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Acropolis Found

Ancient heart of Athens hosts more tourists than the Games

Image: Acropolis
Despite renovation work, visitors throng past the Temple of Athena Nike to top of the Acropolis, the ancient ceremonial heart of Athens.
Rachel Elbaum / MSNBC.com
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updated 10:01 a.m. ET Aug. 26, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Is there anything more embarrassing for a visitor to Athens than to return home and say that he didn’t get to the Acropolis? The No. 1 tourist attraction in the city, this ancient site seems to have more visitors in one hour than the number of spectators filing into any of the brand new stadiums to watch an Olympic final event.

It’s the place that travelers stopping in the city for a few hours on their way to the Greek Islands make time to see. There may not be time to see the Parliament, the National Gardens or the changing of the guards at Syntagma Square, but there is always time for the Acropolis.

Image: Tourists at the Acropolis
Rachel Elbaum / MSNBC.com
Though Athens had experienced a tourist slump before the  Olympics, lines at the Acropolis and other historic sites are constant since the start of the Summer Games.
From afar, it seems that there is never a gap in the queue of visitors walking up the slippery, stone steps to the top of the table-like hill. The price to see one of the world’s most famous monuments isn’t cheap. Adults will shell out 12 euro ($14.50), while children and students get in at half that.

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The sun is merciless and blinding on this second-highest point in the city as it reflects off the tan marble and limestone. The blue and white Greek flag flying on the edge of the hill offers the only bit of color among the earth tones. Built to honor the city’s patron goddess, Athena, the former fortress was the ceremonial heart of the city in ancient times. It wasn’t only a temple, but was home to the priests and virgins who served there.

In the center of the site, scaffolding surrounds the Parthenon, a former temple built in 447 BC. It will be there for at least the next 15 years while teams of archaeological and restoration experts replace the columns on the outside of the structure and rebuild the roof and walls that were destroyed during the Venetian siege of the city in the 17th century.

“I wanted the kids to see it and I thought we would stop in and torture them during our time here for the Games,” said Richard Katz, visiting Athens from New York City with his wife and two sons. “Someday it will be important to them.”

Archaeology isn’t known for its high pay, but if there is one place in the world where there should at least be a steady income, its in Athens. Yet, even here where there is more digging and restoration going on than almost anywhere on the continent, archaeologists struggle for steady work and many serve as tour guides to pick up extra cash. This summer, that profession, like many of the tourist dependent services in Athens, hit a slump.

“Before the Olympics, there was a crisis,” said Nikos Linardatos, an archaeologist and tour guide.

The Games’ return to Athens reversed his fortunes and he is now conducting at least two group tours a day – a normal summer’s day business.

Linardatos, who speaks Greek, French, English and Romanian, has worked in Athens for more than 23 years, sometimes digging and also proudly showing guests the treasures of his native land. If history is any indicator, the Acropolis will provide him with work for many years to come.

Postcards from Athens


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