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600-479 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-Persians Wars.
Peisistratos builds the first wall
around the city. This wall was almost circular and had eight gates. Many
monuments are built on the Acropolis, and for the first time an underground
aqueduct is constructed bringing water from mount Hymettus. On the Acropolis the
first temple of Athena is built. In an attempt to bring the Ionic Minor Asia
cities' elegance to Athens, he begins the construction of the giant temple of
Olympian Zeus (Olympieion) which will remain unfinished
and will only be completed under the roman emperor Hadrian in 130 A.D.
Following the tyranny of
Peisistratos and his sons a new era begins for Athens. In 504 B.C., Cleisthenes
creates a new type of regime: Democracy. This new type of administration
requires the construction of new, public, buildings in the area of Agora. On the
Acropolis a new building programme will begin, 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 build the forst Temple of Athena Nike (Victory) near the Propylaia.
During the second phase of the Greco-Persian Wars, in 479 B.C., the Athenians,
seeing the Persians advancing, evacuate their city with their fleet and settle
in the nearby island of Salamis. The Persians with the general Mardonius enter
Athens and burn it to the ground. But after the battle of Salamis and the
retreat of the Persians, the citizens return. 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 continues. The ruins of the old temple of Athena on the Acropolis are
left undisturbed, but near them a new temple starts being constructed. The
Parthenon. Later on, the old temple of Athena is totally demolished and some of
its members were placed on the north wall of the Acropolis as a reminder of the
Persian Wars. There, one can see them even today.
For the monuments of Archaic Athens click below:
THE
ACROPOLIS
THE AGORA
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