2025_0910 Athens

Wednesday, September 10th, was our one day in Athens. Our trip to Greece was to cruise the Greek Isles and a couple of stops in Turkey. However, we really felt like coming to Athens, Greece and not seeing the Acropolis was a mistake. We had Norwegian Cruise lines book us a room at the Grand Hyatt for two nights prior to the cruise. This gave us one day in Athens. 

We started our day with breakfast on the eighth floor of the Grand Hyatt. We were seated at a table by the window. We could get our first glimpses of the Acropolis from the vantage point. Way cool!

I had booked a private tour for us this day. The company was Athens Walking Tours. We chose one with only two stops, the Acropolis and the Agora with the Agora Museum. The tour company made arrangements for transportation to and from the hotel to meet Nicoletta, our guide. She was an absolute delight. And we ended up being very grateful it was just the two of us and Nicoletta. As it turns out, we were dehydrated from our travels. We had precious little sleep for the previous two days. We had both just recuperated from colds. To put it mildly, we were not in great shape for this climb. We would make it top of the Acropolis and down. But after that, there was nothing in us for walking through the Agora and going to the Agora Museum. Nicoletta was great an letting us stop to rest frequently and sharing her knowledge during these stops. We would see the Agora from the top of the Acropolis. We were okay with not getting to the Agora. 

Picture time for the Acropolis. I want to first start out with some of my research pictures to prepare me for what we would see. I found these two great pictures online that show what the Acropolis would have looked like back in the day. I learned there are many 'acropolis' in Greece. An acropolis is a citadel or fortified part of an ancient Greek City. It comes from the Greek root acro- which means 'high'. Thus, an acropolis is basically a 'high city'. We learned that at one point, the Acropolis was a fortress. From the top, you can see all the way to Piraeus which is the city where the port is for the cruise ships. In ancient times, this mean you could see who was coming from the water before they got to the city. You could also see around to the three mountains the surround the other sides of this area. The top of the acropolis has many temples and shrines on it, not just the Parthenon. There are even theaters on the sides. 

There are two entrances to get to the top of the Acropolis. Our tour started side entrance (bottom left of the picture) on Dionysiou Aeropagitou and ended at the Acropolis Main Entrance (top right of the picture). 

The final picture I found online was a diagram of the Acropolis showing the different shrines, temples and theaters. This one really helped me know what to look for and better understand as Nicoletta explained what things were. 

The driver picked us up at the Grand Hyatt and dropped us off at a meeting point near the Acropolis. Nicoletta then led us toward our entrance to the Acropolis. This was our first view as we approached the Acropolis. 

Approaching from this side, we first saw the Theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus (#18 on the diagram). Nicoletta explained that Dionysus was the creator of the first theater ever. It began with readings and progressed to adding music and acting. The semicircle at the base where the performers stood was called the orchestra. That is why today we call our orchestra and orchestra. The theater was strategically placed so that the performers could speak in a normal voice and that sound would carry up the hill to the spectators. Originally all the seating was backless. Later, beautiful benches with backs were made that the wealthy or patrons of the theater would get these seats. 

We passed a sleeping cat. It is not dead, really! It is sleeping. It is the resident cat. She has been named Queen Marta. She has food placed for her and is quite content to let passersby give her a little attention. Bailey, our youngest grandmonster, asked me to take pictures of the cats. I tried to get some of these for her. 

We passed this wall. It shows something I learned from a documentary about the Acropolis and the Parthenon in particular. There are knobs or protrusions on the sides of these blocks in the wall. These were used to lift these massive blocks. A rope was wrapped around the knob and a wench is used to lift the block and put it in place. On the Parthenon, once the block is in place, the knob is smoothed down so there is an even surface. 

Nicoletta taught us that the belief had been that theater was medicinal. It was good for any ailment you might have. Great therapy. There for, by the theaters there was usually a temple for the physician. Basically, a medical office. You would go to the theater and then see the physician and he would prescribe whatever he knew might help with your ailment. This the Sanctuary of Asclepius or Asclepieion near the Theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus (#17 on the diagram). It would have been the medical office by the theater. Also, I was aware that you get multiple spellings of names and places when in these places. It was that way in Israel and in Eqypt. So many nationalities have ruled these places, that their way of spelling something may be used. 

We walked past the Roman theater which is used today for concerts and performances. It is #15 on the diagram is is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. I did not take a picture of this as there were fences all around it.

It was time to hike up further to the original entrance called the Propylaea. There would have been a marble walkway up the Acropolis from this spot. There is still pieces of this walkway in place. You have to be really careful as it is slick even on a dry, very sunny day. Our path was around the end and then up some steps as well as the marble path. It is steep. I would have loved taking more pictures but I was doing good to keep walking and using the steps with no handrail. 

To the right of the Propylaea is the Temple of Athena Nike (#6 on the diagram). Nike is the ancient Greek winged goddess of victory. She is often depicted with wings on her feet symbolizing swiftness and triumph. Her Roman counterpart is Victoria. Nicoletta told Claude that the shoe company, Nike, had people submit name suggestions for the sneakers years ago. A student who had been to Greece, submitted the name Nike with the logo to represent an abbreviated set of wings. Ta Da!! We have Nike today. 

I was happy to see this stone around the edge of the Parthenon. It is a section of a column. See the hole in the middle. That was drilled out and a piece of wood was used to fill it. The next section was also had a hole and was placed on the other end of the stick. This was done with each section of the marble column. The beauty of this, is that it allowed the column some wiggle-room when the earthquakes come. Here is where we learned it wasn't an earthquake that tore down the Parthenon. It was conquering people that destroyed this magnificent edifice. 

I paused to take pictures of the view from two directions on top of the Acropolis. The first is looking toward the water. The second in back toward one of the mountains on the other sides of Athens. These three mountains and the opening into the sea cause the climate in Athens. 

And there was the Parthenon in all its splendor (#1 on the diagram). It is being slowly put back together. The goal is to use as much of the original stone as possible. It is a massive jigsaw puzzle that will take years to put back together. If you see white marble in some of the pictures, it is taken from the same quarry as the original marble. Over the years, it will age and become the same color as the older stone. The first picture is the Parthenon facing the Propylaea. The second shows the differences in the marble. The third is the opposite end of the Parthenon. 

Nicoletta pointed out that the Parthenon really is built on the rock of the Acropolis. The base in three layers of marble with the building on top. No real substructure. 

When you look at the Parthenon, you need to remember there were many carvings on the ends and all of it was painted in bright colors. The first picture shows the carving or a horse and the second picture shows the carving of a man. Many of the original carvings and statues that have been found are in the Acropolis Museum at the bottom of the Acropolis. 

Nicoletta graciously took some pictures of two old people who actually made it to the top!! 

Across the path is the Old Temple to Athena (#2 on the diagram). There are beautifully carved pillars. Each pillar is an individual piece of marble. In truth, these are replicas. The originals were wearing away with air pollution. They are in the Acropolis Museum for safekeeping. 

Nicoletta explained the difference in the types of columns. On the Parthenon (1st picture), they are Doric. This is the simplest and most robust of classical architectural styles. The Old Temple of Athena (2nd picture) has the Iconic style. This style has scroll type tops. There is also the Corinthian style which is the most elaborate. Nicoletta was quick to tell us the Romans liked too use this style because they liked everything to show their power and wealth. There are no Corinthian style on the Acropolis.  

Time to climb down the Acropolis. We paused to get a view of the Agora. The Agora of Ancient Athens is a 30-acre outdoor archeological site. Visitors can freely walk around the area, similar to a city park strewn with ancient semi-intact buildings, foundations, statues, and columns. In ancient times, it was the mercantile and political heart of Athens. It contained several markets, a courthouse, five temples, two theaters, a teaching porch, three stoa (a roofed colonnade), and numerous different sculptures of the gods. 

One feature I was very anxious to locate was Mars Hill. I kept pointing to different hills on our tour and asking if it was Mars Hill. Nicoletta asked me why I was so curious. I explained that is where Paul preached to the Athenians about the Unknown God altar he found. He explained to them that he was going to tell them who that Unknown God was. The scriptures say this was a place the Greeks loved to hear any new thing. After telling me several hills were not the one, Nicoletta stopped so I could get a good view of Mars Hill. It is also called Areopagus. It was where the Athenian Supreme Court and tribunal of morals was held. Claude and I were surprised and how small it was. So happy to have this mental picture now as I read scriptures. 

Honestly, coming down the Acropolis was harder on Claude and me that hiking up to the top. You are on a steep incline and our knees became very wobbly. They are already tired and this careful walk downhill really does them in. It was at this point that we asked Nicoletta to call the driver and see if he could pick us up to go back to the hotel. We would miss the Agora but we were okay with that. Really, we should have given ourselves a day to catch up before climbing the Acropolis. That seven hour time difference and all the other factors were really playing havoc with us. But we saw the Acropolis and made it to the top. We were very happy. 

On the say down, we past newly uncovered ruins of homes at the base of the Acropolis. The one had a mosaic floor. It would have been a wealthy owner to have a mosaic floor. 

This is looking back to to the top of the Acropolis from the base. Amazing view. Amazing to be there. 

Once back at the hotel, we took a little nap. It was greatly appreciate and we started trying to acclimate to the time change. 

For dinner, we opted to go back to the bar. On there menu, they had something called Pinza. I asked the server what that was. She explained it was a Greek version of a pizza. It had a thin crust out of their recipe for the dough. We opted to try that for dinner. Claude would also have a Greek Salad. I asked Nicoletta what her favorite food was. She is mostly a vegetarian. She loves Greek Salads. However, she explained that a true Greek Salad has NO lettuce of any kind. It is really vegetables. Claude ordered one and, sure enough, there was no lettuce. In the States, there is usually Romaine lettuce in a Greek Salad. Claude enjoyed his salad very much. We purchased some water after dinner and headed back to our room. 

In the evening, I posted pictures of our day on our family Facebook page.