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Odeion of
Herodes Atticus
This 2nd century
AD structure at the western side of the Acropolis’ southern slope was
built by the wealthy Roman Herodes Atticus in honor of his wife
Regilla. Today, nearly 2000 years on, it is still used during the
summer months for performances of dance, theatre and music at the
popular Athens Festival. Contact the Greek Festival ticket office or
website for full listings of what’s on in 2004. The site is not open
to the public except for performances.
Tel: 210 928 2900
Web:
www.greekfestival.gr
Metro Station: Akropoli
Roman Agora
The still largely
unexcavated Roman Agora served as the city's commercial center from
the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD. The main attractions for
visitors today on this relatively small site are the Gate of
Tower of the Winds Athena Archegetis (1st
century AD) and the octagonal
Tower of the Winds (1st century BC). The latter is the
best preserved of the city’s Roman monuments. An ingenious
construction, it originally functioned as a sundial, water clock,
weather vane and compass. Relieves around the tower personify the eight
winds, known by the Athenians as 'Aerides', ‘The Windy Ones’. Just
steps away, touching the southern edge of Plateia Monastirakiou, is
the Library of Hadrian. Dating to the 2nd century AD, this was once a
vast building which housed not only books but a theatre, music and
lecture rooms.
Tel: 210 322 9740
Open: 8am-7pm daily (summer); 8.30am-3pm daily (winter)
Metro Station: Monastiraki
Temple of Olympian Zeus
This gargantuan
temple, the largest in Greece, was begun in the 6th century BC by the
tyrant Peisistratos and completed some 700 years later by that most
avid of builders, the Emperor Hadrian. The site is worth visiting if
only to marvel at the sheer scale of it; the columns alone, of which
just 13 remain of the original 104, measure 17 meters high with a base
diameter of almost 2 meters. Near the entrance to the site, at the
traffic-choked intersection of Vassilissis Olgas and Amalias, the
blackened Arch of Hadrian once served to divide the ancient city from
the Roman one. On the north face the inscription states ‘This is
Athens, the ancient city of Theseus’, whilst the south face reads,
‘This is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus’.
Vassilissis Olgas
Tel: 210 922 6330
Open: 8am-7pm daily (summer); 8.30am-3pm daily (winter)
Metro Station: Akropoli
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