The Acropolis was the religious centre of the city, and before the time of Pericles was given up to temples and shrines. The site of the old royal palace seems early to have been marked by a temple of Athena, time patron goddess of the city, which was adorned by the Pisistratidte with a colonnade, the gables of which were filled with sculptures representing the battle of the gods and giants. A part of these sculptures. valuable as illustrating the art of the close of the Sixth Century B.C., have been pieced together from fragments discovered during the excava tions. Probably to the same time as this temple belong the foundations of an ancient gateway, set at an angle to the present line of ascent. The temple and all other buildings on the Acrop olis were destroyed by the Persians (B.c. 430 .179) and were certainly never entirely rebuilt, though it is believed by some that the cella.
(q.v.) of the old temple was reerected and re mained standing even into Roman times. Under Themistocles, Cimon, and Pericles the work of reconstructing the Acropolis was carried for ward. On the south side a lofty retaining wall was built, and the ground filled in so as to form a terrace at the level of the old summit, and on this terrace was erected the Parthenon (q.v.), the chief glory of Athens and even in its ruins the most perfect specimen of Greek architectural genius. The present building was erected on the site of a temple begun by Themistocles or Cimon, and seems to have been completed about B.C. 437. North of the Parthenon, close to the site of the old temple was built the Erechtheum (q.v.), containing probably the ancient statue of Athena Polias, said to have fallen from heaven, the sacred olive of Athena, and the salt spring where Poseidon smote the rock with his trident. Near the west end stood the colossal bronze statue of Athena Promachos, erected by the Athenians as a memorial of the victories over Persia.
Northeast of the Parthenon was the great altar of Athena, and near by was erected later a tem ple of Augustus and Rome: On the south side of the Acropolis, west of the Parthenon, were sacred precincts, dedicated to Athena Ergane (the worker) and Artemis Brauronia. At the west end of the Acropolis, where alone the rock per mits an easy ascent, stood the great gateway, the Propyhea (q.v.), begun in we. 437, and never completed according to the original plan. Just outside the Propylaea, on a high platform, reached now from the upper part of the Acropolis, but in ancient times also accessible by a staircase out side the gate, stood the little Ionic temple of Athena Nike. less correctly called that of `Wingless Victory.' All these buildings were of white Pentelic marble and richly decorated with gilding and color. At the foot of the steep preci
pice on the northeast side of the Areopagus is a cave with a pool of dark water, which is believed to have been the site of the shrine of the Eume nides (q.v.), and the region west of the Acropolis and south of the Areopagus probably contained other temples, of which all traces have disap peared. Farther down the slope toward the west, in the valley between the Pnyx and Areopagus, has been discovered an ancient street. which evi dently led from the market-place to the Acrop olis. It was lined with private houses and shrines. On the slope of the Areopagus was a large sacred inclosure, containing wine-vats, and apparently dedicated to Dionysm., as it contained a long inscription with various regulations of the lobaeclue, a society of worshipers of that god. At the foot of the Pnyx were many wells and chambers for collecting water, and there are traces of a large fountain, to which water was brought by an underground channel from the upper Ilissus along the south side of the Acrop olis. This is held by many arclueologists to be the work of Pisistratus and to mark the site of the Enneaerunos, or fountain with nine streams, erected by him over an open spring, CallirrhoO. Others, however, maintain that the evidence favors placing Callirrhoii and the Ennencrunos at a point in the bed of the Ilissus, where abun dant springs are still found.
Passing from the gate down to the south side of the Acropolis, we find at the west end the Odeum of Herodes Atticus (see ATTICUS HERO DEs), which is still well preserved. Adjoining this was the long stoa, or portico built for the Athenians by Eumenes 11., King of I'ergamum (u.c. 197-159). Back of the stoa on a terrace at the foot of the steep cliff of the Acropolis lay the sanctuary of Asclepius, containing his tem ple and altar, and colonnades and other build ings for the sick, who came thither for healing. In a cave inside the sacred ground was a spring, still supposed to possess curative powers, and dedicated to the Virgin. East of the Asclepieum and the Stoa of Eumenes was the great theatre of Dionysus, with its seats partly cut in the solid rock, and back of its stage buildings the temple and precinct of the god in whose honor the plays were performed. On the north side of the Acrop olis lay many public buildings, but this region is still thickly populated, and only the caves of Pan and Apollo high in the northwest corner of the Acropolis have been thoroughly excavated. North of the Areopagus lay the great market place, surrounded with colonnades and public buildings, and near by Hadrian built a large gymnasium and baths, considerable remains of which can still be traced.