April 29: The Acropolis

We were forewarned by several other travelers that Athens could be a bit difficult to schedule, since several museums are not open on Monday (tomorrow), including the Acropolis Museum; all museums close at 3:00, withe the exception of the Archeological museum, which is open to 6:00, and the fact that there is a general strike planned for the first of May, Wednesday.  We opted to see the Acropolis Museum and the Acropolis today, then when everything closed, we wandered the Plaka district for a while, picked out some things to covet, and had a snack.  Our laundry has been done in the tub, and is festooned around the room.  It was a hot and muggy day, but any day is a great day to explore a world class museum.

The Acropolis Museum is modern and world-class.  Rather than put a conventional through the remains of history, the museum is built on piers, and outside the museum, on the ground floor, and on the ramps leading to the second floor, the floors are transparent and you can see the ruins below.  There is a Byzantine mansion, and a workshop to be seen.

Our shadows (at 9:00 in the morning!) falling on the Byzantine residence.

At the entry level, there are models of the Acropolis as it looked in different times in history.  You are not allowed to take pictures inside the Museum, but there is an excellent website available by clicking here.  As you go up the slanted glass floor -- except I walked along the edge, as I am afraid of glass floors a bit -- you can see objects that were collected both from the dwellings that have existed on the slopes of the Acropolis, and from the various sanctuaries.  You go up the three floors above by going along one side of the building, then up the escalators to the next floor, walk around the sculptures that once decorated the Acropolis itself, and then go down the other side of the building.  

I was really glad to see my old friend, the calf bearer, a statue that I met in the old Acropolis museum, housed on top of the hill itself. The Archaic statues are my favourite, even though they are stiff and all have the same pose.  The traces of paint still can be seen on many of the figures, and I am impressed by the fact that within the rigour of a very strict form of votive sculpture artists were able to create such variety and originality.  It was also wonderful to see the real Carytid maidens from the Acropolis.

The exhibits are really interpretive.  Everything is explained, and although I bought a guide book, it is more as a souvenir than to figure out what the heck I am looking at.

The sculptures and/or casts thereof are displayed on the top floor.  Right before you go in to see them, there is a film, in Greek with English subtitles, that points out the history of the Parthenon, and lists two equivalent disasters:  the Italian shelling of the Turkish gunpowder stored in the Acropolis, and Lord Elgin and his "team", who are shown in computer animations sawing through works and tossing them to the ground.  Since we saw what was left of Pergamum at Bergama, which included the lime kiln used to burn most of the marble for fertilizer, we could see things in more shades of gray.  

We came out of the museum 3 and a half hours later.

No shadow this time, as the museum building is blocking the sun.

The glass floor outside the Acropolis Museum.  Neither one of us is in this picture. . .

The museum is really really good, which is fortunate, because Ian found out that the Minoan archeological site of Akrotiri is open on Santorini after a ten year closure, and he would have dumped Mykonos, Athens, and a few other islands as well to see Akrotiri.  I think it wouldn't have taken much to have him fly out there for a day or two.  Fortunately, there is a good web site for this too.  I've shown it too Ian, but he doesn't think it's the same as being there.

FYI - Akrotiri is like Pompeii, a city buried in ash from a volcanic eruption (one of the 10 largest in recorded history), except that it is a Minoan city from 3,700 years ago, not a Roman city from just 1950 years ago - Ian.

Thank you, Ian.  Next we walked to the gate to the Acropolis Park, bought our ticket, and went inside.  The ticket is a great bargain for people with more than one day to spend in Athens:  it is good for four days, and gives you access to almost all of the archeological sites.  We began the climb to the Acropolis, and went in through the familiar Propylaia.  In spite of the intense sun, the crowds, and the fact that much of the Parthenon is invisible behind cranes and scaffolding, and more of it seems to be dismantled since we were last here, there is a thrill to being on the actual Acropolis of Athens that doesn't get old.

The Theatre of Herodies Atticus.	Original coffered ceiling of the Erechthion on the Acropolis.
The Erechtion looking at the "Porch of the Maidens"

The Theatre of Dionysios - the "Globe Theatre" of the Ancient world.  This theatre might not look like much compared to some of the others we have seen on this trip, but this is where all the action of ancient Greek drama and comedy took place.  Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes all had their premiers in this theatre.

On the Areopagus.  This was the seat of the Aeriopagus Law Courts, the aristocratic law courts of Athens.  It is also the spot where Saint Paul addressed the Athenians and converted a number to Christianity.

After we had visited the East side of the Acropolis, we cut across to see the famous rock, the Areopagus or Areios Pagos, shown above.  The marble was as slippery as glass!  As you can see in the picture, there were more "stairs to nowhere", as the site had been used for housing after the ancient period.  We left the Acropolis by going down the other side, and headed for the Greek Agora, but it had closed, and we were disappointed to find out that the Museum is closed on Mondays, so we had missed our chance!

We had coffee in the Plaka area, and then took a funny little train back to our hotel.  We couldn't believe it as it squished its way between the railings of the Greek Agora and the sidewalk tables of restaurants.  We couldn't understand a word of the commentary, but it got us through the flea market without having to deal with the many persistent sales people.  We decided not to ride it all the way around, and got off right in front of our hotel.

I washed our "smalls", as my Uncle Jim would say, and then we headed out to a wonderful restaurant in the Plaka.  We were so tired when we got back that we didn't quite finish the blog!