Acropolis of Athens
Athens - one of the oldest cities in the world, originates from European civilization. For centuries, Athens was a large and powerful city, the most important cultural center. It survived many attractions, but the most famous is undoubtedly the Acropolis. It rises over the sea at 160 meters and stands on a rocky hill with a length of 300 meters and a width of 170 meters. Here are the main monuments of Athens.
The first thing that impresses tourists, this parade "gates" - Propylaea. This entrance to the architectural complex of the Acropolis. Propylaea originated in 437 - 432 years BC, thanks to one of the most popular at the time architects Greece - Mnesiklu.
If you climb the Acropolis, you can see in front of the main temple - the Parthenon. It was built in honor of the goddess Athena Warrior. Despite the fact that the church survives today in a dilapidated state, its facade with columns today is a famous landmark of Greece and attracts many tourists from around the world. Parthenon was laid out to the smallest detail, invisible to the outside observer. These details make some optical adjustments. Temple viewer seems perfectly straightforward. But in fact it is not, because it has almost no loops a single straight line. For example, the corner columns to a non-circular cross section, but other diameters are thicker. Near the Parthenon in ancient times there stood a statue of Athena warrior, who cast bronze Phidias himself. Great architect Phidias was the chief assistant at the time of Pericles in the implementation of the reconstruction of the Acropolis. Phidias has developed exquisite proportions ensemble that gave him harmony.
To the left of the main entrance is the Pinacoteca - a place where there were a collection of paintings of the offering to the goddess Athena. Here there was a repository of manuscripts. On the right side of the entrance - a small temple of Athena Nike. Going through the Propylaea, which begins in the holy land, tourists freeze in admiration in front of them offer huge panorama of the central part of the ensemble. Hence visible unique temple Erechtheion.
At the southern slope of the Acropolis you can see the ruins of the ancient theater of Athens - Theater of Dionysus. It contained about seventeen thousand spectators. Town festivals held here in honor of the god of wine Dionysus. The main part of these festivals were Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophanes. Presentation took place under a covered colonnade, which survived until our days. For tourists eyes open colonnade ruins sanctuary and healer god Asclepius.
Silhouette of the Acropolis, in turn, shapes and silhouette of Athens. Towering over the cliff grand Parthenon in antiquity viewed from any point of Attica, it was seen even with the neighboring islands of Aegina and Salamis.
Millennia have passed, but today ensemble Acropolis amazing grace of architectural and sculptural forms. Acropolis was listed as a World Heritage Site.
