Greece, Travel

Athens – Part2 – Antiquity and Creativity

Suzanne

The above-featured image is an oil on canvas [1979], painted by Nikos Hadjikyriakos – Ghika’s “Pines and Blue Chair in the Afternoon”.  

While most other people, us included, do see Athens as surrounded by antiquity, which, of course, the city has in abundance, there is another side, its developing art scene, which I touched briefly on in “Who decides what ART is?”

When wandering around this ancient city of Athens, which, by the way, has been established for around 6000 years, we realised that the place has the feel of an open-air museum, with archaeological sites scattered around the inner city and the surrounding areas.

ANTIQUITY

The Roman Agora ruins.  What a hustle and bustling place.  As most communication would have been verbal, it would’ve been a significant place to congregate and share information and produce.  A few nights ago, it came alive with a concert that we listened to for a while. To see more of it, go HERE. 

This is the fascinating Tower of the Winds.  What’s the Tower of Winds, I hear you say?  In basic terms, it is believed to be the world’s first weather vane, though able to do much more intricate work and a long history in its development.  To read more about what we thought was one the more fascinating archaeological sites in Athens, Wikipedia

The Temple of Olympian Zeus, also known as the Olympieion or Columns of the Olympian Zeus.

Hadrian Arch, it’s quite hard to comprehend that this construction began in the 6th century BC during the rule of the Athenian tyrant Peisistratus, though it was not completed until the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, 650 years after the project had begun.  When we are faced with structures such as this, we always stare in wonderment at how well it was built without the use of engine power.

After viewing the archaeological sites, it really does beg the question, are we really the superior century and generations of advancement?

When it comes to buildings, sometimes the large overpowers the small, the day we walked around the square where the below churches are situated on, it was the smaller church that caught our attention as there was a lack of people entering.  Well, that was a sign to head on over and have a look.

The Church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos was not as ornate as the Cathedral, though it had an area where we could buy and light a candle to remember loved ones.

The next stop was the larger of the two, and one which made us go “WOW”.  A fellow blogger just this moment in a comment from Part 1 – Wandering the streets in Athens, reminded me to include it, so here it is, April, who writes a detailed blog about medieval life at aprilmunday.wordpress.com.

Now, back to the church in question, which is far from medieval but still very attractive.  It is the most spectacular and well-preserved church we have visited for a while, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, one of the largest modern Orthodox churches in Greece.

CREATIVITY

We eventually turned our sights to Athens’s more creative side when I/we visited a few smaller spaces with artefacts and newer forms of art that are closeted away inside museums and churches.  One Museum that caught my attention, which I visited on one of my solo days, was the Benaki Museum.  This grand old building was once occupied by a well-known family who turned it into a museum in the 1930s, emphasising the Greek culture over the span of the country’s history.  Now, everyone has the privilege of admiring the beautiful neoclassical-style building and the exhibitions that adorn its inside spaces.  The below photograph is a view from inside looking towards the front entrance. To the right and left are gift shops, further inside on the lower levels are the more ancient artefacts, with the modern 20thCentury artists on the top level where a cafe is situated with a view over the National Park of Athens. 

Though Athens is deeply rooted in antiquity, it does have its share of modern art in various museums.  The Benaki is no exception, and the exhibition was on 3 people [Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, John Craxton, Patrick Leigh Fermor] who impacted Greece and the UK; two were artists, and the other was a writer.  It was a fascinating presentation, with not just what they achieved as artists/writers but also the long relationship the three had together and their equal passion for Greece.

What I loved apart from the paintings was the personalised messages from the artists alongside the art. As stated above: “For the houses, as though in protest against the masterless swirl of rock, are cubic, solid, and severe.  The great ones are built of regular blocks of grey stone hewn from the mountain, and the dark windows are barred like those of dungeons.  The others are a blinding white, and they might have been sliced and squared out of goat’s cheese.  The houses and the rocks alike thrust into the air an infinity of sharp and light-reflecting facets”  Patrick Leigh Fermor – artist – The background of Niko Ghika

Another aspect of the Museum worth mentioning is their use of video, “Liquid Antiquity: Conversations”, conceived and designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.  This was situated on the lower floor, with videos set up with chairs to sit and listen to the various artists.

Athens has so many museums and art galleries it was probably not possible to see all of them in a week or so that we had there.  The one I did want to visit was the National Modern Art Gallery, I walked there one morning to find it closed, no up to date information on their website.  Not impressed!!

One Museum that we visited together and worth mentioning is the Acropolis Museum.

As we weren’t allowed to use our cameras to capture the artefacts, I was intrigued by this young woman who seemed engrossed in capturing her visit with sketching.  Which I thought was a fantastic idea.

Published by Suzanne

Travel and Life Musings from New Zealand and Beyond. . . . . . .

39 thoughts on “Athens – Part2 – Antiquity and Creativity”

  4. The antiquities are mind-blowing … as you rightly say at one point – getting your head round the sheer age of some of these buildings and remains and then looking at the skill that was employed by the ancient Greeks to build them is overwhelming. the modern art is the antiquité of the future, of course and that tends to be one of the ways I view art … how will this be viewed in 100 or 1000 years if it survives. What will it tell of us now to those that come after us? Fascinating piece and marvelous photographs 😊

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    1. Thanks Osyth 🙂 Makes me wonder what sort of art was discarded over the centuries! Plus what art is classified as representing this century!
      Suz

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  5. Thanks for the shout out Suz….(the article is on http://www.theeaselweasel.wordpress.com btw ..I know- am a pain!)..great to see the sketcher and get a tour…lovely photos as always…was also delighted to see that Leigh Fermor was part of that exhibition there…I read his biography a few years back and fell in love with him (his writing is harder to get a grip on though it is beautifully descriptive for the modern mind its tough) and have since wanted to visit his old house in Kardimyli (spelling could be off)..I think its been slowly renovated to cater to visitors. Thanks!

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    1. Thanks Clare, there is so much of the art world I would love to know, hopefully I will slowly over the years educate myself on the different art/artist that’s out there! BTW you are not a pain! Interesting person would be one descriptive word for you!
      Suz

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    1. Thank you for your kind comment. I enjoy writing about the amazing places we go to! Though you wouldn’t believe how many times I change things! 🙂

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  8. This is all amaazing. I have been to Athens a couple of times, but we always seem to stay for one night, then escape as quickly as possible to head out to the islands. It looks like I should stay a bit longer next time!!

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    1. Yes I’m the same, my husband enjoys the museums more than me. Though once inside we are usually not disappointed. We had more time here so had the luxury of not rushing around!
      Suz

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  12. What a wonderful post with beautiful photos – this takes me back to a girls’ holiday 25 odd years ago – pre husband & kids – to Greece, including time spent in Athens. I seem to remember that back then we did use cameras in the Acropolis museum, so I will have to hunt out my old holiday pics! Thanks for a trip down memory lane x

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  14. Wonderful walk. I enjoyed it very much and brought memories tomy mind. The inside photo of Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, is wonderful. We have in Finland few Orthodox churches and one monastery. It was very nice to compare Your picture with those we have inFinland.

    Happy and safe travels.

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    1. Thank you. Yes that church was in pristine condition. We have had family visit Finland and they loved your country. It is one country we have yet to explore, one day!

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        1. Yes couldn’t agree more about visiting the countryside more than the cities. We usually housesit in the smaller communities which we love. Thanks for the tip Matti.
          Suz

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  15. Pingback: The Best of 2017 – 11 photographs – Global Housesitter x2

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