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James Stuart & Nicholas Revett, 1787 · Wikimedia Commons
Athens
Achaea · Roman province·Greece·Founded 1st c. BCE (Roman agora)
Under Rome but coasting on its glorious past. Hadrian would soon add his Library, arch, and Olympieion.
Greece's capital and largest metropolis; the Acropolis and Ancient Agora are fenced UNESCO World Heritage sites within the living city.
Excavation history
1837-1845
Archaeological Society at Athens — Carried out the first excavations of the Roman Agora, unearthing the Tower of the Winds, which had been almost completely buried under centuries of debris.
1890-1931
Greek Archaeological Society — Returned to excavate the Roman Agora in further campaigns in 1890-91, 1920, and 1930-31.
late 19th c.-2004
Greek archaeological authorities — Hadrian's Library, adjacent to the Roman Agora, was first excavated in the late 19th century, but later Ottoman-era buildings on the site weren't fully cleared and the ruins opened to the public until 2004.
Notable finds
Parthenon Marbles
Agents of Lord Elgin stripped roughly half of the Parthenon's surviving frieze, metopes and pediment sculptures from the Acropolis between 1801 and 1805; Greece has formally sought their return for decades.
British Museum, London, with the remaining originals in the Acropolis Museum, Athens
Kritios Boy
This early Classical marble youth, standing in the first known true contrapposto pose, was found buried in rubble the Athenians used to level the Acropolis after the Persians burned it in 480 BCE.
Acropolis Museum, Athens
Peplos Kore
This painted marble maiden, still carrying faint traces of her original red and blue pigment, was buried in the same Persian-destruction fill on the Acropolis as the Kritios Boy.
Acropolis Museum, Athens
Grave Stele of Hegeso
Excavated in the Kerameikos cemetery outside Athens's ancient walls, this Classical relief shows the seated Hegeso examining a piece of jewelry handed to her by a standing servant.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens
Varvakeion Athena
Found near Athens's Varvakeion school, this small marble statuette is the most complete surviving copy of Phidias's lost 12-meter gold-and-ivory Athena that once stood inside the Parthenon.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens
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