Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Monument of Thrasyllos
Above the Theatre of Dionysos, you can see the entry to a huge cave, originally sacred
to Artemis. It later housed choregic awards (to celebrate victory in drama contests; see
Monument of Lysikratos, p.75) won by the family of
Thrasyllos
, hence the name. he
entrance was closed off around 320 BC with a marble facade - this is currently being
restored. The cave was later converted to Christian use and became the chapel of Virgin
Mary of the Rocks, but an ancient statue of Dionysos remained inside until it was
removed by Lord Elgin (it's now in the British Museum), while the Classical structure
survived almost unchanged until 1827, when it was blown up in a Turkish siege.
1
The Peripatos
he
Peripatos
was the ancient street that ran around the north side of the Acropolis.
Access to this side has only recently been opened up so that you can now walk right
around the rock within the fenced site, starting above the Theatre of Dionysos and
emerging by the entry to the main Acropolis site; there's also a new entrance from
Pláka, by the Kannellopoulou museum.
There are no major monuments en route, but the numerous caves and springs help
explain the strategic importance of the Acropolis. In one impressive cleft in the rock was
a secret stairway leading up to the temples: this provided access to spring-water in times
of war, and was also used in rituals, when blindfolded initiates would be led this way.
Nearby are numerous other caves and rock arches that had cult status in ancient times.
The Acropolis Museum
Dhionysíou Areopayítou 15 • Tues-Sun 8am-8pm, last admission 7.30pm, late opening Fri till 10pm • €5 •
W
theacropolismuseum.gr •
Metro Akrópoli
he new
Acropolis Museum
is a magnificent building, filled with beautiful objects, with
a wonderful sense of space and light and a glass top storey with a direct view up to the
Parthenon itself.
The remains of ancient Athens uncovered during building work can be seen even
before you enter, protected under glass flooring that continues past through the ground
floor. The displays proper start with a ramp described as the
Slopes of the Acropolis
, as
that is where most of the pottery and other objects displayed here were found. At the
top of the ramp are sculptures from the pediment of an early temple that stood on the
site of the Parthenon, the Hekatompedon. Their surviving paintwork gives a good
indication of the vivid colours originally used in temple decoration.
Statues dominate the
first floor:
: the
Moschophoros
, a painted marble statue of a young
man carrying a sacrificial calf, dated 570 BC, is one of the earliest examples of Greek
art in marble. There's also an extensive collection of
Korai
, or statues of maidens. The
progression in style, from the simply contoured Doric clothing to the more elegant and
voluminous Ionic designs, is fascinating; the figures' smiles also change subtly,
becoming increasingly loose and natural.
On the
top floor,
, a fifteen-minute video (alternately in English and Greek) offers a
superb introduction to the Parthenon sculptures. The metopes and the frieze are set out
around the outside of the hall, arranged as they would have been on the Parthenon
itself; the pediments are displayed separately at each end of the gallery. Only a relatively
small number are original (see box, p.70); the rest are represented by plaster copies
which seem deliberately crude, to make a point (there are better copies in Akropoli
metro station, for example).
On the way back down through the museum are
statues
from the Temple of Athena
Nike and the Erechtheion, including the original Caryatids. The sculptures from the
parapet of the former, all depicting Athena Nike in various guises, include a
particularly graceful and fluid sculpture known as
Iy Sandalizoméni
, which depicts her
adjusting her sandal. Don't forget to check out the café too (see p.107).
