We finally arrived in Athens and found our hotel. It was located in the old section of Athens called “The Plaka” and our room had a view of the Acropolis. We grabbed a bite and began walking and walking uphill till we reached our destination 515 feet above sea level. Displayed before us were the temples:
The Propylaea means foregates; this was the entrance to all. This structure was completed in 431BC.
Next was the Erectheum (Okay, grow up. I heard some giggles over the name) completed in 407BC. The most famous feature were the Caryatids, statues of maidens used as columns.
Finally The Parthenon completed about 432BC. It was designed to honor Athena for assisting them winning a battle over the Persians. It is said that Pericles (he of the Golden Age of Pericles) supervised much of the construction.
As we were departing the Acropolis we saw a small hill with a memorial in front of it. The placard said this was the site where in AD50 Saint Paul spoke to the Athenians about The Unknown God; for a rerun of this speech refer to youtube Oops, I meant Acts 17:22-34.
One more temple I could never forget is The Temple of the Olympian Zeus. This colossal structure was completed in 132 AD. Today it is little more than 15 columns in the middle of a cinder lot. But what columns, these are God-sized columns. They reach! They stretch! No, the appropriate word is, they soar 90 feet upward reaching toward Zeus himself. Remember that the columns of the Parthenon are only 34 feet tall, these are three times that height.
My main comment on these ruins is, “If we had sights like these, we’d probably tear them down and build parking lots.
More to come