Our Wakes: 2018

By the end of October, most airlines had discontinued their connections with the Greek islands  so that the only way to return to Belgium was to go via Athens. For us it was an opportunity to  visit this fabulous city that is considered the birthplace of our civilization 1.400 years ago.  Athens started to be built around the sacred mountain of the Acropolis.  In 437 BC, the  construction of the Parthenon was initiated. It is one of the most known monuments on earth like  the Egyptian  pyramids. Over the ages the role of the Parthenon has changed many times. During the Turkish  invasion the place was used as a place to sort ammunition. In 1687 a cannonball triggered a huge  explosion that severely damaged the Parthenon. 20 Columns as well as the roof were destroyed.  Subsequently, a lot of looting went on such as of many artifacts collected by the British  ambassador to Greece. He took away a lot of statues for his private home in London. Today the  items are on display or stored in the British museum but Greece is claiming that they should be  returned to Greece. In the museum of the acropolis a video projection makes sure every visitor  knows all about this. Today a massive restoration is underway to repair the Parthenon and what  we witnessed is that this is extremely well done even if it will take years to finish. But  theParthenon is not the only remarkable building to visit. There is also the Erechthion with the  famous caryatides beside it. The original caryatides were removed and are on display in a safe  way in the  Acropolis museum. Next to the Acropolis there are also 2 theaters, the one of Herodotus  Atticus and on the East side the one of Dionysus. Next to the Acropolis is the museum of the  acropolis that contains a lot of objects found on the Acropolis. But one of the hopes of the  Greeks is that the UK will return the looted objects now that there is a proper place to store  them. So far, the British museum has been deaf to the message. They are willing to lend them  the objects for an exhibition but are not willing to give up their ownership as Greece wants.  Besides the Acropolis there are numerous sites that are worth visiting in Athens. We visited the   Agora. This place has a well preserved temple (hepasteilon)  which was a meeting place for the  people of Athens to meet and discuss issues. You can find numerous remains of various buildings.   The National Archeological museum is a must visit. It contains more the 20,000 objects from  Greek history. Many of the exposed objects are truly amazing. When you visit Athens, We  recommend you stay a minimum of three day because there is so much to see.