Visit: Ancient Agora of Athens, Adrianou 24, Athens 105 55 Greece
The Ancient Agora of Athens is a flat area defined by the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis and the hill of Areopagus in the south and the hill of Kolonos Agoraios in the west. It is traversed by one of the most important ancient roads, the Panathenaic Way, which led to the Acropolis from the main gate of the city, the Dipylon Gate. This road served as the processional way for the great parade of the Panathenaic festival, which was held to honour the city patron goddess Athena.
Duration: 20 minutes
Visit: Temple of Hephaestus, 24 Adrianou St. Ancient Agora of Athens, Athens 105 55 Greece
On top of Agoraios Kolonos hill, stands the temple of Hephaestus, broadly known as Thisio. It is one of the best preserved ancient temples, partly because it was transformed into a Christian church. According to the traveller and geographer Pausanias (1, 14, 5-6), two deities were jointly worshipped in the temple: god Hephaestus, protector of all metallurgists, and goddess Athena Ergani, protecting all potters and the cottage industries. The identification of this temple as ?Hephaesteion? (location of worship of the god Hephaestus) was ascertained by the excavations and investigations that brought to light metallurgy workshops on the wider area of the hill, thus outshining earlier opinions presuming that Theseus, Hercules or Aris (Mars) were the deities worshipped there. The temple was probably erected between 460 and 420 BC by a yet unknown architect, to whom, however, are attributed other temples of similar structure in the Attica region
Duration: 20 minutes
Visit: Church of the Holy Apostles, Athens Greece
The Church of the Holy Apostles of Solakis was built shortly before 1000 AD. and was partially based on a Nymphaeum of the 2nd c. A.D. It was the center of a Byzantine quarter that developed in the area. The original floor plan of the temple was cruciform inscribed, with arches on the four sides and a narthex on the west side. The dome was supported by four columns. The Holy Altar and the floor of the temple were marble. The exterior masonry preserves elaborate ceramic ornaments of horizontal serrated bands and "Kufic" designs which owe their name to the Arabic script developed in the city of Kufa. Four construction phases can be found in the building, as over the years the temple was repaired and expanded several times. It is the only medieval monument that survives in the area of the Athenian Agora. It was restored to its original form in the years 1954 - 1957. The few surviving frescoes in the central aisle of the church date from the 17th century.
Duration: 20 minutes
Visit: Museum of the Ancient Agora, 24 Adrianou, Athens 105 55 Greece
The Museum of the Ancient Agora is housed in the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos, originally erected during the 2nd cent. BC as a gift of the king of Pergamon, Attalos II, to Athens.
The exhibition in the Museum gallery holds archaeological finds coming from the systematic excavations of the American School of Classical Studies in the area and dated from the Neolithic to the Post-byzantine and Ottoman periods.
Duration: 1 hour