Acropolis - Pandroseion

In the obtuse angle between the Erechtheion and the Old Temple of Athena at Acropolis is the Pandroseion, a shrine named after Pandrosos, daughter of the first king of Athens, Kekrops, and sister of Herse and Aglauros, to whom one of the sacred caves on the north side of the Acropolis was dedicated.

The sanctuary was a rectangular courtyard enclosed by walls in which stood an altar of Zeus Herkeios (protector of the hearth) and no doubt also a small temple of Pandrosos. It was probably here too that the sacred snakes of the Acropolis were kept.

At the southeast corner was an access to the tomb of Kekrops. Here too grew the sacred olive-tree presented to the city by Athena after her victory over Poseidon in the contest for the land of Attica. Herodotus (VIII, 55) tells us that on the day after the destruction of the Acropolis by the Persians in 480 B.C. a fresh shoot a cubit long had sprung from the trunk of the burned tree, giving an assurance of the continued survival of Athens. The memory of this olive-tree is perpetuated by a new tree planted here in modern times.