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Outstanding Universal Value

Cloaked by beautiful chestnut and other types of Mediterranean forest, the steep slopes of Mount Athos are punctuated by twenty imposing monasteries and their subsidiary establishments. Covering an area of just over 33,000 hectares, the property includes the entire narrow rocky strip of the easternmost of the three peninsulas of Chalcidice which jut into the Aegean Sea in northern Greece. The subsidiary establishments include sketae (daughter houses of the monasteries), kellia and kathismata (living units operated by the monks), where farming constitutes an important part of the monks' everyday life. An Orthodox spiritual centre since the 10th century, Mount Athos has enjoyed a self-administered status since Byzantine times. Its first constitution was signed in 972 by the emperor John I Tzimiskes. The 'Holy Mountain', which is forbidden to women and children, is also a recognized artistic site. The layout of the monasteries (which are presently inhabited by some 1,400 monks) had an influence as far afield as Russia, and its school of painting influenced the history of Orthodox art. The landscape reflects traditional monastic farming practices, which maintain populations of plant species that have now become rare in the region.

Criterion (i): The transformation of a mountain into a sacred place made Mount Athos a unique artistic creation combining the natural beauty of the site with the expanded forms of architectural creation. Moreover, the monasteries of Athos are a veritable conservatory of masterpieces ranging from wall paintings (such as the works by Manuel Panselinos at Protaton Church ca. 1290 and by Frangos Catellanos at the Great Lavra in 1560) to portable icons, gold objects, embroideries and illuminated manuscripts which each monastery jealously preserves.

Criterion (ii): Mount Athos exerted lasting influence in the Orthodox world, of which it is the spiritual centre, on the development of religious architecture and monumental painting. The typical layout of Athonite monasteries was used as far away as Russia. Iconographic themes, codified by the school of painting at Mount Athos and laid down in minute detail in the Guide to Painting (discovered and published by Didron in 1845), were used and elaborated on from Crete to the Balkans from the 16th century onwards.

Criterion (iv): The monasteries of Athos present the typical layout of Orthodox monastic establishments: a square, rectangular or trapezoidal fortification flanked by towers, which constitutes the peribolos of a consecrated place, in the centre of which the community's church, or the catholicon, stands alone. Strictly organised according to principles dating from the 10th century are the areas reserved for communal activities (refectory, cells, hospital, library), those reserved solely for liturgical purposes (chapels, fountains), and the defence structures (arsenal, fortified towers). The organization of agricultural lands in the idiorrythmic sketae (daughter houses of the monasteries), the kellia and kathismata (living units operated by the monks) is also very characteristic of the medieval period.

Criterion (v): The monastic ideal at Mount Athos has preserved traditional human habitations, which are representative of the agrarian cultures of the Mediterranean and have become vulnerable through the impact of change within contemporary society. Mount Athos is also a conservatory of vernacular architecture as well as agricultural and craft traditions.

Criterion (vi): An Orthodox spiritual centre since the 10th century, the sacred mountain of Athos became the principal spiritual home of the Orthodox Church in 1054. It retained this prominent role even after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the establishment of the autocephalous patriarchy of Moscow in 1589. Mount Athos is directly and tangibly associated with the history of Orthodox Christianity which, in varying degrees, is present in more than 20 nations in the 20th century. It is no exaggeration to say that this thousand-year-old site, where the weight of history is palpable in the countryside, the monuments and the precious collections have been built up over time, has retained even today its universal and exceptional significance.

Criterion (vii): The harmonious interaction of traditional farming practices and forestry is linked to the stringent observance of monastic rules over the course of centuries, which has led to the excellent preservation of the Mediterranean forests and associated flora of Mount Athos.
Integrity
Closely associated with the history of Orthodox Christianity, Mount Athos retains its Outstanding Universal Value through its monastic establishments and artistic collections. All the monasteries are well-preserved due to on-going restoration projects carried out according to approved plans. The materials used for restoration are traditional and environmentally friendly.

Mount Athos encompasses an entire peninsula of 33,042 ha, an area of sufficient size to maintain a rich flora and fauna that has been well conserved by careful management of the forests and traditional agricultural practices. Although the natural environment is maintained, it is also vulnerable to forest fire, infrastructure development (mainly roads), and seismic activity. Monastic activities have kept their traditional character due to rules which have remained relatively unchanged throughout the centuries, and the evolution of monastic life should not harm the environment.
Authenticity
The property reflects adequately the cultural values recognized in the inscription criteria through the setting of the monasteries and their dependencies, together with the form, design and materials of the buildings and farms, their use and function, and the spirit and feeling of the place.

Mount Athos has an enormous wealth of historic, artistic and cultural elements preserved by a monastic community that has existed for the last twelve centuries and constitutes a living record of human activities.
Protection and management requirements
Mount Athos has a peculiar self-administered system under Hellenic Constitutional Law. While the sovereignty of the Hellenic State remains intact (article 105), management is exercised by representatives of the Holy Monasteries, who comprise the Holy Community (article 105). The Hellenic State has placed the responsibility for the protection and conservation of the natural and cultural property into public agencies, namely the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports, General Secretariat of Culture, through the responsible 10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, the Centre for the Preservation of the Athonite Heritage, the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Directorate for Churches - Mount Athos Administration). The monuments are protected by the provisions of the Archaeological Law 3028/2002 "On the Protection of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in general", and by separate ministerial decrees published in the Official Government Gazette.

Restoration and conservation works, co-funded by the European Union, are performed by the Hellenic State (10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and Centre for the Preservation of the Athonite Heritage). There is on-going collaboration between the responsible services of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports; the General Secretariat of Culture; and other Ministries with the monastic community. However, it should be stressed that the scheduling and execution of all work concerning individual Holy Monasteries requires their consent as well as that of the Holy Community.

Sustaining the Outstanding Universal Value of the property requires ongoing conservation of the buildings including their finishes and mural paintings, as well as of manuscripts and artworks. Studies concerning the installation of infrastructure in the monastery buildings, including fire protection, have been undertaken.

Protection and management of the forests, including provision of major infrastructure, is the subject of specialized programs planned by the monasteries, in cooperation with the Holy Community and relevant scientists.

Promotion of Mount Athos' cultural heritage includes conferences, publications and more recently the internet. Mount Athos is well-known to the Orthodox Christian world and attracts many thousands of visitors, scholars and pilgrims every year.

Once finalised and agreed upon, the Management Plan prepared by the Holy Community will address forest management in terms of ecological sustainability; road and port ( arsana) construction and maintenance; waste management; the need for a consistent approach to conservation for all monasteries; and a risk preparedness plan for all the monasteries and their dependencies.

News (1)

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Outstanding Universal Value Cloaked by beautiful chestnut and other types of Mediterranean forest, the steep slopes of Mount Athos are punctuated by twenty imposing monasteries and their subsidiary establishments. Covering an area of just over 33,000 hectares, the property includes the entire narrow rocky strip of the easternmost of the three peninsulas of Chalcidice which jut into the Aegean Sea in northern Greece.

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Epidaurus Theatre, Epidavrou, Tripolis, Greece

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Epidaurus Theatre, Epidavrou, Tripolis, Greece

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Epidaurus Theatre, Epidavrou, Tripolis, Greece

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LIONDI Traditional Greek Restaurant, Makrigianni, Athens, Greece

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LIONDI Traditional Greek Restaurant, Makrigianni, Athens, Greece

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LIONDI Traditional Greek Restaurant, Makrigianni, Athens, Greece

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LIONDI TRADITIONAL GREEK RESTAURANT, Athens - Thissio / Makriyanni - Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Reservations - Tripadvisor

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Reserve a table at Liondi Traditional Greek Restaurant, Athens on Tripadvisor: See 3,476 unbiased reviews of Liondi Traditional Greek Restaurant, rated 4.5 of 5 on Tripadvisor and ranked #39 of 2,942 restaurants in Athens.

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Temple of Athena Nike, Dionysiou Areopagitou, Athens, Greece

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Temple of Athena Nike, Dionysiou Areopagitou, Athens, Greece

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Temple of Athena Nike, Dionysiou Areopagitou, Athens, Greece

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The Temple of Athena Nike is the smallest structure on the Athenian Acropolis, but holds no less importance than its neighboring shrines. Built to honor Athena Nike, the goddess of victory, the site upon which the temple was constructed has ceremonial roots that date back to the Bronze Age. When the newer, Classical temple was built in the fifth century B.C., it no doubt did double duty: it stood as a shrine to Athens ' patron goddess, and also acted as a symbol of Athens' military and political strength.

The location of the Temple of Athena Nike is on the southwest corner of the Acropolis, adjacent to the Propylaia. The position of the temple, on a rocky projection of the outcropping, was particularly vulnerable to attack. The Mycenaeans constructed a wall there to supplement the natural citadel of the Acropolis, and began worshipping there.

There is archaeological evidence dating back to the Bronze Age that suggests this spot was highly important to the worship of Nike, or victory, deities. By the sixth century B.C., also known as the Archaic period, a cult of Athena Nike was established and a small, earlier temple was built on the site. When the Persians sacked Athens and destroyed the Acropolis in 480 B.C., the temple to Athena Nike was also left in ruins.

Plans got underway to rebuild this important shrine in 449 B.C. With architect Kallikrates at the helm, the temple was to be a simple Ionic shrine, made of Pentellic marble, and included a prostyle porch with four columns on the front and back. It also was adorned with a sculptural frieze all around, as was customary in Greek temple construction. However, something delayed the construction, and it was not completed until around 420 B.C., built with Poros limestone and faced with marble. It was also surrounded by a sort of guardrail or parapet that would have kept Athenians and other visitors from falling off the Acropolis. This fortification was decorated with relief sculptures depicting various presentations of Nike.

As with all Greek temples, the Temple of Athena Nike would have housed a cult statue in its cella. In Greek mythology, Nike deities were often depicted with wings. This was not the case with Athena Nike. The wooden cult statue was wingless, and thus dubbed Apteros Nike, or "wingless victory". This was perhaps to ensure that Nike (and hence and military victory or supremacy) would never abandon Athens.

Today, the Temple of Athena Nike can be seen on the Athenian Acropolis, in its restored state. It suffered much the same fate as the other buildings of the Acropolis, having been the victim of Ottoman occupation and Turkish siege in 1687. In 1834, the temple was reconstructed after Greece's emancipation. In 1998, it was dismantled so that the crumbling concrete floor could be replaced, and its frieze was removed and placed in the Acropolis Museum, safe from the harsh environmental elements of Athens.

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The Temple of Athena Nike: A Small Shrine Dedicated To One of Athena's Many Incarnations

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The Temple of Athena Nike is the smallest structure on the Athenian Acropolis, but holds no less importance than its neighboring shrines. Built to honor Athena Nike, the goddess of victory, the site upon which the temple was constructed has ceremonial roots that date back to the Bronze Age.

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Delian League

The Parthenon was the center of religious life in the powerful Greek city-state of Athens, the head of the Delian League. Developed to thwart the possibility of an attack by the Persian Empire or other foes, the Delian League was a cooperative alliance of Greek city-states founded in 478 B.C. during the invasions of the Persian Wars.

The celebrated Greek statesman Pericles is credited with ordering the design and construction of the Parthenon as a temple for Athena-the goddess of wisdom, arts, literature and war-but it may not have been the first attempt to house the deity.

An earlier structure known as the Older Parthenon or Pre-Parthenon once existed on the site of the current Parthenon. Many historians believe the Older Parthenon was under construction in 480 B.C. when the Persian Empire attacked Athens and destroyed the Acropolis, although some experts dispute this theory.

When Was the Parthenon Built?

In 447 B.C., some 33 years after the Persian invasion, Pericles commenced building the Parthenon to replace the earlier temple. The massive structure was dedicated in 438 B.C.

Sculpting and decorative work at the Parthenon continued until 432 B.C. It's estimated that 13,400 stones were used to build the temple, at a total cost of around 470 silver talents (roughly $7 million U.S. dollars today).

Doric Columns

Pericles commissioned the renowned Greek architects Ictinus and Callicrates and the sculptor Phidias to design the Parthenon, which became the largest Doric-style temple of its time.

The structure has a rectangular floor plan and is built on a 23,000-square foot base, part of which was the limestone foundation of the Old Parthenon.

Low steps surrounded each side of the building, and a portico of Doric columns standing on a platform create a border around it. There are 46 outer columns and 19 inner columns.

The columns are slightly tapered to give the temple a symmetrical appearance. The corner columns are larger in diameter than the other columns. Incredibly, the Parthenon contains no straight lines and no right angles, a true feat of Greek architecture.

Amazon Warriors

Many of the Parthenon's features depict scenes from Greek mythology. Ninety-two carved metopes (square blocks placed between three-channeled triglyph blocks) adorn the exterior walls of the Parthenon. The metopes on the West side depict Amazonomachy, a mythical battle between Amazon warriors and the ancient Greeks, and were thought to be designed by the sculptor Kalamis.

The metopes on the East side show Gigantomachy, mythical battles between gods and giants. Most metopes on the South side show Centauromachy, the battle of mythical centaurs with the Lapiths, and the metopes on the North side portray the Trojan War.

Parthenon Frieze

A broad, decorated horizontal band called a frieze runs along the entire length of the walls of the Parthenon's inner chamber (the cella). The frieze was carved using the bas-relief technique, which means the sculpted figures are raised slightly from the background.

Historians believe the frieze depicted either the Panathenaic procession to the Acropolis or the sacrifice of Pandora to Athena.

There are two sculpted, triangular-shaped gables known as pediments on each end of the Parthenon. The East pediment depicted Athena's birth from the head of her father, Zeus. The West pediment showed the conflict between Athena and Poseidon to claim Attica, an ancient region of Greece which included the city of Athens.

Athena Parthenos

A shrine within the Parthenon housed an extraordinary statue of Athena, known as Athena Parthenos, which was sculpted by Phidias. The statue no longer exists but is thought to have stood about 12 meters high (39 feet).

It was carved of wood and covered in ivory and gold. Historians know what the statue looked like thanks to surviving Roman reproductions.

The Athena statue depicted a fully-armed woman wearing a goatskin shield known as an aegis. She held a six-foot tall statue of the Greek goddess Nike in her right hand and a shield in her left hand that illustrated various battle scenes. Two griffins and a sphinx stood on her helmet and a large snake behind her shield.

It's unclear if the Parthenon served solely as a home for Athena or also as a treasury. It was undoubtedly an awe-inspiring sight for anyone who gazed upon it. Ancient spectators weren't allowed inside the structure but viewed its splendor from the outside.

Parthenon Changes Hands

In the sixth century A.D., the Christian Byzantines conquered Greece. They outlawed pagan worship of the ancient Greek gods and converted the Parthenon to a Christian church. They blocked the East side entrance and, following the custom of Christianity, forced worshipers to enter the church on the West side.

The massive statue of Athena was gone before the Byzantines arrived. In her place, they put a pulpit and marble bishop's chair.

The Parthenon remained a Christian church until 1458 A.D., when the Muslim Ottoman Empire seized Athens. The Ottoman Turks converted the Parthenon into a mosque, yet kept many Christian paintings and artifacts intact.

In 1687, facing attack from the Christian Holy League (an alliance of European powers against the Ottoman Empire), the Ottomans converted the Parthenon into an ammunitions depot and shelter, but it was anything but safe. The structure was bombarded with cannonballs and its ammunition stores exploded causing hundreds of deaths and massive structural damage.

After centuries of being ruled by the Turks, the Greeks fought for independence in the 1820s. The Acropolis became a combat zone and the Turkish Army removed hundreds of marble blocks from Parthenon ruins. They also used the lead-coated iron clamps which held the blocks together to make bullets.

Elgin Marbles

After the Holy League's assault and numerous military campaigns, by the 1800s the Parthenon sat in ruins and was at the mercy of looters and the elements.

In the early 19th century, Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, removed the marble friezes and several other sculptures and shipped them to London, England, where they remain on public display in the British Museum today.

It's unclear if Elgin had permission to remove the sculptures, and the Greek government has requested they be returned.

Time, weathering and cleaning has caused the Elgin Marbles and other Parthenon sculptures to look white, but they and other parts of the structure were once painted with vivid colors.

Did you know? A full-scale replica of The Parthenon was built in Centennial Park, Nashville in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.

Parthenon Restoration

In the 1970s, the Greek government got serious about restoring the rapidly-deteriorating Acropolis and the Parthenon, which had become one of the country's national treasures. They appointed an archaeological committee called the Acropolis Restoration Project.

With Greek architect Manolis Korres at its helm, the committee painstakingly charted every relic in the ruins and used computer technology to identify their original location.

The restoration team plans to supplement original Parthenon artifacts with modern materials that are weather-resistant, corrosion-resistant and will help support the integrity of the structure. Where needed, new marble from the quarry where the original marble was obtained will be used.

Still, the Parthenon will not be restored to its original glory. Instead, it will stay a partial ruin and will feature design elements and artifacts that reflect its rich, diverse history.

Acropolis Museum

Renovations are ongoing at the Parthenon and the entire Acropolis; however, tourists can still visit the historical site. Areas undergoing a makeover may be off-limits.

Some important artifacts and remaining Parthenon sculptures were moved to the nearby Acropolis Museum. To see many of the Parthenon's original marble sculptures and other Acropolis artifacts, visitors are encouraged to tour the museum.

Sources

Secrets of the Parthenon. PBS NOVA.
The Glorious Parthenon. PBS NOVA.
The Parthenon. Ancient-Greece.org.
The Parthenon. Oxford Bibliographies.
The Parthenon. Reed College.
The Parthenon: Religion, Art and Politics. The State University of New York.

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Parthenon: Definition, Facts, Athens & Greece - HISTORY

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The Parthenon is a marble temple built atop the Acropolis in Athens during the classical age of ancient Greece. It was the largest and most lavish temple the Greek mainland had ever seen.