Acropolis of Athens is probably the most popular greek monument, and it’s the greatest landmark of the city of Athens.
Acropolis of Athens or simply Acropolis is one of the most popular monuments in Greece and in the world as well. Let’s find out more about it!
- Acropolis comes from the Greek words akros(means edge) and polis (means city).
- It basically means a high city.
- During, the ancient and medieval times there were many acropoleis, but the Athenian one is by the far the most popular.
- Acropoleis can also be found in the Greek cities of Argos, Thebes, Corinth, and others.
- Each one of them is constructed as a center for local life, culture, and protection.
- From its central position above Athens, the Acropolis is perfectly positioned for strategic military defense.
- So, its major initial structures were in fact focused on preparing for war.
- After many centuries it gained a religious significance.
- Acropolis consists of many different buildings.
- Its most stunning buildings were constructed in just a few decades.
- The project was created by architects Ictinus and Callicrates with the sculptor Phidias.
- It was built during the golden age of Athenian power, which unfortunately lasted only 50 years!
- A year after Parthenon was completed, Athens was in a war with Sparta and the Peloponnesian War started.
- One of the biggest losses during the ages is the colossal statue of Athena, which was once located inside the Parthenon.
- Known as Athena Parthenos, it stood almost 40 feet tall.
- It was made from gold and ivory by the sculptor Phidias.
- Due to Roman replicas, we get the idea of how it was.
- The famous white marble that composes the Acropolis’s classical structures, including the Parthenon, is from Mount Pantelicus.
- Mount Pantelicus is located 10 miles to the northeast of Athens.
- From Mount Pentelicus, workers used a downhill road to move the marble on its long journey to Athens.
- But they still had to get the rocks up the steep slopes of the Acropolis.
- Parthenon and other buildings in the Acropolis were actually painted.
- Recent tests during laser cleaning of the Parthenon revealed shades of blue, red, and green.
- Over time the stones were bleached in the sunlight.
- Also, the neoclassical movements of art in the 18th and 19th centuries embraced a romanticized perceptive of a pristine white past.
- Yet traces of pigment on Greek marble sculpture show that these sites were kaleidoscopic in their colors.
- The Tower of the Winds is located on the slopes of the Acropolis.
- It is considered the world’s weather station.
- From 1801 to 1812, agents of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon.
- They are known as Parthenon or Elgin Marbles.
- Lord Elgin, who stole many of the Parthenon’s sculptures to London, wanted to bring this structure as well.
- Elgin claimed he gained a confirmation, but this confirmation was actually given by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire.
- When Greece became an independent country began a series of projects to restore its monuments and retrieve looted art.
- The Parthenon Marbles remain in the British Museum until today.
- In 2014, UNESCO offered to mediate between Greece and the United Kingdom to resolve the dispute.
- This offer was later turned down by the British Museum on the basis that UNESCO works with government bodies, not trustees of museums
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