Acropolis

There is no greater symbol for the origin of European culture and tradition than the remains of the Acropolis, which is Greek for ‘Sacred Rock’. Much of Western culture can trace its roots to the city states of ancient Greece, especially in the areas of philosophy, art, governance, and social order.

By the sixth century BC the Acropolis had taken on its sacred status, in honor of the Greek Goddess Athena. The Golden Age of Athens (460-430 BC) represented the height of Greek culture, and the Acropolis' fullest and most elegant development. The largest temple, the Parthenon, was used for storage of everything from artistic treasures to gunpowder. Fortunately not both of those things at the same time..

The Parthenon is a piece of classic Greek architecture, with the structure surrounded by 46 massive Doric columns around the perimeter and a series of smaller columns set just inside the outer ones. Completed in 438 BC on the site of an older temple to Athena that had been destroyed, it is quite simply one of the most spectacular man-made structure from the ancient world.

Other structures of note are the tiny Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion, and the Propylaea, all situated atop the ‘Sacred Rock’. The Propylaea is the remains of what used to be the gate or entrance to the Acropolis, situated in front of the Parthenon. The Erechtheion is a separate smaller temple on the north side of the Acropolis. The Temple of Athena Nike, where you absolutely will not be able to buy new sneakers, is dwarfed by the other structures on this site, but the building still stands 23 feet high.