Greece - Korina Miller [74]
The first-ever shopping arcade, the original stoa was built by King Attalos II of Pergamum (159–138 BC), two storeys high with two aisles housing expensive shops. People also gathered here to watch the Panathenaic procession.
It was authentically reconstructed between 1953 and 1956 by the American School of Archaeology, but the facade was left in natural Pentelic marble (it was originally painted red and blue). The stoa has a series of 45 columns that are Doric on the ground floor and Ionic on the upper gallery.
TEMPLE OF HEPHAESTUS
The best-preserved Doric temple in Greece, this temple on the western edge of the Agora was dedicated to Hephaestus, god of the forge, and surrounded by foundries and metalwork shops. It was one of the first buildings of Pericles’ rebuilding program. Built in 449 BC by Iktinos, one of the architects of the Parthenon, it has 34 columns and a frieze on the eastern side depicting nine of the Twelve Labours of Heracles. In AD 1300 it was converted into the Church of Agios Georgios. The last service was held in 1834 in honour of King Otto’s arrival in Athens.
To the northeast of the temple are the foundations of the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios, one of the places where Socrates expounded his philosophy. Further north are the foundations of the Stoa of Basileios and the Stoa Poikile (Painted Stoa). The Stoa Poikile was so called because of its murals, which were painted by the leading artists of the day and depicted mythological and historical battles.
To the southeast of the Temple of Hephaestus was the New Bouleuterion (Council House), where the Senate (originally created by Solon) met, while the heads of government met to the south at the circular Tholos.
CHURCH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES
This charming little church, near the southern entrance, was built in the early 10th century to commemorate St Paul’s teaching in the Agora. Between 1954 and 1957 it was stripped of its 19th-century additions and restored to its original form. It contains some fine Byzantine frescoes.
Keramikos
The city’s cemetery from the 12th century BC to Roman times was Keramikos (Map; 210 346 3552; Ermou 148, Keramikos; adult/concession incl museum €2/1, free with Acropolis pass; 8.30am-8pm Apr-Oct, 8am-5.30pm Nov-Mar). Discovered in 1861 during the construction of Pireos street, it is one of the most green and tranquil ancient sites in Athens.
SACRED & DIPYLON GATES
Once inside, head for the small knoll ahead to the right, where you’ll find a plan of the site (Map). A path leads down to the right from the knoll to the remains of the city wall built by Themistocles in 479 BC, and rebuilt by Konon in 394 BC. The wall is broken by the foundations of two gates. Tiny signs mark each one.
The first, the Sacred Gate, spanned the Sacred Way and was the one by which pilgrims from Eleusis entered the city during the annual Eleusian procession. The second, the Dipylon Gate, to the northeast of the Sacred Gate, was the city’s main entrance and where the Panathenaic procession began. It was also where the city’s prostitutes gathered to offer their services to jaded travellers.
From a platform outside the Dipylon Gate, Pericles gave his famous speech extolling the virtues of Athens and honouring those who died in the first year of the Peloponnesian Wars.
Between the Sacred and Dipylon Gates are the foundations of the Pompeion, used as a dressing room for participants in the Panathenaic procession.
STREET OF TOMBS
Leading off the Sacred Way to the left as you head away from the city is the Street of Tombs (Map). This avenue was reserved for the tombs of Athens’ most prominent citizens. The surviving stelae are now in the National Archaeological Museum, and what you see are mostly replicas. The astonishing array of funerary monuments, and their bas reliefs, warrant more than a cursory examination.
Ordinary citizens were buried in the areas bordering the Street of Tombs. One well-preserved stele (up the stone steps on the northern side) shows a little girl with her pet dog. The site’s