Acropolis visit 2nd time round

Having visited most of the archaeological sites previously, I chose to skip paying admission to enter in most of them, especially since you can also easily see them from outside. The only exception was with the Acropolis.

I looked back at the cost of the tickets 10.5 years ago, and I paid Euro 12 to enter most of the archaeological sites.

Now, the entry fee for just the Acropolis is Euro 10, and that is actually the reduced rate as it is winter. Come March, the price goes back up to Euro 20.

Alternatively, there is the option to see all the key Archaeological sites in Athens for Euro 30. Talk about inflation!

There are 2 different entry points into the Acropolis. I chose to take the one closer to Areopagus Hill.

Entering the complex, the 1st attraction I see is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. A huge amphitheater, with a great view of the city, stretching all the way. On a fairly clear day like today, you can even see the sea, near Piraeus.

I next walked towards the actual Acropolis site, towards Propylaea, the monumental entrance to the sanctuary of the Acropolis.

I even got lucky with a shot with no one in the back!

Round the corner and located at the southwest end of the Propylaea, on top of a bastion is Temple of Athena Nike.

Athena Nike is the protector of the city, who offered the Athenians victory in their battles.

And of course visibly seen is the Parthenon -

The infamous structure of Acropolis...10 years on, and this side still has scaffolding 😅

There is no scaffolding on the other side. 

It feels like not much has progressed since 10 years ago on this building. This was what it looked like 10 years ago. 

The only good thing about now vs back then is the opportunity of capturing a shot without any one else in the backdrop. A rare thing to do in an infamous site like this one.

In the other corner of the Acropolis grounds is the Erechtheion, with the beautiful famous Porch of the Maidens (Korai) - 6 statues of young women, standing on a podium of 1.77m high, support the roof of the porch. I personally think this is the most remarkable section on the site.

Great views from the top of Acropolis of the city of Athens can be seen and I easily spent about 2.5 hours here, longer than needed, with over an hour just sitting by the seats at the far end of the Acropolis and admiring the view.

Making my way down to the slopes, the North Slopes were closed for access when I was there, and only the South Slopes were opened. 

This is also where the Theatre of Dionysius is located. It doesn't look very big, but based on the write up found near the area, the sitting area is a lot bigger, just not visibly shown through the excavated sections.

I also found it hilarious how they had this site marked with a "?" at the end of the label 😂

At the rate they are going, I wonder if they will ever get to complete piecing together all the different pieces of the jigsaw puzzle within my generation, to recreate what Acropolis looked like in the olden times!