The site was occupied without interruption in all periods of the city's history. It was used as a residential and burial area as early as the Late Neolithic period B. Early in the 6th century, in the time of Solon, the Agora became a public area. A group of no less than seventeen Prytaneis would reside in the Tholos overnight to deal with any potential emergencies. As such, the Tholos represents the pivot point around which Athenian Democracy revolved. The Propylon gateway to the Bouleuterion.
The scant remains of this building are from the late 5th century BCE. An older Bouleuterion was found under the Metroon. The boule consisted of Athenians who were chosen by lot. They served for a year and met in the Bouleuterion to prepare the agenda and legislation for the ecclesia--the assembly of citizens responsible for legislation, military affairs, and for electing the strategoi military Generals and magistrates.
The boule supervised the state budget, and had wide responsibilities in all aspects of the state government. It also supervised public officials.
The Metroon was the state archive where official records were kept. It also functioned as a sanctuary of the Mother of the gods. In Classical times it included ten bronze statues--one for each of the ten Athenian tribes. The Monument of the Eponymous Heroes also served as a public announcement board of sorts. This is where state officials posted state sponsored events, i. The Altar of Zeus Agoraios 4th c. It was originally located in the Plyx moved to its current location in Roman times.
The ruins of the civic offices. The Agora remained a vital place of Athenian life and growth continued until the 2nd c. BCE when the the impressive Stoa of Attalos was dedicated, but eventually, as Athens declined in importance during the late Hellenistic Era so did the development of its Agora.
The Romans under Sulla sacked the Agora in 86 BCE, but later contributed to its growth with impressive buildings programs that lasted until the end of the 2nd century CE. Marcus Agrippa funded the Odeion and probably the Temple of Ares. From the grounds of this temple and from the nearby Areopagos in 52 CE St.
Paul introduced Christianity to Athenians and strolled the Agora streets debating with Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. While St.
Paul found the Agora a robust place of assembly, adorned by a myriad of statues of Greek and Roman deities and heroes, a series of subsequent invasions plagued it for the next years.
As a result of its destruction in CE by invading Heruls the Agora stopped functioning as a public place for a long time, especially after Alaric, King of the Visigoths plundered it in CE. A large Gymnasium was erected over the ruins in CE, only to be destroyed once again by raiding Slavs in the end of the 6th century CE.
After that, it was deserted for about three hundred years and during this time, the area was buried under a thick layer of mud. In the 7th century and until the beginning of 19th century, the Temple of Hephaestus was converted into a Christian church dedicated to Ag. Georgios St. The entire city of Athens had declined to the size of a small village by that time, so after the invasion and sacking of the Agora in by invaders from the Nafplion it was abandoned for another four hundred years.
The church was built on the ruins of a 2nd-century Nymphaeum , a monument honoring the nymphs and most likely much of the marble is from that structure which most likely contained a fountain. When the church was restored in the late 19th century they added some extensions but these were removed during the restoration work in the 's and the church now looks pretty much as it did originally.
There are some 17th and 18th century wall frescos inside the church though nothing too spectacular. There are a number of monuments and bits and pieces of ancient buildings scattered throughout the area as well as the remnants of ancient streets, and the trees and wildlife make it feel like being in a park. Not an easy trip for such a small dog. The ticket for the site is 4 euros but the 12 euro Acropolis ticket gives you admission to the Ancient Agora as well as the Acropolis , Kerameikos , the Roman Agora, the Temple of Olympian Zeus , Hadrian's Library and the corresponding museums for a period of 4 days.
Not the Acropolis Museum though. The Ancient Agora is open every day from 8 to 8. The Gate of Athena Archegetis , was the entrance to the market, a large columned structure that looks like the front of a temple and sits on the western edge of the archaeological site. Like the Ancient Agora the entire archaeological site was covered with houses and in some old paintings and prints you can see the Gate of Athena rising up from among the buildings.
Most of these houses were built in the Byzantine and Turkish periods so again you have a case of tearing down historical buildings to expose older historical buildings, and though it does not cover an area as large as the Ancient Agora you have to wonder how many architectural treasures were lost in the uncovering of these ruins. These excavations began in by the Greek Archaeological Society and have continued into the 20th century.
It was built in AD on the ruins of an Early Christian basilica, converted into a mosque in to celebrate the visit to Athens by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in During the Venetian occupation the mosque was converted into a Catholic church dedicated to Dionysius the Areopagite.
After the Greek War of Independence the mosque was used as a school for the Filomousos Eteria , the Society of the Friends of the Muses, an organization of intellectuals and revolutionaries for educating the Greeks and promoting Hellenism during the years of Turkish occupation.
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