History’s Still Happening on the Acropolis
Historic photos reveal a changing site
The Acropolis in Athens is one of the most famous places in the world. It was the ceremonial center of Greece’s largest and most influential city, as well as a showcase for some of the most famous art and architecture in human history.
Your mental image of the Acropolis is probably something like this:
If you’ve been there in person, you know that it’s not quite so serene — it’s pretty much always swarming with tourists.
The Acropolis — literally the “high city,” a hill that juts up from the center of Athens — is presented as a timeless, majestic place, but it’s been used in all sorts of ways over time. At first, the hill was a fortress to which Athenians could retreat when attacked. After Athens grew in wealth and military strength, the hill became the city’s showpiece and nucleus, home to its most sacred temples.
For most of their history, Greek people have not ruled themselves, which meant that they usually haven’t controlled their greatest landmark. After Athens came under Macedonian and Roman rule, the city’s new rulers added their own flourishes on and around the hill, building new temples and theaters. They were generally reverent toward the Acropolis — it was a universally recognized site of…
