Athens

Kerameikos Archaeological Site

Kerameikos (Κεραμεικός, Ceramicus) is the area of ancient Athens where the potters had their workshops. The English word “ceramics” derives from this area. Today, Kerameikos is an important archaeological site northwest of the Agora and the Acropolis. It is the…
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Temple of Hephaestus

Ἡφαιστεῖον. Also transliterated as: Hephaisteion, Hephaesteion The temple of Hephestus (or Thesion) crowns a low hill in the Northwest end of the Agora. It is one of the best preserved Doric temples of the classical period. It was built at…
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Treasury of the Athenians

The Athenian Treasury was a votive building in the form of a reduced scale temple, designed to hold the multitude of Athenian offerings to the Delphi oracle. The building was constructed entirely of Parian marble and had a Doric frieze…
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Agora of Athens History

Prehistory to Iron Age The Agora of Athens has been in use since the late Neolithic era, and it was used as a cemetery during the Mycenaean and the later Iron Ages. Excavations have unearthed around 50 tholos tombs with…
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Acropolis in Modern Era

The Acropolis After the Liberation of Greece In 1821, after three and a half centuries of occupation, the Greeks revolted to overthrow the Ottoman Empire from their land. During the struggle, the Acropolis changed hands several times and the monuments…
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Post-Classical Acropolis

Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Eras During the Hellenistic era, the King of Pergamon, Eumenes II, commissioned the Pedestal of Agrippas to support a composition of four bronze sculptures. A few minor buildings were added, and some modifications of existing structures also…
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Classical Acropolis

The votive offerings continued at the Acropolis during the classical era (489 – 323 BCE). The Athenians built a small temple of Athena Nike right next to the Propylaia after winning a war against Boeotia and Chalcis. The Persian Wars In 499…
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Archaic Acropolis

7th Century BCE During the 7th c. BCE monumental sculpture and architecture began its development in mainland through a number of building projects in the Acropolis of Athens, at cape Sounion in the southern tip of Attica and in other…
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Prehistoric Acropolis

Stone Age The chronicle of the Acropolis of Athens is lost in prehistory, to a time even before the plane of Attica began to be cultivated. While the area around Attica was inhabited during the Upper Paleolithic period (30000 –…
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History of the Acropolis

Geology The Acropolis rock is part of a Late Cretaceous limestone ridge (Higgins) that cuts through the Attica plateau in the northeast to the southwest axis and includes the Likavitos hill, the Philopappos (Museum) hill, the hill of the Nymphs,…
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