The Parthenon

Four views of The Parthenon.  Upon THE Acropolis.  No need to say its the one in Athens.  If you don't identify it, there is only one.

View 1.  Construction continuing to this day.  I imagine they're still repairing the damage from the 16th century.  Or the 17th.  Or the 5th. 

Panoramas are us.  Extending over to the Erectheum.  

 Two crane action.  Getting ready for those Elgin marbles to come home.  Like that's happening shortly. 

The majesty is visible still, two thousand 400 years later.  

Views from the Acropolis

Sweeping panoramas and intimate vistas from the top of the Acropolis.  As always, I tried to get the names right, and my apologies if I've named something incorrectly. 

Herod Atticus Theatre.  Still in use, though they seem to be putting on Italian opera.  Seat cushions are visible in my other shots of this venue. 

St. George chapel on top of the Lycobettus hill.  Hills in Athens are primarily used for TV, radio and cell phone towers it seems.  

The city surrounds the Acropolis in all directions.  The pall in the distance is from an oncoming thunder storm that never really arrived.  

Theatre of Dionysus.  

One of many Byzantine (I presume) churchs around Athens. 

Thesseion or Temple of Hephaestus I believe. 

Agii Apostoli, Byzantine church.  

I believe this is a view of the (a) observatory with the byzantine church of three photos ago on its right.  

I believe that says Piraeus Bank on the fancy reflective building.  With Athens sprawling beyond.  

More ruins.  

View of the side of the Acropolis with Athens in the distance. 

A rock that many people climbed upon to garner a view of Athens.  

A view from the other side.  

A more distant shot of St. George on Lycobettus hill.  

The Acropolis Close-up

I'm ready for my close-ups now.  Several of these photos were taken with the camera rotated.  Blogger is really going to town in insisting that they be presented sideways.  Only one of four rotated photos in these first two posts are actually being uploaded vertically.  I deleted one from the first post as not worth it...

This is rotated, thanks Blogger.  The holes show the wear and tear from the elements in this wall. 

This picture was correctly left vertical by blogger.  Looks like a door way, but these walls are still gorgeous 2500 years later. 

A closeup of the stairs: going nowhere just for show.  

Wall with decorations?  Possibly to help support a wooden framework?  

A couple of entrance ways have been reconstructed.  

A womb-like hole.  This is rotated sideways, it is a stairway that goes up to the summit.  

Architectural element just sitting there.  No wonder Elgin stole so many marbles.  

Athens came before Lisbon

I visited Athens and Crete prior to Lisbon.  Here starts a tour of my Athens photos. 

The view of the Acropolis from my hotel roof.  The parthenon in the center, the entrance to the right. 

Visible from the entrance.  There is another stairway fortunately.  That last step is a doozy.  

The Erechtheum temple.  These statues are still exquisite several millenia later.  

Another view of the Erechtheum.  Lots of light fixtures visible. 

Erechtheum again.  

Cistern or storage bin on the approach to the Parthenon.  

A picture of the Acropolis railroad.  Apparently there to help move stones and sculptures from and to the Parthenon to on site storage.  Blogger rotated this photo back from the vertical.   

Zillions of architectural elements lying around, some roped off like this, some not, usually along the edge of the Acropolis.  Some were quite beautiful.  

Ongoing construction to rebuild.