Monuments to visit AThens & The Attica

A mythical temple on the famous Acropolis of Athens, the Erechtheion is one of the most sacred on the hill and in the entire city. To the north of the Acropolis, a jewel and masterpiece of Ionic art, the very elegant Erechtheion was erected in the ^5th century BC at the very place where, according to legend, Athena and Poseidon fought for the possession of Athens. It is next to this temple that the sacred olive tree of Athena would have grown and that there was the salt water well, a gift from Poseidon, whose trident would have left a mark on the northern wall of the building. The architect of the Erechtheion remained unknown, but he was able to exploit the irregularities of the ground to build a complex of several buildings on different levels. In this temple were worshipped several deities: Athena Polias, but also Poseidon and others still linked to the legendary history of Athens, such as Erechtheus to whom the temple owes its name. The temple is decorated with four porticoes on each side: the one on the southeast side, certainly the most famous, is the Caryatids. The Doric columns are replaced by female figures of perfect grace when you know the weight that weighs on their heads. In fact, it is their thick hair and the many folds in their clothing that reinforce the structure and allow the whole thing to remain standing.

The ones you see on the monument are only casts: of the six korês, only five are visible in the Acropolis Museum, the sixth being in the British Museum.

This site allows you to discover the remains of the colossal temple of Zeus Olympian: 15 erected columns that are still very impressive. It must be said that the Olympiion was the largest temple ever built in Greece! Begun by Pisistrate in the 6th century BC, it was completed 600 years later by Emperor Hadrian before being destroyed by the Barbarians. The setting sun bathed the surviving columns in a magnificent golden hue, and we can understand this stylite hermit who, in the 17th century, chose the top of one of them to install his cabin!

On the northwest side of the Temple of the Olympiad is Hadrian's Gate, an impressive 18-metre high marble arch. Hadrian's gate was built in honour of Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. It delineated the boundary between the ancient city of Theseus and the new Roman city that extended from the current Avenue Amalias to Illissos. It is a unique Romanesque arch, framed by two Corinthian columns. Above, the two statues of Theseus and Hadrian were erected on the same level.

This colonnade was built between 437 and 432 BC under Pericles to indicate that the Acropolis belonged to the people of Athens. The building was revolutionary for the time: it was the first propylée to present a façade in the form of a temple. The central part of the Propylaeas consists of two porticoes with six columns, one opening onto the inside of the sanctuary and the other onto the outside. The spaces between the columns served as a place of access for the faithful, while the central passage allowed animals to pass through during sacrifices.