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Description
(Local Name: Agorá) In the north of the Acropolis there are three large open areas - the Agora, the principal market-place of ancient Athens, the Roman Agora and the Library of Hadrian.

A good general impression of the Agora can be obtained from four viewpoints: the north wall of the Acropolis, the Areopagos, the road which runs east from the Areopagos along the north side of the Acropolis, and the road along the north side of the Areopagos.

The detailed layout of the Agora can best be appreciated by entering the site at the north gate, off Adrianoú Street (near the church of St Philip), and consulting the plan displayed just inside the entrance.

The Agora was excavated by American
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Hobbies & Activities category: Architecture - Roman, Greek, classical;  Archeological site or ruin
Agora Highlights

Stoa of Attalos Museum

The most prominent feature on the east side of the Agora is the 116m/380ft long Stoa of Attalos, built by king Attalos II of Pergamon (160-139 B.C.), brother and successor to Eumenes II, who built
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Agora Museum

The Agora Museum in Athens is housed in the reconstruction (1953-56) of the Stoa of Attalos, originally built in the second century B.C.

The wealth of material recovered during the Agora
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Rear Hall

The long main hall to the rear of the Agora Museum displays in chronological order a large collection of material, most of it notable not so much for its artistic quality as for the evidence it
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Temple of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) / Thesseion

From the Agora an attractive footpath runs past the Tholos up the Agora Hill (Kolonos Agoraios), on which stands the Temple of Hephaistos.

The erroneous name of Theseion still stubbornly persists
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Cella

In spite of its small size, the cella at the Temple of Hephaistos had columns round three sides framing the cult images of Hephaistos and Athena (by Alkamenes) which were set up in the temple about
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Pronaos Frieze

The damaged pronaos frieze depicts battle scenes, the west frieze fighting between Lapiths and centaurs (in the middle the invulnerable Lapith Kaineus being driven into the ground by centaurs).

St George's Church

When in the fifth century the temple of Hephaistos was converted into a Christian church, dedicated to St George, it became necessary to construct a chancel at the east end in place of the previous
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Agora Archaeological Site

On the site of the Ancient Agora between the two most prominent features the Temple of Heaphaistos and the Stoa of Attilas Museum are a number of foundations of important ancient Athenian buildings.

Altar of Zeus Agoraios

Opposite the Metroon in the Agora and a few paces east of the Peribolos of the Eponymous Heroes is an altar of Pentelic marble which originally stood on the Pnyx and was later moved to its present
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Altar of the Twelve Gods

The Altar of the Twelve gods dates from the time of the Peisistratids. In later times it enjoyed the right of asylum, affording sanctuary from pursuit. It was regarded as the central point of Athens
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Ancient State Prison

The state prison of Athens was identified by the American archeologist E. Vanderpool in the excavation area to the southwest of the Agora.

Going southeast from the Tholos for some 100m/100yd
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Bema

In front of the stoa at the Agora in Athens, near the north end, are remains of a small hall and a circular fountain-house. Half-way along are an orator's rostrum (bema) and the base which bore a statue of Attalos II.

Bouleuterion

The Bouleuterion, meeting-place of the Council (Boule) of Athens, was built in 403 B.C. on the slope below the Temple of Hephaistos. A vestibule on the south side led into the main council chamber,
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Gymnasion

After the destruction of the Odeion of Agrippa by the Herulians in A.D. 267 the site was used in about 400 for the erection of a Gymnasion to house the University of Athens, which was closed down
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Heliaia

The Heliaia, a court established by Solon in the sixth century B.C., had its meeting-place on the south side of the Agora. It was named after the sun god Helios because it held its sessions before
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Library of Pantainos

The remains of the Library of Pantainos, built by Flavius Pantaenus in A.D. 100 and destroyed by the Herulians in 267, lie immediately south of the Stoa of Attalos, separated from it by the road leading to the Roman Agora.

Metroon

The remains of the Metroon, a sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods (Meter Theon) built in the second half of the second century B.C., lie in front of the Bouleuterion, on the west side of the Agora.

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Peribolos of Eponymous Heroes

Opposite the Metroon is a long narrow rectangular base. On this there stood statues of the 10 eponymous heroes who gave their names to the 10 tribes (phylai) into which the population was divided. Here in ancent times new laws were made public.

Nymphaion (Closed for Restoration)

In the A.D. second century a semicircular fountain-house, the Nymphaion, was built at the southeast corner of the Agora, in an area occupied by a number of older buildings: immediately southwest a
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Odeion of Agrippa

A well-preserved Corinthian capital of imposing dimensions marks the position of the Odeion of Agrippa, in the center of the Agora. Built about 20 B.C. by the Roman general Agrippa, Augustus'
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Panathenaic Way

According to Pausanias (VIII, 2, 1) the Panathenaic festival in honor of Athena was instituted by Theseus. From the time of Peisistratos (sixth century B.C.) it was celebrated every four years on
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Eleusinion

On the east side of the Panathenaic Way, which climbed up to the Acropolis, was the Eleusion, a sanctuary of the Eleusinian divinities Demeter, Persephone and Triptolemos. It was smaller than the
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Royal Stoa

It was long thought that the Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileios) was identical with the Stoa of Zeus, but it has now been located in the new excavation area north of the Piraeus railroad.

17.75m/58ft long
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South, Middle & East Stoas

American excavations have revealed a number of stoas (porticos serving various public purposes) in the southern part of the Agora. South Stoa I, lying between the earlier Heliaia and fountainhouse,
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Statue of Hadrian

Among the numerous monuments the bases of which have been preserved along the west side of the Agora was a statue of the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) erected in the A.D. second century.

This
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Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios

The northwest part of the Agora, extending to the Piraeus railroad line (the construction of which destroyed its north end), is occupied by the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios (Zeus who maintains the
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Temple of Ares

The Temple of Ares stood in the northern part of the Agora in Athens; originally built on another site around 440 B.C., it was moved to its present position in the Augustan period.

Although only
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Tholos

The most southerly building on the west side of the Agora is the Tholos, a circular structure 18.30m/60ft in diameter. Built around 465 B.C. on the site of an earlier rectangular building, this
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Valerian Wall

The Valerian Wall was a late Roman defensive wall built after the Herulian invasion of A.D. 267, using the remains of destroyed buildings. Fragments can be seen to the south of the Library of Pantainos and to the east of the Ayii Apóstoli church.

Great Drain

The Great Drain was constructed in the early fifth century B.C. to channel the rainwater which flowed down from the Acropolis and Areopagos into the Eridanos. From the southwest end of the Agora it
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Medrese

To the east of the mosque at the Roman Agora in Athens is the doorway (inscriptions) of a Turkish medrese (Koranic school).

Church of the Holy Apostles / Agii Apostoli

The Church of the Holy Apostles was the only building left standing when the whole of this quarter of Athens was pulled down to permit the excavation of the Agora. Originally built in the 10th C
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Address
Temple of Hephaistos / Ancient Agora
24 Andrianou Street
Athéna
Greece
Hours
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Open8:008:008:008:008:008:008:00
Closed18:0018:0018:0018:0018:0018:0018:00
Always open, even if weekly hours indicate otherwise
Assumption Day - Christian (August 15)
Óhi Day - Greece & Cyprus (October 28)
Always closed on:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Good Friday - Christian
Easter - Christian
May Day / Labor Day (May 1)
Christmas - Christian (December 25)
Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26)
Cost
AdultAdmission Cost
Concession or reduced rateDiscount
Students from EU
Child 18 & under
Tips
Admission is free on Sundays from November to March and the first Sunday of each month except July.
Entrance fee includes admission to multiple sites.
Transit
Electric Rail: from Theseion, Monastiráki.
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