Caryatids

The Erechtheion, an elegant building with a special character and architectural form, is located on the northern side of the sacred rock of the Acropolis. It was built between 421-406 BC, as a replacement of an earlier temple dedicated to Athena Polias, the so-called “Old temple”.

A door, on the south wall of this temple led through a staircase to the porch of the Caryatids, a pi-shaped structure with six female statues instead of columns to support the roof.

They were called Caryatids, because they were associated with the priestesses of Artemis Caryatis, from Karyes, a small town of Laconia, who danced in honor of the goddess Artemis. They were sculpted by the sculptor Alcamenes or according to others, by the sculptor Kallimachos. Five of them are in the Acropolis Museum and another in the British Museum; those on the building are casts. The entire building was decorated with a frieze, probably depicting scenes related to the mythical kings of Athens.

The temple burned in the first century BC and was subsequently repaired with minor alterations. In the Early Christian period it was converted into a church dedicated to the Theometor (Mother of God). It became a palace under Frankish rule and the residence of the Turkish commander’s harem during the Ottoman period. 19th century Lord Elgin removed one of the Caryatids and a column and during the Greek War of Independence the building was bombed and severely damaged.

Restoration work was carried out immediately after the end of the war and again in 1979-1987, when the Erechtheion became the first Acropolis monument to be restored as part of the latest conservation and restoration project.