THE ANCIENT MARKET - KERAMEIKOSIn
ancient Greece the Agora (market) was a completely necessary area for the function and
organization of every city. All official services had their seat in the market at the same
time as it constituted a center for social, intellectual and artistic events. Until the
end of the 6th Century BC, the meetings of the municipal church took place in the market
until they were transferred to the Pnyx. It was also here that the first athletic games
took place and many theatrical performances were also presented here. Wandering about in
this deserted area we can feel the atmosphere "loaded" with the disagreements of
Solon's discussions, the condemnatory decisions of the Court of Eliai, the recitations of
the tragedians, the war-cries of the Goths who in 276 AD devastated the market...
Even if some very significant buildings had been situated in the Agora, time showed
them no mercy, leaving nothing but ruins visible. It is however worth wandering about with
a detailed description of each building's functions in your hand and letting your fantasy
give life to the crowded, noisy market of Athens.
Other distinguished buildings at the site of the Agora were the Temple of lphaistos,
the Arch, Parliament, Agrippa's Odium, altars and temples dedicated to gods as well as
arcades, which were used in many ways. That which stands out is the Arcade of Attalos,
where the museum contains exhibits and sculptures from the area of the Agora.
The Temple of lphaistos (449-444 BC) is the best-preserved
Greek Temple. Doric, with a few Ionic features, the temple was dedicated to lphaistos the
god of Metallurgy. The fact that it was decorated with several sculptures with Theseas as
their subject gave it the mistaken name of Theseion, by which the whole area is known. The
vault or the Pritanic (the rectorial) was a circular building erected around 470-460 BC at
the site of the first Pritanic which was destroyed by the Persians. At the vault all state
archives and samples of all valid weights and measures of that time were kept.
At the entrance of the now destroyed Odium of Agrippa three colossal statues stand,
which in the past formed the propylum of the gymnasium, built around 400 BC. At the end of
the 6th Century BC an open place were formed southwest of the Agora, where the Court of
Eliais was situated. Most cases came under the jurisdiction of this court except for
murder cases where the judges of the Arios Pagos were competent.
THE ANCIENT MARKET - KERAMEIKOS