When we arrived in Athens, Greece, we attempted to get tickets to visit the Acropolis, but only afternoon tickets were available for over a week. Since it is an uphill walk to get there, everyone wants morning tickets. After careful planning, we decided to take the morning tickets available eight days later, then get up early the next morning and go to Varvakios Agora (Central Municipal Market of Athens).
The market was established in the 1880s and remains the central place for businesses to buy fresh fish, meat, produce, and other food.
In the morning, when we entered the market, we found vendors with long rows of tables, selling sardines, sea bass, red mullet, squid, octopus, shrimp, and other seafood. In an adjacent section of the building were all types of meats and produce, and surrounding shops sold fresh fruits, vegetables, olives, cheeses, herbs, spices, nuts, and many other traditional Greek Foods. After reviewing my pictures of the meats, produce, and other animal and bird parts, I decided not to include many pictures from that part of the market.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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Directly across the street from the Market is a collection of stores packed with an enormous assortment of antiques, used household objects, old tools, musical instruments, religious icons, brassware, clocks, pictures, kitchenware, coins, lamps, collectibles, and miscellaneous items. Much of the merchandise spills out onto the sidewalk, creating what looks like a wall of old objects. Tourist literature indicates that the area "offers a chaotic treasure hunt through objects from everyday Greek life and the past. It is part antique shops and part flea market and part old-fashioned junk shop rather than a polished tourist store." Sophia wanted to spend all morning here.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Sophia |
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| Picture by Sophia |
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Since it was early in the morning and the temperature was not too hot, we decided to walk to the Ancient Athens Agora. On the way, we passed Agia Kyriaki (Saint Kyriaki Church), surrounded by tall modern buildings. It wasn't open, so we couldn't go inside.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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Monastiraki Square is in the Monastiraki neighborhood of Athens, at the base of the Acropolis and adjacent to the Ancient Agora of Athens. The Greek word agora means "market" or "gathering place." This popular shopping destination also hosts a large flea market on Sundays. The "market" includes the surrounding neighborhood shops and Avissinias Square.
The Church of Panagia Pantanassa (Church of the Virgin Mary Pantanassa) is also located in Monastiraki Square.
The original church is believed to have been built in the 10th century, although some scholars propose it was built in the 7th century. Construction dates are difficult to determine because the church underwent substantial alterations in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Originally, this was the main church of a monastery known as the Mega Monastiri ("Great Monastery"), but as the monastery declined, it became known as the Mikro Monastiri ("Little Monastery"), from which the neighborhood acquired the name "Monastiraki."
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
On the way to the Ancient Agora of Athens, we walked along the west side of the historic Roman Agora and several other ruins. So many similar ruins have been excavated in this area that it was difficult to identify them as we walked past.
The mixture of stone walls, foundations, narrow passages, and structures at different historical levels is typical of this part of Athens because successive generations built over earlier ones. Within a few hundred feet, Classical and Roman remains, Byzantine churches, the remains of the old Vlasarou neighborhood, and modern buildings all stand side by side.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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The Holy Church of Saint Phillip the Apostle at Blassarou (also known as Agios Philippos Vlassarous), is a Greek Orthodox church where Saint Philip the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, preached to the Athenians at or near this location during his missionary travels.
A Christian church was first constructed on the site in the 9th century, but it was destroyed in 1827 during the Greek War of Independence. It was rebuilt in 1833, but in 1961 it was determined that the foundation under the church was unstable. The church was completely dismantled, the foundation strengthened, and then reassembled to its original form.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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Theseus is one of the great and most important legendary heroes of Greek mythology. He is most famous for entering the labyrinth on Crete and killing the Minotaur, a half-man and half-bull creature.
King Minos's daughter Ariadne gave him a spool of thread, tying one end to the entrance before he entered the labyrinth. After killing the Minotaur, he escaped by following the thread back to the entrance. The statue is positioned so that Theseus looks toward the Temple of Hephaestus.
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(Continued in the next blog)
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