Acropolis

Acropolis (‘upper town’), the citadel, standing on high ground, of a Greek town. The most famous is the Acropolis of Athens, a rocky plateau about 50 m. (165 ft.) high, the flat summit measuring about 300 m. east to west and 150 m. north to south, and inaccessible except by a steep slope on the west. It was the fortress and sanctuary of the city, and had been enclosed by a massive wall as early as the thirteenth century BC. All previous fortifications, buildings, and statues were destroyed in the Persian occupation of 480–479 BC (see PERSIAN WARS). The walls were rebuilt by Themistocles and Cimon and in celebration of the final defeat of the Persians a statue of Athena Promachos by Pheidias was erected in the 450s. Pheidias was directed by Pericles to superintend the latter's general scheme for the rebuilding of the Acropolis. First came the Parthenon, then the Propylaea, Temple of Athena Nikē, and Erectheum, as well as many lesser sanctuaries such as that of Artemis Brauronia.