Athenian Acropolis Research Articles

An Archaeology of Disability: A Dialogic Essay

An Archaeology of Disability is a research station designed for the Venice Biennale, Architettura 2021 by David Gissen, Jennifer Stager, and Mantha Zarmakoupi and exhibited later at La Gipsoteca di Arte Antica of Pisa in 2022, at the Canellopoulos Museum of Athens in 2023, and at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in 2024. The research station works with languages and forms used by contemporary disabled people to reproduce elements—a ramp, a seat, an art gallery—from the ancient Acropolis in Athens that vanished long ago and that have little or no extant material forms. Among the many people who contributed to the research station are two performers, Christopher Tester and Pia Hargrove, who performed, respectively, the ekphrastic film and audio description Sēmata (Signs) (2021). The following dialogic essay draws on conversations with the curators and performers led by Brooke Holmes and Pasquale Toscano. This dialogic form surfaces some of the collaborative aspects of the research station to highlight the ways in which such collaboration brings different lenses to antiquity.

Classical Interventions: Hegel, Klenze and the Aesthetics of Purity

ABSTRACT In August of 1834, in a ceremony atop the Athenian Acropolis, the German architect Leo von Klenze ordered the dismantling and removal of all non-classical buildings from the hilltop. The results of the ensuing purification transformed the site from a multicultural complex of buildings that had accrued over centuries into what is essentially a minimalist museum, as we know it today. I argue that we can best understand Klenze’s classical intervention if we view it in the context of the discourse of a Romantic-era aesthetics of purity through which it appears self-evidently as the correct course of action. The most comprehensive articulation of this discourse appears in the lectures on aesthetics that Hegel gave in Berlin in the 1820s. Hegel argues that the perfection of Greek classical art emerges only as an overcoming of the misshapen and failed attempts at art that preceded it, which he calls “symbolic” or “oriental” (Egyptian, Persian, Indian). The human spirit, Geist, can materialize itself as a work of art only by Europeanizing itself, by shedding all oriental otherness. We can read Klenze’s intervention, which strips away all remnants of Ottoman Turkish architecture from the acropolis, as this aesthetics of purity written in stone.

Assessing structural integrity of non-homogeneous systems by means of Acoustic Emissions and Non-Extensive Statistical Mechanics

Taking advantage of the interevent time intervals, namely the time intervals between two successive acoustic events recorded during mechanical loading of structural elements, it is attempted to detect indices warning about upcoming failure. The innovative aspect of the study is that the analysis is implemented in the frame of Non-Extensive Statistical Mechanics, a discipline founded on a class of entropies violating the additivity principle, which is the cornerstone of the Boltzmann-Gibbs Statistical Mechanics. The specimens used for the experiments were marble blocks simulating either fragmented and restored epistyles or mutually interconnected intact epistyles of the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis of Athens. The specimens consisted of three mate­rials (marble, metallic connectors and cementitious pastes) exhibiting, thus, a strongly non-homogeneous nature. The entropic index, i.e., the parameter quantifying the degree of non-additivity, was used for the analysis of the ex­pe­rimental data. The results were considered in juxtaposition to the re­spective ones from experimental protocols with specimens of macroscopically homo­geneous nature. It was concluded that the temporal evolution of the entropic index provides very good insight into the level of damage ac­cumu­lated in the loaded structure, independently of whether the structure is homogeneous or not, providing an interesting pre-failure indicator.

Analyses of the brown stain on the Parthenon Centaur head in Denmark

In 1688 two sculptural fragments, a head of bearded man and a head of an unbearded youth, arrived in Copenhagen, sent from Athens as a gift to King Christian 5. They were placed in the Royal Kunstkammer, their provenance given as the Temple of Artemis in Ephesos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Almost a hundred and fifty years later, in the early 1820’s they were noticed and studied by two scholars independently visiting the Kunstkammer. However, both concluded that the two heads belonged to one of the metopes decorating the south side of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis in Athens, showing fighting between Greeks and the mythical Centaurs, part man and part horse. In the 1830’s another sculptural fragment, a horse’s hoof, obtained through the German archaeologist and state antiquary of Greece, Ludwig Ross, reached Copenhagen. It was forwarded by the Danish consul to Athens, C.T. Falbe, as a gift to King Christian 8. The inventory reads: ‘… was found on the Acropolis near the Parthenon temple and is supposed to belong to one the Centaurs on the metopes.’ The present paper focuses solely on the head of the Centaur.A brown stain was noticed on the Parthenon marbles as early as 1830 by the British Museum and has ever since eluded a deeper understanding of its genesis despite many investigations and attempts of analyses. A quite similar brown stain can be observed on the Centaur’s head in Copenhagen as well.The present study reports analyses by LA-ICP-MS, SEM–EDX, µXRD, GC–MS, and LC–MS-MS, as well as optical microscopy of five small samples sequestered in 1999 from the Centaur head curated by the National Museum of Denmark. Our analyses show that the brown stain consists of two consecutively added surficial layers of the calcium oxalate minerals whewellite and weddellite. Despite a thorough search using proteomics, we have found no viable organic precursor material for the oxalates. Our results do not solve the mystery of the formation of the brown stain, but they do further qualify the structure and characterization of the brown stain.

Polis Sites and Sightlines: Using Digital Techniques to Trace the Experience of the Built Environment of Hellenistic Athens

ABSTRACT Utilizing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photography and photogrammetry, this project created a digital elevation model of the Agora and Acropolis of Athens in order to understand the evolution of the city’s built environment in the Hellenistic and early Roman period (ca. 300 BCE–50 CE). Populated with 3D block models, the digital elevation model enabled advanced viewshed analyses that clarify which monuments were visible to—and interacted with—one another. This article demonstrates the capabilities and analytical potential of such modeling by examining the monuments dedicated to and by the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon and how these constructions affected the experience of the city’s built environment.

Inexpressible Number and the Secrets of the Erechtheion

In the Classical period, the Erechtheion and the Parthenon were constructed opposite each other on the Acropolis of Athens. If the Parthenon represents perfection, what can be said of the Erechtheion? We are familiar with the idea that the perceived perfection of monuments such as the Parthenon is due in large measure to their proportional systems. Can such a system possibly be at work in the Erechtheion, a structure that otherwise seems the antithesis of the compositionally simple, perfectly pure Parthenon? Asymmetrical buildings closely configured to elaborate programmatic requirements are the norm in contemporary architecture, yet the Erechtheion continues to seem idiosyncratic, and the intentions of its designers obscure. Yet the exquisite beauty of its carving has always promised more. This paper will show that the Erechtheion does indeed follow a rigorous proportional scheme that is consistent down to its smallest details and which is located firmly within a Greek tradition as passed on to us by Vitruvius. The proportional apparatus of ancient Greek architecture, most often interpreted as relationships of rational numbers, will be shown to control the design of the Erechtheion through the rational approximations of irrational numbers as described by ancient authors. Keywords: Erechtheion, Vitruvius, Ionic order, irrational numbers, square root of two

Scholars and the Politics of International Art Restitution

Almost every week brings news of another major European museum agreeing to return looted art. Since the 2000s we have grown somewhat accustomed to the headlines describing a ceremonial return to its original owners of a painting looted in the Holocaust, a process that took decades to develop and was initially met with considerable resistance in the art world and in the countries where this art was displayed.1 In the past few years, however, building in part on the perceived success of Holocaust art restitution but also on the increased visibility and impact of national and global social movements demanding racial justice and institutional decolonisation, major international museums have come under ever stronger pressure to return art looted as part of colonial occupations. Perhaps the most organised of the current campaigns is the campaign to return the so-called ‘Benin Bronzes’ – a vast collection of various artifacts looted from the Kingdom of Benin (in today's Nigeria) and dispersed across major international museums, most prominently the British Museum in London, the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, and the Musée du quai Branly in Paris, among others. Since 2020, a number of museums have pledged to return their holdings of Benin Bronzes and restitute them to Nigeria, where a major new museum is being built to display them in Benin City. All of this activity has also reenergised perhaps the most famous case for restitution – the movement to return the Parthenon ‘Elgin’ marbles from the British Museum to the Acropolis in Athens.

The Mycenaean Fountain and the Transformation of Space on the Athenian Acropolis: 1200 to 675 B.C.

The Mycenaean Fountain and the Transformation of Space on the Athenian Acropolis: 1200 to 675 B.C.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ЕВОЛЮЦІЇ АРХІТЕКТУРИ ТЕАТРАЛЬНИХ БУДІВЕЛЬ

The article is devoted to a thematic study of the history of the emergence and development of the architecture of theater buildings as a specific area of architectural creativity. Theater buildings have always been located, and are located today, in the public centers of large cities and urban agglomerations. These buildings perform an important cultural and educational function and are distinguished by architectural uniqueness and originality. They play an important organizing role in the architectural ensembles of city streets and squares, emphasizing the prospects of avenues and boulevards. The article gives examples of theatrical buildings of antiquity, the Renaissance, the classical period and theatrical buildings of recent years. The image of the theater of Dionysus in Athens, on the slope of the Athenian acropolis, is used as an image of an ancient theatrical building. The most characteristic example of the Italian Renaissance theater is the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio in 1580. In the interior of the theater, Palladio imitated the open space of Greek amphitheaters and the architectural style of ancient Rome. The Odessa Opera House can serve as an example of the development of the achievements of theatrical architecture of the 19th century. The most achievements of theatrical architecture of the 19th century. The most striking example of the theater of the 20th century is the Sydney Opera House – a symbol of new architecture created based on new building technologies. The 21st century is represented by more modern buildings: the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Poly Grand Theater in Shanghai, the New Philharmonic in Paris. Each building is a certain iconic phenomenon in the history of architecture and opens up new perspectives for rethinking the historical experience of the formation of such buildings. The architects made the most of the entire set of expressive means in order to draw the viewer's attention to the external appearance of the theater. Creating a background for the perception of a theatrical production and forming a sense of the continuity of the cultural space of theatrical art.

Wandering maidens in the Acropolis Propylaia: some considerations on the spatial setting of the cults of the Charites, Artemis and Hermes, their administration and related cult images

AbstractThis paper aims to develop a holistic view on the cults of the Charites, Artemis and Hermes which can plausibly be located in the Acropolis Propylaia. Based on the combined analysis of the spatial and architectural setting, which changed in the course of the erection of the Mnesiklean Propylaia in 437–432 BC, along with the imagery and textual evidence for these cults, I propose that due to the altered spatial distribution and the rotated building axes, initially separate cults were fused together. Consequently, iconographical shifts occur in the modes of depiction of these three divinities. The Charites, who were attached in Archaic imagery to Hermes, in the Classical period become iconographically intertwined with Artemis. The iconographic shift is detectable especially in the new cult images1 for Hermes Propylaios and Artemis Epipyrgidia with the Charites, which had been created by the sculptor Alkamenes, presumably by order of the Athenian state. This article should not be seen as a contribution to the analysis of copies (Kopienkritik) for known statue types or an architectural study; instead, its focus lies in the concepts of visualization of divine images, which were developed for a highly specific spatial setting in the cultic landscape of the Athenian Acropolis.

Archaeological Narratives in Greek History Textbooks

Abstract Building on previous research concerning the archaeological narratives of Greek history textbooks, this study investigates the impact of these studies on schoolchildren's historical ideas. In the context of these narratives, the article addresses two significant landmarks of Greek antiquity, namely the Mycenaean civilization and the Acropolis of Athens. It is a small scale sample survey that draws its data from a set of 120 twelve-year-old individuals who were asked to complete the survey at the beginning and end of the first year of secondary school. The results relativize the implicit or explicit assumption that history textbooks have a decisive influence on or even shape students’ historical ideas and interpretations. Rather, history textbooks primarily facilitate the acquisition of specific information.

The Geosites of the Sacred Rock of Acropolis (UNESCO World Heritage, Athens, Greece): Cultural and Geological Heritage Integrated

Athens, the capital of Greece, is notable for its distinctive environment. Numerous archaeological and historical monuments contribute to the city’s cultural wealth. These cultural monuments should include geological monuments, which are part of Athens’ natural heritage. The Acropolis of Athens is one of the world’s most recognizable and admired monuments, renowned for its archaeological, historical, and touristic significance. The Acropolis Rock is also a spectacular geological heritage monument. This article is about the Acropolis monuments, which are of great geological interest in addition to their cultural value. In recognizing each monument’s unique geological features and quantitatively evaluating them, in terms of educational, touristic, cultural, and accessibility value, we document their special value in geoeducation and geotourism, not only for the public, but also for the scientific community. The potential for exploiting these geosites, in terms of geotourism, is very high and important not only for strengthening the local economy, but also for raising visitor awareness of environmental, geological, and geoconservation issues. However, the lack of understanding of geological heritage in relation to cultural heritage is underlined. The need for strategic educational planning and integration of geo-environmental education into school practice is evident.

Monumentalization and Placemaking: From the Athenian Acropolis to Modern Spaces

Monumentalization and Placemaking: From the Athenian Acropolis to Modern Spaces

ARCHAIC INSCRIBED VOTIVES ON THE ATHENIAN ACROPOLIS: DATING THE DEDICATIONS OF ORDINARY MEN AND WOMEN

Sacred landscapes, like all landscapes in Greece, were subject to natural disasters; sometimes, however, Greeks could protect themselves and their buildings. N. Makris and his collaborators have explained in numerous publications how Greek architects and builders designed some of their temples in such a way that they were protected from destruction by earthquakes. There were, however, other causes of ruin: the temple of Zeus at Nemea, for example, was destroyed by human looters. Unlike destruction due to some natural causes, protecting temples from human destruction could not so easily rely upon scientific ingenuity and experience. The destruction that the Persians wreaked upon the Acropolis of Athens in 480 BCE is perhaps the best known: it is well documented in the descriptive accounts of ancient historians (Herodotus, Thucydides and Diodorus Siculus) as well as in the archaeological evidence on the ground; the case for the totality of that destruction is accepted by most scholars today. Here we focus, however, not on the destruction, but on the chance preservation of material objects in the Acropolis deposits; our interest lies broadly in the methods used for dating the oldest of these deposits, viz., the rubble left by the Persian devastation (often designated the Perserschutt in the last century); eventually, we shall be interested in identifying a method for dating the letters of inscribed texts amongst the oldest finds. The preliminary enterprise here is part of a larger project, the publication of a new edition of the archaic inscribed bronze dedications on the Athenian Acropolis.

Investigation of a suitable porous stone for the restoration work on the Acropolis circuit wall

The present work describes the research that was carried out to define a suitable replacement or supplementary stone to use in the restoration work of the circuit wall of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The main original building material of the wall is known as Aktitis stone, originating from the ancient quarries of Piraeus, which are no longer accessible. Given the constant exposure to a combination of decay agents, the building materials of the Acropolis wall have begun to present various weathering patterns that gradually have reduced their mechanical properties. When the stability of the structure is threatened and it is not possible to use fresh stones of the same type as the original, it is necessary to use an alternative compatible replacement stone during the restoration. Therefore, an evaluation of eight porous stone samples originating from active quarries in Sitia (Crete), Afytos (Chalkidiki) and Pitsa (Corinthia) in Greece was carried out, through various methods, including determination of physical and moisture transfer properties, uniaxial compression strength tests and color parameter measurements. Moreover, to study the resistance of the samples in the crystallization of soluble salts, accelerated aging tests were performed in sodium sulfate cycles. A comparative evaluation is made between the quarry stones and the original, to draw conclusions about the appropriate materials for use in the upcoming interventions.

Architectural Polychromy on the Athenian Acropolis: An In Situ Non-Invasive Analytical Investigation of the Colour Remains

The preservation of the Athenian Acropolis monuments constitutes an ongoing top-priority national project of global significance and impact. The project concerning the analytical investigation of the polychromy of the Acropolis monuments presented in this paper was part of the Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA) program (2011–2015), regarding the restoration of the two corners of the west entablature of the Parthenon, which exhibited severe static damage, and a parallel restoration program of the Propylaea. The scope of this research was to investigate the materials in the paint decoration remains on the monuments by applying, entirely in situ, numerous non-invasive techniques on selected architectural members of the Parthenon and the Propylaea. The research focused, mainly, on surfaces where traces of colour or decoration patterns were visible to the naked eye. Furthermore, surfaces that are referred to in the literature as decorated but that are currently covered with weathering crusts (of white or black colour) and/or layers of patina (of yellowish and orange-brown hue), were also examined. The techniques applied in situ on the Acropolis monuments were X-ray fluorescence, micro-Raman, and Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques, conducted with the use of handheld or portable instruments. The scientific data gathered in situ are discussed in this paper to enhance our knowledge of the architectural polychromy of the classical period. Further investigation by applying analytical techniques on a few selected micro-samples would be highly complementary to this present work.

A Potential Mitigation Measure for the Seismic Distress of the Circuit Wall at the Acropolis of Athens

The seismic design of new retaining structures is usually performed following modern seismic norms. Nonetheless, there are various monumental retaining structures (e.g., fortifications) with high seismic vulnerability, which must be protected against earthquakes, while there exist several limitations on the type of mitigation measures that can be applied to such cultural heritage structures. The present study investigates numerically the seismic response and distress of the Circuit Wall of the Athenian Acropolis. The Wall is a monumental masonry retaining structure surrounding the world-class archeological monuments of the hill of the Acropolis. Given the fact that the wider region of Athens is characterized by moderate seismicity, it is necessary to protect the Wall from strong ground motions. For this purpose, the geological, seismological, and topographic conditions of the Acropolis hill, as well as the geometry and the mechanical properties of the Wall, are realistically taken into account. A realistic finite-element model has been developed for a critical section of the Wall, which has been validated with available records from accelerometers being installed on the Wall. Subsequently, an efficient and suitable—according to international monument restoration guidelines—seismic mitigation measure is proposed. The results of dynamic earth-pressure distribution on the Wall are presented before and after the application of expanded polystyrene (EPS) blocks behind the Wall. Α detailed parametric study illustrates a substantial reduction of dynamic pressures on the Wall when the EPS blocks are applied, either along the entire height or only at the lower part of the Wall.

Alvar Aalto and Cultural Memory

This article examines the meanings of the past which Aalto wanted to transpose into his architecture – what I term cultural memory. I search for their points of origin in Aalto’s education and travels, in particular his impressions of the Acropolis in Athens. For Aalto, a civic centre was “the face of a city”, which should be the citizens’ meeting place. Of particular importance to him was the ritual entry into a theatre. Of the many civic centres that Aalto designed, few were realised in their entirety. Three of them are examined, as well as the Helsinki University of Technology campus, which is interpreted as a city in miniature. Aalto fought against the idea of placing commercial functions in close proximity with his centres – but recent extensions and traffic arrangements have brought a new vibrancy to some of them. The way in which Aalto handled the idea of memory and his use of classical elements is studied. I argue that classicism seemed continuously attractive to Aalto.

The Erechtheion on the Acropolis of Athens

The location of the temple of the mythical king Erechtheus, known as the “Erechtheion”, on the Acropolis of Athens is an old topographical problem. Over the centuries, the Erechtheion’s traditional identification with a part of the Karyatid Temple on the north side of the Acropolis has attracted considerable doubt. However, alternative locations have not been commonly accepted. The present article begins with an analysis of the problem and previous proposals. It then considers the hypothesis that the Erechtheion was situated on the so-called “Dörpfeld foundation” in the middle of the Acropolis, the site of an Archaic building that was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BCE. Many scholars already locate the Archaic incarnation of the Erechtheion in a part of this building and suppose that, following its destruction, the Erechtheion was relocated to the Karyatid Temple. The present article, however, argues that the Erechtheion was not moved, but continued to be recognized in the Dörpfeld foundation until the end of antiquity.

“At the Threshold of Silence”: Le Corbusier, “Le Parthénon,” and the Vision of Antiquity

In 1914, three years after his visit to the Acropolis in Athens during his travels through the East, Le Corbusier wrote “Le Parthénon,” the penultimate chapter in the diary published posthumously in 1966 under the title Voyage d’Orient. The text, studied here from the original 1914 manuscript, is distinctive in that it attenuates the journalistic style prevalent in other chapters of Voyage to express considerations on artistic creation and the meaning of making architecture. The analysis reveals a powerful visionary component, inspired by images borrowed from painting and literature that would leave indelible traces in Le Corbusier’s poetics.