We'll start up there at the historic
cultural and literal high point of any trip to Athens --
the Acropolis.
Like other hilltop sites in the ancient Greek world,
Athens' Acropolis, or "high city,"
was both a place of worship
and of refuge when under attack.
Crowned by the mighty Parthenon temple,
the Acropolis rises above modern Athens,
a lasting testament to Greece's glorious Golden Age
in the 5th century BC.
Grand processions followed the Panathenaic Way,
which was a ceremonial path connecting the town below
and the Acropolis.
They'd pass through this imposing entryway
and up to the religious heart of the city
in the Parthenon.
The Parthenon was perhaps
the finest temple in the ancient world.
Valiantly battling the acidic air of our modern world,
it still stands, with the help of ongoing restoration work.
It was constructed in the 5th century BC
and dedicated to the virgin goddess Athena.
Seeing it today is awe-inspiring,
but imagine how striking it must have looked
when it was completed, nearly 2,500 years ago,
in all its carved and brilliantly painted splendor.
The adjacent erect is famous
for its Porch of the Caryatids --
six beautiful maidens functioning as columns.
Dedicated to Athena and Poseidon,
this was one of the most important
religious buildings on the Acropolis.
This, rather than the Parthenon,
was the culmination of the Panathenaic Procession.
At the foot of the Acropolis,
the Ancient Agora, or "marketplace,"
sprawls out from its surviving temple.
This is where, for 3,000 years,
Athenians gathered.
While the Acropolis was
the center of ritual and ceremony,
the agora was the beating heart of ancient Athens.
For some 800 years,
starting in the 6th century BC,
this was the hub of commercial, political, and social life.
Visitors wander the remains
of what was the city's principal
shopping mall and administrative center.
Exploring the agora,
it's fascinating to ponder
the world of Plato and Aristotle
and the age which laid the foundations
for =Western thinking about economics, democracy,
logic, and more.
The Stoa of Attalos, from the 2nd century BC,
was rebuilt in modern times to house the agora's museum.
With so little of the agora still standing,
this reconstruction
makes it easier to imagine the site
in its original glory.
Crowds would gather in shady porticos like this
to shop, socialize,
or listen to the great philosophers of the age.
In fact, Socrates spent much of his life right here,
preaching the virtues of "nothing in excess"
and urging those around him to "know thyself."
The temple of Hephaestus,
one of the best preserved and most typical
of all Greek temples,
dates from about 400 BC.
Like the Parthenon, it's constructed
in the simple Doric style.
It housed big, bronze statues
of Hephaestus -- the blacksmith god --
and Athena, patroness of the city.
Greek architecture evolved in stages.
The capitals, or tops, of the columns,
were both functional and decorative.
While just the tip of the architectural iceberg,
these are handy indicators, helping us identify
the three main architectural "orders," or styles.
The earliest style, Doric,
has flat, practical plates as capitals.
In the next order, ionic,
the capitals are decorated with understated scrolls.
The final order, Corinthian,
popular later on with the Romans,
features leafy capitals,
boldly decorative, with no apologies necessary.
How to remember all these?
As the orders evolve, they gain syllables.
Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian.
But for most travelers, the agora
is more than an architectural review.
Strolling in the footsteps of Socrates
is your best opportunity
to commune with the epic Greek past.