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Peregrine
Peregrine
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4 out of 5
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The Acropolis

  • September 10, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by seattleite from las vegas, Nevada
The Acropolis

The Athens Acropolis is breath taking. The Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaea and the Temple of Nike are all wonders to behold. From atop the Acropolis you can look down over the ancient agora, the Theatre of Dionysos, the Choregic Monument of Thrasyllos, the stoa of Eumenes, the Odeion of Herodes Atticus, the temple of Olympian Zeus,the Thission, the Olympic stadium, and the theater of Herod Atticus. You get the idea? It's an incredible place. The entrance fee into the Acropolis in 1999 was 2000drs (less than $7) and The Ancient Agora was 1200drs ($4). We spent about 3 hours touring the ruins and museum. We went early because it's reccommended to beat the heat and the crowds. The acropolis is the highest point in Athens and the walk up could be strinuous for the elderly or infirmed but anyone in average health sould have no trouble. The slopes are gradual and lined with trees for shade. We left in time to have lunch in the Plaka and then walked to the National Archaelogical Museum and Sintagma Square. If you only have time to do one thing in Athens...this is it!

From journal I Love Greece

Editor Pick

Acropolis

  • September 6, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Peregrine from , New Mexico
Acropolis

My first glimpse of the Acropolis was from the bus coming in from the airport. One minute we were driving along a narrow street lined with furniture shops, and then we turned a corner and there it was. It was higher than I had imagined, some 300 feet above the city. A massive rocky outcropping lifted out of the clutter of buildings around its base. And greener. The base and the sides of the Acropolis are covered with trees. Regal, dramatic, set apart from the ordinary as it looks down on the swarms of humanity below.

Unfortunately, a great majority of that humanity also swarms up the snaking route of the Sacred Way cut into the living rock and smoothed by millions of feet over thousands of years. Once on top, the crowds dispersed into little groups following their guide, so it was fairly easy to get off by yourself. We wandered for hours, sat on broken marble pillars and just absorbed the atmosphere. Unlike the base of the Acropolis, except for the occasional sacred olive, the summit of the Acropolis is completely barren. There are a few walkways, but you can scramble over the rocks, finding your way to the backside Parthenon, standing in the shade of a sacred olive tree. There are cats all around the Acropolis and at one guard shack, we spotted bowls of food and water put out for them.

The Parthenon, of course, is the focus of this magnificent place. Built in honor of Athena, the patroness of Athens, goddess of war, wisdom and liberal arts (which seems an odd combination). Aesthetically perfect architecture, its tall marble columns still holding up a partial roof. Part of the frieze has been replicated but the original bits and pieces are inside the museum. A bit farther on is the Erechtheum with its Porch of Caryatids (all replicas). Below, on the edge of the hill, spread out in a semi-circle is the Theater of Dionysus where concerts and plays are still performed. Below, on the opposite side of the Acropolis, is the ancient Agora where Socrates taught. There is a small museum in front of the Parthenon where the maidens from Erechtheum and other treasures are kept to preserve them from the smog and acid rain, including a statute of Athena. Here, too, are pieces of the friezes that once graced the Parthenon. If you want to see the rest of the friezes, as we were curtly told by the guide, we would have to visit them in the British Museum in London.

At night, there is a sound and light presentation at the Acropolis with a narration of the city's history.

From journal Ancient Splendor of Athens

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