Temple of the Erechtheion in Athens: history, myths and interesting facts

Each stone in sunny Greece can tell its story to a non-indifferent listener. Myths, legends and heroes are firmly intertwined in this beautiful ancient country.

The capital of Greece

Tourists visiting Greece, do not disregard its beautiful capital - Athens. The ancient city is striking with its fine beauty, snow-white beaches and monuments of architecture, which everyone read in school years.

The city, named after the goddess of wisdom Athena, proudly carried the banner of enlightenment and justice not only to the Greeks, but to all the peoples of the Mediterranean. Athens for its long history knew the shame of destruction, periods of decline and unprecedented heyday. It seems that the goddess herself patronized him and carefully raised her from her knees every time. Many people think that Athens is a symbol of Greek culture, its song.

Modern Athens

Tourists point out that Athens managed to combine all the best in modern civilization with the cultural heritage of their ancestors. The city lives and breathes a full breast. From the side of Athens are an absolutely modern city. Highways, cafes, restaurants, bars and discos. It has everything to inspire the tourist. But if you take a little interest in the history of the city, he will generously open his treasury for you.

Athens Attractions

Athens is not without reason proud of its history. Walking, seeing the sights of the city, you can endlessly. The Acropolis is considered a true jewel of Athens. Twenty-five centuries of history of this magnificent structure will be opened to the look of a curious tourist.

Acropolis

Acropolis - the most replicated historical monument of Greece. His power shakes people so far. To imagine that this monumental building was conceived, designed and built by the hands of ordinary people is rather difficult. Although the Greeks never considered themselves ordinary people. Everyone will tell you the legend of kinship with the gods. Now this monument is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Acropolis itself is built on a hill, whose height is one hundred and fifty six meters. Unfortunately, not all its structures and ancient temples have survived to this day . But even the preserved monuments give an idea of the unprecedented beauty of this place.

Today you can see only a few monuments of Greek culture. At the entrance you will be greeted by the magnificent gate of the Propylaea. On the slopes of the Acropolis, you can see two half-ruined ancient theaters. The Temple Parthenon, dedicated to the patroness of Athens, at the time of its heyday brought the hearts of the worshipers of the goddess into awe. The main decoration of the Acropolis was the temple of the Erechtheion. Historians and archaeologists still consider it the most amazing and non-trivial monument of ancient Greece.

What is the Erechtheum?

This question is often asked by tourists, and city residents know exactly the answer to it. Temple Erechtheion was an amazing fusion of several Greek cults. According to historical facts, the Greeks built their temples and sanctuaries for one of the figures of the pantheon of the gods. The most revered were Athena and Zeus. Monumental churches were built in their honor, colorful celebrations and processions were held.

Ancient architects, creating the Acropolis, the Temple of Erechtheion made it the main treasure. Even now it is the most preserved of all, represented on the hill. Its value for scientists is that the Temple of Erechtheion was not intended to be visited by ordinary people. The right to enter there were only ministers of the cult, and inside the temple there were three sanctuaries dedicated to Athena, Poseidon and King Erechtei.

Erechtheion: description of the temple

The unification of several cults in and of itself made the temple unique in its kind. Neither before nor after the Greeks built such monumental structures.

On the site of the construction of the sanctuary there used to be another temple, destroyed and burned to the ground by the Persians during the Greco-Persian war. By order of the great Pericles, the foundation of a new temple complex was laid on this site. The construction itself began after the death of Pericles and according to some data it lasted more than fifteen years. The architect of the temple is considered to be the Greek Mysikl. Although in this issue historians can not come to a unanimous opinion. The architect had to show all his talents to design and build this miracle of architectural thought.

The soil on which the Erechtheion temple stands, has significant elevations. Therefore, the structure is located at once in several levels. This brilliant discovery of Mysicles fits perfectly into the concept of the temple complex - serving several religious cults.

During the construction of the Hellenes, snow-white Pentel's marble and a dark stone for finishing the frieze were used. Sunlight very successfully flashed an amazing marble carving surrounding the facade of the temple. The architect used absolutely new solutions with the colonnade of the temple. According to the tradition of the Greeks, the temples were decorated on all sides with massive columns. When building the Erechtheion from this tradition departed. He was surrounded on three sides by the most beautiful porticoes, each different from the other with its style and size. Some scientists suggest that there was a fourth portico. But the evidence for this archaeologists have not been found.

What did the temple look like?

Now it is rather difficult to imagine what the temple looked like after the construction was completed. Although authoritative in scientific circles historians argue that the temple of the Erechtheion was never completed. They believe that during the construction process the original plan was changed several times and simplified. Because of the protracted Peloponnesian war, the Greeks were in a hurry to finish the expensive construction and left some parts of the sanctuary in unfinished form. Despite these assumptions, our contemporaries managed to make his description. The temple plan of the Erechtheion is recreated in some detail.

The total area of the temple is almost three hundred square meters. And this without taking into account the porticoes framing the sanctuary! The temple was divided into three wings, each of which had a separate roof and was dedicated to its deity.

The eastern part belonged entirely to Athena-Pallas, the keeper of the ancient city. To its facade adjoined six columns, the height of which was about six and a half meters. In this part of the temple Erechtheion was a beautiful statue of the goddess, illuminated day and night by the light of the golden lamp. It should be noted that this lamp itself is of considerable interest for scientists. Its creator, Callimachus, invented a special design that allowed to add oil to the lamp only once a year. This amount was enough for exactly three hundred and sixty-five days.

In the north wing you could enter through the main door of the temple. The entrance was framed by four ornate marble columns.

The western wing was framed by four half-columns, which opened up a magnificent facade with frescoes. The whole facade was decorated with marble carvings along the perimeter with images of three Attic deities. Four tall window openings perfectly fitted in the proportion of the west wing and complemented this magnificent ensemble.

To the southern part of the Erechtheion temple there was a well-preserved portico of Pandrosion, which has survived to the present day. He was named in honor of one of the daughters of Cecrops, half-human half-man. The townspeople revered him as the founder of Athens. The portico was stripped of columns, it supported by four graceful sculptures of the girls-caryatids. The caryatids of the Erechtheion temple were an innovative device in the world architecture. For the first time in history, the Greeks used sculptures to support supporting structures. Subsequently, this method began to be used in their works by architects from all over the world. Caryatids still impress tourists with their magnificent performance: every face and garment is carved from white marble with the greatest skill and authenticity.

Now on the Acropolis there are exact copies of these sculptures. The originals can be seen in the Acropolis museum. There are also fragments of bas-reliefs from the facade of the Erechtheion temple. One of the caryatids was secretly taken out by the English lord to his homeland and is now exhibited in the exposition of the British Museum.

In all parts of the temple there were sanctuaries. The main ones were devoted to Athena, Poseidon and Erechté. In the territory of the Erechtheion, military trophies and relics, strictly revered by the Athenians, were kept.

Legends and myths of the ancient sanctuary

What was actually the famous temple of the Erechtheion in Athens? History carefully presented closely intertwined legends.

According to one of them, the temple was erected on the site of the dispute between Athena and Poseidon. Two deities argued about who would patronize the beautiful city. For a long time they could not resolve this issue. The townspeople proposed to the obstinate gods to make a present to the city. The person whose gift will be most useful will be recognized as the patron of the city. Poseidon broke the hill with the trident's blow, and poured a stream of sea water into the city. Athena, in turn, grew an olive tree, which later became the symbol of Greece. The primacy of the townspeople was given to the goddess of wisdom, and in honor of this dispute the Erechtheion temple was built. The Greeks still show tourists one of the walls of the structure, on which there was a deep trace from the trident of the god of the seas.

King Erecht has a special place in Greek history. Under his imperious hand, Athens reached the highest prosperity, and the cult of the goddess acquired an unprecedented influence on the territory of Greece. After the death of the legendary Erekhtey buried in the temple and created a sanctuary.

It was believed that inside the temple of Erechtheion there is a cave where the serpent of the goddess Athena lived. The priestesses of the cult always followed the mood of this snake. If he refused to bring food, the city was in serious trouble. According to some Greek myths, the serpent was the embodiment of the legendary king.

Inside the temple there is a well with salt water. The Greeks say that it was this water that poured out of the rock during the dispute between Poseidon and Athena. This well was especially protected and revered as the ministers of the Poseidon cult. It was believed that while the water in the well did not run out, Athens would receive the protection not only of her goddess, but also of the contradictory Poseidon. All this, of course, amusing legends. But scientists still can not explain the origin of salt water on the high hill of the Acropolis. She was subjected to various studies and laboratory analyzes. It is proved that it is really sea water, which could not be in the well in any way. And the water level in fact always remains the same.

The destruction of the temple of the Erechtheum

The decline of Hellenic civilization almost destroyed this amazing monument of architecture. Until the seventeenth century, he was subjected to only a small destruction, but the barbaric actions of the Venetians changed his appearance beyond recognition.

For many years, the Christian priests celebrated the rituals in the church, and later the Turks made a harem for the Sultan's wives.

Despite this, archaeologists have managed to find in the excavation of a lot of valuable artifacts, which are now exhibited for tourists in the museum of the Acropolis.

Greece presented the world with the greatest architectural monuments, which tourists from all over the world seek to see. The Acropolis is recognized as the most beautiful heritage of Greece, the Temple of Erechtheion became the rarest pearl, which serves as the best decoration of this monument of the Hellenic civilization.