The Propylaia

When the construction of the Parthenon was coming to an end, attention turned to the entrance to the Acropolis. Here, on the west end of the rock, a new monumental gateway was built, the Propylaia (Figure 16.9). Mnesikles, the architect, worked on the building from 437 to 432 BC on the eve of the Peloponnesian War, at which point work stopped even though the finishing touches had not yet been applied.

In ground plan, the Propylaia consists of a main hall on the west-east axis, which gives access to the Acropolis, and flanking chambers on the north-west and south-west. The main hall is built on two main levels, reflected in the original two-part roofing, with the east section somewhat higher than the west. A cross-wall marks the point where the east section begins; it is pierced by five passageways, with the central one, a ramp, being the widest. On the west and east exteriors, the Propylaia displays the Doric order, with a wider spacing for the central ramp, but three pairs of Ionic columns, tall and slender, line the west portion of the central passageway. One can still see some of the ceiling coffers, the marble blocks carved with squares, one inside the other, that were placed over the cross-beams as ceiling decoration.

The side chambers of the Propylaia differ, the north from the south, creating an asymmetrical plan. A small room on the north-west, provided with benches and wall paintings, served as a rest

Figure 16.9 Propylaia, south-west wing, as restored, and Temple of Athena Nike with bastion, from north-west

Stop for pilgrims. Although the facade is identical on the south-west, no corresponding room lies behind it. Space on this south-west rock spur was apparently at a premium. The plan of the Propylaia was truncated, the resulting space granted to the small Temple of Athena Nike. Larger halls projected for the north-east and the south-east were never built.

The south exterior wall of the Propylaia, visible when one has passed through the building onto the Acropolis, shows the lifting bosses still in place, the best sign that the building was never finished. These bosses were grips for the pulley ropes used to lift the blocks. In the finishing of a building, these would be lopped off, and the surface polished.

The view of a fifth-century BC pilgrim onto the Acropolis from the east side of the Propylaia differed considerably from what a tourist sees today, because the whole area has now been cleared; the low walls and subsidiary buildings that once blocked direct views and the many votive offerings no longer exist. The Parthenon was largely screened off by a low wall running from its north side to the south-east corner of the Propylaia. Behind the wall lay two complexes, now completely ruined, a shrine to Artemis Brauronia and the Chalkotheke, a storage for bronze objects such as armor and cauldrons. Immediately facing the pilgrim was a colossal bronze statue, made by Pheidias, of Athena Promachos, Athena as warrior goddess, one of the countless votives that packed the Acropolis. This imposing statue stood in front of another walled sector, the center of the Acropolis. The pilgrim could thus proceed either to the left, toward the Erechtheion, or to the right, down the narrow corridor that led to the main entrance of the Parthenon. At last, at the east end of the Acropolis, he or she would have a magnificent, unobstructed view of the Parthenon.