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Ottoman Athens
1458-1821
In 1456 the Ottomans
reach Athens and occupy the city peacefully with
the capitulation of Duke Acciaiuoli in 1458.
Sultan
Mehmed II reaches the city in August and
admires the ancient citadel.
Contrary to the westerners, the Turks show bigger respect to
the city. They do not plunder the monuments neither
they harm them. Only some
changes took place in the Parthenon with the
addition of a minaret, for
the transformation into a mosque
and in the Erechtheum which was used for accommodating
the harem.
The surface of the Acropolis was covered by many houses were the Turkish
families, the garrison and the commander resided. Due to its importance as a
fortress, the entrance to the Acropolis was denied to christians unless they had
a special license.
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General view
of the Acropolis during the first years of Ottoman occupation. The
Parthenon is converted into a mosque and the whole surface is covered by
houses. |
The Parthenon
after the conversion into a mosque with the minaret in the southwest
corner. |
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View from the
west. |
Part of the
Acropolis from the north. Cannons were positioned all around the walls
for better defense. On the left is the Erechtheum and in the background
the Parthenon as a mosque. |
The monuments of
the Acropolis and mainly the Parthenon
used to stand almost
intact since the antiquity.
In the 17th century, however,
two destructions were caused. A lightning
caused an explosion in the Propylaea where gunpowder
was stored, in 1640. The next gunpowder
magazine became the Parthenon. During the
siege of the Venetians, under the command of the future Doge Francesco Morosini, a canon
shell fell in the Parthenon and caused a huge explosion,
in the night of
September 26, 1687. The Turks built
immediately afterwards a smaller mosque in the ruins of the Parthenon which was
demolished in 1844 along with all the houses. The big medieval tower in the
Propylaea was demolished in 1875.
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View of the
Acropolis after 1687. The Propylaea and the Parthenon have suffered
severe damages from the explosions. |
The
destroyed Propylaea were used as a cannon battlement. |
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The small mosque inside the Parthenon's ruins. |
Another view
of the mosque. It was demolished in 1844. |
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