Acropolis of Athens
Limestone citadel crowned by the Parthenon, Erechtheion, Propylaea and Temple of Athena Nike.
The Acropolis is a flat-topped limestone outcrop rising about 150 metres above the Athenian plain, settled since the Neolithic period and used as a fortified royal seat in Mycenaean times. After the Persians burned the earlier sanctuaries in 480 BC, Pericles directed a rebuilding programme that produced the marble monuments seen today. The rock was the chief sanctuary of Athena Polias, and its temples, gateway and shrines were built almost entirely of Pentelic marble quarried a short distance north-east of the city.
Visitors climb from the south or west entrance through the Propylaea, the monumental gateway designed by Mnesikles, passing the small Ionic Temple of Athena Nike on its bastion. The Parthenon, built between 447 and 432 BC by Iktinos and Kallikrates under the supervision of Phidias, dominates the summit, with the Erechtheion and its Caryatid porch to the north. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987 and has been under systematic restoration since 1975.
Highlights
- The Parthenon, the Doric temple of Athena Parthenos
- Erechtheion with its porch of six Caryatid figures
- Propylaea, the marble gateway to the sanctuary
- Temple of Athena Nike and views over Athens and the Saronic Gulf
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
