Sunday 3 May 2015

Monuments of Greece

The Acropolis

TheAcropolis is an ancientcitadellocated on a high rocky outcrop above the city ofAthensand contains the remains of severalancient buildingsof great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being theParthenon. The wordacropoliscomes from the Greek words (akron, "edge, extremity") and (polis, "city"). Although there are many other acropoleis inGreece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as "The Acropolis" without qualification. 
While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BC, it wasPericles(c. 495 – 429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the site's most important buildings including theParthenon, the Propylaia, theErechtheionand the temple ofAthena Nike.The Parthenon and the other buildings were seriously damaged during the 1687 siege by theVenetiansin theMorean Warwhen the Parthenon was being used for gunpowder storage and was hit by a cannonball.  
The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the preeminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007.  
The entrance to the Acropolis was a monumental gateway called thePropelea To the south of the entrance is the tinyTemple of Athena Nike. At the centre of the Acropolis is theParthenonor Temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). East of the entrance and north of the Parthenon is the temple known as theErechtheum .  South of the platform that forms the top of the Acropolis there are also the remains of an outdoor theatre calledTheatre of Dionysus. A few hundred metres away, there is the now partially reconstructedTheatre of Herodes Atticus.  
All the valuable ancient artifacts are situated in theAcropolis Museum, which resides on the southern slope of the same rock, 280 metres from the Parthenon. 


Temple of Zeus, Olympia

The Temple of Zeus at Olympia was an ancient Greek temple in Olympia, Greece, dedicated to the god Zeus. The temple, built between 472 and 456 BC, was the very model of the fully developed classical Greek temple of the Doric order.

 


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