BLACK SEA TRIP: PART 14, Christianity in Athens

One of the truly moving parts about being in Greece is reflecting on the role Greece played in the spread of Christianity. No tour of Athens would be complete without a tour of some of its beautiful Christian churches or important Christian sites. I have selected five of my favorites to share here.

1. One of the places most important to early Christianity has to be Mars Hill, known more commonly in Greece as the Areopagus or "Rock of Ares." Ares is the Greek god of war. When Rome conquered Greece, they renamed the rocky hill after THEIR god of war: Mars.

The stairs leading up to Mars Hill:

Anyway, sometime near the middle of the first century A.D. Paul is said to have converted a number of Athenians by preaching a sermon from the summit of this large, flat-topped rock. Acts 17:22 reads, "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said . . . "It was all Bob could do not to SHOUT Paul's words in his best Hugh B. Brown voice: "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this description: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you."

I love that right next to Mars Hill, indeed what Paul would have had in front of him as he preached, is the crowning symbol of Greek mythology, the Acropolis, with its many temples to various Greek gods.


2. Christianity grew and spread, and so did the building of churches. We loved this old, crumbling church situated right in the Agora, The Church of the Holy Apostles, built in about A.D. 1000 but only restored fifty or sixty years ago:


3. Certainly the most dramatic setting I've ever seen for a church would have to be this one, the top of Mount Lycabettus, the tallest point in Athens.

We walked up a long, steep trail with plenty of stairs . . .
. . . and spectacular views:

. . . and at the very top, we found this simple, charming little church, The Chapel of St. George. Unfortunately, it was all locked up:

4. Athens has two churches side-by-side that have an interesting history. One is enormous and one is diminutive. The former, the Church of Theotokos Gorgoepikoos (translated something like "Annunciation of Mary"), aka the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, was built in 1842-1862 using parts of 72 demolished churches. It now serves as the base church for the Archbishop of Athens and is the site of all the celebrity weddings and funerals in Athens.

It is undergoing some major renovations.

There are two statues in the courtyard, one of Constantine XI, the last Byzantine Emperor who lived during the 15th century:. . . the second of Gregory V, who helped start the Greek war for their independence from Turkey, and who was subsequently hung by one of the Turkish sultans, who then had his body thrown into the Bosphorus:
There was also this awesome quote from the Archbishop during World War II:

The cathedral itself was spectacular, the colors and architectural details stunning:Next to this grand cathedral was a tiny little church called Ayios Eleytherios. Some think it may be the smallest church in the world, which seems a bit of an exaggeration, but it did look pretty miniscule next to the cathedral:

5. Finally, I end with a more modern site. In the early Christian era of Greece, an important man named Dionysius, who was part of the judicial elite, was converted to Christianity by the preaching of the Apostle Paul on Mars Hill. Dionysius subsequently became the second bishop of Athens. The Church of Dionysius of Areopagite was built during 1923-1931. I don't know why neither Bob nor I got a picture of the exterior. Maybe it's because the interior was so breathtaking. I loved the rich color scheme and the geometric patterns that drew the eyes upward to the soaring domes and downward to the intricate tile floors. This cathedral had a wonderful blend of old tradition and new presentation.

Only two more posts to go, and then I'll finally be done with our incredible journey.

Next up: A trip to Delphi to consult The Oracle

BLACK SEA TRIP 14: RUINS IN ATHENS

I've got to finish posting pictures of our trip. I'm almost done--a few more posts to go. Bear with me! (By the way, I'm saving the Acropolis, the crown of Athens, for my final post.)

While I expected to see the great Parthenon on the Acropolis, I was quite unprepared for the number of ruins spread all around the city of Athens. Our guide told us that it is pretty much impossible to build because every time a building foundation is dug, another set of ruins is uncovered, and then of course the new construction has to stop. That might explain the lack of skyscrapers in Athens. The tallest building in Athens is 689 feet (just a little more than half the size of the Empire State Building), and the NEXT tallest building is about half of THAT. In fact, there are only five buildings in Athens with over twenty floors. Amazing! And that's in a city this size:
On the other hand, there were ruins everywhere, and in various stages of restoration. I always thought that the Parthenon and other such iconic ruins had more or less withstood the ravages of time. Silly me. I was surprised to learn that major restoration work has been going on since the 1800s and will no doubt continue for another century or more.

The remains of the Forum and Agora (marketplace) built during the Roman period:

The colossal Temple of Zeus. Construction started in the 6th century B.C., but it wasn't finished until Hadrian's reign in the 2nd century A.D.:

I loved the Corinthian capitals on the columns:

Fallen giants:

Hadrian's Arch:

And good ol' Hadrian himself, a little worse for the wear of 19 centuries:

Hadrian's Library, built in A.D. 142 by the Emperor Hadrian:

Random ruins amid apartment buildings:

The spectacular Temple of Hephaestus, the best-preserved of all the ancient Greek temples, completed around 415 B.C.:Front view. Note the simpler Doric columns:

The interior frieze:

I always thought that columns were one single piece of stone carved out of some massive rock. I finally get how it works!

COMING UP: Christianity in Athens

BLACK SEA TRIP: PART 13, Athens, Changing of the Guard

I'm feeling overwhelmed by all the pictures I have from our two days in Greece. I've decided to break it up into small pieces and do several posts, and I'm going to resist the urge to share ALL of our pictures. I hope it will be less boring that way!

I thought I'd start with one of the most unique experiences we had in Athens: the changing of the guard. I've seen several such military exercises, most notably at the Tombs of the Unknown Soldiers in Arlington, Paris, and Odessa, as well as at Buckingham Palace. They were all spectacular, solemn, even reverent events. Athens, however, tops them all. We actually saw two changing of the guard ceremonies in Athens: one in Syntagma (which means "Constitution") Square in front of the Parliament Building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the other in front of the National Palace.

First, just to establish the setting, Constitution Square is ringed by neoclassical government buildings erected in the 19th century. Not surprisingly, they fit right into the Athens style:


The next picture is a bit off topic, but I love the contrast of this very traditional Greek Orthodox priest waiting for a bus at the ultra-modern bus stop.

Of course, any large city square would not be complete without pigeons and a little boy to feed them:

Okay, on to the guards themselves. To begin with, there is the uniform:

What's not to love about a very tall man in white tights and a short pleated skirt, with tasseled garters around his calves . . .
. . . huge pom poms on the toes of his shoes . . .
and a red beret with a horsetail-like tassel hanging down on one side?

Pretty cute, huh?

The bas-relief sculpture on the left is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and behind the Tomb is the peach-colored Parliament Building:
The uniform is similar to what Greek soldiers wore in the 1821 Revolution, and King Otto made it the formal court dress in the middle of the 19th century. I wonder what the shoe pom poms were for?

There was a line of tourists waiting to have their picture taken with the two guards (one on each side of the Tomb). The guards, like good palace guards everywhere, did not acknowledge anyone's presence. They never smiled, twitched, or seemed to blink. It makes me wonder how effective they would be if there were an actual attack on the building!

The ceremony began when the replacement guards marched in and the guy in the modern camouflage outfit checked out their outfits. See him running the tassel of the middle guard through his fingers? (What is he looking for? Fleas?)
Then the guards, both old and new, began marching in a very precise formation across the plaza, using the most complicated steps I have ever seen.

We took a lot of pictures, but they just don't do the scene justice. You have to watch the video:



Awesome, isn't it? The whole thing took about 15 minutes. When it was over, we rushed over to the palace, a few blocks away, to see the scene repeated, this time on a regular city sidewalk:

I absolutely loved it all--the uniforms, the ridiculousness, the strength and grace, the pomp and ceremony. No trip to Athens would be complete without seeing the changing of the guard.