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600-480 B.C.
THE CITY
The Archaic period for Athens is
distinguished for three reasons. The tyranny of Peisistratos, the founding of
Democracy, and the Greco-Persian Wars.
Peisistratos built the first wall
around the city. This wall was almost circular and had eight gates. Many
monuments were built on the Acropolis, and for the first time an underground
aqueduct was constructed to bring water from mount Hymettus. On the Acropolis the
first temple of Athena was constructed. In an attempt to bring the Ionic Minor
Asia cities' elegance to Athens, he begun the construction of the giant temple of
Olympian Zeus (Olympieion) which remained unfinished
only to be completed under the roman emperor Hadrian in 130 A.D.
Following the tyranny of
Peisistratos and his sons a new era begun for Athens. In 504 B.C., Cleisthenes
created a new type of regime: Democracy. This new type of administration
required the construction of new, public, buildings in the area of Agora. On the
Acropolis a new building programme started, basically after the victorious
battle of Marathon.
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images in full screen, just click on them!
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Panoramic view of Athens
from the west, where the municipality of Peristeri
stands today. |
Aerial view of archaic
Athens surrounded with the wall of Peisistratos. On the top left
is the Agora. South of the Acropolis, the green circle is the
sanctuary of Dionyssos, what will
eventually evolve to the first theatre.
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In the memory of this battle, the
Athenians built the first Temple of Athena Nike (Victory) near the Propylaia.
During the second phase of the Greco-Persian Wars, in 480 B.C., the Athenians,
seeing the Persians advancing, evacuated their city with their fleet and settled
in the nearby island of Salamis. The Persians with the general Mardonius entered
Athens and burned it to the ground. But after the battle of Salamis and the
retreat of the Persians, the citizens returned. After the wars, the Greek cities
gave an oath not to rebuilt the temples destroyed by the Persians in order to
remember the disasters of the war. Nevertheless, in Athens, the building
programme continued. The ruins of the old temple of Athena on the Acropolis were
left undisturbed, but near them a new temple started being constructed. The
Parthenon. Later on, the old temple of Athena was totally demolished and some of
its members were placed on the north wall of the Acropolis as a reminder of the
Persian Wars, where they are still visible.
For the monuments of Archaic Athens click below:
THE
ACROPOLIS
THE AGORA
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