Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Today, Mama Fay took us on the official Acropolis tour. She is 76 years young and has been a tour guide for 44 years. In Greece, tour guides actually have to go to school for 3 years then pass a test before they can be official guides. Mama Fey (as she introduced herself--she considers all the other guides to be her children because she trained them) is about 4 ft nothing and even when she held up her umbrella she was lost in the crowd. So, we followed Gene instead because he was tall and was wearing a plaid shirt that was easy to see.
The Parthenon is surrounded by scaffolding, and will always be. They are cleaning the fungus from the stones. As they finish one area, they move on to another, until they come back to the first area where there is more mold to be removed.
But from inside the museum, we had a good view with most of the ironwork hidden from view.
We went up early in the morning, before it got too hot, but also when everyone else was going. So, the crowds were enormous and tour guides kept stopping their groups in the center of the walkway so that no one could get through.
It is interesting that the Parthenon was
constructed without any straight lines.
The steps are curved, as are the columns. This is because it was much more important
that it look perfect from afar, where most of the citizens would see it. The columns are slightly convex, fatter in
the middle, in order to look straight when viewed from far away. The pediments and stairs are the same,
slightly curved in order to appear straight. Not only did the architects understand
this phenomenon, they were able to correct for it! Amazing!!
As with other Greek and Roman temples (and sculptures) the structure would have been brightly colored.
Up at the top, we also visited the Erechtheion, where we saw the olive tree planted by the goddess Athena.
According to legends, Athena and
Poseidon competed for the favor of Athens.
Poseidon planted his trident in the earth and brought forth a salt
spring. Athena, in her wisdom, planted
an olive tree. The citizens favored
Athena and the tree has been here ever since.
Regardless of its origin, an olive tree has been here since ancient times. It has been burned and also bombed during wars, but each time a branch or shoot was saved and re-grown so that the tree has survived the centuries. It is now considered a treasure of the state with special significance.
After our visit up top, we visited the Acropolis Museum. Many of the panels from the frieze surrounding the Parthenon were removed and taken by the British Museum.
Part of the museum was set up in full scale of the Parthenon, giving an idea of the scale of the building (we were not allowed to go inside of the building itself). We understand that someone has rebuilt the Parthenon to scale in Nashville, complete with all the original coloring because no ancient building was without brilliant colors. I think we may have to go and see it.
They also had a smaller scale model. There was also a model of the type of crane that would have been used to raise the stones.
All of the workers, from the architects
and engineers, to the sculpturers and the day laborers, were all paid the same
wage: one drachma per day. No slave
labor was used and the project was completed in nine years, although some
sculpture work continued for another 7 years.
We just snacked for lunch because we intended to go back to Gods’ Restaurant for dinner. After a rest, I set out to take some pictures at the National Gardens. On the way there I stopped to take a picture at the Temple of Zeus (all covered in scaffold) of some fallen columns. These show how the columns were built, in sections that were held together with metal rods.
When I reached the National Gardens, I
found a locked iron gate and a sign stating that the Gardens were closed today
due to high winds???? It was very windy
to the point that we could not wear our hats for fear of having them blown
off. But how does that affect a visit to
a garden?
Oh well, I went on over to Syntagma Square to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guards step incredibly slowly, extending their foot and holding that position for a full second before completing the step. They must have excellent balance.
