Sunday, October 9, 2011

HADRIAN'S LIBRARY-ATHENS GREECE















Facts:

The rectangular building of the Library comprises a Corinthian propylon on the west side, an open peristyle courtyard, three projecting conches on each of the long sides, a library, study and lecture halls.

It was built in A.D. 132 by emperor Hadrian, was destroyed by the Herulae in A.D. 267, and was subsequently incorporated into the Late Roman fortification wall. It was repaired by the Roman eparchus Herculius in A.D. 412, and in the 5th century the quatrefoil building of the Early Christian church was constructed in the centre of the peristyle court. After its destruction, a three-aisled basilica was erected on its ruins in the 7th century, which was in turn superseded by the single-aisled church of Megale Panaghia, in the 11th century. During the Turkish occupation it became the seat of the Voevode (Governor) and in 1835, the barracks of king Otho were erected in the place of the Voevodalik.

Most important monuments of the site are:


  • Quatrefoil Building. The building with the four apses, dated to the 5th century A.D., was an Early Christian church with a peripteral narthex, exonarthex and a wide peristyle atrium on the west side.


  • Church of Megale Panaghia. The first church was a three-aisled basilica, built in the 7th century A.D. on the ruins of the quatrefoil building which had been destroyed in the 6th century A.D. The basilica was in its turn destroyed in the 11th century A.D. and a single-aisled church with a chapel to the north was erected in its place. It survived for centuries but was burnt down in 1885.


  • Ruins of a church. The north wall and remains of the sanctuary are preserved. The church lies to the north of the quatrefoil building and dates from the 17th century A.D.
  • 10 comments:

    1. Great photos! Love your site! Definitely browsing through some more photos. Have a good one! I'll definitely be back, to make sure I do I am now following. =]

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    2. Vivid images :) Nice work done here :) Hope to see more spectacular photos Jorgie :)

      Iam Herbert of Filipino Blog

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    3. I love how you have presented your post. The pictures followed by historical information. Beautiful! I am sharing this!

      As a first time viewer I have two suggestions.
      1. Could you write at the top of the post in italics "Click on pictures to access enlarged version".
      2. Could you experiment and take off the black part of the frame of the picture and retain the white. I feel the black frame takes away from the beauty of your pictures. Just a suggestion. Do not hesitate to ignore.

      Cheers
      Padmavani

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    4. Nicely captured, I really like your work. Well done, looking forward to more.

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    5. Hi ChronicR.. thanks fro the comment i tried to click yout name like what i always did everytime i got a comment so i can comment you back on your blog and follow it as well but the link where it directs me to doesn't shows your blog instead all the blogs that you followed... can you pls leave your link... thanks

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    6. nice photos! :)
      i was wondering, what was the 2nd to the last photo? :)

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    7. Mypictodiary: I have no idea what it was ... we just found it on one of the ruins floor, i guess its part of the ancient library flooring, but kinda weird thought coz it looks like two hearts...

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    8. WOW... Really nice and Extra ordinary post with nice Image collection.
      I like Ancient Photos so much. And your site has give me a lot of collection of Ancient Photos
      Many thanks for it.

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