Ancient Agora of Athens - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Ancient Agora of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

(aka Forum of Athens in older texts) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora

Agora

The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...

, located to the northwest of the Acropolis

Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification...

and is bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus

Areopagus

The Areopagus or Areios Pagos is the "Rock of Ares", north-west of the Acropolis, which in classical times functioned as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens. Ares was supposed to have been tried here by the gods for the murder of Poseidon's son Alirrothios .The origin...

and on the west by the hill known as the Colonus Agoraeus

Colonos Agoraios

Colonos Agoraios, meaning "the hill next to the Agora" , used to be the meeting place of the ancient Athenian craftsmen....

History

The agora in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

had private housing, until it was reorganized by Peisistratus

Peisistratos (Athens)

Peisistratos was a tyrant of Athens from 546 to 527/8 BC. His legacy lies primarily in his institution of the Panathenaic Festival and the consequent first attempt at producing a definitive version for Homeric epics. Peisistratos' championing of the lower class of Athens, the Hyperakrioi, can be...

in the 6th century BC. Although he may have lived on the agora himself, he removed the other houses, closed wells, and made it the centre of Athenian government. He also built a drainage system, fountain

Fountain

A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....

s and a temple to the Olympian gods

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

. Cimon later improved the agora by constructing new buildings and planting trees. In the 5th century BC there were temples constructed to Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. He is the son of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Gods - or else, according to some accounts, of Hera alone. He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes...

, Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

and Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

.

The Areopagus

Areopagus

and the assembly of all citizens met elsewhere in Athens, but some public meetings, such as those to discuss ostracism, were held in the agora. Beginning in the period of the radical democracy (after 509 BC), the Boule

Boule (Ancient Greece)

In cities of ancient Greece, the boule meaning to will ) was a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs of the city...

, or city council, the Prytaneis

Prytaneis

The Prytaneis were the executives of the boule of ancient Athens. The term is probably of pre-Greek origin ....

, or presidents of the council, and the Archon

Archon

Archon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...

s, or magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

s, all met in the agora. The law courts were located there, and anyone who happened to be in the agora when a case was being heard would probably have been able to view the spectacle, though only those adult male citizens appointed by lot would have been able to serve as jurors.

The agora in Athens again became a residential area during,

Buildings and structures of the classical agora

PLEASE NOTE: the plan here is outdated and shows the Stoa Poikile in an incorrect position - please see more recent plans of the Agora for updated topography.

Peristyle Court
Mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
Enneakrounos
South Stoa I
South Stoa I (Athens)
The South Stoa I of Athens was located on the south side of the Agora, in Athens, Greece, between the Heliaia and the Enneakrounos, southeastern fountain houses. It was built around 425 BC-400 BC...

and South Stoa II
Heliaia
Heliaia
Heliaia or Heliaea was the supreme court of ancient Athens. Τhe view generally held among scholars is that the court drew its name from the ancient Greek verb , which means , namely congregate. Another version is that the court took its name from the fact that the hearings were taking place...
Strategeion
Strategeion
The Strategeion, a trapezoidal chamber located in the Ancient Agora of Athens, Greece, is known as the meeting room of the ten Strategoi of ancient Athens....
Colonos Agoraios
Colonos Agoraios
Colonos Agoraios, meaning "the hill next to the Agora" , used to be the meeting place of the ancient Athenian craftsmen....
Tholos
Prytaneion
A Prytaneion was seat of the Prytaneis , and so the seat of government in ancient Greece. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games met at Olympia...
Agora stone
Monument of the Eponymous Heroes
Monument of the Eponymous Heroes
The Monument of the Eponymous Heroes, located in the Ancient Agora of Athens, Greece and adjacently situated near the Metroon , was a marble podium that bore the bronze statues of the ten heroes representing the tribes of Athens...
Metroon
Metroon
Metroon was the name given to a building dedicated to the mother goddess, Cybele, Rhea, or Demeter, in Ancient Greece.- Agora, Athens :...

(Old Bouleuterion)
New Bouleuterion
Bouleuterion
A bouleuterion was a building which housed the council of citizens in Ancient Greece. There are several extant remains of Bouleuterions around Greece and former Greek territories of ancient times....
Temple of Hephaestus
Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus, also known as the Hephaisteion or earlier as the Theseion, is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple; it remains standing largely as built. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is located at the north-west side of the Agora of Athens, on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill....

(Hephaestion)
Temple of Apollo Patroos
Temple of Apollo Patroos
The Temple of Apollo Patroos is a small ruined temple of Ionic order built in 340-320 BCE. It is 10 m wide and 16.5 m long and located north-west of the Ancient Agora of Athens near the Stoa of Zeus...
Stoa of Zeus
Stoa of Zeus
The Stoa of Zeus at Athens, was a two-aisled stoa located in the northwest corner of the Ancient Agora of Athens. It was built circa 425 BC–410 BC for religious purposes in dedication to Zeus by the Eleutherios : a cult founded after the Persian War...
Altar of the Twelve Gods
Altar of the Twelve Gods
The Altar of the Twelve Gods was an ancient altar dedicated to the twelve gods worshipped in ancient Greece...
Stoa Basileios
Stoa Basileios
Basileios Stoa , also Basilike Stoa , both meaning Royal Stoa, was a stoa constructed in Ancient Athens in the 5th century BC. It was located in the northwest corner of the Athenian Agora.The Royal Stoa was the headquarters of the King Archon and of the Areios Pagos council Basileios Stoa , also...

(Royal stoa)
Temple of Aphrodite Urania
Temple of Aphrodite Urania
The Temple of Aphrodite Urania is a temple located north-west of the Ancient Agora of Athens and dedicated to the Greek goddess Aphrodite under her epithet Urania....
Stoa of Hermes
Stoa Poikile
Stoa Poikile
The Stoa Poikile or Painted Porch, originally called the Porch of Peisianax , was erected during the 5th century BC and was located on the north side of the Ancient Agora of Athens. The Stoa was the location from which Zeno of Citium taught Stoicism...

Later buildings added to the site

A number of buildings were added to the agora. Those in place by the 2nd century included:

The Middle stoa which sat across the sanctuary, in front of the Heliaea.
A small Roman temple was added in front of the Middle stoa.
An Altar of Zeus Agoraios
Altar of Zeus Agoraios
The Altar of Zeus Agoraios is a 4th century BC altar located north-west of the Ancient Agora of Athens, constructed from white marble, 9 m deep and 5.5 m wide. It was one of the first objects to be discovered inside the Agora during the excavations of 1931...

was added just to the east of the Monument to the Eponymous Heroes.
The Temple of Ares
Temple of Ares
The Temple of Ares was a building located in the northern part of the Ancient Agora of Athens. The Temple was identified as such by Pausanias but the ruins present today indicate a complex history...

, dedicated to Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...

, the god of war, was added in the north half agora, just south of the Altar of the Twelve Gods.
The Odeon of Agrippa
Odeon of Agrippa
The Odeon of Agrippa was a large concert hall located in the centre of the Ancient Agora of Athens. It was built about 15 BCE, occupying what had previously been open space in the centre of the agora...

and accompanying gymnasium were added in the centre of the agora.
The substantial Stoa of Attalos
Stoa of Attalos
The Stoa of Attalos is recognised as one of the most impressive stoæ in the Athenian Agora. It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon who ruled between 159 BC and 138 BC.-Description:...

was built along the eastern edge of the agora.
A collection of buildings were added to the south-east corner: the East stoa, the Library of Pantainos, the Nymphaeum
Nymphaeum
A nymphaeum or nymphaion , in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs....

and a temple.
There is evidence of a Synagogue in the Agora of Athens
Synagogue in the Agora of Athens
The Synagogue in the Agora of Athens an ancient synagogue located in the Ancient Agora of Athens.During an excavation in the summer of 1977, a piece of Pentelic marble apparently once part of a curvilinear preize over a doorway or niche was discovered a few meters from the northeast corner of the...

in the third century.

Excavations

The ancient Athenian agora has been excavated by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens

American School of Classical Studies at Athens

The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is one of 17 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece.-General information:...

since 1931 under the direction of T. Leslie Shear, Sr. They continue to the present day, now under the direction of John McK Camp.http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/history.htm

After the initial phase of excavation, in the 1950s, the Hellenistic Stoa of Attalos

Stoa of Attalos

The Stoa of Attalos is recognised as one of the most impressive stoæ in the Athenian Agora. It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon who ruled between 159 BC and 138 BC.-Description:...

was reconstructed on the east side of the agora, and today it serves as a museum and as storage and office space for the excavation team.http://www.agathe.gr/introduction.html

The Roman Forum of Athens

The Roman Forum of Athens is located to the north of the acropolis

Acropolis of Athens

and to the east of the original classical Greek agora.

Buildings and structures

Tower of the Winds
Tower of the Winds
The Tower of the Winds, also called horologion , is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower on the Roman agora in Athens. The structure features a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind vane...
Gate of Athena Archegetis
Gate of Athena Archegetis
The Gate of Athena Archegetis is situated west of the Roman Agora, Athens and considered to be the second most prominent remain in the site after the Tower of the Winds....
East Propylon
East Propylon
The East Propylon is the eastern entrance of the Roman Agora in Athens. Built in 19-11 BCE, it constituted of 4 Ionic columns made of gray Hymettian marble.-External links:* * , Virtual tour of the East Propylon....
Fethiye Mosque
Fethiye Mosque (Athens)
The Fethiye Mosque is a 15th-century Ottoman mosque in central Athens, Greece.It was built in 1456/1458, soon after the Ottoman conquest of the Duchy of Athens. It is located on the northern side of the ancient Roman forum, near the Tower of the Winds, and was built on the ruins of a middle...
Agoranomion
Vespasianae (latrines)

Museum of the Ancient Agora

The museum is housed in the Stoa of Attalos

Stoa of Attalos

, and its exhibits are connected with the Athenian democracy

Athenian democracy

Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 508 BC. Athens is one of the first known democracies. Other Greek cities set up democracies, and even though most followed an Athenian model,...

. The collection of the museum includes clay, bronze and glass objects, sculptures, coins and inscriptions from the 7th to the 5th century BC, as well as pottery of the Byzantine period and the Turkish occupation.

External links and references

Hellenic Ministry of Culture: The Ancient Agora of Athens - official site with a schedule of its opening hours, tickets and contact information.
Agora Excavations - American School of Classical Studies Agora excavation project.
Map of the Agora of Athens in Socrates and Plato's time
Agora of Athens in 421 BC
The Athenian Agora: A Short Guide in Color
The Athenian Agora. A Guide to the Excavation and Museum
Reconstruction of the Athenian Agora in Google Earth
Ministry of Culture: The Museum
www.athensinfoguide.com The Museum
Agora of Athens: photo album and description

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