Following Epicharmou street off to the left from Tripodon, you come to a remarkable white-washed village within the city: Anafiotika.
To come with the severe housing shortage experienced in Athens after Greek independence, a law was passed which permitted anyone who built a house – or at least managed to get its roof up – between sunset and sunrise to occupy it.
The first people to quality were two stone masons from the tiny Aegean island of Anafi. They were followed by other Anafiots, also masons, who built and restored houses and churches in their native style.
As a result, this part of Athens resembles a Greek island, and today, the Anafiots living on the heights of Plaka outnumberthe 350 residents on their native Anafi.
As you climb higher up in Anafiotika, the streets get narrower. Odos Pritaniou winds around to the top of the village at the base of the Acropolis wall, opening out to a spectacular view over Plaka, there’s a more adventurous route, however, if you feel so inclined.
A detour up Stratonos brings you to the enchanting sunken garden if a 17th century church dedicated to the saint Cosmad and Damian. 3rd century Arab doctors who refused fees for their services. Turn right at the top and follow the labyrinthine white-washed path in between the houses – a hand-painted sign points to the Acropolis.
Walk down from here via Odos Erechtheos, where colourful tavernas bestle below the early Byzantine church of Agios Loannis Theologos, and then turn left on Lisiou, which leads to the lovely Tower of the Winds (IAerides),
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This enchanting temple, with a graceful Ionic portio, perches high on a terrace off to the right (southwest) of the Propylaea, and has a glorious panorama of the sea and distant mountains.
Built between 427 and 424 BC by the architect Callicrates, during a respite from the Peloponnesian War, it was devoted to Athena as the goddess of peace and victory.
The temple housed a statue of her which became known as the Wingless Victory herself was always shown with wings. The temple was torn down by the Turks in 1687 to make way for an artillery position; the one which is now standing was later painstakingly reassembled from the rubble by archaeologists during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Passing through the Propylaea, you come out into the great sloping plateau of the Acropolis. Try to imagine the scene 2,400 years ago, when these masterworks of architecture and sculpture were going up. Scores of stone cutters; carpenters, founders and braziers, goldsmiths, ivory workers, painters, dyers, and even embroiderers swarmed over this ground. For the most part they were freemen, not slaves, practitioners of nearly every art and craft then known.
Dominating the immediate foreground was an enormous bronze statue of Athena under another guise – Athena Promachos, the Defender. This statue of the goddess holding shield and spear was created by Phipias to honour the visitor at Marathon.
It’s said that sailors could spot the tip of her helmet as their ships sailed around the gulf from Sounion. That statue stood here for 1,000 years, until it was carted off to Constantinople in the 6th century AD.
This ancient citadel and landmark of Athens contains some of the world’s finest monuments of the antiquity, including the Parthenon and the Erechtheion, with its unusual Porch of the Caryatids. Admission includes entrance to the Acropolis Museum. These are wonderful views over Athens and the ancient Agora.
This 4ha (10-acre) rock rising 90m (300ft) above the plain of the Attica reigns over Athens with timeless majesty. Its name is derived from Greek and means ‘high town’: acro -- highest point and polis – town or city. It also means ‘citadel’.
Six Doric columns mark the monumental entrance to the Acropolis. More than a grand gateway, the function of the Propylaea was to generate awe and respect, and prepare lesser mortals for a meeting with the goddess.
Construction began in 437 BC, but was halted five year later by the Pelopon-nesian War and never finished.
The central and largest of the gateways was intended for chariots and approached by a ramp: steps lead up to the four other entries.
As you reach the porch, you’ll see Ionic as well as Doric columns; this was the first building to incorporate both styles (compare the solid majesty of the Doric with the light elegance of the Ionic).
The Pinakotheke on the left side housed a gallery of paintings done on wooden panels, depicting heroic deeds.
The French poet Lamartine called the Parthenon the ‘most perfect poem in stone’ and it is truely the magnificent beauty of the greatest architectural achievement of classical Greece.
The Parthenon – meaning Temple of the Virgin – was dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom and justice, protectress of the city. It was designed by the sculptor Phidias using ancient principles of sacred numerology, geometry and architecture, and was executed by master architects Ictinus and Callicrates.
The columns swell gently at the middle, leaning slightly inward, and the floor surface is convex. It is quite astonishing, but nowhere in the temple is there a straight line. One theory holds that this was designed to counteract the optical illusion by which straight lines, seen from a distance, appear to bend. All the subtly curving departures from both true vertical and horizontal give life and rhythmic movement to the stone. What’s more – and this is the architectural stroke of genius – they give the structure a magnificent symmetry.
Aside from its cult functions, this supreme example of the Doric temple symbolized Athenian imperial glory as well as holding the national treasury. Ancient pagan temples were meant to be appreciated from the outside, so the Parthenon’s altar, where live offerings were slaughtered, actually stood outside the building, positioned opposite the eastern façade. Only a handful of privileged persons – priests or high officials – were permitted to enter the sacred cella (inner temple).
Those admitted were able to view Phidias’ masterpiece, the 12m (39ft) high statue depicting Athena Parthenos, Athena the virgin, made of wood and covered with ivory and gold. The great ancient Greek historian Thucydides records its weight as 40 talents (1,052kg) or 2,320lb) which was a conservative estimate. By the 4th century AD it had vanished forever, but you can see a 2nd century AD copy, the Varvakeion Athena, in the National Archaeological Museum – at 1½ the original size.
The decoration of the Parthenon was arguably the most ambitious of any temple the world has seen, with sculptures at three levels. Little of this remains. The renowned ‘Elgin Marblrs’ were removed by the British ambassador to Constantinople at the start of the 19th century with Turkish permission, and are now in the British Museum in London. Since then the Greek government has lobbied long and hard for their return.
Above the plain beam resting on the columns were 92 panels, each sculpted at 1.2m (4ft) square, called metopes, illustrating scenes of ancient conflict. Over the centuries most have been destroyed or removed (12 are in the British Museum). The best one that is still on show here is of a young Lapith, a mountain tribesman from Thessaly, struggling with a centaur.
Two massive triangular pediments, now virtually empty, crown the front and rear ends of the Parthenon. Once they were adorned with some 50 larger – than – life statues representing the legends of Athena.
The famous plays of Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus and Arisophanes were first staged here in the Theatro Dionisou beneath the Acropolis, in what is now a rebuilt but crumbling theatre.
The original, 5th-century-BC theatre had seats hacked out of the earth around a circular stone dancing stage, flush with the ground. The semi-circular marble orchestra that you see today was sculptured by the Romans; the carved relief depicting scenes from Dionysus’ life forms the façade of a raised stage. The backdrop of stone, skene, gave us the world scene.
The theatre held about 17.000 spectators. The names of top officials were curved into 67 front-row thrones of Pentelic marble. The place of honour is the lion-footed throne of the high priest of Dionysus Eleftherious.
Juste behind it stands the throne of Hadrian. Before and after a play, Athenians would promenade in the Stoa of Eumenes (Stoa Evmenous), an arched, two-tiered colonnade built in the 2nd century BC; only a section of it remains. It ran more than 150m (1500ft) from the theatre along to the smaller Odeon of Herodes Atticus.
Across the Acropolis plateau at the northern wall stands the Erechtheion, a temple unlike any other in the ancient world. It originally housed three cults – those of Athena, Poseidon and Erechtheus – in one building. Constructed on irregular ground, the sharply different foundations contribute to its amalgamated shape. Built entirely in wartime, this was the last temple to go up on the Acropolis. Construction lasted 15 years, with the dedication being carried out in 406 BC.
This was the site of the legendary contest between Athena and Poseidon. In a corner of the north porch you’ll find an uncovered hole containing a rock with markings. According to some, these were made by Poseidon’s trident; another version relates that Zeus sent a lightning bolt down upon the scarred rock.
The most famous features of the Erechtheion, are the southern Porch of the Caryatids, where six pound, elegant maidens hold up the roof. Though named after a village near Sparta whose girls were noted in antiquity for their upright posture, the Caryatids were actually Athenians. The long tunics are draped in imitation of column flutings, while the fruit baskets on their heads replace capitals. The portico protected a holy place, the tomb of Athens’ mythical founder – king, Cecrops.
Today’s statues are replicas. Five of the originals were taken inside the Acropolis Museum after being damaged by pollution, the decay reaching 6mm (¼in) in depth. The sixth figure was removed by Lord Elgin to the British Museum.
After you’ve admired the temples, visit the Acropolis Museum, sitting unobtrusively in a hollow at the southeast corner. Every exhibit in the cool interior was found on the site.
The first three galleries contain pre-classical works of the 6th century BC. Ancient Greek sculptures are admired as the first to portray the human form in a natural, though the human form in a natural, though idealized way.
They also produced some splendid animals. See, for example, the collection of Four Horses (570 BC) in room no. 2, especially the two in the centre with their hands turned shyly towards and another.
Also this room is the outstanding Moschophoros – a marble statue of a man carrying on his half shoulders as a votive offering. Note the symmetry of the calf’s legs and the man’s arms, as well as the tension in his muscles and the detail of his hair.
In rooms 4 and 5 you have a chance to study the evolution of the enigmatic smile and almond-shaped eyes that characterize the archaic period. The Man on Horseback (560 BC) is a fine example, even though the head is a copy (the Louvre has the original). Most of the statues in these rooms are kore young women), which stood in the temples as handmaidens to the gods wearing a heavy shawl, or peplos, over her tunic, is superb.
Most famous is no. 674, also known as the Almond-Eyed Kore. Dating from about 580 BC, this enchanting work captures the spiritual ideal in human form. After Persian invaders ran riot through the temple in 480 BC, this kore and other ‘violated’ statues were ritually buried by the Greeks, and lay undiscovered until 1885. The head of the ‘Blonde Youth’ (which was named after the yellow colour that once covered his hair) and the statue of the Kritios Boy are examples of the archaic to the classical age of sculpture. Both originate from around 480 BC and show stirrings of individual property.
Room 7 and 8 display parts of the Parthenon frieze and other fragments of sculpture. Watch for the splendid gods – Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis – awaiting the arrival of the Panatheniac procession. The relief of a winged goddess taking off her sandal from the temple of Athena Nike, illustrates the incredible skill with which Greek sculptors captured the relation between dress and the body.
The museum’s final display is the original Caryatids from the Erechtheion – now safely protected behind glass and special lighting.
Plaka, Athens’ oldest quarter, is the most charming part of the city. Strictly speaking, the whole area south of Ermou Street is Plaka, but the heart lies close to the Acropolis.
The two main thoroughfares are Kidathineon and Adrianou, which intersect just below Platika Filikis Eterias, the quarter’s large, leafy main square.
A mixture of ancient ruins, Byzantine churches and lively taverns are packed into under half a square kilometer. The main delight here is the atmosphere of the winding streets, many of which follow ancient footpaths climbing up towards the Acropolis. Without warning you’ll come upon stunning views of the Acropolis, the Agora, or the distant peak of Mount Lycabettus (Likavittos).
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Graphic showing average weather in Anafiotika in Celcius and Centimeters (Change to Farenheit and Inches)
Month | Temp °C | Rainfall Cm | Temp °F | Rainfall Inches |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jan | 10.6 | 61.2 | 51.1 | 24.1 |
Feb | 11.1 | 46.3 | 52 | 18.2 |
Mar | 12.7 | 37.9 | 54.9 | 14.9 |
Apr | 16.3 | 22.8 | 61.3 | 9 |
May | 20.7 | 20.7 | 69.3 | 8.1 |
Jun | 25.1 | 12.1 | 77.2 | 4.8 |
Jul | 28.2 | 4 | 82.8 | 1.6 |
Aug | 28.1 | 7.8 | 82.6 | 3.1 |
Sep | 24.7 | 15.4 | 76.5 | 6.1 |
Oct | 20.5 | 51.9 | 68.9 | 20.4 |
Nov | 16 | 66.8 | 60.8 | 26.3 |
Dec | 12.6 | 75.7 | 54.7 | 29.8 |
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