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Stoa of Attalos, Athens

Dankuna — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:14:30 +0000

The Stoa of Attalos is recognized as one of the most impressive stoa in the Athenian Agora. It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon who ruled between 159 BC and 138 BC.
Typical of the Hellenistic age, the stoa was more elaborate and larger than the earlier buildings of ancient Athens. The stoa’s dimensions are 115 by 20 meters wide and it is made of Pentelic marble and limestone. The antiquity skillfully makes use of different architectural orders. The Doric order was used for the exterior construction on the ground floor with Ionic for the interior colonnade. This combination had been used in stoas since the Classical punctuation and was by Hellenistic times quite common. On the first floor of the building, the exterior construction was Ionic and the interior Pergamene. Each news had two aisles and twenty-one rooms lining the western wall. The rooms of both stories were lighted and vented finished doorways and small windows settled on the backwards wall. There were stairways leading up to the ordinal news at each end of the stoa. The antiquity is similar in its basic design to the Stoa that Attalos’ brother, and predecessor as king, Eumenes II had erected on the south slope of the Acropolis next to the theater of Dionysus. The important difference is that Attalos’ stoa had a row of rooms at the rear on the ground floor that have been interpreted as shops.
GPS coordinates: 37° 58′ 30″ N, 23° 43′ 27″ E

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Acropolis of Athens, Athens

Jake — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:04:35 +0000

Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens is the best known acropolis (high city, The “Sacred Rock”) in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007.[1] The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock which rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Kekrops or Cecrops, the first Athenian king. Athens sightseeing tours.
GPS travel destinations: 37° 58′ 17.12″ N, 23° 43′ 34.2″ E

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Mount Lycabettus, Athens

Jake — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:02:05 +0000

Mount Lycabettus is a Cretaceous limestone hill in Athens, Greece. At 277 meters above sea level, the hill (also known as Lycabettos or Lykabettos) is the highest point in the city that surrounds it. Pine trees cover its base, and at its peak are the 19th century Chapel of St. George, a theatre, and a restaurant.

Mount Lycabettus

The hill is a popular tourist destination and can be ascended by the Lycabettus Funicular, a funicular railway which climbs the hill from a lower terminus at Kolonaki. Lycabettus appears in various legends. Popular stories suggest it was once the refuge of wolves, possibly the origin of its name (which means “the one (the hill) that is walked by wolves”). Mythologically, Lycabettus is credited to Athena, who created it when she dropped a mountain she had been carrying from Pallene for the construction of the Acropolis after the box holding Erichthonius was opened. Great for Athens travel guides.
GPS travel destinations: 37° 58′ 55″ N, 23° 44′ 35″ E

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