Enjoying life with the ancients in Athens
Written: Nov 17 '08 (Updated Nov 17 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Lovely to spend time exploring the lives and rituals of ancient Greece
Cons: I was disappointed with the Acropolis itself
The Bottom Line: Take time out to explore some of the Ancient Greece sites in Athens. The more you do, the more you will pick up.
|
|
|
| cr01's Full Review: Athens |
Look at any guidebook or map of Athens, and there seems to be a bewildering amount of Ancient Greece to be able to explore. A quick wander round the city reveals perspex covered holes in the pavement or preserved columns at the side of Metro stations where an excavation has uncovered something else.
Even the building of a new Acropolis museum has been delayed (and redesigned) because digging the foundations uncovered more streets and buildings from the Ancient Greek civilisation. Who'd ever be a builder or developer in Athens - building almost anything must take forever!
Obviously, the big draw Athens site for most visitors is the Acropolis itself. First, it's on the top of the cliff face on the hill above Athens, so it's in your face throughout your visit. Second, it's home to one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, the Parthenon. Particularly at night, the lit wall at the top of the cliff side, and the sight of the gleaming Parthenon is so striking and memorable.
Entrance to the Acropolis is 12 Euros, but this gains you entrance to five other prominent Ancient Greece sites. We decided to get better value and a greater understanding of the civilisation by taking advantage of most of our tickets.
The Acropolis site
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with our visit to the Acropolis itself. The buildings in the Acropolis have been under almost constant renovation since 1983, and there is no sign of it finishing anytime soon. Sadly, earlier renovation was badly done, and the city is now trying to correct these earlier mistakes. Acid rain and pollution is also causing more damage. I find it ironic that the buildings can stand for 2,500 years, and yet our sole generation can create so much damage to them.
Despite getting an appreciation of the sheer scale of the Parthenon, and the other temples dedicated to the Gods on the site, it is easy to be frustrated. Unfortunately, it seems there isn't too much to see on the site beyond scaffolding, workers, sleeping dogs, and other tourists. Almost everything is fenced off, and of course, most of the treasures have long ago been carted off to museums around the world. I overheard one tour guide describe where the Elgin Marbles, currently on display in London would have been.
Likewise, the restoration work seems so extensive; it didn't feel like I was looking at original buildings. Unfortunately, it all contributed to us not "connecting" with the Acropolis, and we left the site slightly disillusioned.
There are however, great views down over the concrete jungle that is Athens. I certainly wonder how the city was founded, as the surrounding land is so dry and barren looking. It truly is a city built on trade.
The Theatre of Dionysos
Near to the Acropolis are the ruins of the Theatre of Dionysos on the southern slope. The Ancient Greeks were very much into theatre, and that 17,000 citizens could see a performance perched on one of the marble benches gives evidence to this.
The theatre is built amphitheatre style into the side of the hill, with the wall of the Acropolis above. Around 20 rows of seats still survive, although there are plans to uncover more.
Above, built into the cliff, and just below the Acropolis are some man made caves, where statues of Gods and temples were built. One was a temple to Asclepius, a healer God. Funnily enough, this particular God suddenly became very popular following a period of great plague, and when it was explored, there were a number of offerings to the God in the temple (bronze and clay figures).
I much preferred exploring this area, as it allowed me to feel what life must have been like. I could sit on the seats occupied by the original theatregoers, and take a walk as they did, up the main path to the temples. Best of all, this site was almost free of visitors, so unlike the Acropolis where everyone was tripping into each other I could stop and linger and explore much more freely.
Ancient Agora
A little further along is the large and sprawling site of Ancient Agora. This was the city centre of ancient Athens for almost 900 years, up until AD267. Obviously, here were the markets, shops and temples of everyday Greek life.
Today, one of the most striking things in Ancient Agora is the reconstructed Stoa, which was a market and meeting place. They prefer the word "restored", but I suspect "re-built" is closer to the truth. I'm not sure they had conglomerate marble flooring in 500 BC for a start! Indeed, there is a fragment of the original mosaic flooring, and although it would probably be impractical for that to be "restored", it would have made the building much more impressive. As it stands, it is a long skinny building, with two rows of columns in an open sided area, and space for enclosed shops behind. In the area are a couple of "unrestored" Stoa buildings, so the restored building really helped me picture the rest.
On top of a hillock in this park is the best-preserved Doric temple in Greece, the Temple of Hephaestus. This was used as a church and a museum up until 1930 or so, and today most of the roof still stands. It is obviously not as impressive as the Parthenon, but is far more complete (and that it was continually used until recently is amazing). What tales could this building tell?
In other places in Ancient Agora, we found plenty of signs in Greek and English to help us understand what the mounds of rubble are. We spent almost two hours wandering through this site, and it was the area I appreciated the most.
Keramikos - the City Cemetery
How much you can discover about life through looking at death. The Ancient Greeks honoured their dead by burying them alongside the main streets in the city, and topping their graves with elaborate and beautiful carved stone statues and crypts. The dead were not forgotten here.
Many of the original sculpture found at Keramikos are now in the Athens Archaeological Museum, but copies cover the place of the original so we could really see how the site originally looked. There is also a small museum with other original pieces from the site now protected from the acid rain and pollution.
A stretch of ancient road, and the main gates to the city, the Dipylon Gates are also on this site. I liked this site as once again I could walk on the same land and road as people from 2,500 years ago. This was particularly quiet of tourists, and I think we spotted only about six other folk wandering around. It's a great place to wander and develop your thoughts, while the bustle of Athens is all around.
Obviously from a distance, the site looks like just another pile of rubble (with some plaster copy statues dotted around), but the explanation signs conveyed the original meaning of the site well. You can get a good view from the rooftop café of the nearby Islamic Art Museum (which is also well worth a visit).
Again, this site seemed far more real than the Acropolis site, which seemed preserved in aspic by comparison. Although quiet these days, this area was originally a busy and popular place - the area in front of the gates in particular used to be a market.
Summing up
Given the large number of people at the Acropolis, and the smaller numbers we encountered on the other sites, it seems that most people only manage to visit the Acropolis and at most one other site. This seems a pity, as to me these other sites gave the Ancient Greeks a bit of life and meaning.
While wandering around mounds of crumbing marble may not be everyone's idea of a fun day out, I found this extra exploring really added value to my knowledge and understanding of the ancient Greeks in Athens. Although my day starting at the Acropolis proved to be rather disappointing, I ended the day delighted to be in Athens at last.
________________________________
cr01 asserts his right to be associated as the author of this review -2008-
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
cr01
|
 in Hotels & Travel |
 in Books |
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Chris
Location: Yorkshire, England
Reviews written: 385
Trusted by: 347 members
About Me:
Away in deepest Spain until Sunday 11 Jan 09 :o)
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.