The Further Travels of No Man: The Acropolis

You can see the Acropolis from just about anywhere in central Athens, which was a little strange to get used to. A big, important monument in the middle of the city, yes, but this one somehow makes me think it's growing out of the cliff beneath it--there's just a giant, unhewn pile of rocks downtown with a crumbling building on top.

It looks either organic or unfinished, maybe a bit of both.

So I climbed it, of course.

The Theater of Dionysus, at the base of the hill. It was built in the 5th century BC for, well, plays. The ones performed at the festivals of Dionysus.

The seating inside. At one point, the marble thrones in the front row were inscribed with the names of their occupants.

If anyone was wondering where portrait busts come from...

A top-down view of the theater.

This is why we have security, people! Why did no one catch this demon at the airport?

Biiig, beige city.

Wooo, Parthenon! See that hint of a triangular space at the top of the building?

Well, if you go to the British Museum, you can see some of what's meant to be there...

The pediments at either end of the building show scenes from the life of Athena. The first is her birth from the head of Zeus with the help of Hephaestus and his ax.

And the second is her competition with Poseidon over the city of Athens (olives > water)

It seems to be slow going (like most things in Greece, honestly), but they are working on repairing the Parthenon. The first restoration attempt used iron joints which have since corroded, so part of the current work is removing the past failures.

The Erechtheion, a smaller temple beside the Parthenon on the Acropolis.

Porch of the Caryatids (Erechtheion). Although cool, the statues are actually reproductions. Five of the originals are in the Acropolis Museum undergoing gradual cleaning; the sixth is in England.