Historical greece
In summer 2014 I went to Greece and Turkey. I visited several historical sites, took pictures and read the story about them.
In 2020 I looked through my photo albums and found these old picutres. I decided to do more readings about these historical sites in Greece and Turkey. I shared my findings on Instagram.
Now I thought it would be nice to gather them here in one page!
Eveything is written in English.
The referencing isn't done properly, but I mentioned the sources at the end of every subject.
Changing of the guards at the tomb of unknown soldier, Syntagma Square.
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Athens
the Acropolis of Athens
People lived on the Acropolis of Athens until te late 6th century BC. In 510 BC the Delphic oracle declared it as the sole province of the gods.
It was first inhabited in Neolithic times (4000-3000 BC). And the earliest monumental buildings werent constructed here during the Mycenaean era.
An ‘acropolis’is any citadel or complex built on a high hill. The name derives from acro (high) and polis (city).
Erechtheion, Acropolis of Athens.
Erechtheion is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece, which was dedicated to both Athena and Peseidon.
It was designed by architect Mnesikles, consturctend in the last twenty years of the 5th century B.C. It's a complex building, and its form is unusual, due to the site's uneven ground.
The south porch (see the picture below) is perhaps the best-know feature from the Erechtheion.
Caryatids of Erechtheion (sotuh porch)
Instead of being supported by columns, this roof is supported by these six Korai statues (the Caryatids).
Caryatids or Karyatids are female figures that serve as the architectural support for the entablature of a building. The Greeks called these figures Korai, which means maidens.
From the website of Acropolis museum (2024) says that five of these Caryatids are displayed in the Acropolis Museum, and one is still held in the British Museum.
Map of the Erechtheion. Image from the Acropolis Museum
These Caryatids of the Erechtheion are replicas. The original ones are dexhibited in the museums. Thomas Bruce, a British diplomat to Ottoman Turkey from 1799-1803, obtained permission to remove architectural fragments from the Parthenon and other structures on the Acropolis of Athens. The British Government purhcased this Caryatid from Bruce.
From Vitruvius on Architecture, 1.1.5, trasnlated by M.H. Morgan:
Sources:
The Acropolis Museum
The British Museum
Lexundria (Vetruvius’ book
For more readings I recommend you to read:
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PARTHENON
Current state of the Parthenon on February 13, 2019. Athens, Greece by G. E. Koronaios
Parthénon. - Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive - Cultural Foundation of the National Bank Of Greece, Greece - CC BY.
https://www.europeana.eu/item/122/https___www_searchculture_gr_aggregator_edm_ELIA_000100_25_359620
The classical Parthenon was constructed between 447 - 432 BCE. The architecs were Iktinos and Kallikrates.
The temple was dedicated to the goddess Athena Pallas or Parthenos (virgin).
The construction of this temple cost the Athenian treasury 469 silver talents. Its massive foundations were made of limestone. And the columns were made of Pentelic marble (a material that was utilised for the first time).
A part of Parthenon's roof and pillars.
Temple of olympian zeus (Olympieion)
Olympieion, Athens, 2014.
This half-ruined temple is dedicated to Zeus and it was built over several centuries.
The construction of this temple started in the 6th century BC and its designs were appointed to the architects Antistates, Callaeschrus, Antimachides, and Porinus.
But the works stopped in 510 BC due to political disorders, when the tyrant Hippias was exiled from Athens.
Then in 174 BC Anthiocos IV Epiphanes, started the reconstruction of the temple. But when Antiochos died, the project remained again unfinished.
In 125 AD the Roman emperor Hadrian continued the work. In its final form, the temple had 104 columns, 17m high each and 2m diameter each. Now there are only 15 columns remain standing.
It is not known when the temple of Zeus was destroyed, but it probably came down in an earthquake during the mediaeval period. Like other ancient buildings much of it was taken away for building materials.
If you are interested to read more about this temple, I recommend you to read these following articles:
A 3D images of the temple and the arch of Hadrian
The University of Chicago - Temple of Olympian Zeus
The Olympieion in Athens and Its Connections with Rome (https://doi.org/10.2307/25010661)
Who is Zeus?
Zeus was the first of the gods Often referred to as the “Father of Gods and men”, he is a sky god who controls lightning and thunder. Along with Hades and Poseidon, Zeus shared the rule of the world and became king of Olympus.
Hesiod described Zeus as a god who “brought peace in place of violence” and referred to him as the “lord of justice“. Though he is most well known as god of the sky and thunder, Zeus was the supreme cultural embodiment of Greek religious beliefs.
Right: A statue of Zeus.
The sculpture was presented to Louis XIV as Aesculapius but restored as Zeus, ca. 1686, by Pierre Granier, who added the upraised right arm brandishing the thunderbolt.
More about this ancient Greek god: https://www.thecollector.com/zeus/
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Temple of Hephaestus
Mykonos