What Is The Agora Of Athens?
The Ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, which was initially used for commercial, assembly or residential gatherings. In modern Greek, the term means marketplace. It is located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bordered on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios Kolonos, also called Market Hill.
Just about every ancient and modern city includes a place for an agora, and the Agora of Athens, remained in use for about 5 000 years. The area has undergone countless building, destruction, and rebuilding cycles. Today this stratum of history has been extracted through excavations to expose the Agora’s important functions from Archaic to Greco-Roman and Byzantine times.
History
The Agora of Athens has been in use since the late Neolithic era. Excavations unearthed about 50 tholos tombs with multiple burials from the period between 1600 and 1100 BC (known as the Mycenaean period) and 80 graves dating back to 1100 – 700 BC (the Iron ages).
Over the years the Agora developed with public buildings and workshops emerging on a relatively flat ground, easily accessible from the centre of the city, the Athenian farmlands, and from the port of Pireas. Its growth conformed to the existing ancient roads, especially the Panathenaic way that connected the Dipylon Gate (the main gate) with the Acropolis.
From the 6th and until the 1st century BC the Agora played a central role in the development of the Athenian ideals. It was the heart of the government and the judiciary, a public place of debate, a place of worship, and a marketplace. During this time, the Agora’s political, cultural, and economic influence shaped some of the most important decisions undertaken in the shaping of what we call today Western Civilization.
The early buildings, mostly bunched on the west end of the Agora, were destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC, but the entire area was rebuilt to include development in the north, west, and southern areas with the erection of three Stoas, (the Poikile, the Southern, and the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios), the Tholos, the New Bouleuterion, the Mint, The Dikastiria (law courts), several fountains, with an assortment of artisan workshops. The fine temple of Hephaestus was built on the low knoll of Kolonos Agoraios in 450 BC as part of the extensive rebuilding of sacred places initiated by Pericles.
The Romans under Sulla plundered the Agora in 86 BC, but later contributed to its growth with impressive buildings programs that lasted until the end of the 2nd century. A series of invasions plagued and buried it for the next 700 years.
After 1821 and for the duration of the Greek revolution, sporadic clashes with the occupying Ottomans in its grounds brought further damage to the existing buildings. With the removal of the Turks and the establishment of the modern Greek state, the area was urbanized with residential and commercial buildings. At the same time, isolated excavations began around this burst of construction.
The importance of the area compelled the Greek government to define 121 000 square meters as a dedicated archaeological site, prompting the removal of four hundred contemporary buildings and systematic excavations to begin. In 1832, the Hephaisteion became the first Greek archaeological museum.
Between 1953 and 1956, the Stoa of Attalos was rebuild according to the ancient plans to house the fruits of the Agora excavations and the museum where the most important artifacts are put on public exhibition.
Archaeological Remains
The American School of Classical Studies has been excavating the ancient Athenian agora at Athens since 1931 under the direction of T. Leslie Shear, Sr. They continue to do so today under the direction of John McK Camp.
After the initial phase of excavation, in the 1950s the Hellenistic Stoa of Attalos was reconstructed on the east side of the agora, and today serves as a museum and as storage and office space for the excavation team.
Today the site includes a large part of the ancient Agora but much of it remains buried under the shops of the Monastiraki area. Several coffee shops and restaurants have installed glass floors in their basements so their patrons can glimpse at the ancient ruins beneath.
Interest For Today
For today’s visitor, the Agora is not important for the splendour of its buildings, but for the significance of its history. In contrast to the ruins two buildings stand as testaments to its past glory, the Temple of Hephaestus and the Stoa of Attalos.
The first excavations in the Agora area took place between 1859 and 1912. Important remains, including large sculptures, were found in a deep trench when the railway tracks were being installed.
In the end, 360 modern edifices were demolished to expose the whole Agora. After the excavated, the Stoa of Attalos, a large building constructed during the Hellenistic period, was rebuilt according to the original plans. It was given to Athens by the King Attalus of Pergamon. Today, it features the Ancient Agora Museum, which was founded in 1957.
The museum’s collection contains various items found during the excavations, like ceramics, jewels, weaponry, and coins.
Although most of the buildings in the Agora are not well preserved, some have been reconstructed extremely well. The Agora is also home to the Temple of Hephaestus, one of the best-preserved temples of Ancient Greece. It was built between 449 and 415 BC.
The Ancient Agora is one of the capital’s most special landmarks. Despite the austere state of the archaeological site today with scant ruins, and fragments of buildings and objects scattered about, the Athenian Agora continues writing chapters in its history.
Location
The Agora of Athens is in Athens, Greece at the coordinates 37°58′30″N 23°43′21″E
Address: Adrianou street, Athens, Attica 105 55
Tourist Information
The Agora of Athens is open from Monday to Sunday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM but the hours are subject to change.
Tickets are:
- Adult: 8€ (US$8.7)
- Student: 4€ (US$4.3)
- Adult combined ticket: 30€ (US$32.5)
- Student combined ticket: 15€ (US$16.3)
The combined entrance includes: Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Theatre of Dionysus, Kerameikos, Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Library.
Telephone: +30 21 0321 0185
