The rock of the Acropolis rises up in the middle of the Athenian basin, 156 m, above sea level, with a length of 300m, and a width of 150 m. Its position is of particular strategic importance because of the view it affords of all the surrounding area, and down to the sea. This is the reason it was inhabited even during the prehistoric period.

The Palasgians, the first inhabitants of Athens, fortified this rock with walls made of enormous slabs 6 m. wide. The cyclopean walls protected the king's palace and the houses of his officers. 

During the early historical period a temple dedicated to Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was erected on the site of the old palace. The temple was destroyed twice and rebuilt both times. In the 6th century B.C. it was decorated with marvelous works of sculpture.

The monuments we see today are works from the Classical period. It is thought that they were erected by Pericles during the period 447-406 B.C. and reflect a single plan.

The artistic staff that was employed includes the names of the architects Iktinos, Mnisiklis and Kallikrates.

There is also Phidias who was a sculptor but had far greater influence. In brief, the monuments of the Acropolis contain the most representative examples of the astonishing Attican architecture of the Classical period.

The Parthenon

During the period 495-480 B.C. the Athenians began to build, on the site of the present-day Parthenon, a marble six-columned Doric temple which was never completed. Its sterobate and its foundation and a section of its upper structure were later incorporated by Pericles into the the Parthenon.

After the destruction of this half completed work by the Persians in 480 B.C., the Athenians abandoned the idea of rebuilding the temple, until Pericles appeared in the political arena and promoted the grandeur of Athens.

So at the highest point of the Sacred Rock the Athenians erected one of the most perfect creations of the human spirit, a symbol of classical beauty and perhaps the supreme achievement of ancient Greek architecture.

The erection began in 447 B.C. and the inauguration was held in 438 B.C. during the celebration of the Panathenaic Games. The sculptural decoration of the building would be completed in 432 B.C. Iktinos and Kallikrates are known as the architects. The decoration program and the general supervision of the structural work was handled by Phidias.

The Temple of Athena Nike

This is a small, elegant Ionian monument built on a bastion on the Southwest side of the Rock of the Acropolis. The temple must have been built between 427-424 B.C. and Kallikrates is mentioned as its architect. The religious statue of the Nike, with its cut-off wings, was housed in the nave, which was fashioned into a crypt by three steps. That is why Pausanias said in the 2nd century A.D. that the temple was dedicated to the Wingless Victory (Nike = Victory).

The Erechtheion

North of the Parthenon is the second largest temple on the Acropolis, the Erechtheion, which is somewhat later. Its construction started in 421 B.C., was halted for the Sicilian Campaign and was completed between 409-405 B.C. Its architect is unknown even though many have maintained it was Mnisiklis.

It was a pillared building, internally divided by a transverse wall into two parts. The west side of the building was not enclosed by a wall but had five openings separated by railings with four intermediary Ionic columns which, during the Roman period, were converted into windows.

To the south was the Porch of the Caraytids which was built on the tomb of Kekrops, with six kores statues which rest on the high continuous base and gracefully support the entablature, of an Asian type, and the marble roof.

Five of the statues, which today have been replaced by plaster casts, are found in the Acropolis Museum and one in the British Museum.

Inside and on the slopes of the rock of the Acropolis there are many more ancient monuments, such as: The temple and the theater of Dionysos, the Asclepeion, the odeon of Pericles, the Odeon of Herod Atticus, the Acropolis Museum, the Beule Gate, the Propylaia and many more.