Πανοραμική περιήγηση στον Παρθενώνα, το μεγαλύτερο οικοδόμημα της Ακρόπολης που
συγκεντρώνει τον θαυμασμό όλου του κόσμου αιώνες τώρα. Τα πανοραμικά
πλάνα του λαμπρότερου μνημείου της Αθηναϊκής πολιτείας συνοδεύει το
γνωστό «Συρτάκι» στη διασκευή των John Murphy και David Hughes «Zorba
The Greek».
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Being one of the oldest cities in the
world Athens was first mentioned in 15th century BC. Athens is called
the "cradle of civilization" - it's the birthplace of democracy, western
philosophy, political science, literature, theater, and the Olympics.
Athens is the land of Gods. According to
ancient Greeks' beliefs, the city was a battleground where Athena,
goddess of wisdom, fought with Poseidon, lord of seas. Athena emerged
victorious and the city was named after her. However, offended Poseidon
had his revenge by making the area waterless. Of course, this story is
only one of many great ancient Greek myths, but the fact remains that
water shortages plague the city to this very day. Moreover, hot Athens
weather, probably, makes Greeks wish for a different outcome of the
legendary battle.
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For centuries Athens has been an important cultural center and a large
powerful city. Many Athens landmarks have survived to this day, and the
most famous of them, without a doubt, is the Acropolis. Actually, the
word "acropolis" simply means "upper city" or "a high place" - such
places were used to build temples for patron deity and could be found in
almost any Greek settlement. But it was the Acropolis of Athens that
became the famous landmark of the world and a symbol of Greece, just
like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Kremlin in Moscow.
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In ancient times (650 - 480 BC) numerous
temples and sculptures of Greek deities were located here on a 300x130
meters rocky spur. Later, during the Mycenaean period (15-18th century
BC) the Acropolis served as a fortified royal residence. Temples were
built during peacetime or destroyed if the city was at war.
The most outstanding contribution to the
appearance of the Acropolis was made in 447 - 438 BC by Ictinus and
Callicrates, architects who built the Parthenon, a giant temple in honor
of the patron deity of these lands - the virgin goddess Athena
Parthenos (from the ancient Greek - ?θην? Παρθ?νος, hence the name of
the temple). Despite the fact that the Parthenon is in a rather poor
condition, its facade with columns is the most famous landmark of
Greece.
The Parthenon's meticulous design,
thought out right to the smallest details, which are completely
invisible to the outside observer, creates an interesting optical
illusion. The temple seems perfectly rectilinear, but in fact its
contours don't have any straight lines. For example, the corner columns
are not circular in the cross-section and thicker than others in the
diameter. Otherwise they would seem thinner, but thanks to this
technique all columns visually look the same.
There has always been a struggle for the
Acropolis during the centuries of its existence. When Christianity came
to Greece the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church of Virgin
Mary, and the statue of Athena Parthenos was moved to Constantinople.
In the 15th century, after the conquest of Greece by the Turks, the
church was turned into a mosque with attached minarets, and one of the
temples of the Acropolis, the Erechtheion, served as harem for the
Turkish pasha.
In the 17th century the entire
central part of the Parthenon was destroyed by a cannonball shot from a
Venetian ship. After that persistent Venetians broke several sculptures
while trying to remove them. In the beginning of 19th century Thomas
Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, took everything that was possible to take:
from friezes to caryatids (and Greece is still trying to persuade
Britain to return the monuments back to where they belong). In addition
to that Turks were constantly sapping the Acropolis in order to blow it
up. They did not succeed, but during one of the ensuing battles Turkish
cannonball heavily damaged the Erechtheion temple.
Only at the end of the 19th century the
Acropolis finally saw some peace (with the exception of museum staff
strikes). Its ancient appearance was restored where possible, some of
its original bas-reliefs and sculptures are now in museums of London,
Paris and Athens, and those sculptures that we see outdoor nowadays are
copies.
Of course, it would be a mistake to
suggest that the Acropolis and the Parthenon are the only Athens
landmarks. A city with such a long and legendary history has preserved a
lot of individual monuments, buildings, and entire neighborhoods.
Historic areas of Agora and Plaka, Syntagma and Omonia Square, the
Cathedral of Athens, the National Garden of Athens, and much more! We
would like to show you these spectacular panoramas of ancient Athens
from a bird's eye view!
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