Greece - Korina Miller [71]
ERECHTHEION
Although the Parthenon was the most impressive monument of the Acropolis, it was more of a showpiece than a sanctuary. That role fell to the Erechtheion, built on the part of the Acropolis held most sacred, where Poseidon struck the ground with his trident, and where Athena produced the olive tree (boxed text). Named after Erichthonius, a mythical king of Athens, the temple housed the cults of Athena, Poseidon and Erichthonius.
The Erechtheion is immediately recognisable by the six larger-than-life maiden columns that support its southern portico, the Caryatids (so called because they were modelled on women from Karyai, modern-day Karyes, in Lakonia). Those you see are plaster casts. The originals (except for one removed by Lord Elgin, and now in the British Museum) are in the Acropolis Museum.
The Erechtheion was part of Pericles’ plan, but the project was postponed after the outbreak of the Peloponnesian Wars. Work did not start until 421 BC, eight years after his death, and was completed around 406 BC.
Architecturally, it is the most unusual monument of the Acropolis, a supreme example of Ionic architecture ingeniously built on several levels to counteract the uneven bedrock. The main temple is divided into two cellae – one dedicated to Athena, the other to Poseidon – representing a reconciliation of the two deities after their contest. In Athena’s cella stood an olive-wood statue of Athena Polias holding a shield on which was a gorgon’s head. It was this statue on which the sacred peplos (a glorious saffron-coloured shawl) was placed at the culmination of the Great Panathenaic Festival.
The northern porch consists of six Ionic columns; on the floor are the fissures supposedly left by the thunderbolt sent by Zeus to kill King Erechtheus. To the south of here was the Cecropion – King Cecrops’ burial place.
The Erechtheion was the last public building erected on the Acropolis in antiquity, except for a small temple of Rome and Augustus.
OLD ACROPOLIS MUSEUM
With the treasures of the Acropolis safely ensconced in the new Acropolis Museum, plans for the old museum include an exhibition about the 30-year restoration program, as well as engravings, photographs and artefacts found on the slopes of the Sacred Rock.
Southern Slope of the Acropolis
THEATRE OF DIONYSOS
The importance of theatre in the Athenian city-state can be gauged from the dimensions of the enormous Theatre of Dionysos (Map; 210 322 4625; Dionysiou Areopagitou; admission €2, free with Acropolis Pass; 8am-8pm Apr-Oct, 8am-5pm Nov-Mar) on the southeastern slope of the Acropolis.
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SIX FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
The €12 Acropolis admission includes entry to Athens’ main ancient sites: Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Keramikos, the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Theatre of Dionysos. The ticket is valid for four days; otherwise individual site fees apply, though this is not strictly enforced. The same opening hours (8.30am to 8pm April to October, 8am to 5pm November to March) apply for all of these sites, but it pays to double-check as summer opening hours come into effect at different times from year to year. There is free entrance to the sites on the first Sunday of the month (except for July and August) and on certain days of the year.
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The first theatre on this site was a timber structure erected sometime during the 6th century BC, after the tyrant Peisistratos introduced the Festival of the Great Dionysia. Everyone attended the contests, where men clad in goatskins sang and danced, followed by feasting and revelry.
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ANCIENT PROMENADE
The once traffic-choked streets around Athens’ historic centre have been transformed into a spectacular 3km pedestrian promenade connecting the city’s most significant ancient sites. Locals and tourists alike come out in force for an evening volta (walk) along the stunning heritage trail – one of Europe’s longest pedestrian precincts – under the floodlit Acropolis.
The grand promenade starts at Dionysiou Areopagitou, opposite the Temple of Olympian