The Acropolis of Athens, A great read about the worlds most perfect structure Options

[Isidoros]

I came across this article on the Acropolis and found it a very interesting read.
A great perspective and history.

Enjoy as I did.

http://www.athensguide.com/acropolis.html

Points which stood out for me:

What would a visit to Athens be without going to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon? And still people ask me why the Parthenon is so important. Its because it was the most perfect building built by the world's most advanced civilization and even though we have been studying it for centuries we are still not sure how they did it.

The building was designed by the architects Kallikrates and Iktinos as the home of the giant statue of Athena. It took 9 years to build and was completed in 438 BC and is probably the most recognizable structure in the world next to the golden arches of McDonalds. From a temple it became a church, a mosque and finally as a storage facility for Turkish gunpowder. In 1687 the Venetians bombarded it from below. A cannon ball hit the gun powder and blew it up.

My favourite

As it stands now, though it is a tribute to the glorious past and the achievement of the Ancient Athenians it is also at the same time a reminder that whatever is good in man is eventually overcome by ignorance, war and a hunger for domination.

When the Germans occupied Athens in WWII, the Evzone who guarded the Greek flag which flew from the Acropolis, was ordered by the Nazis to remove it. He calmly took it down, wrapped himself in it and jumped to his death.

The plaque by the flag commemorates Manolis Glezos and Apostolis Santas, the two eighteen year-old heroes who tore down the Nazi flag flying from the Acropolis on the night of May 30th, 1941. It is of particular interest because these names are known not only by Greeks, but by many Europeans, because this act of courage and resistance to Nazi oppression was an inspiration to all subjected people. Later through reading the book Athens:The City by John Tomkinson I found out that Glezos, who became a member of the Greek resistance, was condemned to death for treason in 1948 and imprisoned for being a communist. He was later elected a member of the Panhellenic Socialist Party (PASOK).

[Polynikes]

Thanks for that

[biancoverde]

Yes there is some interesting stuff and a lot of history going way past Classical Greece up to Modern Greece.

I wasn't aware that in Byzantine times, the Acropolis was converted into a Church!
(Guess to who it was dedicated to, this should be quite easy given the name of the monument)

Found a Paper on the Parthenon role in the Byzantine World:

A Heretical (Orthodox) History of the Parthenon

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/UMICH/modgreek/Ho...onKaldellis.pdf



And in Ottoman times, the Ottomans made it into a mosque and put a minaret. (Thankfully they smashed that shit down after the city was liberated, its quite obnoxious to say the least, Ottomans would just go to every majour religious structure and convert them into mosques for the sake of showing dominance, like with Agia Sophia in Constantinople for example)




Also, the Evzon who took down the flag in WWII, jumped to his death instead of handing over the flag to the Germans. Thats the important part...

[AEK4-ever]

Great story with the Evzone, we greeks are indeed a very proud people.. Maybe the most proud in the world!

[xenofon]

Great stuff. Most visitors don't agree (aside from the ancient stuff) about the city itself, but my favourite city in the world. No other modern city is dominated by a majestic rock outcrop and magnificent ancient monuments like Athens. It stands for everything Greek, the history and the glorious past

Don't know if I would've jumped off the cliff though, probably just handed the flag over

[driveby187em]

Great story with the Evzone, we greeks are indeed a very proud people.. Maybe the most proud in the world!

i remember seing a episode of the simpsons a few weeks ago and it was about homers bad temper and he says i havent got a temper im greek im just passionate