We were able to go to the Acropolis Hill earlier in the year and marvel at the Parthenon and the other temples at the top of the hill. However we did not get to go to the Acropolis museum at that time so we headed in on this rainy Thursday. But first we headed to the Jewelry Museum to say hi to Alkistis, the silversmith that we had seen there earlier. Leslie showed her the necklace that she found on Argostoli that matches the ear rings she bought from Alkistis. Then lunch at Opos Palia which was a delicious meal. Fortified with food we tackled the Acropolis Museum. The top floor matched the dimensions of the Parthenon, which had an inner and an outer set of columns. Along the top of these columns ran a wall that was adorned with bass relief panels. The inner set of panels depicted the Panathenaic Festival, celebrating the birth of Athena. The outer set of panels depicted various themes of conflict such as the war with the Amazons and the war with the Centaurs. Half of the original frieze panels were destroyed from antiquity or later in the explosion of 1687. The Ottoman Turks stored their gunpowder in the Parthenon during a conflict with the Venetians. A unlucky cannon shot hit the powder and bley up half the Parthenon. The remaining original panels are divided between the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum with a few found in other museums as well. In the following pictures any bright white panel or white section of a panel is a plaster cast of a panel that is not in the Acropolis museum. The darker ones are the originals. After Greece gained independence from the Ottomans, Lord Elgin the British Ambassador managed to get authorization to measure and remove the panels. The site had been long neglected by the Ottomans and they even ground up marble sculptures to make marble cement out of them. Elgin shipped many panels to England and they are now housed in the British Museum. Greece has asked for them to be returned and the British Museum has determined that they were obtained legally and now the two sides are in negotiations. Along with the friezes there are two pediment statue groups that were found at the front and back of the temple in the triangular area at the top. The top floor of the museum displays all of these tiles and statues as they would be seen on the Parthenon. All of these elements can be thereby be seen in proportion to how they would have been on the building itself.
Alkistis the silver smith
I gave her my little owl for her to play around with
Opos Palia a very good place to eat
Bread and the receipt so you don't have to ask for it later
Grilled mushrooms!
Spicy pork and mashed potatoes
Look who got a giant order of moussaka for only 8 Euro
Mr. and Ms. Potato Head watch over us
This building was custom built for the collection
So big it takes two pictures
Spacious
And interesting
It was pretty busy
This was a tool used to smooth off and level the tops of column pieces before they are stacked on top of each other
Another mock up of a tool used to center the column drums
War with the drunken Centaurs
Part of the Parthenian festival
New and old tiles side by side
The Acropolis from inside the museum
Don't forget to bring the wine!
Ram a lama ding dong
An example of reconstructing the scene with any original parts that have been recovered
One of the Pediments
Many gaps in the tiles
High quality replicas of some tiles were created from 3-D laser scanned models
Those pesky centaurs
The second pediment display, note the overall triangular shape
This horse is in mid air
The holes are where added sculptural elements would have been attached to the marble
One original tile in a row of 30 or so
The roof of the entry way to the hill
The Magic ball, with magic symbols and gods
Ven diagram of magic
The detail on this Athena from the Athena Nike temple is stupendous
The Athena Nike temple is mush smaller and off to the side from the Parthenon
Part of a very large depiction of a ship
The Greeks were innovators in many things including the first known example of a word search
Getting an honorary decree
Traces of pigments were found in the folds of the tunics
Another nose lost to history
A small shy bear
Watch out, Snake!
Four horses pulling the chariot
Holes where a golden necklace would have been attached
Some nice hair
The Athenas that are also columns
Pediment sculptures of a another temple up in the Acropolis
Tools of the stoneworkers
Medusa!
Very few bronze pieces remail
Regale Athena
234 gold coins
No two exactly alike
177 are the Byzantine Emperor Constantine II who hung out in Athens in 622 CE
Part of the underground area of the museum
Off to visit a liquor store
The saddest gate in Athens is blocking the entrance to a vacant lot. Bottom left is a cat access door
We have arrived
So many new Gins, including a Navy Strength!
We had a blast showing off the gin book and telling our story
Passed a pharmacy with old time tinctures in the window
Street art
The three legged symbol of Sicily and the Isle of Man
