Ancient and Roman Agora, Athens

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The entrance of this sights are included in the 12euros entrance fee for the Acropolis.In greek language ΑΓΟΡΑ(AGORA)=Market(english).But this place doesn't mean a market.Ancient Agora is the place where the ancient greeks plead or to discuss a matter for all the community this is derives from the verb word ΑΡΟΡΕΥΩ(AGOREVO)=I plead.

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Located below the Acropolis, the Agora was a meeting and trading place, temples and a lot of public buildings were built. The site was vandalized several times,especially by the Romans in 84 BC and the Heruli in 267 after JC and finally abandoned towards the end of the VI century.
By visiting the Agora, you can admire the Hephaisteion or Theseion ( the temple of Hephaestus) probably the best-preserved ancient Greek temple.
The museum of the Agora is located in the Stoa of Attalos ( a king of Pergamon) the building destroyed by the Heruli in 267 after JC was in the 1950s fully reconstructed.

Time for the visit of the Agora: 2/3 hours
Ticket: price included in the Acropolis ticket

The Agora used to be the centre of ond Athina: it was a large square where people would meet and assemble. The reasons were several and different: it could be a market, an election, a performance, a religious fstival, a competitions os some sort, or even a military drill. Any sort of sctivity, indeed, could take palce there.

All around the square, public buildings would be found - basically those necessary to run the city: for example the council chamber, the magistrates’ offices, the mint, and the archives and so on. Anbd - of course - shops! the decline of the Agora started after the Slavic invasion in A.D. 580, when the site was gradually abandoned.

Great parts of it have been brought back to light, but excavations are still going on and there's really a lot to visit in the area. Information about opening times and admission can be found in the website listed below.

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There are only three more or less complete large structures in the Agora. At the west edge of the Agora stands the Temple of Hephaestus built between 449-44 BC. Along the eastern side is the Stoa of Attalos from the 2C BC, very damaged and rebuilt between 1953-56. The third structure is the Horologium or Tower of the Winds standing further northwest at the edge of the adjacent Roman Agora.

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In the Roman Agora, the tower of the wind is one of the few ancient buildings and ancient clocks that stands almost intact.
This is a An octagonal marble structure with a conical roof and was built by the astronomer Andronicus from Macedonia in the middle of the 1st century BC.

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The Ancient Agora in Athens is the city's most popular agora.
In addition to being a place where people gathered to buy and sell all kinds of commodities, it was also a place where people assembled to discuss all kinds of topics: business, politics, current events, or the nature of the universe and the divine.Here, where ancient Greek democracy came to life, you get a wonderful opportunity to have an idea of the commercial, political, religious, and cultural life of one of the great cities of the ancient world.
Metro stop: monastiraki.

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Roman Agora actually has nothing to do with Romans, They give this name because it was constructed during Roman times -1st century CE- in order to serve a growing Athens.

It is a single architectural complex, measuring 111 x 98 m., consisting of a vast rectangular court, surrounded by colonnades. The courtyard was surrounded by stoas, shops and storerooms. It has an east, Ionic propylon and a west, Doric propylon, known as the Gate of Athena Archegetis, which linked it to the Greek Agora. It was built between 19 and 11 BCE with a donation of Julius Caesar and Augustus.

Horologion of Andronicos - Tower of the Winds
The octagonal tower (3.20 m. long on each side) stands on a base of three steps and is built of white Pentelic marble.
It has a conical roof, a cylindrical annex on the south side, and two Corinthian porches, one on the NE and one on the NW side. At the top of each of the eight sides there is a relief representation of a wind, symbolized by a male figure with the appropriate attributes and its name inscribed on the stone. There were sundials on the external walls and an elaborate waterclock in the interior. The tower was built in the first half of the 1st century B.C. by the astronomer Andronicos, from Kyrrhos in Macedonia.

You can visit Roman Agora with ticket of Acropolis. Look about the ticket prices from my Acropolis tip.

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This is the old market place that dates back to the city -state time of Athens. This area was the heart of civic life in ancient Athens and dates back to 6th century BC. The site is large and has many ruins and a museum on the site. The best preserved of which is the temple of Hephaistos.

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Built by comission of Julius Ceasar and Augustus from 19 to 11 BC it was later improved by Hadrian. The most famous structure of the agora is the perfectly preserved Tower of the Winds which is thought to predate the agora and to have been used by the astronomer Andronicus from about 150 BC.

The Agora was very important to ancient Greek society as public life was concentrated here. It was shaded with poplar, willows and planetrees and ornamented with fountains, temples, alters, and statues. Merchants and vendors sold all matter of items available to the ancient Greeks. Bankers and money lenders spread their tables and opened for business.
Pay special attention to the Temple of Hephastius (or Theseium), which is the best preserved temple in all of Greece and is not always mentioned.