The Sacret Hill
Caryatids
The
main temple was divided into two
sections,
dedicated to the worship of the two principal gods of Attica, Athena
and Poseidon-Erechtheus.
A relief frieze, bearing a representation possibly of the birth of
Erechtheus,
decorated the exterior of the building. The Caryatids. Statues of young
women clad in peplos. They supported the roof of the south porch of the
Erechtheion, and probably were the work of Alkamenes, a student of the
great sculptor Pheidias. Dated to ca. 420 B.C. Inv. no. 15000-15003
Erechtheon
The
Erechtheion was built in ca. 420 B.C. in the Ionic order. It has a
prostasis on the east side, a monumental propylon on the north, and the
famous porch of the Caryatids on the south. The main temple was divided
into two sections, dedicated to the worship of the two principal gods
of Attica, Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus. A relief frieze, bearing a
representation possibly of the birth of Erechtheus, decorated the
exterior of the building.
Propylaea
The
monumental gateway of the Acropolis
was
designed by the architect Mnesikles and constructed in 437-432 B.C. It
comprises
a central building and two lateral wings. The colonnades along the west
and
east sides had a row of Doric columns while two rows of Ionic columns
divided
the central corridor into three parts. The walls of the north wing were
decorated
with painted panels or wall paintings and that is why it was called the
"Pinakotheke".
The ceiling of the Propylaea had coffers with painted decoration and a
perforated
sima around the roof.