The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
Hadrian's
arch
Hadrian's
Arch was constructed in 131 AD by the Roman
Emperor Hadrian as part of a wall separating
the old and new cities of Athens. On the side
of the arch facing the Acropolis is the inscription,
"This is Athens, the former city of
Theseus" while the other side reads,
"This is the city of Hadrian and not
of Theseus". The 18 meters (59ft)
gate was made of marble from nearby Mount Pentelikon
and decorated in the Corinthian order.
Hadrian
was known for his peaceful reign and for being
an extensive builder. He was very fond of Greek
learning and had traveled in Achaea. He also
rebuilt the fortification wall around Athens
which had been torn down by Sulla and changed
the Acropolis into a fort, which it had been
before. Athens became somewhat of a second capital
during Hadrian's reign.
You
will find Hadrian's arch at
Amallias Avenue at the entrance of the site
of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, just south of
the National Gardens.
Open non-stop, admission free
Acropoli
The
Temple of Olympian Zeus
The
Temple of the Olympian Zeus, also know as the Olympeion,
is located on Amalias Avenue, about 500 meters (1640ft) south-east
of the Acropolis and about 700 meters (2296 ft) south of
SyntagmaSquare. Its foundations were laid on the site of
an earlier temple by the tyrant Pisistratus in 515 BC but
the work wasabandoned when Pisistratus' son, Hippias, was
overthrown in 510 BC.
The
work was resumed in the 3rd century BC, during the period
of Macedonian domination of Greece under the patronage of
the Hellenistic king Antiochus IV of Syria who hired the
Roman architectCossutius to design the largest temple in
the known world. When Antoichus died in 164 BC, the work
was delayed again. In the 2nd century AD, the temple was
taken up again by Hadrian, a great admirer of Greek culture,
who finally brought it to completion in 129.
1.
Temple
of Olympian Zeus and the Precinct Wall
124
- 132 AD
2.
Hadrians
Gate
131
- 132 AD
3.
Roman
Baths
124
- 134 AD
4.
Remains
of houses
5th
century BC - 2nd century AD
5.
Basilica
of Olympieion
450
AD
6.
Valerian
Wall
256
- 260 AD
7.
Temple
of Apollo Delphinios
450
BC
8.
Lawcourt
at the Delphinion
500
BC
9.
Temple
of Kronos and Rhea
150
AD
10.
Sanctuary
of Panhellenios Zeus
131
- 132 AD
11.
12.
13.
Gates
of the Themistoklean Wall
479 - 478 AD
The
Temple of Olympian Zeus was built of marble from Mount Pentelus
and measured 96 (315ft) meters along its sides and 40 meters
(131ft) along its eastern and western faces. It consisted
of 104 Corinthian columns each 17 meters (55,7ft) high of
which 48 stood in triple rows under the pediments and 56
in double rows at the sides. Only 15 of these columns remain
standing today. A 16th column was blown down during a storm
in 1852 and is still lying where it fell.
Hadrian
dedicated the temple to Zeus (known to the Romans
as Jupiter), the king of the gods. He erected
a giant gold and ivory statue of Zeus in the
cella and placed an equally large one of himself
next to it. Nothing remains of these or anything
else from the interior of the temple. It is
not known when the building was destroyed but,
like many large buildings in Greece, it was
probably brought down by an earthquake during
the mediaeval period, and the bulk of its ruins
taken away for building materials.
Hadrian's
arch
Hadrian
was known for his peaceful reign and for being
an extensive builder. He was very fond of Greek
learning and had traveled in Achaea. He also
rebuilt the fortification wall around Athens
which had been torn down by Sulla and changed
the Acropolis into a fort, which it had been
before. Athens became somewhat of a second capital
during Hadrian's reign.){kind=small}
Open non-stop, admission free 
Acropoli 
The
Temple of Olympian Zeus)
down during a storm
in 1852 and is still lying where it fell. ){kind=small}
