by John Fisher
The Acropolis Museum
Main Acropolis site. April–Sept Mon 11am–7pm, Tues–Sun 8am–7pm; Oct–March Mon 10am–3pm, Tues–Sun 8.30am–3pm.
Placed discreetly on a level below that of the main monuments, the Acropolis Museum contains virtually all of the portable objects removed from the site since 1834. Labelling is fairly basic, so to explore in detail a supplementary guide is useful, though it’s also easy to eavesdrop on the many tour guides passing through – indeed, usually it’s impossible to avoid doing so.
In the first rooms to the left of the vestibule are fragments of sculptures from the old Temple of Athena (seventh to sixth century BC), whose traces of paint give a good impression of the vivid colours that were used in temple decoration. Further on is the Moschophoros, a painted marble statue of a young man carrying a sacrificial calf, dated 570 BC and one of the earliest examples of Greek art in marble. Room 4 displays one of the chief treasures of the building, a unique collection of Korai, or statues of maidens. The progression in style, from the simply contoured Doric clothing to the more elegant and voluminous Ionic designs, is fascinating; the figures’ smiles also change subtly, becoming increasingly loose and natural.
The pieces of the Parthenon frieze in Room 8 were buried in the explosion that destroyed the Parthenon, thereby escaping the clutches of Lord Elgin. This room also contains a graceful and fluid sculpture, known as Iy Sandalízoussa, which depicts Athena Nike adjusting her sandal. Finally, in the last room are four authentic and semi-eroded caryatids from the Erechtheion, displayed behind a glass screen in a carefully rarefied atmosphere.
Theatre of Dionysos
South slope site.
The Theatre of Dionysos is one of the most evocative locations in the city. Here were hosted the first performances of the masterpieces of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes; it was also the venue in Classical times for the annual festival of tragic drama, where each Greek citizen would take his turn as member of the chorus. The theatre could hold some 17,000 spectators – considerably more than Herodes Atticus’s 5000–6000 seats; twenty of the original 64 tiers of seats survive. Most notable are the great marble thrones in the front row, each inscribed with the name of an official of the festival or of an important priest; in the middle sat the priest of Dionysos and on his right the representative of the Delphic Oracle. At the rear of the stage along the Roman bema (rostrum) are reliefs of episodes in the life of Dionysos. Sadly, this area is roped off to protect the stage-floor mosaic, a magnificent diamond of multicoloured marble best seen from the seats above.
Around the Theatre
South slope site.
The dominant structure on the south side of the Acropolis – much more immediately obvious even than the Theatre of Dionysos – is the second-century Roman Herodes Atticus Theatre (Odeion of Herodes Atticus). This has been extensively restored for performances of music and Classical drama during the summer festival. Unfortunately, it’s open only for shows; at other times you’ll have to be content with spying over the wall.
Between the two theatres lie the foundations of the Stoa of Eumenes, originally a massive colonnade of stalls erected in the second century BC. Above the stoa extend the ruins of the Asklepion, a sanctuary devoted to the healing god Asklepios and built around a sacred spring. Today, it’s a pleasantly peaceful spot, shaded by cypress trees; the most obvious remains are of a Byzantine church of the doctor-saints Kosmas and Damian. Follow the steps above the Theatre of Dionysos, then a path to the right, and you’ll come to a vast grotto, converted perhaps a millennium ago into the chapel of Panayía Khryssospiliótissa; it’s worth a look for the setting rather than the faded iconography inside.
The New Acropolis Museum
Leóforos Dhionysíou Areopayítou, opposite the South Slope site.
After years of delays, work on the new Acropolis Museum finally began in 2003. This is set to be stunning: the top storey is an all-glass affair designed to house the Parthenon Marbles (those already in the Acropolis Museum, plus the restored Elgin Marbles), with a direct view up to the Parthenon itself. Downstairs, the rest of the contents of the current Acropolis Museum will be far better displayed than they can be now, and there’s also a raised, part-glass floor, added to the design to preserve and display remains of early Christian Athens, discovered during building work.
The Areopagus
Immediately below the entrance to the Acropolis.
Slippery, rock-hewn stairs ascend the low, unfenced hill of the Areopagus, the site of the Council of Nobles and the Judicial Court under the aristocratic rule of ancient Athens. During the Classical period the court lost its powers of government to the Assembly (held on the Pnyx), but it remained the court of criminal justice, dealing primarily with cases of homicide. In myth it was also the rock (pagos) where Ares, God of War, was tried for the murder of one of Poseidon’s sons. Aeschylus used this setting in The Eumenides for the trial of Orestes, who stood accused of murdering his mother Clytemnestra.
The Persians camped here during their siege of the Acropolis in 480 BC, and in the Roman era Saint Paul preached the “Sermon on an Unknown God” on the hill, winning amongst his converts Dionysius “the Areopagite”, who became the city’s patron saint. Today, there’s little left on the ground, and, historic associations apart, the Areopagus is notable mainly for the views, especially down over the Agora and towards the ancient cemetery of Kerameikós.
The Ancient Agora
Ancient Agora site.
The Agora or market was the heart of ancient Athenian city life from as early as 3000 BC. Today, the site is an extensive and rather confusing jumble of ruins, dating from various stages of building between the sixth century BC and the fifth century AD. As well as the marketplace, the Agora was the chief meeting place of the city, where orators held forth, business was discussed and gossip exchanged. It was also the first home of the democratic assembly before that shifted to the Pnyx, and continued to be its meeting place when cases of ostracism were discussed for most of the Classical period.
Originally the Agora was a rectangle, divided diagonally by the Panathenaic Way and enclosed by temples, administrative buildings, and long porticoed stoas (arcades of shops). In the centre was an open space, defined by boundary stones.
The best overview of the site is from the exceptionally well-preserved Hephaisteion, or Temple of Hephaistos, which overlooks the rest of the site from the west. An observation point in front of it has a plan showing the buildings as they were in 150 AD, and the various remains laid out in front of you make a lot more sense with this to help (there are similar plans at the entrances). The temple, sometimes known as the Thisseion (the exploits of Theseus are depicted on the frieze), is dedicated to Hephaistos, patron of blacksmiths and metalworkers. It was one of the earliest buildings of Pericles’ programme, but also one of the least known – perhaps because it lacks the curvature and “lightness” of the Parthenon’s design. The barrel-vaulted roof dates from a Byzantine conversion into the church of Saint George.
The other church on the site – that of Áyii Apóstoli (the Holy Apostles), by the south entrance – is worth a look as you wander among the extensive foundations of the other Agora buildings. Inside are fragments of fresco, exposed during restoration of the eleventh-century shrine.
Stoa of Attalos
Ancient Agora site.
For some background to the Agora, head for the Museum, housed in the magnificent Stoa of Attalos. The reconstruction of the stoa was undertaken by the American School of Archeology in Athens between 1953 and 1956. It is, in every respect except colour, an entirely faithful reconstruction of the original; lacking colour or no, the building is spectacular. Sadly, it doesn’t deliver inside – the display is small and old-fashioned, with labels that look as if they’ve been here since it opened in 1957. The bulk of what you see is pottery and coins from the sixth to the fourth century BC, plus some early Geometric grave offerings – including red-figure dishes depicting athletes, mu
sicians and minor deities, together with an oil flask in the form of a kneeling boy. Look out for the ostraka,or shards of pottery, with names written on them. At annual assemblies of the citizens, these ostraka would be handed in, and the individual with most votes banished, or “ostracized”, from the city for ten years.
Pláka
The largely pedestrianized area of Pláka, with its narrow lanes and stepped alleys climbing towards the Acropolis, is arguably the most attractive part of Athens, and certainly the most popular with visitors. In addition to a scattering of ancient sites and various offbeat and enjoyable museums, it offers glimpses of an older Athens, refreshingly at odds with the concrete blocks of the metropolis.
Although surrounded by huge, traffic-choked avenues, Pláka itself is a welcome escape, its narrow streets offering no through-routes for traffic even where you are allowed to drive. Nineteenth-century houses, some grand, some humble, can be seen everywhere, their gateways opening onto verdant courtyards overlooked by wooden verandahs.
With scores of cafés and restaurants to fill the time between museums and sites, and streets lined with touristy shops, it’s an enjoyable place to wander. The main disadvantage is price – things are noticeably more expensive in Pláka than in much of the rest of the city.
Museum of Greek Folk Art
Kydhathinéon 17. Tues–Sun 10am–2pm. €2.
The Folk Art Museum is one of the most enjoyable in the city, even though let down somewhat by poor lighting and labelling. Its five floors are devoted to collections of weaving, pottery, regional costumes and embroidery, along with other traditional Greek arts and crafts. On the mezzanine floor, the carnival tradition of northern Greece and the all-but-vanished shadow-puppet theatre are featured. The second floor features exhibits of gold and silver jewellery and weaponry, much of it from the era of the War of Independence. The highlight, though, is on the first floor: the reconstructed room from a house on the island of Lesvós with a series of wonderful murals by the primitive artist Theofilos (1868–1934), naïve scenes from Greek folklore and history, especially the independence struggle.
Children’s Museum
Kydhathinéon 14. Tues–Fri 10am–2pm, Sat & Sun 10am–3pm. Free.
Aimed at the under-12s, the Children’s Museum is as much a play area as a museum. Labelling is entirely in Greek, and the place is primarily geared to school groups, who take part in activities such as chocolate-making – but it should keep young kids amused for a while. Permanent exhibits include features on the Athens metro, how computers work, and the human body.
Frissiras Museum
Monís Asteríou 3 and 7 www.frissirasmuseum.com. Wed–Thurs 11am–7pm, Fri–Sun 11am–5pm. €6.
Housed in two beautifully renovated Neoclassical buildings, the Frissiras Museum is billed as Greece’s only museum of contemporary European art. It has over three thousand works – mostly figurative painting plus a few sculptures, a regular programme of exhibitions, a fine shop and an elegant café. The space at no. 7 houses the permanent exhibition, which includes plenty of names familiar to English-speakers – David Hockney, Peter Blake, Paula Rego among them – as well as many less obvious Greek and other European artists. Temporary exhibitions, along with the shop and café, are at no. 3 a block away.
Centre of Folk Art and Tradition
Angelikís Hatzimiháli 6. Tues–Fri 9am–1pm & 5–9pm, Sat & Sun 9am–1pm. Free.
The Centre of Folk Art and Tradition houses a collection of costumes, embroidery, lace and weaving, along with musical instruments, ceramics, and icons and religious artefacts. Appropriately, it occupies the former home of Angelikís Hatzimiháli, a famous ethnographer whose championing of traditional Greek arts and crafts was one of the chief catalysts for their revival in the early twentieth century. The house itself – designed for her in the 1920s – is a large part of the attraction, with its cool, high rooms and finely carved wooden doors, windows and staircase. At the back, narrow stairs descend to the kitchen with its original range, while upstairs there’s a library and rooms where classes are held to pass on the traditions of crafts like embroidery and weaving.
Jewish Museum of Greece
Níkis 39. www.jewishmuseum.gr. Mon–Fri 9am–2.30pm, Sun 10am–2pm. €3.
Elegantly presented in a series of dimly lit rooms, with plenty of explanation in English, the Jewish Museum tells the history of Jews in Greece. Downstairs are art and religious paraphernalia, many of the pieces centuries old. The centrepiece is the reconstructed synagogue of Pátra, dating from the 1920s, whose furnishings have been moved here en bloc and remounted.
Upstairs, more recent history includes World War II and the German occupation, when Greece’s Jewish population was reduced from almost 80,000 to less than 10,000. There are features, too, on the part played by Jews in the Greek resistance, and stories of those who survived the Holocaust.
The Monument of Lysikratos
In the southeastern corner of Pláka, the Monument of Lysikratos, a tall and graceful stone and marble structure from 335 BC, rises from a small, triangular open area with a couple of quiet tavernas. It’s near the end of Odhós Tripódhon, a relic of the ancient Street of the Tripods, where winners of drama competitions erected monuments to dedicate their trophies (in the form of tripod cauldrons) to Dionysos. The Monument of Lysikratos is the only survivor of these triumphal memorials. A four-metre-high stone base supports six Corinthian columns rising up to a marble dome on which, in a flourish of acanthus-leaf carvings, the winning tripod was placed. The inscription tells us that “Lysikratos of Kikyna, son of Lysitheides, was choregos (sponsor); the tribe of Akamantis won the victory with a chorus of boys; Theon played the flute; Lysiades of Athens trained the chorus; Evainetos was archon”.
In the seventeenth century the monument became part of a Capuchin convent, which provided regular lodgings for European travellers – Byron is said to have written part of Childe Harold here, and the street beyond, Výronos, is named after him. The old Street of the Tripods would have continued in this direction – many important ancient Athenian buildings are thought to lie undiscovered in the vicinity.
Ayía Ekateríni Church
Platía Ayía Ekateríni. May–Oct Mon–Fri 7.30am–12.30pm & 5–6.30pm, Sat & Sun 5–10pm; Nov–April 7.30am–12.30pm, Sat & Sun 5–10pm. Free.
St Catherine’s Church is one of the few in Pláka that’s routinely open. At its heart is an eleventh-century Byzantine original – although it has been pretty well hidden by later additions. You can see it most clearly from the back of the church, while in the courtyard in front are foundations of a Roman building. Inside, the over-restored frescoes look brand new, and there are plenty of glittering icons.
Kanellopoulou Museum
Theorías 12, cnr Panós. Tues–Sun 8.30am–3pm. €2.
Though there’s nothing here that you won’t see examples of in the bigger museums, the Kanellopoulou collection, exhibited in the topmost house under the Acropolis, is well worth a visit. On the lower floors the many gorgeous gilded icons first grab your attention, but there’s also Byzantine jewellery, bronze oil lamps and crosses, and Roman funerary ornaments; some of the smaller items are exquisite.
Upstairs is ancient pottery and bronze, including items from Minoan Crete and from Egypt, and Stone Age tools. The top floor is perhaps the best of all, with pottery and gold jewellery from the Geometric, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods. Items here range from some astonishingly well-preserved large water jars and kraters to the bronze ram from the prow of a battleship, shaped like a dog’s snout.
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The Anafiótika
The main arteries of Pláka, above all Kydhathinéon with its crowds of restaurants and Adhrianoú, home of the Manchester United beach towel and “Sex in Ancient Greece” playing cards, can become depressingly touristy. For a break, climb up into the jumble of streets and alleys that cling to the lower slopes of the Acropolis. There are still taverna tables set out wherever a bit of flat ground can be found u
p here, but there are also plenty of quieter corners redolent of a different era.
The whitewashed cubist houses of Anafiótika, as this quarter is known, proclaim a cheerfully architect-free zone. Many of the haphazard buildings were originally erected by workers from the island of Anáfi in the southern Aegean, who were employed in the mid-nineteenth-century construction of Athens. Unable to afford land, they took advantage of a customary law to the effect that if a roof and four walls could be thrown up overnight, the premises were yours at sunrise.
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Museum of Greek Folk Art: Man and Tools
Panós 22. Tues–Sat 9am–2pm. €2.
A brand-new branch of the Greek Folk Art museum, in another fine mansion, this is devoted to the world of work. The exhibits of tools and antiquated machinery concentrate on the pre-industrial world, with collections of agricultural implements and the like.
Turkish Baths
Kirístou 8. Wed & Sun 10am–2pm. Free.
Constructed originally in the 1450s, though with many later additions, the Turkish Baths were in use right up to 1965. Newly restored, they offer an insight into a part of Athens’ past that is rarely glimpsed and are well worth a look. Traditionally, the baths would have been used in shifts by men and women, although expansion in the nineteenth century provided the separate facilities you see today. The tepidarium and caldarium, fitted out in marble with domed roofs and rooflights, are particularly beautiful. The underfloor and wall heating systems have been exposed in places, while upstairs there are photos and pictures of old Athens. Labelling throughout is in Greek only, so it may be worth using the audio tour on offer (€1, plus a deposit).
Shops
Amorgos
Kódhrou 3.
A small handicraft shop filled with tasteful woodcarvings, needlework, lamps, lace and shadow puppets.
Cine Paris
Kydhathinéon 22.
Cult movies shown on the rooftop, while at street level there’s a small shop where you can pick up that poster of Gone With the Wind in Greek you always hankered after.
