Monumental Surprises

The first time I went to Athens, I walked right past the Agora and had no idea. I am a terrible former classical history student. No wonder I needed to upgrade before grad school. Anyhow, this time around, I looked at a map. My normal travel mode is “Oooh! What’s THAT?!” and my planning is restricted to the reasons I give myself for wanting to go to a place. After I’m booked, I kind of forget about it, so I deliberately chose my apartment based on its proximity to Things I Wanted To See and one of them was the Agora, the gathering area and marketplace of classical Athens.

After my morning espresso (how very European of me!), I walked past the local restaurants and the fancier tourist-oriented places, and turned right–aiming for the direction of the Acropolis, which dominates everything around there, and was just south of where I was staying. After a few minutes of sauntering, I saw non-tourists walking through an opening in the fence on my left. I followed and on the right, up the slope toward the Acropolis, I could see floors and walls cut out of the stone–elements of houses thousands of years old–and a few people just kind of hanging out within them. There is so much history in Athens, you can’t fence it all off. On the left side of the path, the fence continued and the scenery behind it gradually began to look like Something Important. After a minute or two, you need to choose to go left or right; right is free, left requires a ticket. I went right and found that I was on the Panathenaic way, heading uphill toward the Acropolis. On the left were low remains of walls and on the right were low remains of smaller walls. You could walk, off path, to the right until a barrier stopped you, but if you really wanted to you could approach it from the back end but all the stuff that would seriously suffer from thousands of years of footfalls (and what wouldn’t?) is fenced off, although there`s not a lot that`s fenced off.

I thought about continuing up the hill but it was late-ish–I’d slept hard my first morning–and I wanted to see the Acropolis earlier in the day so I went back to the crossroads to see what I’d be paying to see. Turns out it was the Greek Agora. Bad classical history student. Bad! The woman at the gate asked me if I’d already been to the Acropolis. I said I hadn’t. The ticket is 12 euros but includes the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Theatre of Dionysus (south slopes of the Acropolis), Roman Agora, Kerameikos (the ancient cemetery), Temple of Olympian Zeus, and Hadrian’s Library. That’s a pretty good deal, considering most of us would pay that much just for the Acropolis (and if you’re on a tour, that’s what you pay, because you likely don’t get to see the other stuff). The tickets are good for four days so you can spread it out, and given that most of the sites included are relatively small, not something people would pay much for alone, it’s an even better deal.

I handed over my money, got my ticket, and went straight to the machine that sold bottled water at “it’s hot out” rather than “we’re in this for the money” prices. By then, I’d been outside for about 45 minutes and was already thirsty, and I’d had my litre of water with my espresso. After rehydrating a little, I sat down and set up my Rick Steves podcast on my phone.

If you’ve never heard of Rick Steves, and you like to travel, or like to think about travelling, this is your lucky day. Rick has podcasts for pretty much everywhere you’ve ever considered visiting and some you haven’t, but you’ll probably want to visit them after listening to him and whatever expert he’s got going on. He’s also got maps and walking tours so you can keep all of that stuff on your phone or tablet, if you have one, but honestly, who doesn`t these days? The podcasts are good for planning; it isn’t just straight up This Is Here, That’s Over There kind of stuff but also has tips on local customs, traditions, and habits that can negatively affect your outlook if you’re not prepared. The walking tours are quite good, with directions and history and If You Look To The Right You’ll See That Thing You Didn’t Know About. I’d used the tour in Rome at the Fora and honestly hadn’t expected much but it really was just right, so I made sure to download the Agora and the Acropolis versions for this trip. I was initially a little turned around at the beginning because I was at the back entrance so needed to walk down to the main gate to get started. The pacing is good for slow walking in hot weather and provides more than just the classical period history. There’s discussion of the Hellenic period, barbarian invasions, medieval stuff, right up to the early 20th century with a discussion of restoration.

With or without Rick Steves, be sure to visit the Temple of Hephaestus on the hill, and the reproduction/restoration of the Stoa of Attalos on the opposite side. Built by King Attalos of Pergamon (2nd century BCE) to thank Athens for the lovely time he spend there; it was a major commercial focal point in its day and now houses the Agora museum (downstairs) and the American School of Classical Studies (upstairs).

The Agora is a big site, and a lot of stuff is not discussed in the podcast but a lot of people may not be interested in off-the-beaten-path. If you’re interested in Absolutely Everything there is to see, I’d recommend a little personal research, but if you’re that person, you’ve already done that, so never mind.

The other sites included on the ticket (see http://www.stoa.org for information and further reading), not including the Acropolis:

Hadrian’s Library: one of the projects of the Emperor Hadrian to turn Athens into a cultural centre. It’s easy to see when you’ve been to the Agora; as you leave the main gate, turn right and walk to the end of Adrianou street, past the restaurants, including the Hard Rock Cafe (I’m not even joking) to the T-intersection. That’s the Library, or what’s left of it, on the other side of the fence. The signage is good and you get a good feel for the layout. 10-15 minutes for the casual viewer. There’s a statue of Nike in a shelter, kind of hidden on the left side of the site, behind the giant wall, that you should absolutely see. There’s a pleasant set of pillars farther back, but whatever you do, don’t stand on the pedestal to get a good photo–you’ll be yelled at by a docent. There aren’t any signs saying you shouldn’t stand on stuff, but you shouldn’t stand on stuff. The Greeks take their ruins very seriously and you’ll get a stern talking to in Greek, which you will still understand due to tone and hand gestures, as did a couple of German tourists who stood on the aforementioned pedestal for a good photo.

Roman Agora: exit the gate of Hadrian’s Library and turn left. Walk a short block and a half to another fence. You may see restaurant tables along the fence–I didn’t get the chance to eat there, but the waiters are very friendly, as are the cats–turn left and you’ll see the gate. The Roman Agora’s construction was funded by Julius Caesar and his grand-nephew, the Emperor Augustus, and adjoined the Greek section via a paved street. It was built to accommodate shops and an open air courtyard as the original Agora had been too built up to do what it was originally designed for: markets and public discussion. A German tourist reading the info made a comment about a “shopping plaza” and we both kind of chuckled sardonically, but let’s face it, shopping is what moves society in a practical way. All movement of money is primarily based in the buying and selling of goods and services. Until we all join the United Federation of Planets, we’re stuck with money. The Roman Republic and Empire lasted, in one way or another, for around 2000 years; they were doing something right. If they built a new shopping Agora, they had good reason.

Kerameikos (ancient cemetery): Named for its location in the former pottery section of Athens. When leaving the Agora’s main gate, if you turn left instead of right, keep to Adrianou and when it jags right, turn left on Ermou. You’ll get to an iron fence and see ruins about 25 feet below street level; two more minutes’ walk, and you’ll get to the Kerameikos gate. It’s another large site, which I suppose shouldn’t be surprising given that it’s a cemetery. There’s a map, good signage, and the beginning of the road to Plato’s Academy; it also contains part of the Panathenaic Way, which leads to the Acropolis, and also goes through the Agora. Graves date from the Bronze Age (ca. 2700-2000 BCE–before the Common Era) into the 6th century CE (Common Era, usually referred to as AD, Anno Domini, the year of our Lord, so I avoid it because he’s not everyone’s lord). We are closer in time to Julius Caesar than Julius Caesar is to the beginnings of this cemetery. It was a lovely, peaceful area and I relearned not to stand on anything, or there’d be yelling, but there’s absolutely no indication of why standing on this platform is bad but that one is fine. To be safe, just stick to the path. On your way out, take a look into the small but wonderful Kerameikos museum. Most of the grave markers in the open air are reproductions, with the originals found here. The museum also has a nice Geometric and Attic black figure collection. I spent a couple of hours there, just wandering around and following tortoises, which seem to be Athens’ version of squirrels.

Theatre (and sanctuary) of Dionysus (south slopes of the Acropolis): a good one to look at after a visit to the Acropolis. After exiting the Acropolis site, turn left, and keep to the left (there are public restrooms at the base of the gate, keep turning a tight left and you’ll find them), take a moment to look at the outside of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the inside of which you’ll have seen on your way up to the Acropolis, and then on down to the street, Dionysiou Areopagitou. Turn left again. You’ll also see the Museum of the Acropolis from this street, on the right. As an aside, there’s a nice little shop on the first street, Propileon, right on the south west side of the corner. It has some shirts and trinkets I didn’t see anywhere else. Anyhow, a minute or two down Dionysiou Areopagitou and you see the Theatre of Dionysus on the left. The theatre honours Dionysus, the god of wine, but also of theatre. A lot of it is crumbled but the lower seats are there and you can walk up a path behind it to a couple of monumental pillars at the base of the Acropolis wall. It’s not the best preserved theatre from the ancient world but well worth taking a look. If you don’t have a ticket, you can see it somewhat from outside the fence.

Temple of Olympian Zeus: this one’s a little harder to get to. Start at Syntagma Square, facing east, head up the steps to the street, Leoforos Valilisis Amalias, and turn right. If you like, across the street are the National Gardens, a lovely spot with very high trees and kind of private pathways with plenty of benches. Whether you stick to the street or go through the gardens, head south until you get to Leof. Vasilissis Olgas. From Amalias, it’s a T-intersection and you’ll immediately see the temple on your right. From the park, you cross the street and, depending on where you exit, head a little west and you’ll see the park that contains the Temple. The entrance is on Leof. Vasilissis Olgas, so don’t head toward the Arch of Hadrian, which looks like it should be the entrance, but so isn’t. You may see a cart selling all kinds of nuts; support independent vendors, as well as your taste buds, and buy a bag or two; mine were definitely fresh. Anyhow, this particular site is one of the best for showing us how truly monumental temples were back in the day. The Parthenon on the Acropolis is absolutely impressive, but it’s only one of the better preserved of an ancient world full of temples, many of which were even larger. Construction on the Temple of Olympian Zeus started in the 6th century BCE, under Peisistratos, but was only completed under the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 131 CE, 700 years later. It began with 104 columns, 15 of which are still standing, in double rows; the parts that came down were probably used in the construction of other buildings. The columns are 17 metres (55.5 feet) tall and 2 metres across. In contrast, the Parthenon’s columns are 10.4 metres (34 feet) tall. Photos do not do justice to the impressiveness of the remaining columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, or the melancholy one might feel, as I did, at knowing we can never see how magnificent it must have actually been.

I originally reached the Agora almost by accident, and was made aware of these other sites only with the purchase of my ticket. Each one has its own appeal and I’d recommend all of them; I mean, you’re paying anyhow, a lot of them are in reasonable proximity to each other and are easy to incorporate into general meandering. Follow through on surprises, they`re often pleasant.