The Acropolis of Athens is, without a doubt, the most popular attraction of  the Greek capital. Approximately seven million tourists climb the hill of the Acropolis each year to admire the complex and take a close look at the Parthenon. 

Acropolis in Greek refers to a high point within a city. Many ancient Greek cities had their own Acropolis, which was usually a citadel on top of a hill. The most famous Acropolis is by far that of Athens. It was a sacred space devoted to the  city’s patron goddess,  Athena, who gave her name to Athens.

The Acropolis rises 490 feet above sea level and covers a surface area of about 30,000 square meters. The earliest instances of human occupation of the Acropolis belong to the Neolithic phase of the 4th millennium B.C., where evidence shows human occupation in the caves around Attica.

Although the Acropolis was the center of Athens’s religious life for centuries, it became famous in the fifth century BCE, the golden age of Athenian democracy. 

Pericles , the prominent politician of the period, had the idea of a new Acropolis. This Acropolis would make Athens a city of unique beauty and greatness. After spending a huge amount of money, the Athenians completely reshaped the rock of Acropolis into a place of wonders. The famous Parthenon of the Acropolis, the temple of Athena Parthenos, was built at that time along with a series of buildings like the Erechtheion and the Propylaea. 

The marble that composes the Acropolis’s classical structures, including the Parthenon, is not local. It was quarried at Mount Pentelicus, located 10 miles to the northeast of Athens and famed for the uniformity of its white marble.

In ancient times, there was a colossal bronze statue of Athena standing on the Acropolis. The statue was called Athena Promachos, meaning the one who fights in the front line. This statue was the work of Phidias, who also made the famous golden-ivory Athena Parthenos that was inside the Parthenon. According to Pausanias , the Athenians built the statue to thank Athena after overcoming the Persians in Marathon.

The Parthenon wasn’t always white. Although for the longest time people assumed the Parthenon was entirely white, later scientists learned that the roof was painted in various colors which have vanished over the centuries. The Parthenon is often called  “the world’ s most perfect building”. Architectural tricks like a slight angling of the temple pedestal correct the optical impression that the building sags in the middle, and barrel-like curves on the columns counteract the illusion that they narrow in the middle. So in a way, one might say the Parthenon’s perfection is only achieved through a series of deliberate imperfections.

The temple dedicated to Athena was built in 447 BC and completed 9 years after, although it took another 6 years to decorate the structure. It was constructed during the time when the Athenian Empire was at its most powerful.

The temple was the first on Acropolis to have a fully Ionic order form. It has been dismantled to remove its friezes, which are now on display in the Acropolis Museum. The friezes depict several scenes such as the deeds of Hercules and involves various sculptures.

Pagan temples at the Acropolis date back to the 6th century BCE. Over the following centuries, the Acropolis’s religious identity was regularly altered by empires and conquerors. At some point before 693 CE the Parthenon was converted into a Byzantine cathedral. The occupying Franks transformed the Parthenon once again in 1204,  this time into a Catholic cathedral. Under the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, it was reborn again as a Muslim mosque, with a minaret added on its southwest corner.

It’s a sad fact that many of the ancient artifacts from the Acropolis of Athens are not in Greece today. From one of the statues that used to hold up the roof of the Erechtheion to the so-called Elgin marbles, many foreign museums, such as the British Museum, house archaeological artifacts from the Acropolis. Greece has repeatedly asked to have them returned to where they belong, but since Lord Elgin claimed to have had permission from the Ottomans to take the marbles, the British refuse to return them.

The value of this ancient citadel was not understood until 1833, a few years after Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. From that year on, it has been operating as an archaeological site, meaning it is protected by law. For example, planes and drones cannot fly over the Acropolis.