Acropolis Of Athens

Posted On December 2, 2009

The Acropolis of Athens is the most popular and renowned acropolis around the globe. You will come across many acropoleis in Greece. Commonly the Acropolis of Athens is known as the Acropolis without Qualification. This monument was declares as the pre-eminent monument in the list of European Cultural heritage. This declaration was made on 26 March in the year 2007. The Acropolis is a rock which has a flat top. It is located in Athens and its height above the sea level is 150 m. The area surface covered by the Acropolis is nearly about 3 hectares. It is commonly known as Cecropia which is inspired from the very first Athenian King named Cerops.

The oldest artifacts that are found in the acropolis belong to the Middle Neolithic era. It has been found in the various age-old documents that people had started living their life in Attica from 6th millennium BC which is the early Neolithic era. The archeologists study leaves a small doubt behind. They felt that during the late Bronze Age, Mycenaean megaron did plunk on the top of the hill. A single limestone column’s base and few parts of the sand stone steps have left behind and nothing else of this megaron has survived till the date. A circuit wall was construction as soon as the Cyclopean was built. The length of the wall was 760 meters and has a height of 10 meters. The thickness of the wall ranges from 3.5 to 6 meters. Until the fifth century, this wall acted as the major defense wall for the acropolis. There are two parapets of the wall. An earth mortar called emplekton is used to cement the huge stone blocks to form the walls parapets. The wall tags along distinctive Mycenaean gathering in which it followed the original outline of the territory and its gate was set diagonally, with a parapet and tower pending the incomers’ right-hand side, thus smooth the progress of security.

The hill is approachable by two different sides. The first is the northern side of the hill which has a number of small, steep and narrow steps that are made on the cut in the rock. When Homer used to this mention the “strong-built House of Erechtheus” he used to refer to this construction. A crack was formed on the acropolis on its northeastern edge some where around the thirteenth century. The main reason for this crack was the earthquake that took place in the thirteenth century. This crack got extended nearly up to thirty-five after which a well was dug at the interjection of the crack with the bed of the soft marl. This well was used as a source of drinking water and thus this well was very much protected. A complicated set of stairs were built for the well. The water was used for drinking during some years of the Mycenaean period. It played an important role in the times of siege.

The survival of a Mycenean palace which was located on the top of the Athenian Acropolis has no decisive proofs. It is felt that if any palace existed on the top it mite had been moved or displaced during the later construction activities that was been carried out on the Acropolis. Until the archaic era about the appearance of the Acropolis as well as its architecture nothing was known. During the Kylonian revolt which failed drastically in 7th and the 6th century BC, Kylon did take over this site. The site was taken over by Pisistratus nearly two times. Coups d’etat wanted to grab all the political power directed and thus the revolts were attempted.

Under the leadership of Pericles most of the important temples were rebuilt. It was supposed to be the golden age of Athens and it lasted from 460 BC up to 430 BC. The responsibility of the reconstruction of the given to the great Athenian Sculptor named Phidias and also to Callicrates and Ictinus the famous architects. Acropolis got its final shape during the 5th century BC.