Athens by Helen Partovi-Fraser

Author:Helen Partovi-Fraser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Powerhouse Publishing
Published: 2014-06-02T16:00:00+00:00

6. Hadrian’s City and Arch, a Greek Orthodox Baptism, Ilissos Basilica, Byzantine Museum

Athens’ greatest treasure, many Athenians would say, is the National Garden, the former private garden of the King and Queen, situated behind the Greek Parliament on Amalias. To escape the hectic pace of the city, we wander through the garden gates into a hushed world where narrow pathways wind round sub-tropical trees. Designed by Queen Amalia, first Queen of Greece and lover of gardens, the National Gardens originally contained over 15,000 flowers and trees from around the world. In The Colossus of Maroussi (1941) Henry Miller wrote that the Gardens remained in his memory like no other park. Modern statuary of celebrated Greek poets and national leaders stand round sudden corners amongst fountains and wildlife. Ancient fragments and a mosaic floor of a Roman villa lie hidden near a duck pond. Peacocks strut round a neoclassical pavilion and the sounds of fun and laughter further along the secluded, tree-lined paths lead us to a small lake near a tiny monkey zoo and a children’s playground.

On leaving this haven we walk along heavily-congested Amalias in the shade of yellow cassia and green fig trees, before reaching recently discovered Roman baths and Hadrian’s Arch at a traffic-filled junction. Revered by the Greeks and Romans, the fig of Attica, so sacred was it held, had in the sixth century BC been banned from export out of Greece. And it is said that Xerxes’ plans to invade the country centered around his passion for the figs of Attica. Soft pink-blossomed Judas trees, efflorescent and in full bloom, line the noisy avenue; as we pass the statue of Lord Byron dying in the arms of Greece, the scents of pink oleander cross our path.

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Hadrian’s Arch, connecting the Emperor’s new town to ancient Athens, marked an ancient road linking the Acropolis to the Olympeion. The land slopes down from Lykabettos to the riverbed of the sacred Ilissos. The gateway, close to the river, was built by the Athenians in 131 in honour of their emperor. Surrounded by wild flowers, it consists of two layers, a lower Roman arch through which people and animals could pass, crowned by a series of Corinthian columns and a pediment. Through the upper arches of the pediment can be seen the long ridge of Hymettos. Two inscriptions are carved on the architrave, the Acropolis side reading ‘This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus’; the second, on the side facing the new city reads ‘This is the city of Hadrian and not of Theseus’.

Beyond this monumental entrance soar the Corinthian columns of the Olympeion. Situated outside the city, the temple was built on the site of an earlier temple dedicated to Zeus. Set against the blue-grey slopes of Hymettos, the remaining fifteen columns present a vision of majesty and power. Begun by the Peisistrati tyrants in the sixth century BC and frequently abandoned, the temple was finally completed over six hundred years later in 131 by Emperor Hadrian, one of the great benefactors to Athens and the Roman Empire.

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