Acropolis of Athens: visitor guide

What to expect at the Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens is the most visited archaeological site in the world, a limestone plateau rising 156 metres above the city where the Athenians of the 5th century BC constructed monuments of such mathematical precision that they remain unequalled two and a half millennia later. In fact, the rocky citadel was inhabited from the Neolithic period (around 4000 BC), served as a Bronze Age Mycenaean palace, and under Pericles in Athens's Golden Age became the greatest building programme the ancient world had yet seen.

In addition, the philosopher Socrates walked these precincts. Moreover, the historian Thucydides watched them from below. Every major thinker and politician of the ancient Greek world knew this skyline as the symbol of Athenian ambition and achievement.

Parthenon

The Parthenon (447–432 BC), dedicated to Athena Parthenos, is the centrepiece and the most technically accomplished building of antiquity. What appears to be a straightforwardly geometrical Doric temple is a masterwork of deliberate optical correction: the stylobate bows upward 6cm at the centre, all 46 outer columns lean slightly inward and taper subtly in diameter (a technique called entasis), and no two elements are exactly parallel. Every apparent straight line is a carefully calculated curve designed to counteract the optical illusions that would otherwise make a perfectly regular building appear distorted to the human eye. The effect is a building that seems more perfect than physical perfection, a mathematical argument in marble for the rationality of the cosmos.

Erechtheion

Also, the Erechtheion (421–406 BC) on the north side is architecturally the most complex building on the citadel and historically the most sacred, it housed the ancient olive wood statue of Athena Polias, the city's most revered cult object, and marks the spot where Athena and Poseidon competed for patronage of the city. Generally, the famous Porch of the Caryatids, six carved female figures serving as columns supporting the south porch roof, is among the most reproduced architectural images in Western art. Five of the original caryatids are now in the Acropolis Museum (one is in the British Museum in London) The figures on site are high-quality replicas.

Propylaia

The Propylaia (437–432 BC) is the monumental gateway, a roofed entrance colonnade of Pentelic marble designed to be as impressive as the temples beyond it, establishing the Acropolis as a theatre of arrival as much as a sanctuary. Also, the Temple of Athena Nike (427–424 BC) at the southwest bastion is the smallest building on the citadel, a miniature Ionic gem whose frieze depicted the battles of Marathon and Plataea and whose dedication to Athena as goddess of victory was the city's prayer for continued military success.

Acropolis Museum

In general, the Acropolis Museum, 200 metres from the citadel entrance and opened in 2009, is essential context for the site and should not be skipped. Moreover, the top floor contains the surviving Parthenon frieze panels in their original sequence, 160 metres of frieze depicting 378 human and divine figures in the Panathenaic procession, displayed at eye level for the first time in their history. Generally, the contrast between the original weathered marble and the plaster casts marking the positions of panels currently held in the British Museum makes the ongoing dispute about the Parthenon sculptures physically visible and immediate.

In fact, the ground floor is built over an ongoing excavation of the ancient Athenian neighbourhood, visible through glass floors, a museum built directly above the city it describes.

The single most important practical decision for an Acropolis visit is arriving at the 8 AM opening before the cruise ship and tour group arrivals that transform the site by 10 AM. In addition, the Parthenon in the low morning light from the east, with Athens spread below in the first haze and perhaps fifty other visitors present, is a completely different encounter from the same monument at midday surrounded by thousands.

Besides, the site is at its finest in October and April, mild temperatures, good light and the smallest crowds of any month with full opening hours. Closed shoes with grip are a good idea. The ancient marble is polished smooth by millions of visitors and becomes dangerously slippery in wet conditions.