Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there is many other acropolis in Greece, the importance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is generally known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis was officially proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007. The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock that rises 150 m or 490 ft above sea level in the city of Athens, with a surface area of about 3 hectares. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the first Athenian king.

While the earliest artifacts date to the Middle Neolithic era, there have been documented habitations in Attica from the Early Neolithic 6th millennium BC. There is little doubt that a Mycenaean megaron stood upon the hill during the late Bronze Age. Nothing of this megaron survives except, probably, a single limestone column-base and pieces of several sandstone steps. Soon after the palace was built a Cyclopean massive circuit wall was built, 760 meters long, up to 10 meters high, and ranging from 3.5 to 6 meters thick. This wall would serve as the main defense for the acropolis until the fifth century. The wall consisted of two parapets built with large stone blocks and cemented with an earth mortar called emplekton.

There is no conclusive evidence for the existence of a Mycenean palace on top of the Athenian Acropolis. However, if there was such a palace, it seems to have been transplanted by later building activity on the Acropolis. Not much is known as to the architectural appearance of the Acropolis until the archaic era. In the 7th and the 6th centuries BC the site was taken over by Kylon during the failed Kylonian revolt, and twice by Pisistratus.

A temple sacred to Athena Polias was quickly erected by mid of 6th century BC. This Doric limestone building, from which many relics survive, is referred to as the Bluebeard temple, named after the pedimental three-bodied man-serpent sculpture, whose beards were painted dark blue. Whether this temple replaced an older one, or a mere sacred precinct or altar, is not known. In the late 6th century BC yet another temple was built, usually referred to as the Archaios Naos. This temple of Athena Polias was built upon the Doerpfeld foundations.

Most of the major temples were rebuilt under the leadership of Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens 460 – 430 BC. Phidias, a great Athenian sculptor, and Ictinus and Callicrates, two famous architects, were responsible for the reconstruction. During the 5th century BC, the Acropolis gained its final shape. After winning at Eurymedon in 468 BC, Cimon and Themistocles ordered the reconstruction of southern and northern walls, and Pericles entrusted the building of the Parthenon to Ictinus and Phidias.

In 437 BC Mnesicles started building the Propylaea, monumental gates with columns of Pentelic marble, partly built upon the old propylaea of Pisistratus. These colonnades were almost finished in 432 BC and had two wings, the northern one serving as picture gallery. At the same time, south of the propylaea, building of the small Ionic Temple of Athena Nike commenced. After an interruption caused by the Peloponnesian War, the temple was finished in the time of Nicias peace, between 421 BC and 415 BC. During the same period the building of the Erechtheum, a combination of sacred precincts including the temples of Athena Polias, Poseidon, Erechtheus, Cecrops, Herse, Pandrosos and Aglauros, with its so-called the Kore Porch was begun.


Behind the Propylaea, Phidias' gigantic bronze statue of Athena Promachos, built between 450 BC and 448 BC, dominated. The base was 1.50 m or 4 ft 11 inches high, while the total height of the statue was 9 m or 30 ft. In the Byzantine period, the Parthenon was turned into a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A large tower was added, which was demolished in the 19th century. The buildings of the Acropolis suffered significant damage during the 1687 siege by the Venetians in the Morean War. The Parthenon, which was being used as a gunpowder magazine, was hit by artillery fire and severely damaged.

The entrance to the Acropolis was a monumental gateway called the Propylaea. To the south of the entrance is the tiny Temple of Athena Nike. A bronze statue of Athena, sculpted by Phidias, originally stood at its centre. At the centre of the Acropolis is the Parthenon or Temple of Athena Parthenos. East of the entrance and north of the Parthenon is temple known as Erechtheum. South of the platform that forms the top of Acropolis there are also the remains of an outdoor theatre called Theatre of Dionysus. A few hundred metres away, there is the now partially reconstructed Theatre of Herodes Atticus. All the valuable ancient artifacts are situated in the Acropolis Museum, which resides on the southern slope of the same rock, 280 metres from the Parthenon.