Like the Propylæa this little temple, 27 ft. long and 18 ft. wide, is built entirely of Pentelic marble. It stands on a basement of three steps, and is preceded at the E. and W. ends by a portico of four Ionic columns 13 ft. high. Above the tripartite architrave runs a sculptured frieze 85 ft. long and 18 inches high. At the E. end it represents a council of the gods, among whom are Athena with her shield (in the centre) and Zeus (sitting) next to her. On the sides are battles of the Greeks with the Persians (some of them mounted). At the W. end is a conflict between Greeks and Greeks. Only a few fragments of the roof have been found; it ended on the E. and W. in pediments which were unadorned. The entrance to the cella is formed by two pillars.
On the marble cornice of the temple bastion there once rose a Balustrade adorned with reliefs outside, and bearing a bronze railing. These admirable reliefs, remains of which are preserved in the Acropolis Museum (p. 520), represented goddesses of victory erecting trophies and presenting offerings in presence of Athenä.
The *View from beside the Temple of Nike is justly celebrated. In the picturesque intermingling of land and sea we descry the bay of Phaleron (p. 528), the peninsula of Munychia, the Piræus (p. 494), Salamis, and its adjoining islet of Psyttaleia (p. 494). A little farther to the right, beyond the bay of Eleusis, appears the dome-like rock of Acro-Corinth, backed by distant mountains. To the right of this, but in the immediate foreground, rises the Pnyx Hill with its rock-steps. The plain is overgrown with fine old olive-groves. Above it rise Mt. Ægaleos and the hills of Megara. To the S.W., to the left of the tower-like monument of Philopappos, stretches the Saronic Gulf, bounded by Ægina, with Mt. St. Elias, and by the Argolic Mts. and the island of Hydra. To the left runs the Attic coast as far as the islet of Gaïdaronisi, off Cape Colonna.
The **Propylæa, the greatest secular edifice in ancient Athens, composed entirely of Pentelic marble, were erected in 437–432 B.C. by the architect Mnesikles. This highly artistic building consists of three parts—a central gateway with wings on the N. and S.
The Central Building, ruined by an explosion in 1645, consists of a wall pierced with five openings and preceded by Doric colonnades on the E. and W. sides. Each colonnade has six columns in front, above which ran a frieze of triglyphs and metopes, crowned by a plain pediment. The W. Colonnade, to which three huge steps ascend, is 19 yds. wide and 17 yds. deep. Its front columns belong to the Doric order and consequently rise directly from the ground (stylobate), without bases; they are 29 ft. high, and each is fluted with twenty grooves separated by sharp edges. Behind the two central columns, which are 12½ ft. apart, and flanking the main passage there are on each side three slender Ionic columns, 33 ft. high, resting on their cushion-like bases, and grooved with twenty-four flutes separated by broad fillets. The ceiling was divided into sunk panels adorned with painting.
On the N. and S. sides the central building was bounded by massive walls, 17½ yds. long, ending in huge buttresses (antæ). Between these extended the Gateway proper consisting, as above remarked, of a wall with five openings. Five marble steps ascend to the threshold, composed of black Eleusinian stone, on which the side-gates rest. The broad central gateway is without steps. All the gateways were once provided with massive folding doors.
The E. Colonnade is as broad as the other, but only 23 ft. deep. Of its six Doric columns five still have their capitals, and two are connected with their architrave.
The well-preserved North Wing consists of a porch or vestibule, open towards the S., with three Doric columns between antæ, and an inner hall connected with it by a door and two windows. This was called the Pinakotheka, from its use as a receptacle for votive pictures (‘pinakes’) on marble or terracotta. The South Wing, of which two columns and the back-wall only have been preserved, was never quite completed.
Passing through the E. Colonnade of the Propylæa we enter the Inner Ward of the Acropolis and ascend a gradual slope, now covered with profoundly impressive ruins. When we picture to ourselves the mighty Parthenon, on the right, and the exquisite Erechtheion on the left, in the full glory of their sculptures and colouring, surrounded by smaller sanctuaries and a forest of statues, we may well understand the enthusiastic pride of the Athenians in their unrivalled Acropolis.
From the central gateway of the Propylæa a broad pathway ascends along the main axis of the citadel. The rock has evidently been much cut away to facilitate the ascent, as we see from a glance at the rocky terrace on the right, which has a precipitous face 6½ ft. in height. Fragments of pedestals and square hollows in the rock indicate the ancient sites of numerous votive offerings.
The terrace of rock just mentioned, to which nine low steps ascend farther on, once bore the temple of Artemis Braurōnia, but is now strewn with beams and fragments of ceiling from the Propylæa (panels with traces of blue colouring). The terrace is bounded on the W. by a fragment of a broad wall belonging to the original Pelasgic fortifications (p. 512).—Another rock-terrace, about 2½ ft. higher, and also cut perpendicularly, to the E. of the Brauronion, is supposed to have been the place where, without any actual temple, Athena was worshipped as Ergánē, the mistress and inventor of every art. To the S. of this terrace we observe traces of walls which, together with the S. wall itself, seem to have formed a gigantic building. It was perhaps the Chalkotheka, an arsenal where not only implements of war but also bronze votive offerings, and other objects were kept. Towards the Parthenon the terrace had nine narrow steps on which votive offerings were deposited.
About forty paces from the Propylæa, straight on, we come to a large cutting in the rock, the supposed site of the bronze statue of Athena Promachos, about 26 ft. high, by Phidias, erected with the booty of Marathon. The goddess was represented in full armour, with shield and lance. The gilded point of the lance, gleaming in the sun, was a landmark for sailors rounding Cape Colonna. The principal roadway, once used by the festal processions, passes between the Erechtheion and the Parthenon to the E. front of the latter.
The **Parthenon, the most perfect monument of ancient art, once far surpassing all other Athenian buildings in the brilliancy of its plastic and polychrome decoration, and even in its ruins a marvel of majestic beauty, stands on the highest S. margin of the Acropolis precincts. On this site, as early as the middle of the 6th cent., a large temple was begun, adjoining the ancient Hekatompedon (p. 518), in poros or Piræan stone, and after the battle of Marathon down to the Persian occupation was continued in marble. In the time of Perikles, after 447, the whole edifice as it now stands was rebuilt in Pentelic marble. The architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates, but Perikles himself presided over the works and provided the funds. The external sculptures are attributed to Phidias and his pupils. The temple was probably opened for worship in 438, on the occasion of the erection of the statue of Athena at the Panathenæan Festival. This marvellous work must therefore have been completed within ten years. Its decoration alone included 98 columns, 50 life-size statues for the pediments, a frieze 524 ft. long, 92 metopes, and a gold and ivory figure of Athena 43 ft. high.
On the massive basement in three steps, whose Stylobate, or platform for the colonnade, measures 75½ by 33 yds., rise 46 Doric columns averaging 34 ft. high, eight at each end and seventeen on each side (the corner-columns being counted twice). On the abaci of the columns rests the undivided Architrave or Epistyle, above which runs a Triglyph Frieze, the most characteristic feature of the Doric order. This consists of triglyphs or triple grooves, alternating with metopes or flat spaces, which in this case are adorned with reliefs. Above the frieze is the geison, or lowest flat moulding of the cornice, while below each triglyph hang regulae (guttae, or drops), corresponding with drops above it. The triglyphs and drops were painted blue, the ground of the metopes blue or red, and the lower surface of the geison and the continuous moulding above the frieze and architrave red. The smooth spaces in front were left white, as were also the columns, with the exception of the four rings or annuli below the capitals.
The gable-roof rose at an angle of 13½°. At each end is a pediment, framing the tympanum, or receding space for statuary 91½ ft. long, 3 ft. deep, and in the centre 10½ ft. high. It was painted red at the back, so as to throw the statues into strong relief. The raised edges (simae) of the external members of the pediment, 18½ inches high, are intended to prevent the rain-water from escaping over the front; they were adorned with wreaths of foliage. The pediment was crowned with a boldly executed palmette, and at each corner was placed a golden oil-jar.—The roof, resting partly on timber and partly on stone framework, consisted of slabs of Parian marble 1¼ in. thick; it was edged with artistic antefixae, or hollowed tiles, between which the rain-water escaped. The lions’ heads at the ends of each side were purely ornamental.
The Cella, or sanctuary proper, enclosed by the outer colonnades, is raised two steps above the stylobate. At each end a portico is formed by six Doric columns, 33 ft. high, and by the projecting sides. Above the architrave, round the whole building ran a frieze, of which hardly any traces remain except on the W. side (comp. p. 517).—The porticos were closed by high bronze railings between the columns. From the E. portico massive folding doors led into the interior, which was divided by a partition into an eastern and a smaller western section. The former, the inner sanctuary, was known as the Hekatompedon, being ‘100 ft. long’ (comp. p. 518). It was divided into three aisles by two rows of Doric columns (9 in each). On a square of darker stone in the pavement stood the famous gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias. The ceiling was of wood in lacunars, which were doubtless richly coloured. Light was admitted by the door alone. The walls were painted dark-red, but no adequate idea can now be formed of the original wealth of colouring.—Between the partition and the W. portico, which is supposed to have formed a kind of treasury (opisthodomos), lay the W. section of the cella, 14 yds. in depth, sometimes called the Parthenon in the narrower sense.
The crowning glory of the Parthenon consisted in its plastic decoration, executed under the direction of Phidias. Most of the sculptures still preserved were taken to London by Lord Elgin in 1802–3 and are now in the British Museum, but there are several others in the Acropolis Museum (see p. 519).
The E. Tympanum was devoted to the nativity of Athena. All that remains of its sculptures in their original position consists of two horses’ heads belonging to the chariot of the rising Helios, on the left, and remains of a horse’s head of the chariot of the setting Selene, on the right. In the W. Tympanum, which illustrated the victory of Athena over Poseidon in their contest for the possession of Attica, are still seen, near the left angle, a half-recumbent male figure, round whose neck is the arm of a kneeling woman (Æsculapius and Hygieia?), and in the right angle a female figure supposed to be Kallirrhoë (p. 512).
The Metope Reliefs are of inferior artistic value. Of the 92 there still exist the 28 at each end and 12 on the N. side. They represent the conflicts of the gods with the Giants (E.), of the Lapithæ and Athenians with the Centaurs (S.), of the Athenians with the Amazons (W.), and lastly the siege of Troy. The high relief in some cases assumes an almost entirely rounded form.
The masterpiece of Attic bas-relief is the *Frieze of the cella wall, 175 yds. long and 39 in. high. On the W. front the greater part of it has been preserved, but on the S. side there are only scanty fragments. Twenty-two slabs are now in the Acropolis Museum (see p. 519). The reliefs represented the festal procession in which every four years, at the close of the Panathenæa, the maidens of Athens presented the goddess with a magnificent woven robe. Over the chief entrance is the presentation of the robe to Athena; to the right and left of it are the assembled gods; on the sides and at the back are Athenians. The figures were executed in low relief of 2–2½ in. only, in order to prevent strong shadows being thrown by the light entering the covered hall from below. The effect was enhanced by painting and mountings in metal.
In the hollows on the S. side of the Parthenon, far below, may be traced the line of the Pelasgic Wall (p. 512), which was covered up when the terrace of the temple was formed. Excavations here, and notably also to the N.W. of the Erechtheion, brought to light a number of archaic statues and architectural fragments dating from the Persian destruction.
Near the N. margin of the Acropolis precincts, but in a slight depression, rises the **Eréchtheion, the temple of the tutelary goddess Athena Poliás and the other deities of the city. The building was probably begun soon after the Peace of Nikias (421), but only completed in 407 or after 400. It contained chambers for the cult of Athena and Poseidon Erechtheus, while the vestibule had an entrance to the salt-spring produced by Poseidon. But the temple is now sadly ruined, having served in the middle ages as a church and afterwards as a Turkish harem. Since 1902, however, the ancient fragments have been pieced together, and they now afford a fairly complete idea of the exterior of the building, which differed from that of the ordinary temples.
The nucleus of the edifice (24 by 12 yds.) rises on a threefold basement in steps, and the sanctuary was entered by three porticos (E., S., and N.) of charmingly varied type.
The E. Portico was formed by six Ionic columns in front, the northmost of which has been broken down. Their rich capitals bear the tripartite epistyle (p. 515); above it are dark blocks of stone to which the relief figures of the frieze were attached.
Between the E. portico and the Acropolis Wall twelve broad steps, partly modern, descend to the terrace of rock, about 10 ft. lower, on which stands the N. Portico. Its six columns display a still greater wealth of sculpturing than those of the E. portico. The ceiling is relieved by lacunars. The great main doorway is specially rich and well preserved. The three holes in the rock below the N. side of the N. colonnade were pointed out in ancient times as the indentations made by Poseidon’s trident during his contest with Athena for possession of Athens. Above them the pavement and roof were left open.—The W. façade of the temple, in front of which lay the Pandroseion, or shrine of Pandrosos, daughter of Cecrops, was originally articulated by four columns, resting upon a high parapet. The existing arrangement, of pilasters engaged in a wall with windows, dates from the Roman period.
The *Colonnade of the Caryatides at the S.W. angle is particularly charming. Instead of columns, six statues of virgins, over life-size (7½ ft.), placed on a parapet, support the roof, the weight of which they bear with ease and grace. The ancient Athenians called them simply the Korai (maidens). The second figure from the W. is a copy in terracotta; the one standing back in the E. row has been restored.
To the S. of the Erechtheion are the foundations (37½ by 14½ yds.) of the so-called Hekatómpedon (early 6th cent.), on the site of the palace of Erechtheus. The name (‘100 ft. long’) is evidenced by an inscription. Peisistratos and his sons embellished it with a colonnade. After its destruction by the Persians it was probably restored without the colonnade. Opinions differ as to its object and as to its history after the completion of the Erechtheion. It had a front (E.) chamber of three aisles and a narrow chamber at the back (W.), with two small rooms between them.
To the Palace of Erechtheus, the ancient residence of the Attic kings, belonged the foundations to the E. of the Erechtheion. So also did the poros (Piræan stone) bases of columns, lying opposite the S.E. angle of the colonnade of the Caryatides, 5 ft. lower; their extremely archaic form, with the shaft of the column embedded in the base, points to the Mycenæan period.
We now return to the Parthenon. To the E. of it once stood a small round Temple of the Goddess Roma and the Emp. Augustus, round the foundations of which lie fragments of its architrave. Opposite the N.E. corner of the Parthenon are the remains of a sacrificial altar of Athena.—At the S.E. angle of the precincts the huge masonry of the Kimonian Wall (p. 512) may be seen.
The Belvedere at the N.E. angle of the Acropolis affords the best survey of the city. To the S.E. are the columns of the Olympieion, with the distant Hymettos; nearer rises Hadrian’s Arch; in the foreground is the monument of Lysikrates; then the royal Palace and its gardens; beyond them are Lykabettos and the gable-shaped Pentelikon; in the town, a little to the left, shine the dazzling marble buildings of the Academy, the University, and the Library; to the N. of these runs the Patisia road; more to the left rises the lofty Metropolis Church, with the small Metropolis nestling beside it; in the centre of the N. slope of the Acropolis rises the Tower of the Winds; adjacent is the Bazaar with Hadrian’s Stoa; to the W. is the Theseion, and beyond it the Kephisos Valley with its olive-groves, and Mt. Parnes with its S. spur Mt. Ægaleos.
The *Acropolis Museum, erected in 1878, contains all the sculptures of the Acropolis, except those previously removed, and the yield of later excavations. Besides works of the golden age, it comprises valuable examples of the earlier periods of art. Adm., see p. 504.
From the Vestibule, containing antiques of various ages, we enter (left) Room I, where the chronological order begins.
Room I. Archaic sculptures in poros (6th cent.). Straight before us, No. 3. Bull attacked by two lions; above this, and by the right wall: 1, 2. Tympana with statues of Hercules (with traces of painting). By the window-wall: 9, 10. Deities enthroned, from a tympanum of the pre-Peisistrateian Hekatompedon (p. 518).
Room II. Remains of the tympanum groups in poros from the Hekatompedon just mentioned: 36. Hercules with the Triton; 35. Figure with three bodies (‘Typhon’); 40. Remains of two large serpents in poros stone, showing abundant traces of painting (comp. water-colour on the wall).
Room III. Figures (idols), tablets, and architectural fragments in terracotta, some with admirably preserved painting. Specially noteworthy, at the entrance, No. 67. A warrior (6–5th cent.).
Room IV. Fragments of marble sculptures; architectural ornaments in terracotta, poros, and marble, some of them painted. On the right, the tympanum figures from Peisistratos’s colonnade round the old Hekatompedon (p. 518): Athena fighting with the Giants.
Room V. Archaic marbles (6th cent.), incl. (on the right of the entrance) 624. Calf-Bearer (youth bringing a calf to the altar).
Room VI. Archaic *Draped Female Figures, erected in the Acropolis in the 2nd half of the 6th cent. as votive offerings, but buried in the rubbish after its destruction (480), also with interesting traces of painting. No. 681 is by Antenor, author of the tyrannicide group (comp. p. 506); No. 686 is the most recent.
Room VII. Later archaic marbles, notably (in the centre, under glass) No. 689. Beautiful head of a youth; also two graceful reliefs, 695. Athena, and 702. Hermes and three women—Above, along the walls, Metopes from the Parthenon (p. 517), few of them original; the finest, a Centaur carrying off one of the Lapithæ.
Room VIII. Sculptures from the Parthenon: Statues from the tympana and reliefs from the frieze, those in the British Museum being represented by casts. In the centre of the room a reconstruction of the tympanum groups, according to Furtwängler. By the wall on the right are remains of the E. tympanum (p. 517), two torsos only being originals. No. 880 (in the centre). Hephæstus; on the right, 881. Selene. Above are remains of the W. tympanum; in the centre, 885. Poseidon.
Most interesting of all is the better-preserved **Parthenon Frieze, of which nearly 28 yds. are almost entirely original (partly replaced by casts). To the right of the entrance, 856. Three deities, Aphrodite (?), Apollo, and Poseidon; below these, 857. Three youths with cows for sacrifice. Then, on the right, 877. Four women with silver or gold basins; 875. Three men with musical instruments. We note also several slabs from the procession of horsemen and chariots. To the right of the entrance, 860. Youth with sacrificial sheep.
Room IX. On the right, beautiful reliefs from the Nike balustrade (p. 513); in the centre of the front row, *973. Nike loosening her sandal. On the left, Nos. 1071–78. Fragments of the relief-frieze of the Erechtheion.
c. Walk from the Palace to the Theseion. Dipylon. Hill of the Nymphs. Pnyx. Monument of Philopappos.
The upper or E. end of the Rue d’Hermès (Pl. E-B, 5), which leads to the W. from the Place de la Constitution, is one of the chief business quarters of Athens. Among the wares sold in the shops here are Oriental silks and woollen stuffs and antiquities, the latter dear and sometimes spurious.
A few paces to the S. of the Rue d’Hermès rises the Metropolitan Church (Pl. E, 5), erected in 1840–55 with the materials of seventy smaller churches and chapels, and sumptuously fitted up in the interior. Adjoining it on the S. is the so-called *Little Metropolis, or church of Panagia Gorgópiko, of the early 9th cent., the oldest extant Byzantine edifice on Greek soil. The walls, composed of antique blocks of stone, contain many ancient and Byzantine sculptures.
Halfway along the Rue d’Hermès is the Kapnikaræa Church (Pl. D, 5), a complex Byzantine building (9th cent.?). Just beyond it we cross the busy—
Rue d’Eole (Pl. D, 6–3), the second main street of the old town, where men in Greek costume are often seen. Following it to the S., towards the Acropolis, and passing the Place Panteleēmon, we come to the old Bazaar (Pl. D, 5), where tailors, shoemakers, and smiths ply their crafts in their open workshops.
Adjoining the bazaar on the S. is Hadrian’s Library (Pl. D, 5), with its back to the Rue d’Eole, a massive edifice of 134 by 90 yds.
A gate (keys at the provision-shop opposite) leads from the Rue d’Eole into the quadrangle, once bordered with a colonnade. The columns still standing and the building in the middle are restorations. On the wall of the large hall on the E. side are seen the places where the bookshelves were attached, as in the Pergamon library.
On the W. side of the library, reached from the outside, still stands the N. half of the main façade, known as Hadrian’s Stoa. The marble wall is embellished with seven monolithic columns, 28 ft. high, with rich Corinthian capitals. An eighth column with the wall of the anta belonged to the colonnade of the chief portal.—Near this is the Stoa of Attalos (p. 521).
At the S. end of the Rue d’Eole rises the so-called Tower of the Winds (Pl. D, 6; custodian 20–30 l.), a well-preserved octagonal marble edifice of the 1st cent. B.C., more accurately named the Horológion of Andronikos of Kyrrhos. On the upper spaces of the eight walls, which are turned towards the different points of the compass, are reliefs representing the various winds; below are seen the lines of sun-dials. The round channels in the pavement inside, into which water flowed from a semicircular cistern outside, belonged to a water-clock.
Lanes and steps ascend here to the S. to a path skirting the N. slope of the Acropolis and leading to the right to its entrance (10 min.; p. 512).
A large paved quadrangle to the W. of the Tower of the Winds is supposed to have been a Roman Macellum (Agora or market). It is entered from the W. by the Market Gate (Porte de l’Agora; Pl. C, 6). Four slender Doric columns, 26 ft. high, support a massive architrave with a frieze of triglyphs and metopes and a fairly well preserved pediment. According to the inscription on the architrave the gateway was erected about the time of the birth of Christ. In line with the N. central column is a tablet of Hadrian’s age, inscribed with regulations about the prices of oil, salt, etc.
From the Market Gate we follow the Poikile Street to the W. to the Stoōn Street and descend the latter to the right. The second crooked side-street on the right then leads to the entrance (red door on the right; keeper 20 l.) of the Stoa of Attalos (Pl. C, 5, 6). This grand, two-storied market-hall was erected, as the inscription on the architrave, pieced together in front of the colonnade, records, by king Attalos II. of Pergamon (B. C. 159–138). It was 123 yds. long and 22 yds. deep, and formed the E. boundary of the Kerameikos market (p. 522). The groundfloor contained 21 closed chambers 16 ft. deep, in front of which ran a long colonnade. The traders probably had their stalls in the hall, while the closed rooms were used for storage.
We now descend to the N., across the railway cutting, to the Rue d’Adrien, follow the latter to the left for a hundred paces, and turn to the left (S.) into Eponymōn Street; here, on the left, sixty paces farther, is the Stoa of the Giants (Pl. G.; C, 5), a ruin so named from its three great Atlantes (beam-bearers).
A little farther to the W., on the ancient Kolonos Agoraeos (‘Hill of the Market’; see p. 522), rises the **Theseion (Pl. B, 5), the best-preserved of all the ancient Greek buildings. The massive construction, the lifelike sculptures, and the dark golden hue of the Pentelic marble are singularly impressive. The temple, commonly called Theseion, and converted into the church of St. George in the Christian period, is now supposed to have been dedicated to Hephaestos and Athena. The style of the building and its sculptures have led different authorities to assign its erection to a date a little before or a little after that of the Parthenon. At all events it was completed by 421 B. C., as an inscription records the setting up in that year of the two sacred images.
The temple stands on a marble basement in two steps, 35 by 15 yds., and is enclosed by 34 Doric columns, 18 ft. high, 6 at each end and 13 on each side (the corner-columns being counted twice). They are rather more slender than those of the Parthenon, and like them lean slightly inwards. Above the architrave, which is undivided, runs a Doric frieze of triglyphs and metopes, encircling the whole building. The metopes, however, are adorned with sculpture only on the main (E.) façade and the immediately adjoining spaces on each side. In front are depicted the exploits of Hercules, on the sides those of Theseus. The building is crowned with a cornice and pediments. The statuary of the tympana has disappeared.
The nucleus of the temple consists of the cella, 13 yds. long, at each end of which is a vestibule, formed by the antæ and two columns between them, and opening on to the colonnade. The E. vestibule now has a modern wall with a built-up door instead of the columns. The coffered ceiling on this side has been preserved intact. The W. vestibule retains its original aspect, except that a door has been broken through the wall at the back. The upper part of the cella wall is embellished, as in the Parthenon, with a relief-frieze (in Parian marble), which here, however, is limited to the two façades and the eastmost part of the sides. The E. part of the frieze represents a battle (between the Athenians and the Pelasgians?), witnessed by the gods. The W. frieze portrays the struggle of the Lapithæ and Athenians against the Centaurs.—The interior of the temple contains nothing of special interest.
Many Englishmen were buried within this temple in the Turkish period.
To the E. and N. of the Theseion lay the Kerameikos, or potters’ quarter, to which, in the 6th cent., the Market was transferred from the S.W. slope of the Acropolis. This, like the Forum at Rome, was the centre of classical Athens.
The market was adorned with statues of great poets and orators, such as Pindar and Demosthenes. Around it rose the chief public buildings. Among them were the Stoa Basileios (Pl. B, 5; seat of the Archon Basileus), the foundations of which (6th cent.) are supposed to have been discovered at No. 14 Poseidon Street.; also the Metroon, or temple of the mother of the gods, the Buleuterion, or town-hall, etc.
To the N.W. of the Theseion a bridge crosses the Piræus railway (p. 495) to the Theseion Station (Pl. B, 5). To the W. of this we reach the continuation of the Rue du Pirée. Following the latter for 150 paces to the N.E. towards the town, and just before reaching the conspicuous yellow and red chapel of Hagia Triáda or Trias (Pl. A, 4), we come to a gate on the right leading into the ancient cemetery at the Dipylon (small gratuity on leaving). Here we follow an ancient side-street, bordered with tombs, as far as the walls (see Pl. A, 4), which we skirt to the left. At their N.E. end we reach the outer Dipylon.
The Dipylon (Pl. B, 4), the only ancient ‘double gate’ of Athens (end of 4th cent.), was the chief entrance of the city. Here converged the roads coming from Megara in the Peloponnesus and Eleusis and from Platæa and Thebes in Bœotia; and from this gate ran the Dromos, a great colonnaded street, to the S.E., below the Theseion hill, to the Kerameikos market-place (p. 522). The left side of the gateway has wholly disappeared, but a few blocks, attached to their base, of the right (S.) wall are still visible. In front of these rises a considerable part of the S. gateway-tower. In the centre are traces of the pier between the two passages. This outer gateway was connected with an inner gateway, on precisely the same plan, by walls 38 yds. long, thus forming an enclosed court. The S.E. tower was adjoined on the E. by a well-house.
To the S.W. of the Dipylon the City Wall, here only 6½ ft. thick, has been brought to light. The carefully jointed blocks of blue limestone rest on the hastily built wall of Themistokles (479–478); the upper part was built of sun-dried brick. Outside this wall once rose a rampart, probably coeval with the Dipylon, 14 ft. thick, consisting of two walls with earth between. Beside the city wall, five paces to the S.W. of the Dipylon, is an ancient boundary-stone; seventy paces farther are remains of another gateway, probably the Funeral Gate. This, like the Dipylon, consisted of two gate-buildings, enclosing a court, though it had only a single passage. Through it, by the roadside, flowed the little brook Eridanos.
To the W. of the Dipylon, in the direction of the Hagia Triáda Chapel, we soon reach the *Burial Ground outside the Dipylon, the principal cemetery of ancient Athens. As at Rome and Pompeii the tombs bordered the highroads outside the gates. In this case the more durable monuments have been left by the excavators in their original positions. Some of these are artistically executed, others seem to have been merely rectangular walled spaces. In ancient days, as now, the ground was very uneven; some of the tombs close to the road were raised on terraces 5–8 ft. above it.
Before reaching the Hagia Triáda Chapel, we observe, on the left side of the road, two stelæ on Doric substructures, the tombs of Thersandros and Simylos (375 B. C.) and of Pythagoras (5th cent.). Ascending to the left beyond a depression in the soil we come to a temple-shaped tomb, with figures of Demetria and Pamphile, dating from the middle of the 4th century. Close to the Hagia Triáda Chapel is a large block of marble resembling a sarcophagus, the Tomb of Hipparete (middle of the 4th cent.).—To the left, on and beyond the stone wall of the side-street mentioned at p. 522, are rows of tombs, arranged in order of families and phylæ or tribes and extending down to the Roman period. At the corner is that of the family of Lysanias, with a *Relief of Dexileos on horseback, who distinguished himself before Corinth in 394–393; the weapons and bridle were added in bronze. Next come the tombs of the family of Agathon (4th cent.); that of his wife Korallion represents a family group; then a temple-shaped tomb, the interior of which was adorned with paintings now almost completely erased. Farther on is a monument crowned with a huge bull. In front of it is another little temple-like monument with traces of painting; then a great Molossian hound. Beyond it, a tomb-relief with a boat.—Opposite the hound is the *Tomb of Hegeso, perhaps the finest of all, a lady at her toilet attended by a maid (4th cent.). About twenty paces short of the keeper’s house, and thirty paces to the S. of the path, is a graceful Hydrophoros or female water-carrier (5–4th cent.).
The range of hills to the W. of the Acropolis and Areopagus, now uninhabited, was a favourite residential quarter of the ancient city, as is evidenced by countless remains of steps, cisterns, conduits, walls, and streets. From the Theseion (223 ft.) we ascend the broad Avenue of the Apostle Paul (Pl. B, 6), where, immediately on the right, rises the Hagia Marina Hill, thickly strewn with relics of ancient dwellings. Above it rises the Hill of the Nymphs, crowned with the Observatory (Pl. A, 6; 345 ft.).
To the S. of the Observatory a road descends into a slight hollow and then ascends the long Pnyx Hill (Pl. B, 7; 358 ft.), the structure on the N.E. slope of which is distinctly visible from the Areopagus and Acropolis. This consists of a terrace or platform, 131 yds. long and 71 yds. wide, the upper margin of which is cut out of the rock, while the lower part is buttressed by a massive wall of huge blocks of stone, forming a slightly flattened semicircle. In front of the abrupt back-wall of the terrace, about 13 ft. high, rise three steps bearing a cube of rock. This has been identified with the Pnyx, the place where, before the tiers of stone benches were erected in the theatre of Dionysos (p. 510), the Athenians held their political assemblies. The orator’s tribune (bēma) is supposed to have been attached to sockets on the platform in front of the cube of rock. The space occupied by the listening throng of citizens sloped gradually up to the supporting wall, which at that time was much higher. Above the cube once ran an upper terrace, where there rose a similar rock-altar, now much damaged. From this point we obtain a very striking view of the Acropolis.
To the S. of the Pnyx Hill, in a depression, is the chapel of Hagios Demetrios Lumpardiáris (Pl. B, 7), to the S. of which we now ascend the Philopappos Hill, the ancient Museion. On its crest we recognize many fragments of the ancient city-wall, which was joined by the Long Walls (p. 506) on the heights near the Monument and near the Observatory (see above).
The Monument of Philopappos (Pl. B, 8) was built in 114–16 A.D. The upper part, in Pentelic marble, two-thirds preserved, had a frieze in high relief, crowned with three niches separated by Corinthian half-columns. The statue seated in the central niche is that of Antiochos Philopappos; to the left is that of his grandfather Antiochos IV. Epiphanes (p. 507). The relief is supposed to represent the ceremonial progress of Philopappos in his consular capacity. The square chamber behind was the burial-place.
Very beautiful, especially at sunset, is the *View from the Philopappos Hill. The Acropolis is visible in its full extent; at its base are the Odeion and the Theatre of Dionysos; to the right of these rise Hadrian’s Arch and the hills of the Stadion and Hymettos. To the left of the Acropolis are the Theseion and the Hill of the Nymphs, and beyond them the Athenian plain, bounded by Ægaleos, and Parnes. Above the Acropolis rise Mt. Lykabettos and part of Pentelikon. Towards the S. stretches the Saronic Gulf.
d. The Modern Quarters.
From the Place de la Constitution two broad streets lead to the N.W. to the Place de la Concorde: the Rue du Stade (Pl. F-D, 5–3) and the Boul. de l’Université. In the former, immediately to the right, are the Royal Stables; then on the left, standing a little back, the Parliament House (Pl. E, 5).
In the Boulevard de l’Université the first house on the right (Pl. S.; F, 5), is that of Dr. Schliemann (1822–90), the famous discoverer of Troy, Mycenæ, and Tiryns. Farther on on the right are also the Roman Catholic Church (Pl. F, 4) and the—
*Academy of Science (Pl. F, 4), built of Pentelic marble in 1859–84. The style is classic Grecian, with Ionic porticos, tympana embellished with sculptures, and rich colouring, thus resembling a classic edifice in its palmy days. The tympanum group of the main building (birth of Athena) and the statues of Plato (left) and Socrates (right), opposite the entrance, are by Drosos.
From the vestibule a passage to the right, descending a few steps, leads to the Numismatic Museum (adm., p. 504), containing a valuable collection of coins, chiefly from countries influenced by Grecian civilization.
Adjacent is the University (Pl. F, 3, 4), founded in 1837. It also has an Ionic portico and is enriched with colouring. The organization is similar to that of the German universities. There are about a hundred professors and lecturers and 2800 students. The buildings contain also the natural history collections.
The adjacent Library (Pl. E, 3; National and University, united in 1903), a handsome edifice in Pentelic marble, contains 314,000 vols, and 2530 MSS.
The Rue du Stade and the Boulevard de l’Université cross the Rue d’Eole (p. 520) and its prolongation the Rue de Patisia (see below) and end at the Place de la Concorde (Plateia tēs Omoneias; Pl. D, 2, 3; tramways, p. 503), planted with trees and much frequented in the evening. From its S. side runs the Rue d’Athéna (Pl. D, 3–5) and from its S.W. angle the Rue du Pirée (Pl. D-A, 3, 4; fine view of the sea in the evening). To the W. runs the Rue Constantin, with the handsome new Constantine Church (Pl. C, 2) and the new National Theatre opposite (p. 504). At the end of it the road to the Peloponnesus Station (p. 502) bends round to the right.
In the Rue de Patisia (Pl. D, E, 2, 1), near the outskirts of the town, on the right, are the Polytechnic and the National Museum.
The Polytechnic Institute (Pl. E, 1), built in 1858 of Pentelic marble, consists of a two-storied central edifice in the Doric and Ionic styles and two Doric wings. The upper floor of the main building contains the Historical and Ethnological Museum (adm., see p. 504), a collection of memorials of the Greek war of independence, costumes, etc.—Beyond the next side-street is the Museum.
e. The National Archæological Museum.
The **National Archaeological Museum (Pl. E, 1), erected in 1866–89, contains the collections of antiquities belonging to the state (other than those of the Acropolis, Olympia, Delphi, etc.). Adm., see p. 504. In the central rooms are exhibited the Mycenæan and Egyptian antiquities, in the left (N.) wing the marble sculptures, in the E. annex the bronzes, and in the S. wing the vases.
From the Vestibule we go straight into the central building.
*Room of the Mycenæan Antiquities (about B.C. 1500–1000; comp. p. 416). The cases Nos. 1–41 in the middle contain the objects found in the richly furnished royal tombs in the citadel of Mycenæ, the traditional burial-place of Agamemnon and his family. They comprise trinkets, bronze weapons, vessels and utensils of gold, silver, and clay, etc.; thus, in stands 20 and 24 are golden masks used to cover the faces of the dead bodies, in stand 27 a double-handled beaker with doves, like that of Nestor described by Homer. The five reliefs on limestone slabs (Nos. 51–55), in the centre of the side-walls, were found above the tombs. No. 50, a case in the centre, shows the 6th tomb exactly as when discovered in 1878.
The other cases contain relics of the same period from Mycenæ, and also, of rather later date, from other places in Greece, where the tombs were more plainly fitted up. At the end of the room, on columns: *1758, *1759. Gold goblets from Vaphio (near Sparta), with lifelike embossed scenes of browsing cattle and a bull-hunt. In the centre, in the detached glass-case No. 4, are chased and inlaid *Daggers.
Adjacent, straight on, is the Egyptian Room.
We return to the Vestibule and enter the N. wing, containing the Marble Sculptures.
Room of Archaic Art (7–6th cent.). To the left in the ante-room, No. 1. Female Statue (votive offering of Nikandre, primitive), and Nos. 6, 57. Female seated Statues; in the chief room are the so-called Apollo Figures, nude, some of them probably of deceased persons exalted into heroes; of this series No. 10, by the right wall, and Nos. 1904 and 9, by the left, are followed by many others, progressive in style. Also in the chief room, in front of the column on the right, No. 21. Winged Nike. By the right wall, 2687, 1959. Tomb Stelae. By the left pillar at the entrance, and also to the left farther on, 30, 86. Painted Stelae, and 29. Stela of Aristion, with the painted relief of a warrior.
Room of the Athena (5–4th cent.). In the centre, 129. Varvakion Statuette, a copy in marble, 39 inches high, of the ivory and gold statue of Parthenos by Phidias (p. 516), appearing somewhat heavy in its reduced size, as the original was intended to be viewed from a distance.—To the left of the entrance, *126. The Eleusinian Relief, Demeter and Kore presenting the young Triptolemos (father of husbandry) with grains of corn (5th cent.). By the pillar, 177. Female ideal head.—Left wall, 178. Boar’s Head, and 179, 180. Heads of Youths, probably by Skopas; *181. So-called Eubuleus, resembling the Hermes of Praxiteles; 182. Head of Aphrodite; 159–161. Three graceful figures of Nike.—Wall of exit, 128. So-called Lenormant’s statuette of Athena, another copy of Phidias’s Parthenos, more faithful in detail (base, shield, etc.) than the Varvakion statuette; 1783. Votive Relief, two-sided.—By right wall, 136–174. Sculptures and architectural fragments from the temple of Æsculapius at Epidauros (4th cent.).
Room of the Hermes (5–4th cent.). Left wall, 218. So-called Hermes of Andros, similar to that of Praxiteles; to the left of it, 221, 222. Frieze from Lamia, a procession of Tritons, Nereids, and Cupids; to the right, *215–217. Marble Pedestal from Mantinea, with the contest between Apollo and Marsyas, of the school of Praxiteles. Then, in front of the pilaster, 1733. Square Pedestal, probably by Bryaxis (4th cent.).—In the right half of the room are four works by Damophon (2nd cent. B.C.), from Lykosura: to the left of the entrance, 1736. Head in the style of the Zeus of Otricoli in Rome; on the right and left of the exit, two female heads; near the former, 1737. Fragment of drapery, with grotesque ornamentation. Also in front of the window-wall, *1463. Triangular Tripod Base, with Dionysos and two female figures, of the school of Praxiteles. By the window-wall, 1561–1583. Sculptures from the Heræon at Argos (about 400 B. C.), incl. No. 1571, a fine female head.
Straight on, we pass through the Poseidon Room to the (left)—
Room of Themis. Right wall, 231. Colossal statue of Themis (about 300 B. C.).—Two marble statues found in 1900–1 among others at the bottom of the sea in the strait of Kythera: one, by the wall of entrance, a wrestler, about to kneel (Hellenistic style); the other, in the right corner, figure of a youth, coated with shells.
Room of Poseidon (Hellenistic and Roman periods). By the entrance, 235. Colossal figure of Poseidon.—In the centre, 261. Maenad asleep.—By the left wall, 239. Satyr, from Lamia; 240. Hermes of Atalante; 244. Youth, from Eretria (head recalling the Hermes of Praxiteles); 234. Colossal head of Athena; 243. Hermes with the Ram; 262. Aphrodite, with transparent drapery.—To the right of the exit, *247. Celtic Warrior, fallen in battle, recalling the Pergamenian groups.—Right side, 1826. Copy of the Diadumenos of Polykleitos; 252, 251. Statuettes of Pan; 257. Silenos, with the young Dionysos on his left shoulder; 258. Æsculapius.
Room of the Kosmetæ. To the left of the entrance, 249. Hadrian; right, 420. Head with long hair and Semitic features (recalling heads of Christ).—Near the exit, 417, 418. Antinous.—Near the left wall, 384–416. Hermæ and heads of Kosmetae (officials of the Ephebic gymnasia of Athens), of the early centuries A. D.—Mosaic from the Piræus.
Three Rooms of Tomb Reliefs, chiefly of the golden age of Greek art.—Room of Tomb Vases, massive marble vases of the Greek ages, mostly tall slender lekythi (for perfumes) and amphoræ.—Room of the Sarcophagi and of sepulchral decorations of the Greek and Roman ages.
To the left is the annex containing the Bronzes.
I. Bronze Room. In the centre, 13,396. Statue of a Youth, over life-size, stretching out his right hand, a good work of the 4th cent., (reconstructed); this is the finest of the sculptures found in the strait of Kythera.—To the right of the entrance, Archaic Bronzes from the Acropolis, votive offerings, implements, and utensils, mostly found in the rubbish left by the Persians (p. 506); the finest are Nos. 6447, 6448. Statuettes of Athena, 6445. Statuette of a youth; 6446. Bearded head, with eyes inserted.—To the left, Bronzes from Olympia, primitive and archaic little figures of animals and men, weapons, and implements; on columns, 6439. Realistic head of an athlete (Hellenistic), 7474. Statuette of a youth.
II. Bronze Room, containing bronze Figurines, Statuettes, Implements, and Utensils (vases, lamps, mirrors, helmets, strigils, bracelets, rings, brooches, surgical instruments).—To the left of the entrance of the next room, 11,761. Statue of Poseidon (early 5th cent.).
III. Bronze Room (rotunda) contains the other bronzes found in the strait of Kythera (comp. R. I). To the right of the entrance, 13,399. Figure of a youth, in the style of the older Argive school, still on its old pedestal; 13,397 and 13,398. Statuettes of youths; 13,400. Hellenistic head.
We return to the Sarcophagus Room and pass to the left through the Room of the Roman Tomb Reliefs to the—
Room of the Votive Reliefs. By the entrance wall and on the left are votive reliefs from the Asklepieion (p. 511). The most elaborately executed is No. 1377, near the middle of the left wall (4th cent.); adjacent is No. 2565, in the form of a stele.—The Karapanos Room is chiefly devoted to relics from the Zeus oracle at Dodona.
On the S. side of the museum is the Collection of Vases. The finest are mostly from Attica, the chief seat of the vase-painting of the 6–4th cent., such as the Black-figured Vases, with their silhouette-like figures painted in black (6th cent.; Room I, cabinets 13–23); the Red-figured Vases, vessels entirely covered with a black glaze, the figures alone, on their original red ground, remaining free (after middle of 6th cent.; Room II); and the Lekythi, slender vessels for perfumes, with coloured figures on a white ground (after the Persian wars; Room III, cabinets 41–50).
Adjacent are three front-rooms containing the Terracottas, including fine sets of figurines of the best period (5–4th cent.). In the last room are exhibited also antique trinkets and vessels.
f. Walks.
The ascent of Lykabettós (909 ft.), the finely shaped hill to the N.E. of Athens, is specially attractive by early morning or late evening light. We diverge to the N. from the Rue de Képhisia at the end of the palace-garden (Pl. G, 5), cross the Kolonáki Square (Pl. G, H, 5), and in 6 min. reach the reservoir of the Water Conduit of Hadrian, now utilized anew (Pl. H, 4; 445 ft.), where there is a small café commanding a fine view. Hence we proceed to the Lukianos Street, from the N. end of which an easy path ascends through young plantations. After the first zigzags a level path (Pl. H, 3) diverging to the left affords almost finer views than the top of the hill. The path straight on ascends to the Georgios Chapel (Pl. H, 3) on the summit in ½ hr. more.
The view embraces the city of Athens, with the Acropolis and the Attic plain, the Piræus, the bay of Phaleron, and the Saronic Gulf, with Ægina and Salamis and the distant mountains of Argolis; to the right of Salamis are the hills of Corinth and Megara; in the foreground, concealing the bay of Eleusis, rises Mt. Ægaleos; farther to the N. is Mt. Parnes. Between the latter and Pentelikon, which rises to the N.E., extends the upper plain of Attica. To the E. is Mt. Hymettos.
A fine view of Athens and the Acropolis is obtained also from the Kolōnós hill, the legendary home of Sophocles. From the Place de la Concorde (Pl. D, 2, 3) we follow the tramway to Kolokythu (comp. Pl. A, 1) and reach the hill in ½ hr.; it rises to the right of the road and is recognized by the conspicuous monuments of the antiquarians Otfried Müller (d. 1840) and Chas. Lenormant (d. 1859). Adjacent lay the Akademeia, the grove where Plato taught.
The most popular resort on fine summer evenings is New Pháleron (tramway and Piræus railway, see p. 503), on the bay of Phaleron. A band plays in the evening on the broad coast-terrace, with its cafés and bath-houses (bath 40 l.).—A branch of the tramway runs to the quieter sea-baths of Old Phaleron (comp. p. 503).—The Piraeus, see p. 494.