The Acropolis would’ve been a special sight regardless of the weather, but as it happened the moment I arrived at the top with hundreds of other tourists a huge thunderstorm darkened the site.
Historical Background of the Acropolis
Let’s talk a bit about the Acropolis first. It’s one of the sights that has been on my to-visit list for a long time. I’m a bit of a lover of Ancient Greek culture and monuments and Acropolis is one of the main ones in Athens. The hill was inhabited since the fourth millennium BC but the constructions we still see today have been built by Pericles in approximately 500 BC; the Parthenon, Propylaea and Erechtheion are a few examples of constructions. Just like any building in the Balkan, the site has been destroyed and rebuilt a couple of times and due to a restoration project that started in 1975 we can now enjoy the site and it had once looked.
The Way There
As I said in my post about Athens, I visited the Acropolis on my second day in the city. The route I took was through the Ancient Agora and the Roman Agora and that’s how I ended up at the bottom of the hill. It’s not a very steep climb to the top; it’s just a bit of an annoying climb due to the hundreds of tourists who all walk huddled together and suddenly stop to take pictures. To take the second and third picture of the theatre I had to push a lot of people out of my way.
I think I was kind of willing the thing that happened next.
Thunderstorm
At the same time as I entered the hill through the Propylea (the ancient gateway); a huge thundercloud darkened the sky. As you can see in the picture below people’s hair was flying all over the place and for once cameras were focused on the sky rather than the Parthenon.
Huge drops of rain started to fall and I had to quickly pack in my DSLR and take out my underwater camera and flimsy umbrella. When lightning bolts started to make an appearance, I contemplated whether it would be sensible to stand on one of the highest points of the city during the storm. Especially since there is no shelter at the site, so me and all the other tourists decided to descend at the same time which resulted in a huge congestion at the Propylea.
On the right I saw an office door opening and ten people stormed in so I decided to take this opportunity as well and I entered the safe haven. This was nice for twenty minutes until a security guard came to kick us all out. These twenty minutes saved me because there were virtually no people on the hill anymore and it was still raining but much less than before, so I decided to continue exploring the sight with my underwater camera.
The pictures are not great, but I’m happy I managed to experience the site (albeit during the wrath of the gods). Whatever the weather conditions, the buildings are monumental and beautiful. It’s a pity of the scaffolding here and there, but it’s to be expected when you go to an ancient site like this.
Be warned, when it rains the stones get slippery so watch your step!
It goes without saying that during a storm like this the view over the city is practically non-existent.
Acropolis Museum
After I had seen all the buildings on the hill I made my way down to visit all the statues in the Acropolis museum, which is only a fifteen minute walk from the top of the hill. On the way, you’ll can find a small hill you can climb up for a good view, but it’s slippery when wet.
The Acropolis Museum is only a few years old. It was probably due to the weather that I had to queue for twenty minutes to enter the building, but inside it was relatively quiet.
The museum is very clear and well-structured. On the 1st floor you can find the Archaic Gallery which is bathed in natural light. Here you can find hundreds of statues that have been found inside the buildings of the Acropolis.
On the 2nd floor is a decent restaurant, where I had lunch. Prices are quite steep – I paid 16 euro for a burger, but you obviously pay for the comfort of eating inside the museum.
The best part of the museum is the top floor. It’s a glass hall built in alignment with the Parthenon which you can see through the windows. It shows all the original statues on the Parthenon in the order in which they appeared.
The statues used to stand at the top, the second level is where the metopes used to be and the third level is where the frieze used to be – this is to give you an idea of what you can find inside the museum.
This is a mock up of what the statues looked like.
These are the actual remains of the statues.
This floor also has the original metopes which show different scenes such a the centaur stealing women.
And it has the massive frieze which used to be showcased all around the building. Here and there, there are parts missing but the way they have put everything together again is spectacular and it gives you a good idea what the Parthenon used to look like.
Another big thing inside the museum are the five caryatids (the female columns that hold up the Erechtheion) – the sixth is in the British Museum -. The columns you can see at the site are fake, so it’s nice to see the real ones on display.
Conclusion
When in Athens you should really visit the Acropolis and the museum. The museum is probably the most interesting one I’ve ever visited because everything has been well-described and well-structured, on top of that there are not too many exhibits. Weather-wise I was unlucky when I visited the Acropolis, but don’t let that deter you – it’s probably even better because you didn’t have to squeeze yourself through throngs of people. My next post will describe another ancient site, namely Delphi.
