ROMAN AGORA- Athens Greece

Tower of the Winds

Facts:

The Romans  built this commercial market place. It was funded by Julius Caesar himself in 51 AD and was completed during the reign of Augustus. Today the area has returned to being a commercial one but for many years the ruins themselves were covered over with dwellings all of which have been removed to uncover Athens' glorious classical past. The most famous structure of the agora is the perfectly preserved Tower of the Winds which is thought to predate the agora and to have been used by the astronomer Andronicus from about 150 BC.

Syntagma Metro Station Archaeological Collection

Facts:

During the construction of the metro tunnels, numerous artifacts of archaeological interest were discovered. Their discovery was brought out Salvage Archaeology, this archaeology comes into play not because of natural decay but due to the artefacts' imminent destruction by the systematic excavation process. Teams of archaeologists worked along with engineers for 6 years. They protected and recorded the archaeological evidence that was uncovered which included ancient streets, houses, cemeteries, sanctuaries, public workshops, foundry pits, kilns, aqueducts, wells, cisterns, drains and sewage tunnels. Together this allowed a new insight into the topography of the city in ancient times. Never before has such a rapid development of infrastructure been accompanied hand-in-hand with the attentive study and preservation of archaeological data.

Exhibitions of ancient artifacts and/or their replicas can be found at various metro stations, such as those of Monastiraki and Syntagma.

ANCIENT AGORA- Athens Greece

Ancient Agora or a Market place is a political and administrative center of ancient Athens as well as the place where social, commercial and religious activities concentrated. The site was occupied without interruption in all periods of the city's history. It was used as a residential and burial area as early as the Late Neolithic period (3000 BCE). Early in the 6th century BCE, in the time of Solon, the Agora became a public area. After a series of repairs and remodeling, it reached its final rectangular form in the 2nd century BCE.It is located in the northwest of the Acropolis.

Intrance Gate of the Ancient Agora

The only standing Byzantine monument in the Agora is the Church of the Holy Apostles (XI century)



Church of the Holy Apostles (Front View)



Cult Statue

Cult Statue Engraving

Ancient Agora Museum



The Stoa of Attalus II, now used as a museum



Two stories supporting on columns of the Stoa: all are Ionic except for those on the outer side of the ground floor which were Doric.



 Colonnade view inside the Stoa of Attalus II.

The Odeion of Agrippa

A colossal figure of a Triton (half god, half fish) once adorned the facade of the Odeion of Agrippa.



The statue of Hadrian. Hadrian was Emperor of Rome from 117-138 CE

On top of the hill inside the Ancient Agora can be found the Hephaestus.The temple, standing on the Colonus Agoraeus hill, dominates the site of the ancient Agora. It was dedicated to two gods, Hephaestus and Athena Ergane, whose bronze cult statues stood in the interior. Both divinities were worshipped as patrons of the arts and trades.

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.