Acropolis - Temple of Athena Nike

At the Acropolis there is an ancient sanctuary dedicated to Athena as the bringer of victory (Nike) on the spur of rock on the south side of the Propylaia - a rocky platform outside the Mycenaean walls.

The temple was built in 432-421, after the completion of the Parthenon and the Propylaia. It has four lonic columns at the north and south ends. The form of the column bases and capitals was already old-fashioned at the time of the erection, leading Carpenter to suggest that after the end of the Periclean period the earlier design by Kallikrates was used.

In Turkish times (1686) the temple was thrown down to use the bastion as an artillery position, from which Ludwig Ross disengaged it in 1836. Re-erected at the time, and again after consolidation work between 1936 and 1940, it is the daintiest and most elegant building on the Acropolis. Its lonic forms contrast with the Doric massiveness of the Propylaia and with the ancient masonry of the "Pelasgian" (i.e. Mycenaean) defensive walls which can be seen to the east.

The Acropolis Museum contains the balustrade from the temple platform, with relief figures of Athena and several representations of Nike (Victory).