the temple walls depicted the great Panathenaic procession. In this annual celebration, Athenian youths and maidens accompanied the new robe for Athena's statue from Eleusis to the Acropolis itself. The young men on horseback, the maidens, the sacrificial oxen and the gods themselves all were depicted, and may be seen today - but not in Athens.
The sculptures, known as the Elgin Marbles, are on view in London at the British Museum. A few carvings remain in place on the Parthenon and some fragments are on view in the Acropolis Museum.
In addition, the Parthenon had monumental sculpture in both pediments. As Pausanias concisely put it, "As you go into the temple called the Parthenon, everything on the pediment has to do with the birth of Athena; the far side shows Poseidon quarrelling with Athena over the country." As we know, Athena won this contest by producing the first olive tree, and the Athenians did not stint in honoring her with Greece's finest temple. However, the Athenians were always practical: the gold regalia which clad the great statue was designed so that it could be removed for safekeeping. The Athenians had learned what could happen to their sacred sites in the Persian sack of the Acropolis of 2500 years ago.
North of the Parthenon is one of the loveliest of all ancient monuments, the delicate Erechtheion, thought to have been built on the very spot where Athena and Poseidon had their contest for possession of Athens. Indeed, some said that the marks of Poseidon's trident were clearly visible in the rock. Be that as it may, for some years it has been traditional for an olive tree to grow near the Erechtheion. Alas, visitors today will see the exquisite temple through a screen of scaffolding. Like many of the monuments on the Acropolis, the Erechtheion is feeling the effects of time and urban pollution, and its elegant columns the Caryatid Maidens, have had to be removed and replaced with copies for safekeeping.
Like the monumental Propylaea, the Erechtheum had to overcome irregularities of terrain, and its south and east walls stand some 9 feet above its north and west walls. Although the Porch of the Caryatids is the more famous, the North Porch, with its elegant carved architectural ornament, is perhaps the more deserving of praise. Within the temple was both an ancient wooden idol (a "xoanon") and an olive wood statue of Athena Polias (Athena of the City). Like the great statue of Athena in the Parthenon, this statue also received a new robe in the Panathenaic festival.
Today's visitor to the Acropolis gains but a fragmentary impression of its original splendor. One should keep in mind that the temples were brightly painted, and adorned with great bronze rosettes. The honey-hue of the Parthenon was hidden in antiquity; each visitor will have to decide whether he is disappointed, or relieved, not to have seen the Parthenon and its neighboring temples bedecked with color.
Beyond the Parthenon is the Belvedere of Queen Amalia, Otho's young bride, who loved to stand here and look out over the new capital of the Kingdom of Greece. One can see why, especially at dawn when the sounds of the city are stilled, the view of the tile roofs of the Plaka is magical. Beyond sprawls Athens, framed by its mountain ranges which gave so much marble to the monuments of the Acropolis.
