It is hard to notice the acropolis when you look around Athens. The hike to the top was somewhat steep, making one wonder about how often Greeks may have visited the top. Stripped of most of the Turkish buildings and Byzantine churches, save for one, by King Otho, we have a good look into what Athenians encountered when nearing and ascending the site in the 5th century BC.
We know that it was Pericles who pushed to have the acropolis we see today using money from the Delian League to accomplish the project. The Propylea, Parthenon, and Erectheum are the structures which sit overlooking the city. Each of these, but most famously the Parthenon, was stripped of its decoration by Lord Elgin when Greece was still under ottoman control, and it was somewhat disappointing that we could not go anywhere in Athens to see the decorations (for most are housed in the British Museum).
In constant repair, the hope is that one day the buildings will not topple from earthquakes and will last for future generations to enjoy. We learned from our tour guide that the buildings were erected using blocks of Pentelic marble that were carefully measured and given a specific place within each structure, to ensure longevity. The Greeks even used optical illusions, like curving the base of the parthenon and changing the typical placement of corner columns, for reasons we are not completely certain of. It is really a testament to the ingenuity and precision of Greek mathematics to be able to engineer such structures, which still stand today.
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