37.9714, 23.7245
Temple of Athena Nike
Athens, Greece
Mike's review
Visited 2019Small and easy to miss if you are rushing, but the Temple of Athena Nike earns its place because of where it sits. It clings to the bastion beside the entrance, so it reads with the Propylaea and the view more than as a freestanding temple.
I liked it as a reminder that the Acropolis is not just one big monument. It is a tight arrangement of buildings, sightlines, and thresholds.
From the source
The Temple of Athena Nike sits on the small bastion to the right of the Propylaea when entering the Acropolis. Kallikrates designed the compact Ionic temple, built around 426-421 BCE with four columns at each end. Its position overlooks the old approach to the hill and connected the worship of Athena with military victory.
A marble parapet once protected the bastion and carried reliefs of winged Victories. Several surviving blocks are now in the Acropolis Museum. Ottoman forces dismantled the temple in 1686 and reused its stone in defensive works ahead of the Venetian siege. Archaeologists later recovered the blocks and reconstructed the building. It is viewed from the Acropolis route and does not have separate interior access.
Supporting sources: Legacy import provenance, Wikipedia
Plan your visit
Hours
Apr-Aug daily 08:00-20:00; September closing shifts from 19:30 to 19:00; October from 18:30 to 18:00; Nov-Mar daily 08:00-17:00.
Features & amenities
Good to know
- Photos allowed
Tags
More near here
Other pins within walking distance of Temple of Athena Nike.
Planning Athens
The rest of my Athens saves, on the city's planning pages.