Pixelpost

High City of Athena

Sat, 19 May 2012 16:18 +0200

Acropolis literally translates to the "High City". It indeed dominated the cityscape of Athens!
Mainly dedicated to the goddess Athena, patron of the city, it was formally proclaimed as the preeminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 2007. Quite a symbol: Greece was the cradle of the European civilization and now faces huge challenges that could make its Republic collapse and endanger the euro currency and whole European Union. Will the other European states let it down?

Parthenon

Tue, 08 May 2012 01:50 +0200

The Parthenon, here pictured from backyard, is the biggest temple standing on the Acropolis ("city hill"). Built during the 5th century BC, it was badly damaged when the Venetian attacked the city and bombed it with mortars! Being used as a gunpowder magazine, it was almost annihilated and only the external columns stood still. Afterwards, many souvenirs were made from the pieces of the damaged statues.
Nowadays these glorious ruins can testify that Human Folly is limitless.

Athena Nike

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:05 +0200

The Temple of Athena Nike (Victorious Athena) is located at the south west corner of the Acropolis, near the entrance, where it dominates the city. There, the citizens worshiped the goddess in hope of a prosperous outcome in the numerous wars fought to become the leading Greek city state.
2500 years later, we can testify that Athena was generous: Athens prospered, eventually became the cultural and political center of the Greek World, and its cultural heritage is still alive nowadays!

Cradle of Democracy

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:52 +0200

On this place the Ancient Greeks once invented an egalitarian form of government they chose to call "δημοκρατία" (Demokratia).
In front of me lies the famous Acropolis of Athens, but it was a religious center. Democracy was invented on the hill I'm standing on: the Areopagus, where the Council of the Elders gathered way before the 5th century BC.

Metro

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:24 +0200

The Parisian metro is well known for its Art-Nouveau entrances, pioneered by Hector Guimard in the early 1900s. The Lamarck Caulaincourt station, close from Montmartre, is often crowded by tourists. But, as we saw in a previous post, most of them where having a beer in the cafés.

Cafe Express

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:48 +0200

Playing with a long exposure!
These streaks evoke me a train passing in a station. We're still in Montmartre though

Cold beers

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:26 +0200

This night was quite cold. Full of braziers, this typical terrace was a great place to take shelter!
That said, notice the two people on the left having a beer. I suspect them to be British tourists: only Brits could enjoy a cold beer by such a freezing night!

Paris Sunset

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:35 +0200

Being a hill, Montmartre is quite a good place to admire a sunset on Paris!

A View from the Butte

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 01:29 +0200

Home to some of the most famous painters and artists of the past century, such as Degas, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and many more, the Montmartre Hill is one of the most famous district of Paris. 129 meter high, it is also one of the best point of view on Paris!

Leaning

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:41 +0200

No wonder it's called the Leaning Tower!
Because it was built upon an unstable subsoil, the tower began to sink in 1178, only five years after the beginning of its construction! But this flaw is what made it famous and the Tower of Pisa is now one of the symbol of Italy!

Thus ends this small tour of Tuscany!