ATHENS – saying hello to old friends

Monday – today I am going to visit old friends – Zeus, Hadrian and later this afternoon Poseidon – I hope they are glad to see me.  This is only Day 3 and I have already digested so much history – there are 26 days to go and I am sure my brain will be near explosion status when I head for home. But I love every minute of it and hopefully you will gain some knowledge and appreciation of this wonderful ancient country.

Last night the hotel staff told me that I could get some wonderful views from the roof on Level 7 – so after some delicious breakfast that will be my first visit.

Looking at these views I wish I had known about the roof when they had the main Changing on Sunday. It is a lovely day so let’s get walking before it gets too hot.  I also make a note to come back up here at night!

Everywhere you go there are excavations.

These baths are near the National Gardens and along Amalias Avenue (just across the road from my hotel). They were built at the end of the third century AD, in an area that was located outside the city walls, before the walls were extended under Hadrian. The original site was selected because it had running waters and vegetation and had become a principal place of worship for many deities. The Roman Baths were built in the late third to the early fourth century and were repaired and expanded in the fifth and sixth centuries.

The bathhouse was re-discovered during excavations for the construction of an air shaft for the Athens Metro. It was well preserved, so an archaeological site was established for its preservation in its original place and the air shaft was moved elsewhere. The bathhouse was conserved and made accessible to the public in 2004.

A short walk down the hill and there is the Arch of Hadrian.  This was under conservation and covered in scaffolding when I was here before so it is great to be able to see it uncovered.

Made of Pentelic marble, the triumphal arch lies on an ancient street that led from the old city of Athens to the new Roman section. It was constructed by the Athenians in A.D. 131, in honour of their benefactor Emperor Hadrian.

Two inscriptions are carved on the architrave, one on each side.

The first, on the side facing the Acropolis reads “This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus”; the second, on the other side, facing the new city reads “This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus”.  I must say it is very hard to even see them – let alone read them, but that’s OK because I do not speak or read ancient Greek.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus is right behind the gate – it is about a 10 minute walk to the entrance – but it is well worth it.

On the way there is a statue of Lord Byron, an English poet.  He spent time in Athens and other parts of Greece during his travels and he supported the Greeks during their War of Independence. When Byron died in 1824, the Greeks deeply mourned his loss. In 1888 a monument in his honour was commissioned by the President of the Society of Friends of Lord Byron.

A French sculptor named Henri-Michel Antoine Chapu won the commission, but died before the work was finished; it was subsequently completed by Jean Alexandre Joseph Falquière in 1895. The inscription at the sculpture’s base reads ”Greece to Byron’. The large female figure represents Greece; she demonstrates her gratitude to Byron by placing a palm branch over his head as a symbol of immortality.

Back to the Temple – arriving at the gate and buying my ticket – it is great to walk down the entrance way and stand in front of the Temple. It amazed me 20 years ago and it still is an amazing site today.  Also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus, it is a former colossal temple at the centre of Athens and dedicated to “Olympian” Zeus, a name originating from his position as head of the Olympian Gods.

Construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrants who envisaged building the greatest temple in the ancient world, but it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, some 638 years after the project had begun.

During the Roman period the temple – that included 104 colossal columns – was renowned as the largest temple in Greece and housed one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.

The temple’s glory was short-lived as it fell into disuse after being pillaged during a barbarian invasion in 267 AD, just about a century after its completion.

It was probably never repaired and was reduced to ruins thereafter. In the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was extensively quarried for building materials to supply building projects elsewhere in the city.  Despite this, a substantial part of the temple remains today, notably sixteen of the original gigantic columns, and it continues to be part of a very important archaeological site

The temple suffered more damages during the Turkish occupation and the first decades of the Greek State.

In 1852, a severe storm totally destroyed the inner chamber and the great statue of Zeus.

By that time, only 15 columns survived and a sixteenth column was lying on the ground. Works for the excavation and the restoration of the temple finally started in the late 19th and the early 20th century by Greek and German archaeologists and by the British School in Athens.

Today, the Temple of the Olympian Zeus is considered as one of the finest ancient monuments of the city.  I find myself a seat in the shade and enjoy this magnificent structure. Those huge columns. the delicate carving, the people doing restoration – last time I was here you could walk around the grassy area and explore the fallen column.  But not today – the entire area is roped off which is a shame but I can understand why.

After about an hour or so it is time to head back to the hotel – but I take the route through the National Gardens.

Considering the amount of traffic not far away, it is a wonderfully quiet area with little water features and paths through the leafy bushes and trees.  Of course, as soon as I get close to any of the water features,  they turn the fountains off.  Never mind, I continue walking and come to the Zappeion.

The Zappeion; is a building in the National Gardens in the heart of the city. It is generally used for meetings and ceremonies, both official and private.  Looks like they are getting ready for another event – and as you can see everything is barricaded so you cannot get close.

Oh well, I continue to walk back to the hotel, grab some lunch and rest for my excursion this afternoon – The Sanctuary of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.  How exciting – –