Everyone has been to one of them before, but mostly there was only good food and good ouzo. The name Acropolis is without any doubt the most popular for Greek restaurants - and why that is so is immediately clear to every visitor to Athens. Because one, the real and famous Acropolis, is located in the heart of Athens, high on a mountain on which it is enthroned and dominates the cityscape like no other of the many impressive buildings in the Greek capital.
After our hike through the Enipeas Gorge (read here) and the climbing of the giants of the Olympus, now follow me on the rest of the path. We ride to the Oracle of Delphi and to Athens. This is the story about the Acropolis - one of the world wonders.
The Acropolis of Athens is the main draw for tourists from all over the world. To this day the Athenians can be grateful to their gods for this, because according to legend, a competition between two of them ensured that this beauty of columns and statues, walls and halls looks down on their city from up here. Allegedly it was the goddess Athena and the sea god Poseidon who vied for the favor of the then nameless city an unimaginably long time ago.
Both gods should give the inhabitants of the city a present, the one with the most beautiful should have to be win. Poseidon decided to donate a spring, but only salt water gushed from it. Easy game for Athena: She donated a simple olive tree that supplied the inhabitants with olives, oil and wood - and can still be seen on the Acropolis hill today, how they say.
Athena won, the cradle of democracy was now called Athens. And the city fathers began building the Acropolis, in Greek "Ακρόπολη". In other places this is usually a place full of temples, places of worship and fortifications, because "Acropolis" actually only means "Castle Hill".
For strategic reasons, a fortress was built high on top of one, to which one could retreat if enemies attacked the city. This is why one can at least guess at the Athens Acropolis that the building was once a citadel. Only in the course of time did the fortress develop into a place of worship and culture.
Today the way to the buildings, which are all part of the Unesco world cultural heritage, is a sign of how great the attraction of the famous landmark is. The train of tourists who make a pilgrimage to the top of the hill to marvel at the place of the gods is infinitely long. There are restaurants, street stalls with souvenirs and snacks everywhere.
No problem to find the same crap you can find anywhere around the world: Plastic monuments, cheap drinks for exorbitant prices. Then the ascent to the world beauty that lies 156 meters high above the city begins.
Often destroyed, still here
The ancient Greeks, as one learns above, were by no means the first to feel the sanctity of the place here. A ruler's palace is said to have stood here as early as the Stone Age, later the mountain became a temple for earthly deities until the Persians destroyed the complex in 500 BC.
The ancient Greeks built the first pantheon, a building for gods, that is to say what is today a church in Christianity. Much, much later, these Christians came and declared the classical structures for the pagan gods of the Greek Olympus to be churches and chapels. Only temporarily, because with the arrival of the Ottomans, the Acropolis was transformed again. Now the many wonderful buildings were suddenly mosques.
These many changes and changes have hardly harmed the atmosphere. The siege by the Venetians in 1687 was much more important. Their army commanders had the idea of having the “maiden's chamber” known as the Parthenon, the temple for the city goddess Pallas Athena, bombarded. The Turks had set up their powder magazine precisely there, because they believed that this wonderful structure would never be attacked by anyone. The powder exploded. Much of the Acropolis fell to rubble.
That is why large parts of the facility are still in repair today, and that is why construction are ongoing everywhere. In addition, the temples are also corroded and polluted, so that the reconstruction will never be finished. Many parts have already been replaced by new stones, the old ones end up in museums.
But there is no end in sight, since 1975 the project of the century "Saving the Acropolis" was proclaimed, and construction has continued, even when Greece was deep in the debt crisis. After mistakes at the beginning, when more was destroyed than could be saved during the restoration through modern construction methods, the best stonemasons in Greece work today according to the same ancient processing methods like their colleagues 2,500 years ago.
Once you have climbed the steep path to the top, and while the hot Greek sun is beating down on your head, you can explore the extensive terrain as you wish. Everywhere there are large pits from excavations that dig further and further back in time. The central focal point, however, is the Parthenon, the largest and most important building on the mountain.
It was dedicated to the goddess Pallas Athena Parthenos, the patron saint of the city to this day. This 70 meter long temple with its beautiful columns has also been undergoing restoration work for years built. But that doesn't detract from the sight.
On the tour, which leads along the outside of the wall, you always have wonderful views over the city. If you turn around, one historical building follows the other. Particularly important are the Erechtheion, which owes its name to King Erechtheus, who is said to be buried here. Also amazing are the Propylaea that form the gate.
From here a marble staircase leads up, past six pillars. On the right side of the Propylaea is the rock with the Athena Nike temple. Further back is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus - an ancient theater with space for up to 5,000 spectators.
Nobody knows for sure, because the most important construction phase of the Acropolis was between 467 and 406 BC, well before our time. But it all looks great. Back then, the clients attached great importance to quality.
Builders such as Philocles and Archilochus, who built the Erechtheion, donated six maidens (Koren) to their building, very finely crafted. One was later stolen and taken to England. Today are only copies here, which meanwhile look worse than the originals left by the Greeks in the Acropolis Museum.
This is waiting at the foot of the mountain for those who want to know a little or much more about the ancient times. That's around 5 million visitors every year - and it is probably not one of them who regrets this trip.
Useful information for your visit:
Opening hours:
April - October: daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
November - March: daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Prices:
€ 20 per person (€ 10 reduced, e.g. in the winter months or for students & seniors from 65)
Free of charge for children and young people under 18 years of age
Address: Acropolis, 105 58 Athens
Accessibility: On foot from the center of Athens about 25 minutes to the top, but there are also regular buses (line 230, X80 and hop on hop off buses)
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