Six Girls and One Boy

DAY 5--Piraeus (ATHENS), GREECE

Piraeus is Athens' main port, the biggest in Greece, and one of the most important in the Mediterranean (since the early 5th Century BC).


Athens, the Capital of Greece (seven miles away from the port), is one of the world's oldest cities--its recorded history spans at least 3000 years.

"George Karaiskakis" Stadium built for the 2004 Olympic football games.

Modern-day Athens

Picture taken on our bus tour/shore excursion to see Ancient Athens.

Olympic Panathinion Stadium built for the first modern Olympics in 1896 (also used for 2004 Olympic archery events).  

The stadium is in remarkable condition because everything is made of marble--same marble used to build Parthenon 24 centuries earlier!

Large marble Olympic information plaques

Sculpture in park near Acroprolis

Olive tree on Olympic grounds

First glimpse of Acropolis (one of the great wonders of the world)--a flat-topped rock which rises 490 feet above sea level in the City of Athens.  Throughout history, it has served as a military fortress and religious center.  

The Acropolis consists of four ancient buildings:  the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion and the Propylaea.

The building you see is the Parthenon.  

Acropolis Hill is referred to as the "Sacred Rock" of Athens, one of the most recognizable monuments of the world.  The sites date back to the 5th Century BC.

Dionysos and odeon Theaters--are located just below Acropolis Hill.  Dionysos once hosted plays of great Greek writers and held up to 17,000 spectators. 

Odeon Theater was built in the second century---

---and has been used during the summer to host Athens Festival performances.  

This is our Greek tour guide (holding #8) as we are climbing up the stairs to the monumental gates with columns of marble of the Propylaea in the background.

The Temple of Athena Nike has been dismantled and is being reconstructed.  Nike means "victory" in Greek, which was a great name for a sport shoe/clothing company!

New (white) marble is being used from the original quarry, which is supported, as needed, by modern materials.  

The Parthenon has stood atop the Acropolis for nearly 2500 years.

The Parthenon was built to give thanks to Athena, the city's patron goddess, for the protection in the Persian Wars.

Sculptural decoration still found above the colonnade after 2,500 years of war, pollution, erratic conservation, pillage and vandalism!

Series of 92 sculptured marble panels running along the upper columns of the Parthenon.  Each side of the building had a different subject.  

The Parthenon housed a 40-foot high statue of Athena.

Conservation of the Parthenon

Stabilizing pins added in the 19th Century were not coated with lead and corroded.  The rust caused further damage by cracking the marble.  They now use titanium in the reconstruction.  

Mt. Lycabettus, in the distance, is the highest hill in Athens.

When Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, it was a mere village of 6,000 residents--today, it is home to 4.5 million people and covers 165 square miles.  

The Temple Erechtheion was built between 421 and 407 BC.

Pollution has a negative influence on preservation, as you can see the blackening of the marble under the roof.

The famous Caryatid Porch (or "Porch of the Maidens") of the Erechtheion--with six draped figures as supporting columns.

One Caryatid was removed by a Scottish Lord to decorate his Scottish mansion but later sold it to the British Museum.  The five remaining maidens are exact replicas of the originals placed in helium-filled glass cases in the new Acropolis Museum.  

The Parliament Building, the location of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, has a changing of the guard every hour on the hour.  

The guards wear pom-pom-laden clogs, short pleated skirts and ponytail tasselled hats.  

Hellenic Academy

Athens University

The National Library of Greece

Hadrian's Arch was built by the Roman ruler in the 2nd Century.


Tomorrow we are docking in Kusadasi, Turkey!