Athens — Ancient Agora

We'll visit one of Greece's best-preserved temples, we'll see a rebuilt stoa, and tour a fine museum that highlights the origins of democracy. The Agora of today is a quiet, uncrowded spot nestled in the city. It's the shadow of the Acropolis. It's an evocative place to wander in the footsteps of great Athenians and get a feel for the civilization that inspired the Western world.

To help us along the way, I've invited a good friend and virtual travel buddy. Welcome, Lisa. Hi, Rick. Lisa will give us helpful directions and sightseeing tips throughout the tour.

And my first tip is to be sure you get our tour updates. Just press the icon at the lower right of your device. You'll find any updates and helpful instructions unique to this tour. Things like closures, opening hours, and reservation requirements.

There's also tips on how to use this audio tour and even the full printed script. Yes, so pause for just a moment right now to review our updates and special tips. It's okay, we'll wait. And then... Let the tour begin! The tour begins.

This overgrown field was once the center of Athenian life. The word Agora means gathering place, but you could call this space by any of the names we typically give to the busiest part of a city. Downtown, main square, forum, piazza, marketplace, commons, and so on. The Agora began as an open marketplace nestled at the base of the Acropolis.

Over time, the open square was gradually filled in with buildings, statues, and fountains. Today, it's a maze of ruins, the remnants of many centuries of buildings. All of the layers of rubble can be confusing to the visitor, so get your bearings by finding a few prominent landmarks. First, look to the left through the trees.

Find the long, column-lined building with the red roof. This is the reconstructed Stoa of Athens. Now, locate the Stoa on the diagram. It's number 13, Stoa of Athelos.

Next, look far to your right. Find the well-preserved Temple of Hephaestus. It stands atop a hill. Your view is likely blocked by trees.

On the diagram, the Temple of Hephaestus is number 20. Now, find a few other prominent features. The Agora's main street was the Panathenaic Way. It's number 20.

It's number 21 on the diagram. This runs from the Agora's entrance up to the Acropolis. And directly ahead of you, find the three tall statue columns. These were part of what was once the Odeon of Agrippa, number 12 on the diagram.

You're standing close to the heart of the Agora, near the Altar of the Twelve Gods. That's number 26. In ancient times, that altar was considered the geographical center of Athens, the point from which all distances were measured. Got it?

Great. Once you've got your bearings, let's dive into the Agora, walking along its main street, the Panathenaic Way. Start walking down the ramp at your left. The ramp spills you onto the Panathenaic Way.

Uh, Lisa, I'm not sure I'm ready for this. What's wrong? Oh, I guess it's just a little case of agoraphobia. Ha ha.

As you reach the bottom of the ramp, you spill onto the Panathenaic Way. Head up the path toward the far end of the Stoa of Attalos. As you stroll up the Panathenaic Way, let Rick set the scene. The Panathenaic Way, Athens' main street.

They came to shop, to buy groceries, clothes, dishes, or to get their wagon wheel fixed. If you needed a zoning permit for your business, you came to the courthouse. Worshippers gave offerings to the gods at any number of temples and altars. At night, people came for plays and concerts.

The tavernas rocked. Many foreigners passed through here on their way to somewhere else, as this was the main intersection in town. The Agora was the center for speeches, political announcements, and demonstrations. On holidays, the parade ran right up Main Street, the Panathenaic Way.

At any time, this was the place to be. To run into eccentric characters like Socrates or Diogenes, or just to hang out with friends. In short, the Agora was the buzzing center of the city of Athens, population 100,000. Now turn your attention to the Stoa of Attalos.

Again, that's the long building lined with columns on your left. Continue making your way to the Stoa's entrance, located at the far south end. The Stoa of Attalos

It stands two stories tall. Like many of the Agora's other buildings, it was made of white pentelic marble, the same marble as the Parthenon. The covered porch is about 400 feet long. It's lined with 45 Doric columns on the ground floor.

The upper story uses Ionic columns. This mix of Doric and Ionic was typical of buildings from this period. Remember, this stoa likely served as a shopping mall. The covered walkways protected shoppers from the sun and the rain.

The ground floor once housed about 20 different shops. Today, it's a museum. Upstairs were offices, which today house the American School. Like the malls of our generation, the stoa was also a social magnet.

Imagine ancient Greeks, their hard labor being done by slaves, lounging here, just enjoying the shade of the portico. Soon, you'll reach the entrance to the stoa of Attalos, located at the far end of the building. From here, we'll go inside the stoa to visit the Agora Museum. It's included in your Agora ticket.

The museum entrance is about halfway down the column-lined arcade. As you stroll down the arcade, pause at the fifth column. Near that fifth column, find the impressive sculpted head. This bearded man with a full head of hair is the head of a triton from around 150 A.D.

It once decorated a theater in the Agora. Three of his fellow statues are still standing, and we'll see them later. Now, continue down the arcade, about halfway down, to the entrance of the Agora Museum. The Agora Museum

Most pottery is painted red and black, but the exhibit shows how pottery evolved over time. You'll see jars from the Neolithic era, when the Agora was first inhabited. Later came the Geometric period of the 8th century B.C. These jars are decorated with, what else, geometric hashmark designs.

As you continue on, the next aisle was a painted black silhouette on the natural orange clay. And later, it was a red figure on a black background. Continue on through the collection. On the right, find Case 26.

Look for the cute little baby's commode, with a photo showing how it was used. Nearby, in Case 69, on the left, are archaic era statues with smiling faces. Continue on to the next exhibits. On the right-hand side, find Cases 30, 31, and 32.

These feature items showing how Athens was the cradle of democracy. Case 31 has an early voting machine. This device was used to choose city council members. It was done randomly to make sure each citizen filled their civic duty, kind of like jury duty.

Citizens put their name in the slots. Then, black and white balls went into the tube to randomly select who would serve. Now, look below the machine. You'll see actual bronze ballots from the 4th century.

Now, turn to Case 30. Case 30. There, you'll find a picture of the city council members. You'll find pottery shards with names painted on them, called ostracon.

These ballots were used to vote out or ostracize corrupt leaders and tyrants. Look close, and find two of these shards -- items number 37 and 17. Try to read the Greek names on them -- Themistocles and Aristides. During the Golden Age, these men were famous rivals -- rivals in both politics and romance.

Both served Athens for many years, both served Athens honorably, and both were also exiled in political power struggles. Now, find Case number 32. This has the klepsydra, or water thief. This was a water clock used to time speeches at council meetings.

It took six minutes for the 1.7 gallons to drain out. A gifted orator truly was good to the last drop, but not a second longer. Now, head across the hall, under the banner, between Cases 68 and 67. Here, you'll find the so-called Stele of Democracy from around 336 B.C.

This stone monument is inscribed with a decree outlawing tyranny. Above, a relief carving shows Lady Democracy crowning a man representing the Athenian people. Next to that, in Case 67, is a bronze shield. It was captured from the defeated Spartans in the tide-turning Battle of Sphacteria which gave Athens the upper hand in the first phase of the Peloponnesian War.

The next case over, Case 66, displays herm heads. With news and directions attached, these stones functioned as signposts along roads. In the middle of the room, find the case of coins. These drachmas and tetradrachmas feature Athena with her helmet.

In Golden Age times, a drachma was roughly a day's wage. The ancients put coins like these in the mouth of a deceased person as payment to carry the soul safely across the river Styx. Find coin number seven, with the owl. This was a four drachma piece.

That same owl is on Greece's one-euro coin today. Continue down the hall and check out Case number 61 on the left and Case number 42 on the right. These are a reminder that maybe those ancient people weren't really so different from you and me. Are those what they look like?

Yes, indeed -- ancient barbecue grills. The exhibit winds up with Roman sculpture heads in Cases 58 and 56 on the left. These show how the Romans were more honest than the Greeks when it came to portraying people with less-than-ideal features. And in Case 48 on the right, more pottery items, including various toys.

When you're ready to move on, head for the exit where there's a toilet and drinking fountain. Backtrack through the arcade toward the same end of the stoa where you entered. As you walk along the row of columns, look close. Notice how the lower part of each column is polished smooth.

The fluting only starts above six feet. These pillars were designed to encourage people to lean against them. It was perfect to attract shoppers passing the time of day, philosophers discussing high concepts, or the tired tourists of today. Continue to the far southern end of the stoa.

Once you reach there, turn right. Cross the Panathenaic Way. Continue straight along the lane that cuts west across the middle of the agora. You'll be walking alongside a vast expanse of ruins on your left. Pause and turn your attention to these ruins of what was once the Middle Stoa. The Middle Stoa.

There was no Middle Stoa, and the area between here and the agora entrance was also all open space. But as Athens grew and expanded, so did its commercial center. By 180 B.C., the massive Middle Stoa was built. A couple centuries later, another grand structure sprang up just across the lane you're walking along.

Citizen Lisa, point us the way. Ah, very well, Citizen Rick Astides. Continue down the lane to the midway point in the agora. Just before the wooden ramp, you'll come across a huge white fragment of stone. It's the frilly upper cap, or capital, of a column. Corinthian capital,

The style was actually rarely used by Greeks, but it became wildly popular with the Romans. When the Romans occupied Athens, they incorporated older Greek capitals like this one into their massive theater. Stand here in the center of the agora, look out over the field, and imagine this place in classical times. Back before a theater stood here, it was a large open square where the Greek people gathered as they invented democracy.

Imagine thousands of angry Athenian citizens listening to speeches and casting those votes to ostracize their tyrants. In 425 B.C., when Athens captured a group of Spartans in battle, it was here that they displayed the shields they'd captured. This was a particularly humiliating insult, since brave Spartans were expected to have their shields on. The agora is where the earliest plays were performed, originally in the open air, as the Greeks pioneered modern theater.

Throughout Athens' history, the agora was the place the city gathered at key turning points. Imagine the buzz as Athenians awaited the onslaught of the Persians in 480 B.C., or as they greeted the coming of Alexander the Great and, later, the conquering Romans, or as they lay helpless in the path of the invasions of Rome. The agora may be rubble today, but there really was a time when this was the center of the civilized world, back when statues had arms and buildings had roofs, when the gray marble columns were painted bright colors, when this lonely field was full of flesh-and-blood people in the prime of their lives. Let's continue.

Keep walking westward down the lane, where you'll come to a wooden bridge. As you approach the bridge at the end of the middle stoa, you'll pass a gray well. It's still in its original spot and worn by the grooves of ropes. Continue past the well and jog to the right.

Cross the ditch over the wooden bridge. This ditch is part of what's known as the Great Drain. The Great Drain

Pause here and look up at the Acropolis. You have a great view of the towering but empty pedestal of the Monument of Agrippa, which stands at the entrance to the Acropolis on the far right. This pedestal once supported a grand statue with four horses. To the left of that is the Erechtheion Temple.

And below the Erechtheion, you can see broken columns shoring up the side of the hill. These columns were destroyed by the Persians when they burned the Acropolis to the ground. Just to the right of the Acropolis hill is Mars Hill. It's the craggy boulder that's likely lined with tourists.

This is where the Apostle Paul famously preached the Christian gospel in 49 A.D. The Bible also tells us that Paul debated philosophy daily with Athenian philosophers in the marketplace, probably here in the agora. This is the Panix Hill. This wide, gentle slope could accommodate thousands of people.

This is where Athenians gathered for their largest assemblies as they debated public policy. But the real center of Greek democracy is just a few steps away. Just over the wooden bridge, find a circular ruin. All that remains is the foundation, a round footprint with a stubby column in its center. This is the Tholos. ♪ ♪

It was the headquarters, offices, and meeting hall for the city's 50 ministers. They also lived in eight here, since the law required that at least a third of these ministers be on the premises at all times. The Tholos housed the official weights and measures. They would sit in here and use these to check whether a butcher or tailor was shortchanging them.

The Tholos was a kind of temple to democratic rule. The altar in the middle, where the column is now, once held a flame that was always kept burning. This represented the hearth of the extended family that was Athens. The city may have been governed for a long time.

Thousands of adult male citizens made up what was called the assembly. They gathered periodically, either in the Agora or on the Pinax Hill, to choose 500 city council members. The council members, in turn, chose 50 ministers who ran the day-to-day affairs. The 50 ministers governed from the Tholos, while the 500 met in a large hall next door not a representational one like modern America.

That meant that all laws had to ultimately be approved by the entire assembly, and that consisted of every free adult male citizen. Our next stop is the big temple atop the hill. Beyond and above the Tholos is the hill-capping temple of Hephaestus. To reach it, find the steps to the left of the Tholos.

Climb these steps. Right through the trees to the temple. Along the way, there's a nice viewpoint with a chart. Enjoy the panorama, then continue on. We'll see you at the temple of Hephaestus.

Also like the Parthenon, it's in the Doric style. The columns are sturdy with no base and are topped with simple capitals. This temple perfectly matches with Athens' austere and solid roots. Approach the east end, that is, the end facing the agora.

This was the temple's entrance. Above the entrance are scenes of the legendary hero Theseus battling his enemies. Though it's not depicted here, Theseus would go on to slay the bull-headed Minotaur of Crete. This toppled the king of Crete, thus freeing Athens.

The temple was dedicated to the Blacksmith God. Worshippers would enter the temple through the six columns here into a covered portico. Continuing inside, they'd pass into a three-sided alcove called the Pronaus, or pre-temple. From there, they'd continue into the central hall, or sella.

There stood two large bronze statues, one of Hephaestus and one of Athena, patron goddess of Athens. Now, circle the building and check out more of the carved reliefs, the frieze and meadow piece that run around the upper part of the building. You'll notice the reliefs are only partly done. Some panels were left unfinished.

Others may have been left intentionally blank to display paintings. A few panels have been removed and put in the agora museum. It's interesting to note that the temple, begun in 450 B.C., wasn't completed and dedicated until 415 B.C. Work went slowly to give priority to building the more illustrious buildings atop the acropolis.

At the back end of the temple, the frieze depicts another mythological battle. The Lapith tribe of humans is celebrating a wedding when suddenly a rowdy gang crashes the party. It's a band of rude centaurs, half man, half horse, and completely horny. They try to carry off the human women, but the Lapiths fight them off.

The other scenes around the building are easier to make out. They may depict Hercules and his labors and deification. Other panels may show the birth of Athens' legendary early king, who was the son of Hephaestus. These scenes would have reminded ancient Athenians of their roots, born from the gods themselves.

According to legend, Hephaestus, the ugly club-footed god, tried to woo fair Athena. When she rejected his advances, he tried to rape her. In the scuffle, Hephaestus spilled his semen on the ground, which instead impregnated Gaia, the goddess of the earth. And so the city of Athens was born in some weird and symbolic way from the earth, from Hephaestus, and from Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

Through the ages, this well-preserved temple has remained dear to the hearts of Athenians. In late antiquity, a legendary hero, Theseus, and mistakenly believed the temple once held his remains. The temple was nicknamed the Theseon. In medieval times, the temple was converted into a church dedicated to Greece's patron saint, Saint George.

Those Christians added the coffered ceiling that survives today inside the East End. Even during the years of Muslim occupation, Christian worship continued here, though services were allowed only on Saint George's Day. In more recent times, archaeologists have protected the structure, one of Greece's best Doric buildings. For 2,500 years, as pagan temple, Christian church, and classical icon, the Temple of Hephaestus has been an element of continuity, linking modern Athens with its classical past.

From the Temple of Hephaestus, we'll descend back into the Agora. Start at the temple's entrance the East End. With your back to the temple, find the path on the left that leads down the hillside into the Agora. Start strolling down toward the base of the hill.

As you're walking, think of all the famous Athenians who graced the Agora within the space of just two or three generations. Socrates, the father of Western philosophy, spent much of his life simply hanging out right here. Probing them, probing questions about the meaning of life, and urging them to know thyself. Socrates was eventually arrested and charged with corrupting the youth.

He was tried and sentenced right here in the Agora. Socrates' disciple, Plato, also spent time teaching in the Agora, as did Plato's disciple, Aristotle. The playwright, Aristophanes, used the Agora as a setting for many of the scenes in his plays. His colleague, Sophocles, also spent time here.

And all the major Greek plays would have been performed right here, either in the open air or in theaters. Diogenes, the famous cynic, lived here in the Agora, surviving basically as a homeless person. He shocked Athenians with his anti-materialistic and free lifestyle. He lived in a wooden tub to show his disregard for material comfort.

He masturbated openly to prove how simply one's desires could be satisfied. And he famously wandered the Agora in the middle of the day, looking for one honest man in the corrupt city. According to legend, Alexander the Great was intrigued by this humble philosopher who shunned materialism. One day, Alexander stood before him and said, "Diogenes, I'll give you whatever you want.

What would you like?" History's first hippie looked at the most powerful man on earth and replied, "Please, get out of my sunshine." Right on, Diogenes. Continue down the hillside until you reach an intersection at the base of the hill. Look around for a statue atop a pedestal. This is the headless statue of Emperor Hadrian. Statue of Hadrian.

This was Hadrian's vision that by conquering Greece, he would have saved and supported that great civilization. Hadrian was a Greco-phile and great benefactor of Athens. In fact, if this statue still had its head, you'd see that Hadrian was the first Roman Emperor to wear a Greek-style beard. Hadrian was nicknamed "Grecula," the little Greek, for his love of Greek philosophy, literature, and of a handsome Greek teenager named Antinous.

Hadrian personally traveled to Athens for a long time in order to build his own construction projects. If you walk through Athens today, you can still see remains of Hadrian's Arch, the Library of Hadrian, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and an entire planned neighborhood called Hadrianopolis. Athens' main street through the Plaka is now called Adriano, Hadrian Street. Keep strolling along the path heading east in the direction of the Stoa of Attalos. There are three large statues. These giants once guarded the Odeon of Agrippa. The Odeon of Agrippa.

The Odeon was the centerpiece of the Agora during the Roman era. A plaque explains the history of this building. During the Golden Age, this site was simply open space in the very center of the Agora. But when the Romans conquered, they built this theater for plays and concerts.

It was constructed in the time of Caesar Augustus, around 15 B.C. It was a popular place both for the theater-loving Greeks and their Greek-culture-loving Roman masters. The theater stood two stories tall and was built into the natural site, way up near the middle Stoa, which we saw earlier. Patrons walked in through monumental columns topped by Corinthian capitals, like the one we saw earlier.

As they entered the auditorium, they were at the top row. They could look down at the stage, ringed with 20 rows of seats. The place could seat a thousand spectators. Overhead, the glorious roof spanned 82 feet with no internal support columns.

In its heyday, Athenians might have enjoyed lute concerts, poetry readings, and plays by Aristophanes, Euripides, and Sophocles. The less sophisticated Romans probably flocked here for more lowbrow entertainment. The giant statues actually date from a later period. After the theater's roof collapsed in 150 A.D., the Odeon was rebuilt, but only half the size, as a 500-seat lecture hall.

The entrance was moved here, with six colossal statues standing guard. Continue a few more steps to the main road. You'll see that we've made a loop. Now turn right and start up toward the Acropolis along the Panathenaic Way.

Our next stop is a couple of hundred yards ahead, past the Stoa of Attalos. As you trudge up the Panathenaic Way, listen to the next track as Rick describes what you might have seen along this route a few thousand years ago. The Panathenaic Parade Route

Some rode on horseback, others walked. As the parade entered the Agora, Athens' Panathenaic Way was lined with bleachers full of spectators. At the heart of the parade was a float on wheels. This carried the peplis, a wool robe woven especially as a gift for Athena.

The parade wound its way through the Agora and up the Acropolis. There, the new dress was ceremonially presented to Athena. Today's tourists use the same path to connect the Agora with the Acropolis. Continue up the Panathenaic Way past the Stoa of Attalos. Along the left-hand side of the Panathenaic Way are several crude walls and column fragments.

Despite this wall, after the Herulian invasion, the Agora never really recovered. There were more invasions, mainly the Slavs in 580 A.D. Athens dwindled, and its few residents settled in other parts of the city. By 700, this area had become a virtual ghost town located outside the city walls exposed to bandits and invaders.

Only the hardiest souls used it as a residence. The Agora was cannibalized by the Athenians themselves as a quarry for precut stones. Today, the Agora survives. After the barbarians, came the Christians. On the right is the Little Church of the Holy Apostles. Church of the Holy Apostles

The windows have the tall horseshoe-shaped arches typical of the Byzantine style. The church was built of large, rectangular blocks of ashlar stone. Ringing the eaves is a decorative pattern of bricks. These are shaped into Arabic letters.

They were added later, in the middle of the occupation. Under the Muslims, Christian churches like this were tolerated, but taxed. Circle around to the entrance. By the way, notice that the narthex, or entrance hall, spoils the original four equal arms.

The narthex was added later. Go inside. The windows are in flower and diamond shapes. The church contained some interesting 18th-century frescoes in the Byzantine style.

Noticing the surface of the frescoes was part of a process designed to rough it up so a new coat of whitewashing could adhere. Notice the icon on the altar. The marble altar screen has some pieces missing, leaving wide-open spaces. These are frames that once held icons.

Now, stand in the center of the church and look up. At the top of the dome is Jesus as Pantocrator, or ruler of all. Images like this must have given Athenians clarity in troubled times, knowing their god was overseeing everything. End your tour by continuing up the Panathenaic Way, climbing to the south gates.

Even though you likely can't exit from here, this is a nice vantage point to look back over the Agora and modern Athens. The legacy of the Agora.

The government center is now Syntagma Square. The marketplace is at Athens Central Market. Monastiraki and a dozen other squares have become social centers -- the new Agoras. And what's replaced the Panathenaic Way as the city's main arterial?

I guess that would be the metro system. Looking out from this vantage point, realize that the city of Athens has been continuously inhabited for nearly 3,000 years. It was this city that set the tone for all Western civilization to follow. And the cradle of all that cultural activity was in this small stretch of land, where the people of Athens gathered -- the Agora.

We hope you've enjoyed this tour of the ancient Agora. You can either exit the way you came in or head up to the Acropolis through the gate behind you. If you're doing more sightseeing in Athens, we also have audio tours for the Acropolis, the Athens City Walk, and the National Archaeological Museum. Remember, this tour was excerpted from Rick Steves' "Greece Guidebook." For more details on eating, sleeping, and sightseeing in Athens, refer to the current edition of that guidebook.

For more free audio tours and podcasts, and for information about our TV shows, bus tours, and travel gear, visit our website at ricksteves.com. Thanks to Jean Openshaw, the co-author of this tour. This tour was produced by Cedar House Audio Productions. Thanks for joining me, and enjoy the rest of Athens. ♪