Destination: GREECE | |||||||||||||||||||
Sights*
Agorá
* Akrópoli * Ethnikó Archaiologikó Mouseío * Ethnikós Kípos * Goulandris Mouseío Kykladikís Téchnis * Lykavittós and Kolonáki * Monastiráki * Mouseío Akrópoleos * Olympíeion Zeus and Pćyli Adrianoú * Piréas * Pláka * Platéia Syntagmatos |
Akrópoli
The Akrópoli (Acropolis) should top your sightseeing list. This naturally defensible rock was the sacred focal point of ancient
Athens, and what you see today dates mainly from the fifth century BC, an era of peace and prosperity and the true “Golden
Age” of Greece.
You reach the summit through the Propylaia, a magnificent stepped gateway, with the graceful little temple of Athena Nike
to your right. Ahead rises the great Doric temple of the Parthenón; built using no perpendicular lines, its columns actually
taper, giving the whole structure a feeling of lightness. It was decorated by leading Athenian sculptors and dedicated to
the goddess Athena Parthenos, whose statue by the sculptor Pheidias stood inside. To the left of the Parthenón stands the
Erechtheion, shrine to Athena and Poseidon, and said to be the place where the goddess created the first olive tree. The roof
of the south portico is supported by six caryatids, stately maidens dressed in pleated tunics.
At the foot of the Acropolis you can see two Roman theaters, the Théatro Iródou Attikoú and the Théatro Dionysou.
Address:
Akrópoli
Phone: 210 321 0219 Open: Daily 8-6:30, Apr. 1 to mid-Oct.; 8-2:30, rest of year. Restaurant: Psaras Bus: 1, 5, 9, 230, 231 Metro: Akropoli Admission: more than 4 Info: Acropolis Sound and Light, in English nightly, Apr.-Oct.; tickets from Athens Festival Box Office Address: 4 Stadiou Phone: 01 322 1459 |
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