Acropolis at Night 01
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Acropolis at Night 01
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The Acropolis at night, Athens, Greece, 5th century BC.
The Acropolis is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the Parthenon among them. The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was also more properly known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king.
While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as early as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles (c. 495–429 BC) who coordinated the construction of the buildings whose present remains are the site's most important ones, including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike.
The Acropolis was the Alamo for the Athenians in times of war. The city grew below the stone outcrop and the old men, women and children would take refuge inside if the city was threatened. The fortress could only be reached along a straight narrowing bare slope that came up to the entrance at the left of the picture, where a fortified gate awaited. That would be the last defense. That gate and ramp faced the coast, 12km away, where the enemy ships would arrive. The Athenian soldiers would attack and harass the invaders as soon as they touched land so they had to tread these 12 km tired from the journey, thirsty, and packed with all their equipment. If the strategy failed, Athens as a free Greek City-State would have ceased to exist...
This is the city that led and won the wars against the Persian Empire the result of which was the occidental world as we know it.
More amazing images from Ancient Civilizations one copy-paste away at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/ancient+civilizations
More amazing images from Greece one copy-paste away at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/greece
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
September 18th, 2023
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