Acropolis (tr. “edge” of the “city”) is a high hill containing the ruins of several temples and buildings, including a theatre, music hall, and medical building. It is undergoing restoration and we were not able to get close to any of the ruins/sites.

The Parthenon is designed to appear perfectly vertical when seen from afar. This means that the columns are actually canted at the top. In this photo the scaffolding is straight and the columns are not!

Marble used in the temples

Panathenaic Stadium (in the center of Athens)

The only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. Built in the 6th C. BC as a race course. It was renovated in 1896 for the first modern Olympics at which time it held 80,000 people. It was again used as an Olympic venue in 2004. It is the last venue in Greece where the Olympic flame handover ceremony to the host nation takes place.

Museum of the Acropolis

Here is where the artifacts from excavations at the Acropolis are housed and displayed. This is a new museum, opened in 2009. Interestingly, when they were digging the foundation for it, they discovered an ancient neighborhood, so much of the floor of the museum is glass so you can see down into the ruins of the ancient city of Athens.

While the statues we see are all (mostly) white, in antiquity they would have been painted bright colors. I find this hard to wrap my brain around!

Discovered ruins now underneath the museum

Theatrical Masks

L: Real R: Restored Replica

Here are the different minerals they ground to make the colors for painting the statues:

The Caryatids are 6 statues of women who adorn the Athenian Porch of one of the Temples on the Acropolis. The statues on the Acropolis are replicas, and the 5 in the museum are the originals. (One is in the British Museum… you can google that story!)

In the museum...

The view from the museum of the Acropolis

Lunch Time and around Athens:

This little church was there when the new hotel was to be built, so they just built above and around it!

Bougainvillea everywhere!

Tzatziki

Chick pea & quinoa

Kebab w/ yogurt & red sauce

Pork on a stick!

Cape Sunio

Cape Sunio is an 1:30 mins. drive south and east out of Athens. It was referenced in Homer’s Odyssey and is known for the Temple of Poseidon which sits prominently on the top of a high bluff. We drove down in the late afternoon to enjoy dinner by the sea and catch the setting sun on our drive home. It was a spectacular way to end day two!