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May 2023 (Part 07)

Greece/Spain Trip - Day 1, May 13 - Athens, Greece

With Andy graduating, we were delighted to take him on a celebratory trip.  He chose to go to Greece and take a sailboat tour through the northern Greek Islands.  On our way home, we then stopped in Barcelona, Spain.  Instead of coming home with us, Andy headed to meet the Camper Dudez in Lisbon, Portugal.  Andy, Nick Z, Harris S and new to the team, Tim, were planning an eight week trip across Europe starting in Portugal.  They had decided Greece looked wonderful, but was too expensive, so Andy decided to have us take him there instead.  Real life interfered with Andy's master plan as his graduate school at Northwestern University starts July 5th, meaning he has to leave after six weeks while the other three get to play for another two weeks.  Worse, Andy has to come home for six days in the middle of the trip to go to an in-person orientation session in Chicago, which meant he missed their stop in Barcelona and why we stopped there with him.

We had a direct flight into Athens, leaving just after 5 PM in DC and arriving at almost 10 AM in Greece after a twelve-hour flight and a seven-hour time change.  We hadn't planned transportation to the hotel, but determined taking the Metro would be pretty straight forward.  Apart from having to stand in a crowded car for the 30 minute ride to the town center, it worked pretty well.  We got checked in at the Fresh Hotel, Athens  in the Monastiriki ("little monastery") area north of the Acropolis, and quickly headed to the roof-top bar to see the view, then headed back out, determined to try and stay awake as lpng as we could. 

Our first stop was for gyros (which we verified they pronounced as YEER-ohs, not JYE-ros).  We were a bit surprised to find they were offered with pork or chicken, but not lamb.  We discovered later that lamb was traditional.  When many Greeks emigrated to the US in the 1960s during an economic depression, that is what they served in their restaurants.  However, the Greek government subsequently subsidized pork and most restaurants converted to pork.  We had gyros almost every day and never saw one with lamb on a menu.

 Our hotel was north of the Acropolis in the Monastiraki area, so we headed south, stopping first at Hadrian's Library.  This library was created by Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 132.  This was a long, narrow structure with Corinthian columns supporting a roof and inner courtyard with a decorative pool.  One side held scrolls while the other housed reading rooms.  The site was damaged during invasions and then rebuilt.  During Byzantine times, three churches were built at the site, the remains of which are preserved.  The first was a a tetraconch (meaning four shells and representing a Greek cross with equal length arms) built in the 5th century AD.  There was also a three-aisled basilica built in the 7th century.  Last was a a simple cathedral built in the 12th century, which was the first cathedral of the city, known as Megali Panagia.  It was hard to tell which ruins belonged to which structure, so we were glad that there were several signs in both Greek and English.

Emperor Hadrian (76-138 AD) was an ardent admirer of Greece and sought to make Athens the cultural capital of the Empire, so he ordered the construction of many opulent temples there.  He is a prime example of the Hellenization of Roman society, where while it conquered Greece, it then adopted much of Greek culture including its gods, art, dress, and practices.  However, Hadrian is described as "a little too much Greek", too cosmopolitan for a Roman emperor.  Hadrian spent more than half his reign outside Italy, traveling as far as Britannia (where he had his famous wall built to keep out the Scots). Whereas previous emperors had, for the most part, relied on the reports of their imperial representatives around the Empire, Hadrian wished to see things for himself.  While previous emperors had left for war, his travels were more for leisure and political reasons.  Hadrian's near-incessant travels may represent a calculated break with traditions and attitudes in which the empire was a purely Roman hegemony.  Hadrian sought to include provincials in a commonwealth of civilized peoples and a common Hellenic culture under Roman supervision.  Hadrian visited Greece several times, participating in the Eleusinian Mysteries several times (initiations were held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are considered the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece").  He had a particular commitment to Athens, which had previously granted him citizenship two years earlier.  Hadrian created two foundations to fund Athens' public games, rebuilt several shrines, and committed the resources to complete the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which had been under construction for more than five centuries.  Hadrian also constructed the Arch of Hadrian or Hadrians Gate near the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  This is a Roman triumphal arch spanning a road from the center of Athens and marking the line of the ancient city wall, and thus the division between the old and the new regions of the city.  The inscription on the northwest side, facing the Acropolis and seen as you enter Athens states ΑΙΔ' ΕΙΣΙΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙ ΘΗΣΕΩΣ Η ΠΡΙΝ ΠΟΛΙΣ (this is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus).  The inscription on the other side states ΑΙΔ' ΕΙΣ' ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΟΥΧΙ ΘΗΣΕΩΣ ΠΟΛΙΣ (this is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus.  Note that Theseus was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus – his journeys, exploits, and friends – have provided material for fiction throughout the ages).

These columns (and much of the ones on the ground) were from the library and are what remains of over 100 marble columns originally in the structure.

There were some interesting bits and pieces of columns lying everywhere, along with several small mosaics.

Here is a wall of the tetraconch church.

These columns and wall belonged to the Church of Sant Asomotos "Sta Skalia" which was built in the 12th century.  It was dedicated to the Archangel Michael and called Sta Skali, meaning "on the stairs" due to its position at Hadrian's Library.  It was eventually demolished in 1845.

Next stop, only a couple blocks away, was the Roman Agora (or Roman Forum).  This was the Roman version of the Greek agora, and was built between 27 BC and 17 BC (or possibly in 10 BC) just after they conquered Athens in 86 BC, by Eucles of Marathon using funds donated by Caesar Augustus (the first Roman emperor, also called Octavian), in fulfillment of a promise originally made by Julius Caesar in 51 BC.  The forum was an open space surrounded by a colonnade holding shopping stalls.  Centuries later, the Ottomans made this their grand bazaar.  The mosque was built upon a church which was built upon a Roman temple.  The mosque still survives as one of the best preserved Ottoman structures, although the Greeks tore down the minaret soon after winning their independence.

There were stray cats everywhere.

At the west end, was the entrance through an impressive Gate of Athena Archegelis.

At the east end was the Tower of the Winds, a hexagonal tower which acted as a meteorological observatory.  The tower dates back to the 2nd century before the forum.  In antiquity, it was topped by a weather vane-like image of Triton (half-man, half-fish) that indicated the wind direction.  The frieze around the top depicts the eight wind deities (all males)—Boreas (N), Kaikias (NE), Apeliotes (E), Eurus (SE), Notus (S), Livas (SW), Zephyrus (W), and Skiron (NW)—as winged humans who fly in, bringing the weather to Athens.  Below this are eight sundials which were created by bronze rods protruding from the walls as sundials.  In its interior, time was determined by a water clock, driven by water coming down from the Acropolis.  In early Christian times, the building was used as the bell-tower of an Eastern Orthodox church.

There were even more Roman wall formations across the street.

We wandered north-east to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, officially called the Holy Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary.  This is the cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Athens and all of Greece,  It was constructed between 1842 and 1862.  Inside are the tombs of two saints killed by the Ottoman Turks during the Ottoman period: Saint Philothei and Patriarch Gregory V.  We discovered an impossibly long line, with the queue several people wide and stretching around the square and then down the block.  We later learned there was a relic that people were making pilgrimages to see and touch (although we couldn't find any information online about what the relic was).

This statue on the west-side of the square depicts Constantine XI Palaeologus (1404-1453), the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.  He was killed defending Constantinople from the Ottomans and is considered the last Greek king and is an unofficial saint.

Next to the cathedral is the little Church of Agios (St.) Eleftherios also called the "Little Mitropoli."  "Like so many Byzantine churches, it was partially built in the late 12th century with fragments of earlier buildings, monuments, and even tombstones - a hodgepodge of millennia-old bits and pieces."  It is referred to as the old cathedral, as it was used by the archbishops of Athens after the Ottomans evicted them from the church within the Parthenon.

We found a nice place for dinner in the Ciel Athens rooftop restaurant, and a place to get some baklava on the way to the hotel.

The view overlooked the cathedral square and provided a stunning view of the Acropolis.

We investigated a small church on the way back to the hotel.  According to the map, this is the Holy Church of Kapnikarea or the Holy University Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary at the Temple.  According to a sign, it was built in the early 11th century on the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to the worship of Athena or Demeter.  The interior murals are from the 20th century.