The Acropolis hill (acro – edge, polis – city), so called the “Sacred Rock” of Athens, is the most famous acropolis in the world. It rises 150 m above the sea level with a surface area of about 3 hectares.
The Acropolis was a sacred place for ancient Athenians. They worshiped their gods in temples there, conducted their festivals, and they fortified themselves on it whenever the enemies managed to reach the city of Athens.
During the centuries Acropolis of Athens suffered a lot of changes. Acropolis passes through archaic period, Periclean period (most of major temples were rebuilt under the Pericles rule during the Golden Age of Athens, 460–430 BC). During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many buildings were repaired from all kinds of damage and wars. Then during the Byzantine period Acropolis was turned into a church, and under the Latin, it was the city’s administrative center. After the Ottoman conquest it was used as the garrison headquarters of the Turkish army.
Despite all these periods and many changes it suffered, Acropolis is even today, as an archaeological, cultural and historic remain, breathtaking. The main reasons are aesthetics, feeling for balance and perfection. In 1975 began the Acropolis restoration project and it is approaching to its end. The aim of restoration was to reverse the decay of centuries of attrition, pollution, war destructions and all restorations from before. This is one of the biggest restoration projects ever and many people are looking forward to see it finished.
The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the UNESCO World Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007. It is one of the most visited places in the world and it is the most significant reference point of ancient Greek culture as well.
Balkan holidays could not be imagined without visit to Acropolis. Acropolis is open every day. On summer you can visit it between 8AM and 7PM over winter its open from 8 AM till sunset. Entrance is 12 euros, but there are many categories of people for whom entrance is free.
You can find detailed data on official Acropolis web site.
