Acropolis of Athens, Ancient citadel and archaeological site in Athens, Greece
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel on a limestone plateau rising above the city, where several temple structures built from Pentelic marble stand. The Doric Parthenon occupies the central position, while the Erechtheion with its caryatid porch and the smaller Ionic shrine to Athena Nike sit along the flanks.
After Persian troops destroyed earlier buildings in 480 BCE, Pericles began reconstruction from 447 BCE under architects Iktinos and Kallikrates. Centuries later, Byzantine rule turned the Parthenon into a Christian church before Ottoman conquerors used it as a mosque and ammunition store until Venetian shelling in 1687 destroyed large sections of the structure.
The name comes from the Greek akron (highest point) and polis (city); in antiquity the hill was also called Cecropia after Cecrops, the legendary serpent-man first king of Athens. On the south slope outside the walls stood the open-air Theatre of Dionysus, where Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes premiered their plays.
The entrance is through the Propylaea gate on the western side, and the visit follows a route past the Parthenon and the Erechtheion before the descent. The rock rises about 150 m above sea level, and the paved paths across the summit are uneven and become slippery in heat. The south slope, outside the wall, holds the open-air Theatre of Dionysus.
The architects built slight curves into the columns and steps so they would appear straight to the human eye and compensate for atmospheric distortion. No column stands truly vertical but tilts minimally inward, while the apparently level base rises gently along its length to avoid the optical illusion of sagging in the middle.
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