The Parthenon, dedicated by the Athenians to Athena Parthenos, the patron of their city, is the most magnificent creation of Athenian democracy at the height of its power. It is also the finest monument on the Acropolis in terms of both conception and execution. Built between 447 and 438 BC, as part of the greater Periklean building project, this so-called Periklean Parthenon (Parthenon III) replaced an earlier marble temple (Parthenon II), begun after the victory at the battle of Marathon at approximately ...

The elegant building known as the Erechtheion, on the north side of the sacred rock of the Acropolis, was erected in 421-406 BC as a replacement of an earlier temple dedicated to Athena Polias, the so-called ''Old temple''. The name ''Erechtheion'', mentioned only by Pausanias (1, 26, 5), derives from Erechtheus, the mythical king of Athens, who was worshipped there. Other texts refer to the building simply as ''temple'' or ''old temple''. The building owes its unusual shape to the irregularity of ...

The Propylaia of the Athenian Acropolis were built on the west side of the hill, where the gate of the Mycenaean fortification once stood. The first propylon, or gate, was constructed in the age of Peisistratos (mid-sixth century BC), after the Acropolis had become a sanctuary dedicated to Athena. A new propylon, built in 510-480 BC, was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC and repaired after the end of the Persian Wars, during the fortification of the Acropolis by Themistokles and Kimon. The monumental ...

The temple of Athena Nike stands at the southeast edge of the sacred rock atop a bastion, which in Mycenaean times protected the entrance to the Acropolis. The Classical temple, designed by architect Kallikrates and built in 426-421 BC, succeeded earlier temples also dedicated to Athena Nike. The first one of these, a mid-sixth century BC wooden temple was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC. The eschara, the altar believed to have supported the cult statue of the goddess, dates to this period. Under ...

The Brauronion, located just south of the Propylaia inside the sacred enclosure of the Acropolis, was a shrine dedicated to Brauronian Artemis, protector of women about to give birth and who had just given birth. It probably functioned as an adjunct to the great sanctuary of the goddess at Brauron, Attica. It was founded in the mid-sixth century BC, possibly by Peisistratos, who was originally from the Brauron region.
The main part of the shrine consisted of a Doric pi-shaped stoa, 38 metres ...

The temple of Rome and Augustus was erected in the late first century BC east of the Parthenon or of the Erechtheion. Several architectural elements of the building were found east of the Parthenon and many more were brought here after their discovery elsewhere. Nearby are the irregular tufa foundations (approximately 10.50x13 metres) of a building generally considered to be the Roman temple. Another theory, however, based on the construction technique of these foundations and on depictions of the ...

The pedestal of Agrippa stands west of the Propylaia, directly opposite the north wing and the so-called Pinakothiki, and is the same height as the temple of Athena Nike to the south. Originally it was built in honour of Eumenes II of Pergamon in 178 BC to commemorate his victory in the chariot race of the Panathenaic games. Atop the pedestal was a bronze quadriga (four-horse chariot) driven by Eumenes and his brother, Attalos. This chariot was replaced by another in approximately 27 BC, dedicated ...

The Beule gate, by which the Acropolis is accessed today, stands to the west of the Propylaia. It was built in the mid-third century AD as part of a program to protect the sacred precinct, possibly after the destructive invasion of the Herulians in 267 AD. Together with another gate located under the tower of Athena Nike, it was built into a strong fortification wall erected west of the Propylaia. The gate was named after the French archaeologist who investigated this area in 1852.
The gate is ...

Because of its geomorphology, the Acropolis has been a refuge since prehistoric times. The first, so-called 'Cyclopean' wall, was built along the top of the hill in the Mycenaean period, at approximately 1200 BC. Remains of this wall are still visible to the southeast of the Propylaia, while its course can be traced fairly accurately. A curved enclosure wall, the co-called 'Pelargic' wall mentioned by Thucydides, was also built to the northwest during this period. This wall had several doors, hence ...

East of the Brauronion and along the south wall of the Acropolis was the Chalkotheke, an elongated building whose name and function are known from ancient inscriptions. The building housed mainly the metal votive offerings - weapons, statuettes and hydriae, dedicated on the Acropolis and considered to belong to the goddess Athena. According to an edict of the fourth century BC, all of the objects contained in the Chalkotheke had to be listed on a stone stele to be erected in front of the building. ...

The earliest temple to Athena Polias on the Acropolis, called 'the Old temple' in ancient literary sources, was located between the Erechtheion and the Parthenon. It was probably built in the third quarter of the sixth century BC, on the site of an earlier, Geometric temple and of the even earlier Mycenaean palace. The Old temple was damaged by the Persians in 480 BC, but was repaired soon after; parts of its entablature were incorporated in the Acropolis fortification wall. The temple was damaged ...