you're flying above the Acropolis a
sacred hill in the heart of Athens the
large ancient monument at its center is
the Parthenon one of the most
influential pieces of architecture in
the world sitting in its shadow is a
smaller building known as the Erik fin
it's named after a mythical king of
Athens called the wreck feeis why is
this little temple just as important as
the Parthenon and why was it built with
such a strange asymmetrical shape come
inside and we can find out
[Music]
this is the porch of the caryatids for
nearly two and a half thousand years
these six maidens
have kept watch here the porch was built
to mark a sacred spot the grave of ket
crops the mythical founding king of
Athens
[Music]
from above you can clearly see how a
symmetrical the building is in its
layout
the ancient Greeks intentionally left
this gap in the roof directly above a
very special hole in the ground they
believed this to be the spot where a
fundable
thrown by Zeus struck and killed king
erectus
[Music]
according to Greek mythology the Erik
thean also stands on the site where
Poseidon the god of the sea and Athena
the goddess of wisdom had a contest
Poseidon struck the rocks with his
Trident and produce seawater Athena
struck the ground with her spear and an
olive tree sprang from the rocks
the olive tree was judged more useful to
the people so Athena was declared the
victor and the city took her name to
become Athens the Erik thien's eccentric
shape were specially designed to
preserve and celebrate all these sacred
and mythological events it's an enduring
monument to the rich ancient history of
this extraordinary city