I knew that studying in Greece would bring immense beauty of ancient ruins and artifacts. I knew that living next door to the first modern Olympic stadium would never get old. But I had no idea how incredible and amazing having class every Monday and Wednesday at the Acropolis would be.
First, some history. The Acropolis literally means "highest city". It's comprised of several ancient ruins on a large hill overlooking Athens. The first and most famous being the Parthenon. The structure was an old temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, for which Athens is named after. It's considered one of the most important buildings in ancient Greek architecture with ornate decorations and complicated designs.
Next we have the Temple of Athena Nike. Nike means "victory" in Greek, which is exactly how Athena was worshiped- the goddess of war and wisdom. In this very temple, citizens prayed for an end to the Peloponnesian War.
Other structures include the Propylaia, a gateway, and the Erectheion, a temple dedicated to Athena and Poseidon.
I've visited the Acropolis once before having class there so I semi-knew what to expect. But this trip was filled with behind-the-scenes-looks, roping jumping, and talks in offices.
My Ancient Greek Architecture professor works at the site and has an office with the Parthenon as his view. We were able to visit his makeshift wooden office and glance at some of the projects he is working out, which includes research and restoration. We continued past his office into a restricted section of the monument. Metal pipes and wooden blocks covered strategic pieces of marble holding shaky pieces into place.
He lectured on ancient architecture techniques and designs but I must admit I was distracted by the sheer impressiveness of our surroundings. I'm currently standing on structures that were built before America was even a concept.
After our office tour, we rope jumped a few monuments. Some tourists even followed us, unaware of our special permission. We laughed and look around unsure what to do but decided to pay attention to the professor's lesson instead.
Despite having spent two hours there, we only scratched the very surface of all the Acropolis has to offer. One thing is for sure- I could get used to this.
