Athens - Birthplace of Civilization

Bonjour mes amis! Lee and I ended our days in Greece by spending our last night in Athens, Greece's capital and largest city. Organized life in Athens dates back to between 3,000-4,000 BC when its first inhabitants settled on the Acropolis. We spent the morning of March 13 exploring the Acropolis, the Parthenon and other remains of buildings from history. Acropolis in Greek literally means "the highest point of the town". Many of the city states of ancient Greece were built around an acropolis where the inhabitants could go as a place of refuge in times of invasion. It was the safest and most secure place in town. It's for this reason that the most sacred buildings were usually on the acropolis. After climbing the steps to the Acropolis, you arrive at the entrance or Propylaea, which was completed in 432 BC. To the right is the tiny temple to Nike Athena which represented the Athenians victory over the Persians. The Parthenon and other main buildings on the Acropolis were built by Pericles in the 5th century BC as a monument to the cultural and political achievements of the inhabitants of Athens. The Erecthion sits on the most sacred site of the Acropolis where Poseidon and Athena had their contest over who would be the Patron of the city. Even having seen photographs, we were struck by the immensity of the Parthenon. The building was designed as the home of the giant statue of Athena. It took 15 years to build and was completed in 438 BC. Originally as a temple, it became a church, a mosque and finally a storage facility for Turkish gunpowder. In 1687 the Venetians bombarded it from below and blew it up. Standing at the flag, on the Acropolis, Athens stretches out below. You can see the Plaka, the temple of Olympian Zeus and the Olympic Stadium below. On the other side of the Acropolis, you can see the Aegean and the various ships leaving for the islands. It was a very clear, beautiful day, and we could only imagine, for a moment, being a part of Athenian life thousands of years ago. What a step back in history!

Mme. Wallace