Acropolis of Athens

Acropolis means "upper town", and although many cities of ancient Greece grew up around such towns, Athens
is the Acropolis, a limestone plateau that rises about 450 feet above the city and is visible from several
miles. Inhabited since the late Neolithic, Athens would not be the same without it. Before democracy there
was a temple dedicated to Athena and Poseidon. According to Greek mythology, the goddess Athena and Poseidon
vied for sovereignty about the city of Athens. Zeus intervened in the dispute; he would give the city to whom
creating the most beautiful work for men. Poseidon with his trident brought forth a spring of salt water
called Clepsydra. Athena created the first olive and won the competition, becoming the city's patron.

The entrance to the Acropolis is made by a great gate called the Propylaea. At the front right side and the Temple of
Athena Nike. A large bronze statue of Athena by Phidias originally stood in the center. To the right of where it stood
this sculpture is the Parthenon or Temple of Athena Parthenos (the virgin). To the left and at the end of the Acropolis
is the Erechtheion, with its famous stoa or platform supported by six Caryatids. Only one that can see here is real,
the others are reproductions of original set in the New Acropolis Museum.

In the southern slope of the Acropolis there are the remains of other buildings among which an outdoor theater called Theatre
of Dionysus, where premiered their works Sophocles, Aristophanes and Aeschylus. Most major temples were rebuilt under the
leadership of Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens (460-430 BC). V century BC., the Acropolis took its final form.