Saturday, November 13, 2021
Today we visited the Acropolis Museum. It was really interesting because when the city excavated the land they found an entire neighborhood beneath the museum.
From the second floor of the museum you can see the Acropolis.
We weren’t permitted to take pictures of the Archaic Acropolis Gallery in the museum. You can look up this gallery online and see photos of the collection.
In the background of the picture below are pieces of the Parthenon from the archaic period.
A pair of Nikes from the 3rd century AD. In ancient Greek religion Nike was the goddess of victory.
The Statue of Papposilenus is carrying the infant Dionysos, the god of wine and theater. It was discovered in 1832 at the Theater of Dionysos. It was made of marble and sculpted in the 2nd century BC. Papposilenus was considered to be the wisest of the Sileni (mythical demons that followed Dionysos) and tutor of Dionysos.
The Caryatids, female columns from the Erechtheion on the Acropolis of Athens. The Erechteion is an ancient Greek Temple and has also been referred to as the Temple of Athens.
A reconstruction of the west pediment of the Parthenon is pictured below.
Metopes are rectangular plaques. Fourteen metopes decorated the east side of the Parthenon.
Below are original metopes and recreated as to what they believe the original ones looked like. It gives you an idea of how colorful the temples once were!
After the museum we walked in the Platka for lunch and to shop! The Plaka is the oldest section of Athens. Most of the area is pedestrian only! It is filled with restaurants, jewelry stores, tourist shops and cafes.
The monument to Lysicrates was erected by a wealthy patron of musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus.
As we were walking toward our bus we past the base of the Theater of Dionysus remains of ancient marble statue remnants and other pieces.
Today was our last day in Athens and with our guide Marina! What a beautiful parting shot of the Acropolis!
Tomorrow will be an adventure to Santorini!
