The Acropolis is the historical site you can，t miss. You can take a tour or wander up there yourself but during the summer， whatever you do， unless it is overcastovercast n.覆盖， 多云的天 adj.阴天的， 阴暗的， 愁闷的， 忧郁的 vt.使阴暗 vi.阴暗起来， go early or late in the day. It can get very hot up there and gasping for breath can take way from your ability to marvel at the greatest of all archaeological sites. Getting to the Acropolis is easy and more pleasant than ever because the large avenuesavenue n.林阴道， 大街， 方法， 途径， 路 which border the south and west of the site (Apostolou Pavlou in Thission and Dionissiou Areopagitou in Makrianni) have been turned into giant pedestrianpedestrian n.步行者 adj.徒步的， 呆板的， 通俗的 streets with cafes and restaurants and the walk is quite pleasant. From the Plaka and Monastiraki side it has always been a carless， enjoyable walk and all you have to do is walk uphill from wherever you are and when you get to the top and there are woods instead of buildings， and steps， take a right.
After climbing the steps you are at the entranceentrance n.入口， 门口， 进入， or the Propylaea， which was completed in 432 just before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian wars. The main architect was Mnesicles， a colleague of Phidias. To your left is the Pinacotheca and a Hellenistic pedestal and on the right the tiny temple to Nike Athena or the Athena of Victory which commemoratescommemorate vt.纪念 the Athenians victory over the Persians. This small temple stands on a platform that overlooks the islands of Saronic Gulf and used to house a statue of Athena. It was dismantleddismantle v.拆除 by the Turks in 1686，so they could use the platform for a large cannoncannon n.大炮， 加农炮 v.炮轰. It was rebuilt between 1836 and 1842 and again taken apart and rebuilt in 1936 when it was discovered that the platform was crumbing. If you looking from the propylaeapropylaea n.通廊 towards Pireaus on a clear day you can see ships waiting outside the port of Pireaus， the islands and the mountains of the Peloponessos beyond.
The Parthenon and other main buildings on the Acropolis were built by Pericles in the fifth century B.C. as a monument to the cultural and political achievements of the inhabitants of Athens. The term “acropolis” means upper city and many of the city states of ancient Greece are built around an acropolis where the inhabitants can go as a place of refugerefuge n.庇护， 避难， 避难所 in times of invasion. It，s for this reason that the most sacredsacred adj.神的， 宗教的， 庄严的， 神圣的 buildings are usually on the acropolis. It，s the safest place in town. As little as 150 years ago there were still dwellingsdwelling n.住处 on the Acropolis of Athens. Those of you who have read Aristophanes will recall that in Lysistrata the women have Athens barricaded themselves in the fortressfortress n.堡垒， 要塞 in protest， being tired of their men going to war against Sparta. Depriving them of sex， cooking and care it was a terrific strategy that might even work today. Regardless， the play opened the door to the subject of sexual frustration in comedy and without it we might not have Woody Allen. Nowadays there are still protests which occasionally take place by site employees closing the Acropolis to tourists， some of whom have waited a lifetimelifetime n.一生， 终生， 寿命 to come to Greece. Thankfully these are rare and of short durationduration n.持续时间， 为期.
The best time to go up there is the late winter or spring when even this stone mountain is not immune to the proliferation of grass and wildflowers which seem to burst from every crack. Even in December， January and February the Acropolis can be surprisingly green. Even having seen a thousand photographs one is still not prepared for the immensityimmensity n.广大， 巨大， 无限， 浩瀚 of the Parthenon. The building was designed by the architectsarchitect n.建筑师 Kallikrates and Iktinos as the home of the giant statue of Athena. It took 15 years to build and was completed in 438 B.C. and is probably the most recognizable structure in the world next to the golden arches of McDonalds. From a temple it became a church， a mosque and finally as a storage facilitystorage facility 贮存设备 for Turkish gunpowder. In 1687 the Venetians bombardedbombard vt. 炮轰；轰击 it from below. A cannon ball hit the gun powder and blew it up.
The Erecthion sits on the most sacred site of the Acropolis where Poseidon and Athena had their contest over who would be the Patron of the city. Poseidon thrust his trident into the rock and a spring burst forth， while Athena touched the ground with a spear and an olive tree grew. Athena was declared the victor and the great city of Athens was named for her while Poseidon was given a small village in Syros after it was discovered he had merely rupturedrupture v.破裂， 裂开， 断绝(关系等)， 割裂 n.破裂， 决裂， 敌对， 割裂 a water main. (not really).The building itself contains the porch of the maidens or Caryatids which are now copies， four of which have been placed in the Acropolis museum， hopefully to be reunitedreunite v.(使)再结合 with a fifth taken from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin and put in the British Museum more than a century ago.
Much of the Parthenon has been taken apart and put back together with pieces being replaced or clamped to remedyremedy n.药物， 治疗法， 补救， 赔偿 vt.治疗， 补救， 矫正， 修缮， 修补 the wear and tear of centuries， in particular the last 20 or so years of air pollution. As it stands now， though it is a tribute to the glorious past and the achievement of the Ancient Athenians， it is also at the same time a reminder that whatever is good in man is eventually overcome by ignoranceignorance n.无知， 不知， war and a hunger for domination. I say rebuild the entire Acropolis as an inspiration that whatever is wrong with the world can be righted. (Until some idiot blows it up again).
