The Parthenon

This is where we were on Thursday.  The Acropolis in Athens, can you believe it.  Unfortunately skies overcast and a bit of rain, but even without the blue sky behind it, stunning nevertheless.

Three hills are important in Athens. They include Philopappos Hill, Mars Hill and then north west to Philopappos, Hill of the Nymphs.  Photo above is  Philopappos Hill, also known as the Hill of Muses from which poets, artists were supposed to have received their inspiration.  This is the hill from which the Turks in 1687, fired a cannon which landed in the middle of the Parthenon, damaging it badly.

Mars Hill, or Areios Pagos, the Hill of Justice, is the site from which St Paul preached, and later where Greeks had assemblies, and  where the democratic process was evolved.

 

And then you make your way up to this.  This is as i probably don't need to tell you is the Parthenon, the temple which the Greeks dedicated to their Goddess Athena, who was the deity for wisdom. The two earlier buildings on the same site began as early as 447 BC,  and then the decoration took another 9 years to finish.  Engineering of the time shows Doric columns , wider at the base, leaning slightly inwards, with different sizes and spaces aimed for greater structural strength.  Over the years however, destruction occurred by earthquakes, enemies such as the Turks and also the  Christians, who when they claimed the buildings for their own worship, destroyed the decorations of the Deities etc because they were pagan.

Restoration  is going on all the time following the 50/50 rule.  Using more than 50% of non original materials is considered reconstruction rather than restoration, and they are careful to avoid this.  You can see in this picture where new marble has been added to the structure, they are the lighter bits.

From the top of the hill( acropolis), you can see the Temple of Zeus.

Also on the way is the Theatre of Dionysius, which is still in use today in the Summer months only, Pavarotti performed there, just to name one great performer.. See  Philopappos Hill in the background.

A panoramic view from the top of the Acropolis.

We got off the bus after the tour ended, and walked around the Flea Markets, which were not so flea! Then we had a walk through Plaka, one of the oldest areas of Athens.

We then walked to the Acropolis Museum, which is a delightful blend of the Old and the New.  For instance, below shows you the remnants of the sculptural frieze which went around the top of the Parthenon.  It has been restored in places, and then displayed shown below so that you get a feel for what the size was.  This building contains all the artifacts found on site.

This is a model of the sculptural decorations displaying scenes from ancient myths in one of the pediments the parthenon.  You can make out Poseidon in the middle holding his "pitchfork".

Time to say goodbye to the people not going on the cruise extension part of the trip.

This is where we had our farewell dinner.  Greek food included a mezze platter, cheese pie, spanokopita, dolmades and some sausage, followed by pork or chicken yiros.  Dessert was fresh fruit.