Summary
- The Agora
- Temple of god Hephaistus
- The museum
- Kerameikos
Duration : 4 hours
Description
The Agora was the core of politics and everyday life in every ancient greek city. The actual word means gathering place. The site helps us travel back to the archaic, classical and roman times so we can comprehend the evolution of politics in ancient Athens from aristocracy to democracy.
It was also the busiest neighbourhood of Athens with its shopping malls, porticoes, courts, music halls, “bars and pubs” peacefully coexisting with the Senate Chamber, the Parliament and the iconic temple of god Hephaistus.
The small museum is definitely worth visiting. Water clocks to time the orators, a lottery machine that helped the Athenians choose the jurors in courts, military equipment, cooking utensils and hundreds of interesting exhibits.
A short walk will lead us to the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos, which was located outside the walls of the city. It is a beautiful park that houses some of the best examples of funerary architecture dated since the 8th century BC.
It offers today a glimpse of the way the Greeks thought about death, their burial customs and all those works of art and everyday objects they took with them in the after life. They believed that life continues in the Underworld. Kerameikos is a great combination of site and museum.
Map view :
