Today was the first full day in Athens and it was an amazing day, it was full of information about the history of Greece. The first thing we did was meet our tour Guide, Gabriele, and I can already tell that she is going to be a great tour guide for us throughout our whole trip! We then headed to Hadrian’s Gate which is a gate built by a Roman named Hadrian (Hence the name). This is an important place for our class to see because when the romans took over Greece, Hadrian really liked the greek culture so he built this structure which was similar to the greek structures, but it was also a political statement because it is mostly symbolizing the Romans taking control of this city. The Temple of Zeus was our next stop which was gorgeous. We learned all about the columns and how they are built in sections to make it easier to build. This was all walking distance from our hotel which was incredible to think about thousands of years ago these temples and gates were still standing and now we get to live so close to them and have the ability to learn about them.
The Museum of the acropolis was next. Gabriele led us through and explained the different meanings of some of the sculptures that were originally spread throughout the acropolis, but have been transferred to the museum to keep them preserved. These sculptures were made over Time, so we could see the transformation of the styles represented in each one. This was important to our class because we are studying Religion in Empire and this whole place was mostly a temple to Athena or the gods, but it was also a major political hub. You can see the acropolis from most parts of the city, it’s the highest point in the city. We eventually climbed up the hill to get there, it was very windy, but it was definitely worth the climb and all the wind. There were many pieces of stone that were laying all over the place. You could tell they were parts of a building long ago, but they got destroyed over the years. At the middle there was the parthenon which had these beautiful columns . We learned that these columns were all curved inward, towards the center, because it makes the building look more “perfect”. The amazing thing about this is that it only took 9 years to build! Nowadays I feel like it takes forever to just do simple things, but it only took the greeks 9 years to build this beautifully sculpted, huge building.
After spending the day there and taking as many pictures as we could handle, we headed back to the hotel for class, dinner, and then bedtime. It was a very full day of learning and so much information, but it was so amazing. Learning about the history of Greece being intertwined with religion and politics makes me very excited for this month. The Acropolis is a great example of this. The parthenon is a temple made for Athena, but it was also the part of the city that needed to be conquered if you were trying to take over the city. This is just one example of how religion and politics were meshed together during this time, and I’m excited to learn more about that.
Oles in Greece 2020 