RonnieAdventures

Picture by Kolohe

The Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, Greece, sits in the northwest corner of the Ancient Agora and is one of the world's best-preserved ancient Greek temples. It sits on a hill with excellent views toward the Acropolis and is visible from nearly everywhere in the Agora.

It was constructed around 450 BC with six columns across the front and rear and thirteen along each side. This is the same time period that work began on the Parthenon. Scholars believe the temple was completed around 415 BC.

The temple was built primarily with high-quality Pentelic marble and dedicated to Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, metalworking, blacksmiths, and craftsmanship. In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the gods' divine craftsman, creating weapons, armor, and other extraordinary objects.

The temple was also associated with Athena, as patroness of crafts and skilled work. Ancient sources indicate that bronze statues of both Hephaestus and Athena stood inside the temple.

Around the 7th century, the temple was converted into a Christian church known as the Church of Saint George Akamates and remained in use until the 19th century, when it was abandoned. It was never quarried for materials like most ancient buildings.

Picture by Kolohe

From the Agora, there are views of the Acropolis to the south, the National Observatory on Filopappou Hill to the west, and Lycabettus Hill to the east. I could sense the fear in my granddaughters' eyes when I said that we needed to climb all three hills while we were in Athens.

Picture by Kolohe

After leaving the temple, we followed various streets (paths) to the Museum of the Ancient Agora located on the far eastern side of the Agora.

Picture by Kolohe

The Museum of the Ancient Agora is located in the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos. (A Stoa was a long, covered colonnade that provided space for walking, meeting, and doing business). The Stoa is especially impressive because it measures approximately 115 meters (377 feet) long and contains two stories with rows of shops.

King Attalos II of Pergamon, who had studied in Athens, commissioned the original Stoa between 159 and 138 BC and presented it to the city. The original stoa was destroyed in AD 267 when the Heruli attacked Athens, and the American School of Classical Studies reconstructed it between 1953 and 1956. The reconstruction incorporated ancient foundations and surviving architectural pieces. Most items in the museum came from site excavations.

Picture by Kolohe

2nd Century A.D.

Picture by Kolohe

A Kleroteria stood at the entrance to every court to pick juries. Each person had a pinakia (ticket) that was inserted into a slot on the Kleroteria. Colored balls were released in random order down a tube on the left side of the face to determine which of the pinakias in a horizontal row would be accepted or rejected for jury service that day.

Picture by Kolohe

Before we left the Agora, we stopped by the Holy Church of the Holy Apostles of Solaki - Athens, which was built in the 10th century around A.D. 1000. Along with the Temple of Hephaestus, it is the only other building in the Ancient Agora that has remained standing from its original construction period to the present. It is considered to be one of the best-preserved and architecturally important Byzantine monuments in Athens.

Picture by Kolohe

The Roman Agora is important, but much smaller than the Athens Agora. Although the two sites are close together, they served two different purposes. The Athens Agora was the political, civic, religious, and commercial center of Classical Athens, while the Roman Agora was developed primarily as a commercial marketplace during the Roman period.

Construction began during the late 1st century B.C., financed by Julius Caesar and completed during the reign of Augustus. The complex was generally a large rectangular open courtyard surrounded by colonnades, with shops and commercial rooms along its sides.

One of the best-preserved structures is the monumental Gate of Athena Archegetis, which served as the western entrance to the marketplace.

Picture by Kolohe

One of the most remarkable structures is the Tower of the Winds. The octagonal tower was probably built during the 1st century B.C. and incorporated sundials, a water clock, and a wind vane. It is considered to be one of the world's earliest known meteorological stations.

Each of the building's eight sides represents a principal wind, and near the top are carved reliefs showing the winds as human figures, each carrying symbols associated with the type of weather it brought.