Tag Archives: Acropolis

The Theatre of Dionysus at the Acropolis

October 31, 2014Travel to Athens, Travel to GreeceAcropolis, ancient greek theatre, athens, dionysus ancient theatre, dionysus theatre, Greecedimitrios

On the south side of the Acropolis is located the remains of the ancient Theatre of Dionysus. In this area there was the sanctuary of Dionysus whose worshipers came from Eleutherae of Boeotia and for this reason he was called Dionysus Eleuthereus and was celebrated every year during the month of Elafivoliona in late March to early April, the Great Dionysia festivities were held in glorious celebration in honour of the god and was one of the most important festivals of ancient Athens. On this side of the Acropolis was created The Ancient Greek Theatre as a place of significance and all of the plays that were written during ancient times were to be shown firstly at the Theatre of Dionysus.

In the first years of its operation there were wooden stands in the Theatre of Dionysus. During the period of the archon Lycurgus, the Theatre was expanded using stone. It is estimated that at that time The Theatre of Dionysus could hold an audience capacity of more than 15,000 people. In the first series of rows there were 67 marble seats for the officials. This was the custom of Proedria (presidency) and each seat was inscribed with the name of the person for whom it was intended.

Over the subsequent centuries, the theatre was destroyed. For several years works of excavation, maintenance and restoration of the Theatre of Dionysus using materials similar to those used in ancient times has been in progress and the ancient theatre slowly returns to its original form. When you walk around the orchestra and the stands you are dominated by a sense of awe, when you think that here on this site, 2500 years ago, Theatre was born.

The Propylaea of the Acropolis of Athens

October 29, 2014Travel to AthensAcropolis, athens, Greece, mnesicles, Propylaeadimitrios

The Propylaea of the Acropolis of Athens is the impressive entrance to the Acropolis from the west side, built during the golden age of Pericles by the architect Mnesicles. It is believed that here also stood the gate of the Mycenaean Acropolis. All previous buildings were destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC.

After the Persian wars, the buildings were reconstructed by Themistocles and Cimon. The Propylaea that we can see today belongs to the large reconstruction program that took place at the Acropolis during the Classical era, which unfortunately was interrupted by the Peloponnesian War. So the Propylaea were never completed.

The Propylaea is impressive in every respect of architecture and art, although it was not completed, Mnesicles passed into immortality along with Ictinus, Callicrates and Phidias the other architects and artists of the Acropolis. At the Propylaea of the Acropolis in a separate room was the very first gallery of the world. There were housed among others, paintings by Polygnotus.