The archaeological sites of the Roman Agora and the Library of Hadrian occupy an area with a total area of 28,000 m2, in the heart of the ancient city, north of the Acropolis and east of the Ancient Agora.
The Roman Agora or Agora of Caesar and Augustus, built in 10 BC in an area that already had a commercial character, was the center of organized commercial activity in Athens during Roman times. Inside the Roman Agora, the trade in oil was definitely carried on, as an inscription from the time of Hadrian informs us, which is still preserved in its place, while we know that much later, in the Ottoman era, it was called “Staropazaro”, as it was the trading area of of wheat.
However, within the archaeological site, among other monuments dating back to the 1st c. A.D. (“Agoranomeio”, “Vespasianes”), in the 7th and 17th centuries (Proto-Byzantine basilica and Fethiye mosque, respectively), there is also the Clock of Andronikos Kyrristos (end of the 2nd century BC), an impressive architectural creation of the late of the Hellenistic era, also known as the Tower of the Winds or Aeris, which “hosted” some of the most important achievements of astronomy, physics and engineering up to that time, and in particular a unique mechanism of a clock or planetarium corresponding to the construction philosophy of the famous mechanism of the Antikythera.
Hadrian’s Library, an important part of Emperor Hadrian’s extensive building program, was built in 132 AD. by the Philhellenic emperor, to house the largest library of the city and, possibly, the archives of the state, but also the imperial cult. A building of Roman inspiration and luxurious construction, with the use of colorful marbles both on the facade and in its interior, it was the largest intellectual and cultural center of the city during the imperial times. At the end of the 3rd c. A.D. its outer enclosure was incorporated into the fortification built for the future protection of the city from barbarian raids, while at the beginning of the 5th c. A.D. a building, the so-called Tetrakonchos, was constructed within its inner courtyard. It is probably the first church that was built within the walls of the ancient city, which was succeeded in the same place by two Byzantine churches of the 7th and 11th centuries. During the Ottoman era, Hadrian’s Library and its wider area constituted the administrative and commercial heart of the city hosting the Bazaar and its Governor’s Office (“Boevodaliki”). After the liberation of the city, the building became an infantry and cavalry barracks (1835), which was gradually demolished in the previous century in order to re-expose the majestic Roman building.
odysseus.culture/ Roman Agora
odysseus.culture/ Hadrian’s Library
wiki/Roman_Agora
