Acropolis of Athens

The first fortifications on a rocky spur 300 m by 130 m in size, rising on the outskirts of Athens, appeared long before the onset of the classical period. Already in the time of archaic , magnificent temples, sculptures, various objects of worship were located here. The Acropolis is also called "Cecropia" or "Kekrops" in honor of Kekrops , who, according to legend, was the first king of Athens and the founder of the Acropolis ^[1] .

In the Mycenaean period ( XV - XIII centuries. BC. E. ) It was a fortified royal residence. In the VII - VI centuries. BC e. Acropolis underwent a lot of construction. Under the tyrant Pisistratus ( 560 - 527 BC ), the temple of the goddess Athena Hekatompedon was built on the site of the royal palace (that is, a temple a hundred steps long; fragments of sculptures of the pediments were preserved, the foundation was revealed). In 480 BC e. during the Greco-Persian wars, the temples of the Acropolis were destroyed by the Persians. The inhabitants of Athens took the oath to restore the shrines only after the expulsion of enemies from Hellas .

In 447 BC e. on the initiative of Pericles , new construction began on the Acropolis; the management of all the work was entrusted to the famous sculptor Phidias , who apparently was the author of the project, which formed the basis of the whole complex, its architectural and sculptural appearance. The architects Kallikrath , Iktin , Mnesikl , Archilochus and others also worked on the creation of the Acropolis ensemble ^[2] .

In the V century, the Parthenon became the Church of Our Lady , the statue of Athena Parthenos was transferred to Constantinople . After the conquest of Greece by the Turks (in the 15th century ), the temple was turned into a mosque , to which minarets were attached, then - into an arsenal; The Erechtheion became the harem of the Turkish Pasha, the temple of Niki Apteros was dismantled, a bastion wall was built from its blocks. In 1687, after a nucleus hit a Venetian ship, an explosion destroyed almost the entire central part of the temple of Athena - Virgo, with an unsuccessful attempt by the Venetians to remove the Parthenon sculptures, several statues were destroyed. At the beginning of the 19th century, Lord Elgin broke a number of metopes , tens of meters of frieze and almost all of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon gables, and caryatids from the portico of Erechtheion.

In 1827, during the defense of the Acropolis by Greek rebels, the Erechtheion Temple was badly damaged by the Turkish cannonball. Previous attempts by the Turks to blow up the Acropolis with the help of undermines was thwarted by the Greek sapper Kostas Hormovitis , whose name is given to one of the main streets.

After the declaration of independence of Greece during restoration work (mainly at the end of the 19th century), the ancient appearance of the Acropolis was restored whenever possible: all the late development on its territory was eliminated, the temple of Niki Apteros was re-laid, etc. Reliefs and sculptures of the temples of the Acropolis are in British Museum ( London ), the Louvre ( Paris ) and the Acropolis Museum. The remaining open-air sculptures are now replaced by copies.

1. Parthenon .
2. Hekatompedon .
3. Erechtheion .
4. Statue of Athena Promachos .
5. Propylaea .
6. Temple of Nicky Apteros .
7. Eleusinion .
8. Bravrononeion .
9. Chalcotec .
10. Pandroseion .
11. Arreforion .
12. Athenian altar .
13. Sanctuary of Zeus Polyeus .
14. Sanctuary of the Pandion .
15. Odeon of Herodes Atticus .
16. Standing Eumenes .
17. Asklepion .
18. Theater of Dionysus .
19. Odeon of Pericles .
20. Temenos Dionysus .
21. Sanctuary of Aglavra .

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  Entrance to the Acropolis

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  The restored ionic column at the entrance to the Acropolis of Athens.

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  Parthenon

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  Erechtheion , southwest side

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  The Parthenon dominates the Acropolis of Athens.

in Russian

• Acropolis of Athens / Taruashvili L.I. // Ankylosis - Bank [Electronic resource]. - 2005. - P. 517. - (The Great Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004—2017, vol. 2). - ISBN 5-85270-330-3 .
• Acropolis of Athens. (Exhibition catalog). M., 1985

in other languages

• Brouskarje M. Mouseion Akropolejos. Athens, 1974;
• Dontas G. The Acropolis and its museum. Athhens, 1994
• Payne H. Archaic marble sculpture from the Acropolis. 2nd ed. L., 1950
• Raubitschek AE Dedications from the Athenian Akropolis. Chi., 1999.
• Wiegand T. Die archaische Poros-architektur der Akropolis zu Athen. Cassel, 1904

• Acropolis Timeline (link unavailable)
• A masterpiece of ancient architecture Acropolis of Athens