Temple of Athena Nike
On Gingerguide's self-guided Athens audio tour, Temple of Athena Nike is a stop worth about ~30 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Athens Athens guide
About Temple of Athena Nike
A jewel-box Ionic temple barely eight metres long, perched on the bastion that guards the Acropolis gate and dedicated to Athena as the goddess of victory.
The Temple of Athena Nike is a small Ionic temple standing on the southwest bastion, or pyrgos, that guards the entrance to the Acropolis. It was dedicated to Athena in her aspect as Nike, meaning Victory, and was designed by the architect Kallikrates, finished around 420 BC. It is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis. Amphiprostyle in plan, it carries four Ionic columns at both the front and the back, and measures only about eight metres long, 5.5 wide and 7 tall.
A carved marble parapet once ringed the bastion; its most admired relief, showing Nike adjusting her sandal, was found in 1835 and is now in the Acropolis Museum. In 1686 the Ottomans dismantled the temple to build a defensive bastion. It has since been taken apart and rebuilt from its original blocks several times, with reconstructions in the 1830s, the 1930s and again completed around 2010.
Did you know? The Ottomans tore this temple down in 1686 to build a gun bastion. It has since been rebuilt from its own original blocks several times over, the latest reconstruction finished only around the year 2010.
How much time do you need at Temple of Athena Nike?
Around ~30 min works well for Temple of Athena Nike — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Temple of Athena Nike?
Yes — Temple of Athena Nike made the cut as one of 35 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Athens. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Athens
Sources and further reading
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Hear the story of Temple of Athena Nike
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