Acropolis Of Athens, Athens, Greece

The Acropolis of Athens, is an ancient citadel, located on a rocky outcrop, above the city of Athens, and contains the remains, of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being, the Parthenon. The word acropolis, is from the Greek words, akron, "highest point, extremity" and polis, "city". The term acropolis, is generic and there are many other acropoleis, in Greece. During ancient times, the Acropolis of Athens, was known also more properly as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the supposed first, Athenian king.

While there is evidence, that the hill was inhabited as far back, as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles ( 495–429 BC) in the fifth century BC, who coordinated the construction of the buildings, whose present remains, are the site's most important ones, including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Parthenon, and the other buildings, were seriously damaged, during the 1687 siege, by the Venetians during the Morean War, when gunpowder being stored in the Parthenon, was hit by a Venetian bombardment, and exploded.

Every four years, the Athenians had a festival called the Great Panathenaea, that rivaled the Olympic Games in popularity. During the festival, a procession (believed to be depicted on the Parthenon frieze) traveled through the city, via the Panathenaic Way, and culminated on the Acropolis. There, a new robe of woven wool, (peplos) was placed, on either the statue of Athena Polias, in the Erechtheum, or on the statue of Athena Parthenos, in the Parthenon (during the Great Panathenaea, held every four years).

Within the later tradition of Western Civilization, and classical revival, the Acropolis, from at least the mid-18th century on, has often been invoked, as a key symbol of the Greek legacy, and of the glories of Classical Greece.

Most of the artefacts, from the temple, are housed today in the Acropolis Museum, at the foot of the ancient rock.

The Greek Ministry of Tourism, has announced that over 16 thousand people, visit the Acropolis every day, in 2022.