The Acropolis of Athens has been the symbol of the city since the Fifth Century BCE, Greece’s Golden Age under Pericles’ leadership.  Pericles commissioned the architect Phidias to construct the Parthenon as a tribute to Athens’ patron goddess, Athena, after the Athenian forces defeated the Persian forces in battle.
      There had been a citadel on the Acropolis long before the Classical Period, as it was on a defensible point above the settlement that became the city state, or polis, of Athens.  There were already older, smaller temples on the hilltop, dedicated to Athena and other Greek gods. The Parthenon was designed to dwarf them all.

        We thought that our walk up to the Acropolis might be a wet one.  Though the clouds did not clear, only a few drops of rain fell.  I did not miss the sunshine, which reappeared only after we descended.

        Athena’s sanctuary was a construction zone, and an extremely crowded one at that.  There was scaffolding and specialized machinery throughout the formerly hallowed precincts. The whine of stone cutters and the press of hundreds of pedestrians, all confined to a narrow, rocky path, somewhat  marred the experience for me.  It was still a privilege to behold the Parthenon and to survey Athens from the Acropolis’ crowning height.

The Temple of Athena and Nike, Goddess of Victory, stands at the Acropolis’ main entrance, the Propylaia.

Almost all of the Parthenon’s columns were Doric in style.

The Erechtheion’s Porch of the Caryatids was an early and particularly alluring substitution of sculptured female forms for supporting columns.

 HL in front of the Erechtheion,  a temple where the goddess was worshipped as Athena Polias, protector of the city

The Ancient Agora, below the Acropolis, was a place for public gatherings.

          I could have wished for far less company, but that would have been a vain hope in this era of mass market tourism.  And May was not even the peak season.   There are few places on earth that have attracted as many visitors for as many centuries as The Acropolis.  It is hard to believe that its popularity will wane anytime soon.