Friday, December 28
In the morning we visited the Roman Agora which is on the North side of the Acropolis not far from the Ancient/Greek Agora. Construction on this square began in the first century BC by Julius and Augustus Caesar. It held a large wooden covered colonnade on one side and on the other was an open air market place.
Part of the gate to the West is preserved but the only remnants of the building are the series of column bases that formed the outline. After the invasion of the Herules in 267 AD, which destroyed most of Athens, the Roman Agora became the commercial and administrative center of Athens. By the time the Ottomans conquered the city the entire square had been destroyed and it became covered with houses, churches and mosques.
(The West Gate)
The space that was the open air marketplace contains a tall, octagonal tower called the Tower of the Winds that was an ancient, water driven clock. The panels above contain friezes that illustrate the characteristics of the winds from the eight cardinal points of the compass. We were able to see into the interior. The roof is a marvel. It is a vault containing 24 large slabs of stone that are set in place by a round keystone. The walls were once painted but only faint traces of color can be seen today. The clock mechanism was similar to the Antikythera that was found in 1901. It’s likely that the tower survived only because it was repurposed. The Byzantines used it as a church and the Ottomans used it as a meeting house.
(The Tower of the Winds)
During the Byzantine era three churches were built on this site. One of them, which was converted to a mosque at one time, is still fully intact. When we were there we saw a presentation of photos taken by the Germans during their occupation of Athens during World War II. It was interesting to see many of the most famous sites as they appeared over 60 years ago. Outside we found the remains of what had once been a minaret.
After seeing the Agora we went in search of lunch. We had intended to go back to one of the falafel places we had already eaten at when a souvlaki restaurant called Ermina’s caught our eye. We ordered a beef souvlaki and a side of french fries. Amusingly, the souvlaki came with fries so we had more than enough. The plate came with five small beef patties that were freshly cooked on the grill and were perfectly seasoned (we’re not really sure what the seasonings were but they were fantastic). There was also some yogurt sauce and grilled vegetables including tomatoes and onions. Total cost was €5.90 / $6.75.
(Souvlaki from Ermina’s)
We stopped in next door for dessert. It’s a place called Lukumades that bills itself as selling “Authentic Greek Delights”. Inside they were making small fried donuts, similar to zeppeli, with a variety of fillings and toppings. We choose chestnut filling and white chocolate sauce as our topping. For €5.75 / $6.60 we received twelve donuts that were drenched in sauce. They were hot, fresh, greasy and absolutely delicious. The chestnut filling, which is only available during the Christmas season, was very good but the white chocolate sauce was simply amazing. The place had just a couple of tables inside and a few more outside. It was an absolute madhouse. We’ll definitely be going there again.
(Lukumades from Lukumades)
Our next destination was the Temple of Zeus. Along the way we stopped into a number of small, Byzantine churches. It’s easy to tell that many of them have been constructed out of fragments of marble that were repurposed from more ancient monuments.
By the time we got to the Temple of Zeus it was 2:30 pm. Since it closed at 3:00 pm we decided to come back another day so we could see it at a leisurely pace.
Distance walked: 5.7 miles