Propylaea (Athens)

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The Propylaea of ​​the Acropolis of Athens

The Propylaea ( ancient Greek Προπύλαια Propylaia , plural of προπύλαιον propylaion "forecourt, vestibule") form the monumental and representative gateway to the sacred area of ​​the Athens Acropolis . They were made between 437 and 432 BC. Built in BC. At the latest with the beginning of the Peloponnesian War , work on the unfinished building was stopped and not resumed. The design architect was the hitherto unknown Mnesikles . Construction was part of the Periclean construction program on the Acropolis and began when work on the Parthenon was completed. The Propylaea rose at the apex of the western access ramp by which one usually climbed the Acropolis.

Previous development

Already at the end of the 6th century BC The access made possible by the Mycenaean fortress walls was optically refined and captured by a first gate system. The fortress walls were clad with thin marble slabs and the access ramp was expanded. A gate system with presumably five passages and four column positions between wall cheeks on both sides of the door wall was built. The southwest corner in particular has been preserved from the approximately 14-meter-wide complex. The orientation therefore differed significantly from that of the mnesial building: one entered the area of ​​the Acropolis more on a south-west-north-east axis, which was entirely oriented towards the ancient temple of Athena . Steps bridged the various levels that had to be overcome when passing through the gateway, which had a deep western porch for those waiting. The construction was 480 BC. Destroyed by the Persians .

The Propylaea of ​​Mnesicles

Plan of the Propylaea.

The construction of the mnesial Propylaea began during the Archonate of Euthymenes in 437 BC. Began, according to Heliodor of Athens, the construction time was five years. It is possible, however, that the work was not published until 431 BC. Canceled with the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. Not removed lifting ladders , unfinished walls and floor coverings were, at least earlier, interpreted as witnesses to a sudden and unintended end. However, at the time the Propylaea was being built, intentional incompletion was also known as a form of jewelry. Wall connections for room complexes discarded due to plan changes, however, had been carefully prepared.

Light Pentelic and dark Eleusinian marble were used as building material . In addition, structural iron girders were used for the first time to bridge daring spans with the least possible use of material.

The completed building comprised three complexes, which were arranged in the form of a Π open to the west: the central gatehouse with its porches around the actual door wall, a north-west wing , often called the Pinakothek , and a south-west wing that was trimmed compared to the original plan. which served as a passage to the Athena Nike temple behind it . Planned but never executed wing structures on the east side, which would have exceeded the western wing in size, were part of the design, but their execution was abandoned during the remaining construction work. Because on the south west wing no more preparations for the connection of further building parts were carried out, while they exist on the north wing. The construction progress has apparently developed from northwest to southeast.

The gatehouse

If you approached the Propylaea from the west, the building presented itself on a leveling platform, four steps high, on which all parts of the building stood and which was necessary to compensate for the difficult terrain conditions in the steeply rising slope. The 21.16 meter wide front of the actual gate building presented itself with a prostyle six-column vestibule of Doric order , which was closed by a triangular gable, as it was actually reserved for temple buildings. The middle yoke was widened by one and a half times in relation to the side yokes and had a width of 5.45 meters compared to 3.63 meters of the side yokes, with the corner yokes also being contracted . This made it necessary to add another triglyph and metope in the entablature , so that here three metopes and three triglyphs spanned the central yoke. The column height was 8.81 meters with a lower diameter of 1.56 meters, the columns were thus 28 centimeters higher than those in the eastern vestibule, probably to compensate for the greater perspective foreshortening that occurs when ascending.

Behind the pillars of the gateway there was a room with a clear width of 18.12 meters, which was roughly the size of the Parthenon's cello, while the depth of the room, at 12.96 meters, corresponded to that of the Parthenon's opisthodome. Three Ionic columns each to the left and right of the central driveway carried the entablature for the coffered ceiling of the anteroom. With a lower diameter of 1.04 meters and a height of 10.29 meters, they were very slender. They carried an Ionic three-fascia architrave that was level with the frieze of the Doric exterior orders . Because of its delicate dimensions, it was reinforced with iron girders in order to be able to span clear widths of 5 meters, which was necessary because of the coffered ceiling above. The coffered ceiling , painted deep blue and decorated with gold stars, was still considered unique and unsurpassed in its kind in the 2nd century AD, and the width of the spans covered by its coffers was considered a rarity by Pausanias.

The most important element of the gateway was its door wall, through which access to the Acropolis was controlled. The four side passages of the wall were reached via five steps, the top of which was made of dark Eleusinian marble, while the middle entrance was made accessible by a path carved into the rock for processions and carts. The passages were staggered in height and width from the sides to the center. The outer passages had dimensions of 1.47 × 3.44 meters, the middle passage had a width of 4.13 meters and a height of 7.38 meters.

If you had passed the door wall, you stepped into the eastern vestibule, which was also six-pillar and Doric order. However, the level of the terrain was 1.43 meters higher than the western vestibule, and the eastern vestibule towered over that of the west by almost the same amount. The entablature of the east hall had a curvature 2 centimeters high . This vestibule also had a triangular gable which, like the one in the west, was not filled with sculptures. If you left the vestibule, you saw the colossal, almost 10 meter high statue of Athena Promachos , on the right hand side you could see the rear and north long side of the Parthenon, on the left hand side the Erechtheion with its Korenhalle , which was built soon after the Propylaea, stood .

The wing structures

The wing structures rose to the left and right. Their facades were reminiscent of ante temple with three Doric columns between the ante . However, their roofs were formed as a three-sided hipped roof ; the fourth side of the roof connected to the rear walls of the wing structures that were originally intended to form the connection to the east wing. So the temple quote didn't go too far. The lower diameter of the columns was 1.07 meters with a column height of 5.85 meters. The center distance of the pillars was 2.51 meters. The easternmost pillars were aligned with the western pillars of the gatehouse. The vestibules formed in this way should lead to the rooms behind.

The north wing

But only on the approximately 12.70 meters deep and 15.90 meters long northern wing was the room that was later used to store pictures and probably primarily served as a dining room for special festivities. Its door, shifted to the east from the central axis, at least indicates this function. Pausanias provides a detailed description of the panel paintings kept in the Pinakothek, including works by Polygnotos and a portrait by Alcibiades. Two windows - the only high-class windows completely preserved including their frames in the form of Doric pilasters - illuminated this room.

The southern wing

The opposite southern wing was severely trimmed in its execution. Only the vestibule was built, even this not entirely, but only three bays wide, although the facade had four bays. However, the western ante wall was only reduced to a free-standing pillar that was no longer in any other wall connection. The sole purpose of this wing was to provide access to the small sanctuary of Athena Nike. Out of consideration for their temple, the conception of the mnesian gate building was probably changed in this area. The reconstruction of the building and the timing of its individual planning phases are controversial.

Conception

For the first time, the completely planned entanglement of different building types is evident on the Propylaea. The conceptual connection of the gatehouse with temple facades with megaron-like wing structures on the sides, the resulting different roof solutions and the simultaneous overcoming of complicated terrain structures made the Propylaea a future-oriented complex building that was only built in the 2nd century BC. Was increased by facilities like the Athena sanctuary on Lindos .

Post-ancient history

Due to many admirers, the Propylaea was essentially able to remain in its original state until the 12th century. The Bishop of Athens resided here from the 12th century. It was not until the Frankish times that the dukes of Athens added to the north wing. Finally, the Florentine (Raineri) Nerio I. Acciaiuoli had a palace built for himself and his lover Maria Rendi and built a tower over the south wing, which was removed in 1874/75. In Ottoman times, the Propylaea Palace served the city commandant as an apartment. The Turks built a bastion between the Pyrgos and the south wing. The Propylaea stood largely upright until 1645 (or 1656) when it was badly affected by the explosion of a powder magazine in which Commander Isouf Agha and his family died. The powder store was then moved to the Parthenon. The first renovation work began in 1909, and since 1984 the Propylaea has been extensively restored and secured.

Replicas in modern times

The Propylaea of ​​the Acropolis of Athens was the model for many modern replicas, especially in the classicism period , for example the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Pariser Platz or the Propylaea in Munich on Königsplatz.

At the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the motifs of the entire complex are based more closely on the Athens model. The Propylaea in Munich, designed in the Doric style, differs from the ancient original mainly through the massive corner towers, which correspond more to a concept of German city gates of the Middle Ages.

  • Current reconstruction of
    the Athenian Propylaia,
    built 437-431 BC. Chr.

  • Brandenburg Gate on Pariser Platz in Berlin, built 1789–1791

  • Propylaea on Königsplatz in Munich, built 1854–1862

literature

  • Richard Bohn : The Propylaea of ​​the Acropolis at Athens . Berlin - Stuttgart, 1882 ( digitized ).
  • Jens Andreas Bundgaard: Mnesicles, A Greek Architect at Work . Copenhagen, 1957.
  • William Bell Dinsmoor Jr .: The Propylaia I: The Predecessors . Princeton, 1980.
  • William B. Dinsmoor , William B. Dinsmoor, Jr .: The Propylaia to the Athenian Akropolis II: The Classical Building . Edited by Anastasia Norre Dinsmoor. Princeton, NJ 2004 (to be read with caution, as the book was published 16 years after the main author's death, his findings and methodological approaches are largely to be regarded as outdated and the illustrations do not meet the standards achieved).
  • Gottfried Gruben : The temples of the Greeks . 5th edition. Hirmer, Munich 2001, pp. 178-188.
  • Jan AKE de Waele: The Propylaia of the Akropolis in Athens: The Project of Mnesicles . Amsterdam, 1990.
  • Harrison Eiteljorg II: The Entrance to the Acropolis Before Mnesicles . Dubuque, 1993.
  • Tasos Tanoulas, Mary Ioannidou, Anita Moraitou: Study for the Restoration of the Propylaea . Vol. I, Athens, 1994.
  • Tasos Tanoulas: The Propylaea of ​​the Athenian Acropolis during the Middle Ages . Athens, 1997.
  • Wolfram Hoepfner : Propylaea and Nike Temple . In: W. Hoepfner (Ed.): Cult and cult buildings on the Acropolis. International symposium from July 7th to 9th, 1995 in Berlin . Berlin 1997, pp. 160-177.
  • Helge Olaf Svenshon: Studies on the hexastyle prostylos of archaic and classical times . Darmstadt 2002, pp. 21-73. ( Online ; PDF; 952 kB)

Web links

Commons : Propylaea (Athens)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William B. Dinsmoor: The Propylaia I: The Predecessors . Princeton, 1980; Harrison Eiteljorg II: The Entrance to the Acropolis Before Mnesicles . Dubuque, 1993.
  2. ↑ Heliodorus, On the Acropolis of Athens, Book I.
  3. ↑ The name is modern and refers to Pausanias 1, 22, 6, who called the part "House with Pictures"
  4. ↑ Pausanias 1, 22, 4.
  5. ↑ Pausanias 1, 22, 6-7.
  6. ↑ for discussion see Helge Olaf Svenshon: Studies on the hexastylic prostylos archaic and classical times . Darmstadt 2002, pp. 22-25. ( Online ; PDF; 952 kB)
  7. ↑ Hans Lauter : The architecture of Hellenism . Knowledge Buchges., Darmstadt 1986, pp. 41-43.

Coordinates: 37 ° 58 ′ 18.2 ″  N , 23 ° 43 ′ 30.5 ″  E