From Lycabettus to Philopappou in Athens

This is a monumental tetraconch church, which occupied the inner peristyled courtyard of Hadrian's Library. It was built according to one view by Herculius the Prefect of Illiricum (AD 407-412) or by the empress Eudocia, former Athenais, daughter of the sophist Leontius and wife of the emperor of Byzantium Theodosius B' (AD 425-430). The main church consists of a central hall, which ends on the east side at a semicircular apse. On the other three sides other semicircular apses are opened, each one of which has got four columns in semicircular disposition.

Some parts of a mosaic floor decorated with floral patterns are preserved. On the west side there was a narthex, which provided access to the main church through three gates. There is also a large atrium, which had galleries on three sides except that next to the narthex. The tetraconch was ruined towards the end of the 6th century AD. At the same site two churches were built successively, a three-aisled basilica in the 7th century AD and a domed church called Megali Panaghia in the end of 1lth - early 12th century AD, which was probably the first cathedral of the city of Athens. It was burnt and demolished in 1885, so that the first archaeological excavations could take place.

THE MAIN EAST ROOM OF THE LIBRARY (BIBLIOSTASIO)

The main room of the Library, the one that Pausanias called 'oikimata', was at the eastern part of the peribolos. It had five large halls and four smaller of secondary use. The main hall, the bibliostasio, was rectangular in plan and its west side opened on to the inner peristyle of the monument through five large openings. It had a tall, continuous podium on the other three sides on which stood a colonnade of at least two storeys that supported a series of passageways. The walls on each storey had niches with wooden cupboards in which the books were kept. The total number of niches was 40, 16 niches on the eastern wall and 12 niches on the side walls. An estimate of the dimensions of the papyri gives an approximate number of 16.800 books. The wider, arched niches on the main axis of the eastern wall on both storeys probably housed statues of Athena and the deified emperor. The walls of the hall were decorated by marble revetments, while coloured marble slabs covered the floor.

The two halls at the left and right of the bibliostasio were probably subsidiary rooms (reading and transcription rooms), while the smaller rooms at the back served as staircases for the upper floor.

AUDITORIA

The two corner halls of the eastern side of the monument were small, somewhat sloping auditoria, used for lectures and text' readings. They had marble seats and prohedriae (seats of honour) of a slightly curved form. The approach to the seats was by two staircases, along the long walls. The floor was made of marble, with diagonal quadrangular slabs of coloured luxurious marble, while marble revetments decorated the walls of the halls as well. The north auditorium is fully visible today, while most of the south auditorium is underneath the modern Adrianou street and the building at the corner of Aiolou and Adrianou streets.

THE CHURCH OF SAINT ASOMATOS "STA SKALIA"

Small church in the domed concised crosstype with the apse at the north side. It was built by the noble family Chalkokondyli at the 12th century and was renovated in 1576 by Michael Chalkokondylis. It was named Saint Asomatos because it was devoted to Archange! Michael by its synonymous founder, while because of its position at the Hadrian Library's propylon was named "sta Skalia" (on the stairs). At the beginning of the 18th century the narthex was fell into disuse and after 1843 the church was demolished. On the floor of the main temple, as well as in the narthex, were excavated eleven cist and vaulted graves, in which were buried mainly members of the Chalkokondyli family. The only visible remains of the church are the remains of a wall and the frescoe on the Library's façade, which represent "The Prayer in Gesthemane", "The Treachery of Judas" and busts of Saints.

ROMAN AGORA

It was built between 19-11 B.C. and housed the commercial activities of the Ancient Athens, when the ancient Agora's central part was taken over by large buildings and there wasn't enough space for the commerce.

It is a rectangular building (111×98m.) with an open courtyard surrounded by an ionic portico with shops and storerooms at the back. It has two propyla. The one on the west, made of pentelic marble, is in the doric order. It is a donation by Julius Caesar and Augustus and is known as the Gate of Athena Archegetis, to whom it was dedicated by the Athenian Deme (people) during the archonship of Nikias (11/10 B.C.). The other propylon, on the east side is in the ionic order and has unfluted columns made of grey Hymettian marble.

A narrow staircase in the middle of the south side next to a fountain-house led to another small entrance, above the retaining wall, on the street that passed by at this point.

The date at which the Roman Agora was destroyed is not known with certainty, but the area still remained in constant use until the 19th c. In the byzantine and post-byzantine periods the area was occupied by houses, workshops and the churches of the Taxiarches (present-day Gregoroussa), the Prophet Elias and the Sotira of Pazaroporta, which are not preserved. Indicative of the constructural activity during the Turkish Period is the Fethiye or Mosque of the Conqueror at the northern part of the Roman courtyard.

THE SO-CALLED "AGORANOMEION"

It is a public building the identification of which is not yet ascertained. It was built with porous ashlar masonry higher than the level of the east propylon of the Roman Agora.

A wide staircase leading to a façade with three archways and parts of the north and south walls are preserved.

According to the inscription on the epistyle of the façade the building was dedicated to Athena Archegetis and the divi Augusti (middle 1st c. A.D.).

The Horologion of Andronikos of Kyrrhos

The Horologion of Andronikos, also known as the "Tower of the Winds" or "Aerides" (the blowing winds), a work by the architect and astronomer Andronikos of Kyrrhos in Macedonia, is located on the northern slope of the Acropolis, within short distance from the eastern propylon of the Roman Agora. It was built during the late Hellenistic period, possibly at the end of the 2nd century BC.

It is an octagonal edifice, 13.85 m. in total height, which incorporates a circular in plan space on the south side. The monument is made entirely of Pentelic marble with the exception of the foundations, which were built of poros, has two propyla and rests on a three-stepped base (crepidoma). The fully preserved roof of the building consists of twenty - four slabs and a circular "keystone" on which a Corinthian capital rests and possibly served as the base of a bronze wind vane in the form of a Triton. Inside the building a hydraulic mechanism operated, that powered a water clock or a 'planetarium' device of a manufacturing philosophy comparable to that of the Antikythera mechanism. It was powered by water pressure, which came from the interior of the cylindrical space situated on the south side of the monument. The incised lines on the exterior of the eight sides of the edifice corresponded to an equal number of sundials, whereas on the frieze above them, the personifications of the eight main winds are depicted in relief, bearing their symbols.

During the byzantine period, but also after the capture of the city by the Ottomans, the monument served as a church, as attested by the fragments of frescoes with christian content dated at the 13th-14th century, which still adorn the northern and northwestern side of the building's interior, and also by a documentary source that dates back to the end of the 15th century. In the late period of the Ottoman occupation, the building was also used as a tekke of the Mevlevi order. In later times, during 1838-1839 the Archaeological Society at Athens unearthed the entire monument, which was partly buried in the exterior and also to the level of the first cornice in the interior.

Horologion of Andronikos of Kyrrhos, the conservation of the monument

The 'Conservation and Valorization of the Horolcgion of Andronikos, at the Archaeological Site of the Roman Agora of Athens' was implemented based on the approved by the Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments study, in the context of the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007 - 2013.

The surfaces of the monument were marked by a wide range of twenty-two different forms of deterioration. These were recorded as cracks, flaking, detached fragments, craquelure caused by the movement of blocks of marble due to external agents, heavy deposits of dirt, extensive biodeterioration, but also damage caused by man, in the course of the various functions the monument had.

The conservation of the monument encompassed a series of systematic interventions performed on the surfaces of the stone blocks, which completed the conservation and valorization of the monument: these included consolidation and cleaning of the surfaces, filling of cracks of different length and width, bonding of loose and detached fragments, removal and replacement of ineffective past interventions, investigation and conservation of the painted decoration and sealing protection of spots and openings against rainwater.

The 'healing' effect of conservation is evident and indeed astounding on the interior surface of the roof of the monument that was more severely damaged due to the ingress of rainwater. Persistent and arduous efforts revealed, conserved and maintained all traces of paint and coatings from the ancient polychromy up to the Ottoman inscriptions. The research methods applied brought to light new elements; a band of meander motif under the Ionic cornice and fragments of a byzantine fresco bearing the figure of an angel and a Saint on horseback that attest to the use of the building during the byzantine period are the most prominent finds.

Additional measures that concerned rainwater runoff were conducted on the outer surface of the roof of the monument. Water is channelled through the lion-head spouts away from the walls, in accordance with the initial estimate of the architect, further protecting the conservation interventions. The relief of the frieze bearing the eight sculpted figures of the winds was heavily damaged due to atmospheric pollution which is accountable for marble dissolution and the formation of thick black encrustations on its surface. The ancient surfaces were preserved, without performing any filling of the voids caused by the damages of the sculptural decoration or removing the black encrustations, so as to avoid losing valuable evidence that survived.

The entire conservation project - that was fully documented in deference to the principles of the international standards - handed over the now restored monument to the public and the future generations.

Horologion of Andronikos of Kyrrhos, the interior of the monument

The Horologion of Andronikos, a monument of the late Hellenistic period, that possibly dates back to the end of the 2nd century BC, is octagonal in plan and has two propyla as well as a circular in plan space on the south side, and it is made entirely of Pentelic marble with the exception of the foundations, which are built of poros.

Inside the monument, the holes that were used for mounting the hydraulic mechanism, which was installed in its interior and cuttings that were intended for water supply conduits, but also for fixing the marble parapet which isolated the mechanism, are still preserved on the floor's surface. The elevation of the masonry inside the monument is divided into four zones formed by three architectural elements that run the perimeter of the edifice: two lonic cornices, with the second one being more elaborately decorated, whereas the third zone takes the form of a stylobate that supports eight decorative colonettes, which prop up a two-banded epistyle. The traces of ancient wall painting, such as palmettes, lotus flowers and meander, which are still preserved in places are particularly significant. Blue paint covered the inner surface of the roof - one of the few roof structures of ancient Greek monuments that live on, which is comprised of twenty-four slabs and the circular 'keystone' that holds them together.

The fragments of the frescoes that survive on the northern and northwestern side of the edifice, which depict, an angel (possibly an Epitaphios lament scene) and a saint on horseback, are associated directly with the use of the Horologion of Andronikos as a church during the late byzantine period (13th-14th c.), if not earlier. In the late period of the Ottoman occupation, the building was also used as a tekke of the Mevlevi order, as denoted by the mihrab niche at its southeastern wall. Also inside the monument, the incised Roman ship (2nd - 4th c. AD), as well as the graphite drawings of sailboats that date from later times are notable.

PUBLIC LATRINES

It is a rectangular building with an oblong lobby and a rectangular hall, which has a bench with round holes around all four sides. It was roofed, except of an area above the centre of the great hall, which was open for the lighting and ventilation of the latrines. It worked in a very simple and practical system of running water, which flushed away the waste products through a deep peripheral canal to the main drain of the city (1st cent. A.D.).

It intended to serve the public that frequented the Roman Agora.

THE AREA SOUTH OF THE ANCIENT AGORA

The "Eleusinion in the City", a shrine sacred to the mystery religion of the goddesses Demeter and Kore/Persephone, together with their mortal counterpart Triptolemos, dominates the north slope of the Acropolis, to the southeast of the Ancient Agora.

These Eleusinian deities were already worshipped here in the 6th cent. B.C., in an open-air shrine surrounded by a wall. In the 5th cent., a small rectangular lonic temple was built in the shrine. The following centuries auxiliary establishments, and dedications were added. The shrine was bordered by the Panathenaic Way on the west and the two branches of the «Street of the Tripods» on the north and south.

The Panathenaic Way extended from the Dipylon in the Kerameikos to the entrance to the Acropolis, cutting diagonally through the central square of the Agora. It was mainly of soil, but in the Ist or 2nd cent. A.D. the section in the northeast corner of the Agora and that along the west side of the Eleusinion was paved with stone.

On the west of the Acropolis is situated a rocky outcrop called the "Areopagus". The hill derives its name probably from Ares, the god of war, and the Ares-Erinyes or Semnes, underground goddesses of punishment and revenge. A judicial body, the Areopagus Council, met on this hill. The Areopagus was also a place of religious worship. Among the several sanctuaries located here was that of the Semnes or Eumenides.

In the Mycenaean and Geometric periods (1600-700 B.C.) the northern slope of the hill served as a cemetery, with both vaulted tombs and simple cist graves. From the 6th cent. B.C. onwards the hillside as a whole became a residential quarter belonging to the fashionable district of Melite. By the Late Roman period (4th-6th cent. A.D.) four luxury houses, which probably served as philosophical schools, had replaced the houses of the Classical era.

The Areopagus is also associated with the spread of Christianity into Greece. Some time near the middle of the Ist cent. A.D. the Apostle Paul is said to have converted a number of Athenians by teaching the tenets of the new religion from the summit of the hill. Among the converts was Dionysios the Areopagite, the patron saint of the city of Athens, who, according to tradition, was the city's first bishop.

Remains of the church of St. Dionysios the Areopagite closed into the north and west by the monumental Archbishop's Palace (16th-17th cent.) are preserved on the northern slope of the hill.

PRISON OF SOCRATES

The cutting of groundwork and even of whole rooms into the rocky parts of the Hills west of the Acropolis (the Areopagus, the Hills of the Nymphs and of the Mouses, the Pnyx) is especially characteristic of the area, which serves as an open-air exhibition of the town-planning and architecture of the ancients, carved into rock. The impressive structure cut into the rocky slopes of the Hill of the Muses belong probably to a monumental two- or three-story dwelling, as we conclude from the alignments of beam-holes on the surface of the rock. The wooden beams supported the front part of the structure, which was made of stone masonry and wood. To the exterior floor belong passageways that connect with water-channels cut into the façade of the building, and a carved stairway at the south provided communication with the higher levels of the slope. The preserved back part of the structure is a complex of three rooms, carefully cut into bedrock, with doorways at the east and a cistern at the back. The use of the rooms is unknown. Its cave-like structure, however, and its proximity to the Athenian Agora must have led to the popular tradition that the building was the "Prison of Socrates" or an "ancient bath", as guidebooks and history books inform us. In the Second World War the structure was used to hide the antiquities of the Acropolis and the National Archaeological Museum and was sealed up with a thick concrete wall.

DIATEICHISMA

The "Diateichisma" was built by the Athenians at the end of the 4th century B.C. in order to confront the approaching danger from Macedonians. The new wall, which established a boundary on the crests of the Hill of the Mouses (Philopappos), the Pnyx, and the Hill of the Nymphs and at the north and south connected with the older Themistoklean Wall, reduced the extent of the fortified area of the city at the west, leaving unprotected large parts of the Demes of Melite and Koile. This middle wall, 900m. long, which was built according to the "emplekto" system (compartment wall), had two gates at its junctures with the Hills and was fortified with rectangular and circular towers. In the middle of the 3rd century B.C. the "Diateichisma" saw extensive repair in white poros-stone, the "emplekto" technique was abandoned, and its course in the area of the Pnyx was modified. In Justinian times, at 6th century A.D., the Diateichisma reinforced and kept in new repair and with added towers. Post-Byzantine manuscripts recall Justinianic activity here when they refer to the "Royal Wall".

The south gate of the Diateichisma, between the Hill of the Mouses and the Pnyx, at the axis of the most important commercial and traffic artery of Athens, the "Road through Koile", is identified, thanks to an ancient inscription, as the "Dipylon over the Gates". East of the gate is a small roadside shrine epigraphically recorded as dedicated to the homeric hero Aias or to Herakles, Athena and Demos, as protectors of the Gates. From byzantine era the militant Saint Demetrios Loumbardiares has been worshipped at the same spot. The north gate between the Pnyx and the Hill of the Nymphs has been identified as the "Meletides Gates" mentioned in the literary sources.

From the 4th century B.C. up to mediaeval times, the "Diateichisma", kept in repair, served as a first line of defence for the city of Athens from the west. Today the "Diateichisma" is preserved or can be traced along its whole length and gives important topographical evidence for the defence of Athens. Of the "Dipylon over the Gates" near the church of Saint Demetrios Loumbardiares, now partly covered with decor designed by the architect Pikiones, remains of only the south side of the tower are preserved.

SAINT DEMETRIUS LOUMBARDIARIS - LANDSCAPING OF DIMITRIS PIKIONIS

The church of St. Demetrius Loumbardiaris (The Cannoneer) 

A small 12th c. Byzantine chapel of the vaulted single-aisle basilica type.

The chapel is built at the site of the north tower of the Diateichisma gate, called Dipylon above the Gates, and near a small temple-shaped structure, built in accordance with the ancient tradition of some divinity protecting the gates.

The construction of the chapel is probably associated with the final phase of the Diateichisma fortification wall (12th c. A.D.). Inside the church, frescos are preserved that date to 1732 according to the building inscription. The surname "Loumbardiaris" (the Cannoneer) is connected with the tradition that the church was saved by a miracle around 1640-1650, when the Turkish commander of the Acropolis, Yusuf, bombed the church from the Propylaea. The following day lightning struck the Propylaea, killing Yusuf and his entire family.

The church has undergone many changes over time. Its current form is owing to the restoration of its Post-Byzantine phase by the architect D. Pikionis in the 1960s.

The landscaping of Dimitris Pikionis

D. Pikionis (1887-1968) was an inspired architect, city planner, artist, scenographer and philosopher. He and his students executed the most important architectural landscape project in modern Athens between May 1954 and February 1958, The project involved the archaeological site around the Acropolis and Philopappos Hill.

The work included the creation of two spiral pedestrian walkways ending in two loops. The first approaches the archaeological site of the Acropolis and the other leads away from it towards Philopappos Hill, terminating at an open area called the Andiro (Belvedere), which overlooks the Acropolis.

The structure of Pikionis's pedestrian walkways, which utilize paving blocks, reused marble elements from neoclassical buildings, as well as byzantine and popular motifs, is original. The landscaping around the Acropolis was executed with absolute respect for the historical landscape and ancient topography. The work is organized into five main architectural "themes": the beginning and end of the ascent to the Acropolis, and the beginning, middle, and end of the walk on Philopappos Hill.

One of his particularly important architectural projects was the restoration of Saint Demetrius Loumbardiaris church, complete with open spaces and Kylikeion. In addition to his architectural creations, Pikionis stressed the appropriate planting of the area with small plants and bushes from Attica.

The treatment of stone-paved walkways, the road network, paths, and sidewalks around the two theatres (Herodus Atticus, Theatre of Dionysos) encompasses an area of about 80,000 m2.

Pikionis's internationaly recognised and award-winning project, in its time called "a creation of highly aesthetic character", was declared a protected historical monument and work of art by the Ministry of Culture in 1996.

HILL OF THE MUSES - PHILOPAPPOS' MONUMENT

According to Pausanias, an ancient periegetic writer of the 2nd c. AD, the highest of the three Hills west of the Acropolis took its name from the poet Mousaios who lived, taught and was buried there.

The rock cut square to the northeast of the summit, which affords niches for statues, benches and alters for offerings, is claimed to belong to the funeral monument of Mousaios. It is more probable, however, that the Hill took its name from a sanctuary of the Muses to whom the Hill must have been dedicated.

The prevalent and commanding position of the Hill of the Muses, directly across the Acropolis, was the stronghold of the Athenians who, according to myth, fought against the Amazons. Throughout the ages it was used as a fortress of primary strategic significance during major military operations.

In the 5th c. BC the Athenians incorporated the Hill within the Themistoklean fortification, whereas the Diateichisma was constructed on its summit in the 4th c. BC. In 294 BC, Demetrius Poliorketes had a small fort built, known as the Macedonian fort, annexing the Diateichisma wall, where he installed a garrison to guard the city.

In the 2nd century AD a burial monument 12 m. in height was erected on the Hill of the Muses, which has since prevailed over the area. It takes its name from its founder Gaios Julius Philopappos, prince of Kommagene of Upper Syria and benefactor of Athens.

This monument is made of pentelic marble on a porous krepis. Its monumental curved façade facing the Acropolis is divided in two zones. The upper zone comprises three deep niches to support seated statues. In the central niche, Philopappos headless is depicted sitting on a throne with the inscription "Philopappos, son of Epiphanes, of the deme of Besa". In the left niche, according to the inscription "King Antiochos, son of King Antiochos", the fragmentary figure of Philopappos' grandfather is portrayed. According to the inscription which survived until the 15th c., the founder of the Seleucid dynasty "King Seleucus, son of Antiochos, Nikator" was depicted in the right niche. The lower zone is a relief freeze depicting Philopappos on a quadriga flanked by licktors. The burial chamber in the form of a naiskos which housed the Philopappos' sarcophagus was behind the monument.

The monument survived intact until the 15th c. but gradually fell victim to vandalism and the elements. It was partly restored by the civil engineer N. Balanos in 1904.

THE HILL OF THE MUSES (PHILOPAPPOS)

According to the ancient traveller Pausanias, the highest of the three Hills west of the Acropolis took its name from the poet Mousaios, who lived, taught and was buried on it. The flat surface chiselled into bedrock northeast of the crest of the Hill, with niches at the west that allow for statue-bases, benches and a table for offerings, has been thought to belong to the funeral monument of Mousaios. Likelier, however, is the identification of the area as a shrine of the Muses, to whom the hill must have been sacred.

The towering and commanding position of the Hill over against the Acropolis served, in the age of myth, as a stronghold of the Athenians against the Amazons and was later used as a strategically significant fortification in important military operations. The Athenians of the 5th century B.C. included the Hill in the Themistoklean defence works, and in the 4th century they set up, as a boundary, the "Diateichisma" at its crest. In 294 B.C. Demetrios Poliorketes incorporated into the old walls a small fortress, known as the Macedonian Fortress and installed a garrison to control the city.

In the 2nd century A.D. Gaius Julius Antiochus Philopappus, prince of Kommagene in Upper Syria and benefactor of Athens, erected on the top of the Hill of the Muses his grave monument, 12m. high, which from then on dominated the area and gave his name to the Hill.

The monument, built of pentelic marble over a porous-stone base, is divided into two zones. The lower has a frieze showing Philopappos in a chariot with a retinue of rod-bearers and the upper has niches, of which the middle shows an enthroned Philopappos, with the inscripion "ΦΙΛΟΠΑΠΠΟΣ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΒΗΣΑΙΕΥΣ" ("Philopappos of Besa, son of Epiphanes") and the second, according to the inscription, "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY" ("King Antiochos, son of King Antiochos"). In the right niche, no longer, was depicted the founder of the dynasty, "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΣ ΝΙΚΑΤΩΡ” ("King Antiochos Seleukos Nikator").

The monument, intact up to the 15th century, has gradually fallen victim to vandalism and natural phenomena. It was partly restored in 1904 by K. Balanos.