Athens - Day 2 AM
Since we only had one full day in Athens, we had a lot planned.
We woke up early and had breakfast in the hotel’s rooftop retaurant. The buffet was ok but provided us with enough o start the day. The sun was just coming up and the light on the Parthenon was beautiful. As we looked at the 490 ft hill the holds the Parthenon we wondered a little if a full day of waling that included a walk to the top was going to be too much, but at this point we were not going to scale back so after breakfast we headed to the meeting point for our Parthenon tour. Thanksfully the meeting place for the tour was less than a five minute walk from our hotel. When we checked in, even the guy who checked us in for the tour asked if we knew how much walking we would be doing with both tours in one day. We both said we were ready for it (still not totally beleiving what I had just said). There were about 12 people in our group. We met up with our tour guide and were all provided with tickets to the PArthenon and the museum, and a headset so we could hear her as we made our way though the tour.
The entrance to the Acroppolis was just a few blocks away. When we got to the entrance at about 8:30AM there were very few people entering. For anyone pondering a trip to the Parthenon, get there early, it does get very crowded as the day goes on and also, photos come out a lot better in the early day light than at noontime.. The 20 Euro ticket cost was included in our tour price so we didn’t need to wait to purchase tickets. We just went through the turnstiles and began our trek to the top..
As we made our way on the path our guide stopped periodically to provide a lot of history on the structures and how they evolved from early Greek times through 1865 when the site became an historical Greek museum. One of the first places we stopped out the Theater of Dionysus, which was built in the 6th century BC . The theater was dedicated to the Greek god of theater and up to 17,000 Greeks would come to watch plays in this theater. Later, the Romans used the theater for gladiator competitions. While much of it is in ruins, partially due to intentional destruction and partly due to standing in the elements for over 2,700 years. Some of the seating it quite well preserved so one could get a sense of the how people viewed the performances.
We passed above a second theater, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus which was built in 161 AD. This theater holds 5,000 people and was restored and renovated in 1950. It is currently used for live music and dance performances. Maria Callas performed there as have Elton John, The Bolshoi Ballet and the Foo Fighters.
As we proceeded up the path there was a lot of uneven ground and some steep marble steps. Along the way we passed by and caught glimpses of other ruins, some were temples including the Temple of Themis, goddess of divine law, the Temple of Athena Nike, goddess of victory and Athena and the Temple of Erechtheion, dedicated to Athena Polias, protector of the city.
At the very top of the hill is the Parthenon which was built in the mid 5th century BC. It is made of marble and was dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos. The building was originally covered with a roof, had a large pool to humidify the marble and and held a 40 ft gold and ivory statue of Athena. During different occupations, the temple and other surrounding buildings and statues were pillaged and many completely destroyed.
There are large restoration projects for many of the temples, especially on the Parthenon.
When we got to the top, it was pretty warm. It took a lot of effort to get there but we agreed it was definitely worth the effort. The views of the city were an added bonus too.
The walk down was a lot easier than the walk up, partly due to gravity but also because there were stairs with railings most of the way down. Once you’ve seen everything they want to get you out. As we exited, the entrance we found empty had hundreds of people in line waiting to enter.
We opted for the added portion of the tour that took us to the 4 story Acropolis Museum which was built in 2009. It is a beautifully done museum and contains many artifacts discovered during reconstruction and some others that were transported to the museum to preserver them. Some of the many things we learned were that the statues were originally painted with pigment mixed with bees wax. Many of the panels which surrounded the interior of the Parthenon and other areas of the Acropolis are currently in the British Museum because the 7th Earl of Elgin got permission to have them between 1801 and 1812 when the Ottoman Empire ruled Greece. According to our guide, most Greeks want them back. Water vessels were a traditional wedding gift and painted with the bride, who was often a young teenager and her husband who was often over 30. Greeks did a lot of animal sacrifice including a yearly 100 cow sacrifice which resulted in a big barbecue on the Acropolis. Here are some of the photos from our tour of the museum .
We said goodbye to our terrific guide at the museum, stoped for a drink in the cafe before heading out for the afternoon tour.
