Ancient Agora

South-west side

The Tholos

The large round building (outer diameter 18,33 m – 60.13 ft) of the Tholos is situated south of the Metroon. The Tholos was built ca. 470-460 BC. It was here that the Prytaneis lived , the group of 500 council members who were always available for public business. The temple’s keys and the official weights and measures were also kept in this building.

Private houses were found beneath the ruins of the Tholos. The entrance to the Tholos was from the east. Inside, six Ionic columns supported a conical roof and there was an altar in the middle of the floor. The building was renovated during the Roman period. An Ionic propylon (entrance) was added and the interior areas were covered with a pavement of slabs, traces of which are still visible today.

The Stratigeion

A large trapezoid building was discovered to the south-east of the Tholos. it comprised a central open-air atrium (courtyard) around which several rooms were arranged. The building dates from the 5th century but it hasn’t been kept in good condition. It probably was the headquarters of the ten generals of Athens.

The south-west fountain house

On the south-western corner of the Ancient Agora, next to the Heliaia (court house), the ruins of a large fountain building can be seen which, because its ancient name is not known, is traditionally called the south-west fountain House.

It was built ca. 350-325 BC and was perhaps the city’s grandest public fountain house. A square courtyard on the north-west corner gave access through a prostyle (portico) to a an over 100 m³ (264 gallon) big L-shaped basin that held the water.

The Heliaia

The foundations of a square building were discovered at the north-western end of the Ancient Agora. It probably was the Heliaia (court house), the most important court of justice in Athens. The original architectural plan is from the 6th century BC. It was an square open-air fenced courtyard measuring 26,5 m by 31 m (86.94 ft by 101.70 ft).

In time the building underwent several alterations. The most important can be dated to the middle of the 2nd century BC when an interior peristyle and a roof were added.

The South Stoa

The south side of the Ancient Agora is bordered by an oblong Doric portico known as the South Stoa. It was built in two phases. The South Stoa 1 was constructed in ca. 430-420 BC. It had an interior two-level colonnade and 16 rooms in the back. Only a part of its foundations is still visible today in the triangular area west of the south-west fountain house.

It was a big public commercial center and the seat of the “metronomi”, the officials responsible for checking commercial life and supervising the official weights and measures.

In ca. 150 BC, the South Stoa 1 was torn down and was replaced by the South Stoa 2. This one was built with a slightly different orientation on a much lower level than the one of the older Stoa. It was also a large Doric portico but with one colonnade and no rooms in the back. It did, however, keep its function as a commercial center.

Odeion of Agrippa

The ruins of the Odeion of Agrippa are located behind the colossal stone giants that overlook the centre of the Ancient Agora court. It was a high building, the most impressive Roman structure in the Agora, donated b Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It was built in ca. 15 BC along the north façade of the Middle Stoa for concerts and events.

The auditorium, due to its formation as a single space 25 m wide (82 ft) without interior abutments, had a seating capacity of about 1.000. The semicircular orchestra was paved with thin marble slabs of various colors and the low façade of the skene (stage) was decorated by marble sculptures, mostly of Hermes.

A two-storeyed portico surrounded the three sides (east, west and north) of the main building. The walls were decorated on the outside with high Corinthian columns and pillars. The building had one entrance to the north which was level to the ground and one to the south on a higher level due to the terrace of the Middle Stoa.

The complete absence of interior supports, a bold architectural venture for its time, is possibly responsible for the collapse of the roof in the mid-2nd century AD. The Odeion of Agrippa was repaired in ca. 170 AD but underwent important alternations and its function changed.

On this occasion, six colossal figures of giants with serpent-tails and of Tritons with fish-tails were added to the north façade. Of these only three have been preserved. The capacity of the Odeion was reduced by about half because of the insertion of a cross wall for stability. In this new phase, the Odeion of the Ancient Agora functioned only as an area for philosophers and sophists’ speeches, since Athens had acquired a new Odeon in ca. 160 AD, that of Herodes Attikus.

The Odeion of Agrippa burnt down in 267 AD and a large part of the building material was incorporated into the Late Roman Wall of Athens. Four of the colossal figures were inserted into the façade of a gymnasium which was set up in the same area sometime after 400 AD. This building was later restructured and used as the governor’s quarters until the first half of the 6th century when it was abandoned.