Acropolis. The symbol of Athens. The most famous and important archaeological site of Greece and one of the reasons why every year thousands of people from every corner of the earth visit the charming capital of Greece.
The photos and history of the Acropolis of Athens, which towers over the city's Sacred Rock, have traveled the world. And yet no one ever tires of hearing the story of the founding of the most perfect creation of antiquity.
The Acropolis reached its peak during the famous Golden Age of Pericles, where the ancient Greek culture was expressed in the most ideal way and its top monuments were built.
Passing the entrance of the archaeological site of the Acropolis - which is located at its western end and you will reach it through the Dionysios Areopagitou pedestrian street, which is also suitable for walks - you will feel the uniqueness of the space. These architectural masterpieces in their centuries-long journey faced time, decay, human malice and yet managed to win eternity, the eternal respect of mortals and above all the favor of the watch.

So according to historical sources and archaeological findings, the Acropolis hill has been inhabited since the Neolithic years and continues to this day.
The area of the platform is speculated to have served as either a place of worship or a place of habitation or both. The goddess Athena was still worshiped from the archaic years (650 – 480 BC) as can be seen from the findings of the excavations and especially the inscriptions that accompanied the numerous and rich gifts to the goddess (marble daughters, bronze and clay statuettes and vases that the faithful were assigned to her sanctuary The monuments on top of the Holy Rock of the Acropolis date from the 5th BC. century, the so-called Golden Age of Pericles. Then Athens experienced its greatest prosperity.

In the course of history, these great architectural monuments followed the history of the city of Athens. From temples dedicated to the patron goddess of the city, they were transformed into Christian churches, into residences of the Franks and later of the Turks. After the liberation of Greece from the Turks, the excavations, protection, restoration and maintenance of historical monuments were among the first concerns of the new Greek state. This care continues to this day with the restoration works of the sacred monuments of the Acropolis, which have started since the 1970s and are expected to be completed at the end of 2006.
The first excavations on the rock of the Acropolis took place between 1835 and 1837. The large systematic excavation of the site was carried out between 1835 and 1890 by Panagiotis Kavadias.
The most important monuments and architectural ensembles were built in the classical years. Then the three temples dedicated to the goddess Athena, the patron of the city, were built.

The Parthenon, the first temple built on the rock, is also the top monument. It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos and was founded between 447 – 438 BC.
It was designed by the architects Iktinos and Kallikratis, while the sculptures were crafted by Phidias. The famous white Pentelian marble was used for its construction.
The temple, which is of the Doric style, is a pavilion with 8 columns on the narrow sides and 17 on the long ones. Inside it was erected the 12-meter-tall chryselephantine statue of Athena, the existence of which is known to us from ancient sources, from the detailed descriptions of the traveler Pausanias and from its best-known copy, that of the Varvaki Agora.
The two gables of the temple depict scenes from mythology. On the eastern side is depicted the birth of the goddess Athena and on the western side her dispute with Poseidon for the protection of the land of Attica.
The sculptural decoration of the Parthenon uniquely combines Doric metopes and triglyphs with the Ionic frieze. The metopes of the eastern side depict the Gigantomachia, while the western ones represent the Amazonomachia. On the south side, the Centaur Battle dominates and on the north, scenes from the Trojan War are revived.
The frieze depicting the Panathenaic procession, the largest religious festival held in Athens, surrounded the temple and depicted figures of gods, animals and about 360 figures of people.

The Parthenon in the course of history suffered many disasters. It was used as a Byzantine church, as a Latin church and as a mosque during the years of the Turkish occupation. One of the greatest disasters occurred in the monument in 1687, when the Venetians were besieging the Acropolis. The Turks had stored gunpowder inside the Parthenon. A bomb fell on the monument and caused a terrible explosion that resulted in the destruction of the Parthenon, which until that time was kept in good condition.
The climax came at the beginning of the 19th century when the British ambassador in Constantinople, Lord Elgin, removed from the temple most of the sculptures that adorned the frieze, metopes, pediments and transported them to Britain. Today, these marbles, known as Elginia, are one of the most important collections of the British Museum. The Greek state has never stopped claiming and fighting for the return of the marbles to Athens and to their natural place.

The Parthenon temple is – without exaggeration – the most famous monument in the world. His image is known in every corner of the earth. There is no person who has visited Athens and not been photographed in front of the ancient temple. There is no Greek who has not admired this monument of our cultural heritage and who has not enjoyed from the edges of the hill an August full moon illuminating with its sweet, enchanting light the most beautiful human creation.

To the left of the Parthenon is the Erechtheion. The temple is dedicated to Athena Poliada and dates from 420 BC. According to tradition, the temple is built on the holiest point of the Acropolis. In the place where the olive grew, the tree symbol of the goddess and the city, when she struck the earth with her spear. This tree is said to have been destroyed by the Persian invaders. In fact, the legend states that the tree blossomed again when they were expelled from the city.
In 1917, the Athenians symbolically planted an olive tree at this point.

The temple is of the Ionic style and includes the Caryatid porch, located on its south side. These are the six columns that support the roof of the temple and have been carved representing the form of six women. The Caryatids we see today are faithful copies of the originals, as the five originals are for safety and conservation reasons in the Acropolis museum, while the sixth is, together with the rest of the sculptures that Elgin seized, in the British Museum.

On the south side of the propylaea is the temple of Athena of Victory. And this temple is of the Ionic style, with four columns on the front side and four more on the back side. The relief frieze at the top depicted on the eastern side an assembly of deities and on all other sides various battles.
The Temple of Athena of Victory was built around 420 BC. in honor of the patroness of Athens and for the victorious outcome of the Persian Wars. The architect who designed the temple was Kallikrates. The temple was built on the foundations of an older sanctuary dating back to prehistoric times.

The Propylaia were the main entrance to the Acropolis area. They were built in the period 437 – 432 BC. in plans of the architect Mnisiklis. They consist of a central building and two wings, part of Pericles' building program. It is characteristic that the Propylaea were built in the same straight line as the length of the Parthenon.
The colonnades on the west and east sides had six Doric columns. Two rows of Ionic columns divided the central corridor into three parts. The walls in the north wing were adorned with magnificent frescoes. Impressive was the ceiling of the Propylaea, which had marble panels with painted decoration.

The sacred rock of the Acropolis was the religious center of ancient Athens. The temples of art were concentrated on the south side of the hill! The ancient Greeks were distinguished for their culture. The great ancient theaters and conservatories, which were not by chance built at the foot of the hill, reveal their superior cultural level.