During a recent trip to Greece this writer had the good fortune to visit both the new Acropolis Museum, at the foot of that famous hill, and the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes, located in the Old City of that name. The most striking difference between these two institutions is their approach to displaying ancient art: how to house objects, how visitors approach and perceive objects, and the atmosphere of time and place each evokes.

New Acropolis Museum

The new Acropolis Museum, opened in June, 2009, was designed by Swiss architect Bernard Schumi in 2001 after an international search for a structure to replace the wholly inadequate old museum on the Acropolis Hill itself. The new building has ten times the display space of the old, provides atmospheric control, a dignified home for the masterpieces found on the Acropolis, and accommodations for large numbers of visitors.

The Entrance is accessed from the pedestrian street of Dionissiou Aeropagitou, which runs along the Acropolis' south base. A metro train (on the Green Line) running between the port of Piraeus and downtown Athens stops at the end of Apostolou Pavlou , another pedestrian street connecting to Dionissiou. A tree lined stroll of perhaps half a mile from the Metro, past immigrant and local street vendors and performers and minor points of archaeological interest, brings one to a small plaza in front of the Museum entrance.

During the Museum's construction, significant remains from the 4th - 7th Century CE were found. In the small plaza in front of the Museum entrance these can be viewed beneath one's feet through thick glass flooring covering a large area. This sub-floor display continues into the Museum's ground floor, the rough brick and stone remains contrasting with the building's post-modern glass and steel design (see photos).

Ticketing and entrance is fast and easy, the many staff friendly and helpful. Upon entering one may proceed to the main display areas, go to the temporary exhibition hall or, if one turns directly left, to the much needed services. The thoughtful design of the ground floor takes into account that many visitors will be weary, having perhaps already ascended and descended the Acropolis itself or having arrived as part of a coach party. Conveniently located here are multiple restrooms, a pleasant café and a small gift shop. A short break here before entering the galleries is a wise investment of time. Photography of any kind is not permitted in the Museum. Admission is currently a mere one Euro, though this will soon increase.

The Museum's displays are arranged as follows: on the ground floor, finds from the Acropolis slopes and space for temporary exhibitions; on the first floor, finds from the Propylaia, Nike Temple, Erechtheion, and the Archaic Gallery; on the second floor, a multimedia center and good displays of the Acropolis Hill's development over time, a restaurant and larger gift shop; on the third floor, the Parthenon Gallery.

From this writer's perspective, the most remarkable of the lower galleries is that of the Archaic period. Here one may see familiar pieces, such as the pedimental sculptures from the Archaic Parthenon and Archaic Temple of Athena Polias, the Peplophoros Kore, the Calf Bearer, and many others. The galleries covering the Acropolis slopes and those covering finds from the Propylaia, Nike Temple and Erechtheion offer more well known pieces but also include many recent finds and pieces never before on public display.

The Museum's great achievement is the Parthenon Gallery. This is a light, airy space, from which one may look upon the Acropolis Hill and Parthenon itself. Designed to schematically render the shape and size of the Parthenon, it allows for proper placement and viewing of both the original and replica sculpture from the Temple's metopes, pediments and frieze. In this writer's view, walking though this space makes a strong case in favor of repatriation for those marbles currently at the British Museum (the so-called Elgin Marbles), regardless of legal issues surrounding the late 18th Century Ottoman government's dealings with Lord Elgin.

The new Acropolis Museum is a great pleasure. Escalators and elevators make movement fast and easy. Public amenities are everywhere. The spaces are large and allow for comfortable viewing even when the Museum is full of visitors. The objects themselves, especially the finest of the sculptures on the lower levels, are not encased and may be approached freely for close inspection in an atmosphere that encourages thoughtful viewing. I urge every visitor to Athens to plan on investing at least an hour or two to this modern marvel of a Museum.

Archaeological Museum of Rhodes

It would be difficult to find a sharper contrast in style to the Acropolis Museum than the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes. This is not to say that a visit is not rewarding; indeed, this is a real gem of a museum. But the contrast in setting and atmosphere creates an experience much more akin to museum-going of the 19th Century.

The Archaeological Museum of Rhodes is housed in the former Hospital of the Knights of St. John, who lost the Island to the Ottoman Turks after a six month siege in 1522. If entering the Old City through the fortified Liberty Gate, continue on Apelou Street, turn right, through Ipoton Street (Avenue of the Knights). If entering through the new harbor, go past Ippikratous Square and continue on Sokratous Street. The impressive building itself was constructed in the 15th Century of local stone in a high Gothic style, and wandering its courtyards and rooms evokes images of many different Mediterranean pasts and places.

The Museum's displays are arranged around two main courtyards, rather like church cloisters, with marvelous Gothic vaulting all around. There is no gift or book shop and no printed guide to the Museum. Restroom facilities are very basic, off in one corner of a courtyard, and there is no café (though there are many restaurants and bars in adjacent streets). None of this should deter the archaeological traveler. One simply wanders depending on what catches the eye: a stray sarcophagus panel or a bit of Hellenistic sculpture. The interior galleries are well organized, with sections for Classical and Hellenistic sculpture (including the famous kneeling Venus of Rhodes), Roman sculpture, and remains from the time of the medieval knights. Many rooms surrounding the upper floor carry displays of ceramics, bronzes and vitreous materials found on the Island, from the Archaic period through the Roman period. One particularly fascinating exhibit includes a series of graduated polished crystals thought to have been used as magnifying glasses in the Classical period by gem engravers.

Hellenistic bust of Helios, with holes for inserting

Display of mainly glass and faience antiquities,

including much Rhodian glass, Archaeology Museum, Rhodes

Almost by accident, one comes to a final pleasure at the rear of the Museum. This is a pleasant and green courtyard with ponds, trees and herbs, incorporating stray bits of sculpture and architectural fragments, mainly Roman, and one covered portico on which a series of large late Hellenistic mosaics have been mounted.

Late Roman mosaic with inscription in Greek, Archaeology Museum, Rhodes

Late Hellenistic mosaic, currently mounted on the wall

around the garden courtyard, Archaeology Museum, Rhodes

 

This Museum is well worth a visit, both for the quality of material it contains and the evocative atmosphere of the building itself. For the price of an upscale cup of coffee, one may spend a couple of hours in this timeless haven and let one's imagination run wild. It is worth noting that the town itself possesses many significant ancient remains, including Hellenistic and Roman, both inside and outside the Old City walls, the early 16th Century Mosque and Islamic library complex of Suleiman, remains of Byzantine churches, and more archaeological and historical displays inside the reconstructed Palace of the Grand Masters.

The archaeological site of Kourion, on the south coast of the modern Republic of Cyprus, has a long history by any standard. Herodotus, writing in the 5th Century BC, records that the site was founded by Achaean colonists from Argos in Greece, a claim that is supported by modern archaeological excavations revealing Mycenaean expansion in the Late Bronze Age (13th Century BC). The settlement developed rapidly and is attested in 12th Century Egyptian inscriptions. Kourion, along with the other kingdoms of Cyprus, later underwent occupation or political domination by the Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian Empires between the 8th and 5th Centuries BC. Under Ptolemaic and Roman rule, Kourion, (Curium in Latin) remained a prosperous but provincial center. The tragic recent events in Haiti serve as a reminder of how devastating a major earthquake can be to a relatively isolated island community. Badly damaged by the great quake of about 365 AD that devastated so much of the Eastern Mediterranean, the City was rebuilt and served as the seat of a bishopric in the Christian era. It was eventually abandoned after a series of Arab raids from North Africa in the 7th and 8th Centuries.

The excavated parts of Kourion, situated on high ground overlooking the sea, today straddle two kilometers of spectacular coastline. The modern visitor typically approaches the site from the town of Limassol, on Akrotiri Bay, traveling west for just a few kilometers along the coastal road. Along the way one may observe many rock cut tombs, mainly of the early Iron Age, in the local limestone hillsides. At the westernmost end of the site is the famous Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates (Apollo of the woodlands) and its many associated buildings, while at the eastern end of the site is the impressive Theatre and the House of Eustolios. Between these are the Roman Forum, an early Christian Basilica and several late Roman houses famed for their mosaics. In this Travelogue installment, I will describe the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Theatre and House of Eustolios.

The Sanctuary of Apollo seems to have been a sacred place even before the cult of that god was imported by the Greeks, as votive offerings of the 7th Century BC have been found. The term "Hylates" was not applied to the sanctuary until the mid-3rd Century BC. In its heyday during the 1st and 2nd Centuries AD, the sanctuary would have included a palaestra (exercise court), a bath, several buildings that may have served as dormitories for pilgrims, and a colonnaded processional street that led directly to the Temple of Apollo. The partly reconstructed remains of this building are thought to date to the reign of Nero. To either side of the processional street were an Archaic altar and an early tholos building enclosed in a small sacred grove.

For the modern archaeological visitor, it is difficult to imagine a more picturesque setting. The Temple complex stands on high ground with a view out to the shore and the Mediterranean almost directly below. The skies are free of pollution and the ruins often bathed in brilliant sunshine. While the partly reconstructed ruins of the Temple are impressive for their simplicity of line and solitude on the highest point of ground, one should not overlook the subsidiary buildings. The bath is especially well preserved, and one may observe in detail the sub-floor and interior wall heating technology (hypocaust system) used in a typical Roman bath. There are no real amenities at this part of the site but there is ample parking for those who have rented a car.

Kourion. Temple of Apollo, from the south.	Kourion. Colonnade, South Building,Sanctuary of Apollo.

Kourion. Sub-floor heating, the baths, Sanctuary of Apollo

At the east end of the site is Kouion's Theatre and several important associated residential structures. The Theatre itself seems to have originated in the 2nd Century BC but was greatly enlarged around AD 50. After suffering damage in an earthquake in AD 77, the structure was repaired and took on the form the visitor sees today. It continued in use until the great earthquake of AD 365 and was then gradually stripped of much of its stone, including most of the seats, the colonnade and the stage building. Partly restored by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities in 1961, the building is still used today for plays and concerts. The setting is, like so much of Kourion, spectacular.

Kourion, The Theatre.	Kourion. Spirally fluted column of imported marble from the scenae frons of the Theatre.

Adjacent to the Theatre at Kourion is an important private residence dating from the late 4th to mid-7th Century AD. This structure, built upon the ruins of an earlier palatial residence, is the House of Eustolios, named for its builder / owner. Eustolios seems to have been a major patron of Kourion in the Christian period and contributed significantly to reconstruction of the town. Among his contributions were repairs to the Theatre and construction of a public bathing facility. Upon entering the House, one sees a Greek mosaic inscription welcoming the visitor with "Enter for the good luck of the house." The House's east hall features a fine and well preserved mosaic panel featuring fish and various birds (all early Christian symbols) amid geometric motifs and an inscription proclaiming the Christian nature of the residence. The bathing facilities provided by Eustolios are well preserved and contain one of Kourion's most famous mosaic panels. This is in the frigidarium or cold room of the baths and depicts a medallion with the head of a young woman holding in her right hand a measure equivalent to one Roman foot. The inscription reads "KTICIC", meaning Creation or Founding Spirit. This is a highly unusual representation in mosaic art and may be a direct reference to the rebirth of the City following the great earthquake of AD 365.

Kourion, Fragmentary welcoming mosaic inscription, House of Eustolios.	Kourion. Mosaic pavement with birds, fish & inscription, SE courtyard, House of Eustolios.

Kourion. Detail of The famous ktisis mosaic in the frigidarium, House of Eustolios.

This end of the site has excellent amenities, including plenty of parking, restrooms, a small gift and bookshop, and snack bar. There is much more to see at Kourion, including many more fine mosaics, and many important finds housed in the site museum at the nearby village of Episkopi. Signage is generally good throughout the site and access from Paphos or Limassol is easy. I definitely recommend a visit. For an excellent review of Kourion's history and excavation, I suggest David Soren and Jamie James, Kourion, The Search for a Lost Roman City, Anchor Press Doubleday, NY, 1988. Also very useful is the site guide by Dr. Demos Christou of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, Kourion, Its Monuments and Local Museum, Filokipros Publishing, Nicosia, 1996.