Page 139 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

GREECE 137

LOCATOR MAP THE ELGIN MARBLES
)r ~ B~RIA ""'
,."':.lDON.I-::-__:r.~r I
Lord Elgin acquired architectural
ALBAN~ eThessaloniki
features from the Parthenon in
1801-5 and sold them to Britain.
A£G£AN
~ ACROPOLIS Controversy surrounds these so- .. SEA TURKE.Y
$
;;r HiN of the called "Elgin Marbles," which are ACROPOLI S,
.;:;: Nymphs Akropoli 0
:; now in London's British Museum, as ATHENS
some believe they belong in Athens.
MEDITERRAII/EAII/
SEA
KEY
Iii Area illustrated bebw
ACROPOLIS MUSEUM
The museum is devoted to finds from the
Acropolis. Divided chronologically, the collection
begins with 6th-century BC works that include
fragments of painted pedimental statues, such
_ ~ Parthenon
~~----::.t-'"~?--- Although few sculptures are left on as Moschophcros, or Calf-Bearer, a young man
th1s famous temple to Athena, some carrying a calf on his shoulders (c 570 BC) Two
can snll be admred, 1nclud1ng those rooms house a unique group of kDrai (votive
on the east pediment
statues of maidens offered to Athena) from
~ ~J~~Pi.~---------- Two Corinthian Columns c 500 BC. The korai illustrate the development
These are the remains of
of ancient Greek art-moving from the formal
monuments erected by
sponsors of successful bearing of the Pep!os Kore to the more natural
dramatic performances. body movement of the Almond-Eyed Kore. The
museum's collection ends with the original four
Panagia Spili6tissa caryatids from the south porch of Erechtheion
This chapel is set in a (Porch of the Caryatids).
cave in the Acropolis rock.
THE PARTHENON
Bui It as an expression of the glory of Athens,
this temple (Parthenon) was designed to house
a 40-ft (12-m) high statue of Athena Parthenos
(Maiden) sculpted by Pheidias. Taking nine years
to complete, the building was finally dedicated
to the goddess in 4 38 BC. The tempi e was
230 ft (70 m) long and 100ft (30m) wide, with
~ ¥ Theatre of Dionysos a striking red, blue, and gold entablature. The
The theater seen today was
built by Lykourgos in 342-326 sculptors used visual tricks to counteract the
BC. A figure of the comic satyr laws of perspective, making the building com-
Silenus can be seen here. pletely symmetrical Over the centuries, it has
served as a church, a mosque, and an arsenal.

CLASSICAL STYLE
At the heart of Greek architecture were the
Classical "orders" -the types and styles of
columns and the forms of structures and
decor at ion that foil owed on from them .. Of
these, Doric is the earliest; the column has no
base, a fluted shaft, and a pi ai n capital The
Acropolis Rock Ionic column is a lighter development from the
As the highest part of the city,
the rock is an easily defended Doric; the fluted shaft has a base and a volute
site. It has been inhabited for capital. The Corinthian, with its plinth and fluted
almost 5,000 years. shaft, is a variant of the Ionic and distinctive in its
ornate capital. The capitals of the columns were
KEY DATES representations of natural forms, as in the rams'
3000 BC 510 BC 451-429 BC AD 267 1987 horns of the Ionic or the stylized acanthus leaves
of the Corinthian. Other architectural features
The first of the The Delphic A lavish building Much of the UNESCO inscribes
settlements is Oracle declares program is begun Acropolis is the Acropolis included pediments (triangular structures
built on the the Acropolis a by Perikles. destroyed by as a World crowning the front of the tern pies), caryatids
Acropolis. holy place of the Germanic Heritage Site.
the gods. Heruli tribe. (sculptures used as columns), and friezes of relief
sculptures, used to adorn exteriors.