Greece 2015: Athens, Day 2

A tour of the Ancient Agora, Mars Hill, and the Acropolis filled this day. The Ancient Agora, the heart of ancient Athens, was the center of political, social, and religious life. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all spent time teaching here. The earliest Greek plays were performed here, and some of their playwrights spent time here. The Agora was and is connected by the upward-winding Panathenaic Way to the ceremonial splendor of the Acropolis, where Athenians of the Greek Golden Age worshipped Athena and stored the city's riches in the finest temple of the ancient world--The Parthenon.

The Ancient Agora

The (reconstructed) Stoa of Attalos; formerly a marketplace in ancient times, now houses a small museum of stunning Agora artifacts.

Under the eaves of the Stoa of Attalos.

A view of the Agora from the Stoa. The Temple of Hephaistos is in the upper right.

Agora ruins with the Church of the Holy Apostles and the Acropolis in the distance.

Ruins of the Agora against a backdrop of modern Athens.

The Temple of Hephaistos, one of the best-preserved temples in Greece and built before the Parthenon.

East entrance of the Temple of Hephaistos.

West side of the Temple of Hephaistos.

Sun and columns, Temple of Hephaistos.

South side, Temple of Hephaistos.

Statue of Hadrian, Roman emperor and benefactor of Greece.

Triton Statue at the Odeon (Theater) of Agrippa.

Mars Hill (Areopagus)

Bronze plaque inscribed with the Apostle Paul's message to the Greeks here at Mars Hill, the story of which is found in the book of Acts.

Panoramic view of sprawling city of Athens from the top of Mars Hill.

A view of the Agora ruins from Mars Hill.

A view of the Temple of Hephaistos from Mars Hill.

The Acropolis

Odeon (Theater) of Herodes Atticus.

The Propylaea, entrance to the Acropolis.

The Propylaea.

Looking back at the Propylaea.

West side of the Parthenon, under heavy restoration.

The classic columns of the Parthenon.

Eastern side of the Parthenon with pediment.

Parthenon...

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Porch of the Caryatids.

Detail of the Porch of the Caryatids.

Entrance to the Erechtheion which housed the worship of Athena and Poseidon.

Columns, Erechtheion.

North entrance to the Erechtheion.

North entrance, Erechtheion.

Olive tree and Erechtheion.

Erechtheion.

Column detail, Erechtheion.

Temple of Olympian Zeus as seen from the Parthenon.

Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Odeion of Dionysus on the hill below the Acropolis.

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