home Cosmetics The Temple of Erechtheion is one of the main temples of the Athens Acropolis. Erechtheion Temple in Athens: history of creation

The Temple of Erechtheion is one of the main temples of the Athens Acropolis. Erechtheion Temple in Athens: history of creation

Ancient Greece left to its descendants many ancient buildings and structures ranked among the wonders of the world. One of those not included in the list of wonders ancient world is built on the territory of the Acropolis of Athens.

Erechtheion Temple in Athens: history of creation

The ancient temple was built in 421-406 BC on the territory of the acropolis. History has not preserved the name of the architect.

Typically, the Athenians dedicated a new temple to a specific god. Was no exception. It was dedicated to three personalities highly revered in Athens: the goddess Pallas Athena, the patroness of the city, the ruler of the seas Poseidon and the king of Athens Erechtheus. It was in honor of the fact that the last one found peace within its walls that the sanctuary received its name. Moreover, the eastern part of the temple was dedicated to Athena, and the western part to the rest.

According to legend, it was erected on the site of disputes between Poseidon and Pallas Athena for the right to own the city and be its deity. In addition, many of the city’s shrines were kept here:

idol of Athena made of wood;
statue of Hermes;
a golden lamp that burned continuously, although oil was added only once a year.

In the temple itself there was a source of salt water, created by Poseidon, and an olive tree grew nearby - a symbol of the city, which Pallas Athena herself gave it. Thanks to this, the Erechtheion takes 2nd place among the most important religious buildings in Hellas (after the Parthenon).

Next to the temple on the territory of the acropolis there were other significant buildings for the city: the temple of Nike Apteros, the Theater of Dionysus and others.

Erechtheion - Athens Acropolis

Unlike the Parthenon, only priests had access here. Here they made their sacrifices and performed rituals. Here gifts were presented to the gods to whom it is dedicated and to Erechtheus.

After the advent of Christianity, a christian temple.

In the 17th century, the temple suffered serious damage caused by the Venetians, who fought with the local population. Then the building was restored a little, but it did not come to complete restoration. In addition, the looters did their best and stole many valuable items from there. Over the past centuries, 2 restorations of the temple were carried out: in 1837-47 and 1902-09.

Address: Greece, Athens, Acropolis of Athens
Start of construction: 421 BC e.
Completion of construction: 406 BC e.
Architect: Mnesicles and Phidias
Coordinates: 37°58"19.6"N 23°43"35.5"E

If we consider the most significant temples for the ancient Greeks, then, of course, the main one is the legendary Parthenon.

The second most important is the Temple of the Erechtheion, or, as it is more simply called by numerous guides conducting excursions around Athens, the Erechtheion. Like most ancient architectural monuments located in the capital of Greece, the Erechtheion temple was badly damaged by numerous wars and plunders.

View of the temple from the southwest

The inexorable passage of time also took its toll on the majestic building, of which only ruins have survived to this day. As we know from history, in the Parthenon all the inhabitants of Athens offered their prayers to the gods, but the Temple of the Erechtheion was intended for mysterious rites and sacrifices, which were carried out exclusively by priests who had almost unlimited power in Athens. It is for this reason that all historians are almost unanimous in the opinion that the Erechtheion, located on the Acropolis, slightly north of the Parthenon, was a sacred place for the population of Athens, in which there was a huge statue of the patroness of the city, Pallas Athena.

Many tourists who come to see the sights of Greece mistakenly believe that the Temple of the Erechtheion was dedicated to the cult of the goddess Athena. There is undoubtedly some truth in this, however, according to some documents, chronicles and descriptions that have survived to this day, as well as according to the results of archaeological excavations, a certain conclusion can be drawn: in the temple, the priests brought gifts not only to Athena, but also to Poseidon and himself Erechtheion.

View of the western façade of the temple

“Where did the name of the temple come from? In honor of what event was the second most important sanctuary of the Acropolis built? What rituals, hidden from the eyes of the Athenians, were the priests performing within its walls, and what shrines were kept in the Erechtheion?” - these are most of the questions that guides and historians are asked. Alas, oh interior decoration the great temple can only be said based on the descriptions of ancient travelers. As you know, in ancient times Athens was the subject of contention between numerous invaders, and when the city was practically deserted, it became a real “godsend” for treasure hunters and looters. Therefore, the ruins of the Erechtheion and its most interesting story, which, like everything in Greece, is shrouded in numerous myths and legends - all that remains for the modern generation.

Origin of the name and myths associated with the Erechtheion Temple

Many people probably know that the capital of modern Greece, according to ancient myth, got its name from the name of the ancient pagan goddess. She argued with Poseidon for the right to patronize the ancient Greek city. In the place where Poseidon struck the ground with great force with his trident, and Pallas Athena showed the townspeople a beautiful olive tree, the Temple of the Erechtheion was built.

View of the temple from the Parthenon

However, this myth does not at all explain the origin of the name of the ancient sanctuary. More precisely, it does not explain the name of the temple, which has survived to this day. The thing is that after its construction, the temple was dedicated to Athena, and the ancient townspeople called it “the temple in which the ancient, majestic statue of the patroness of the city is kept.” Only after Athens became part of the Great Roman Empire did the temple begin to be called, as it is now, the Erechtheion.

Modern historians cannot explain what caused the change in the name of the temple. However, there is another myth that at least somehow “sheds light” on the question: “Why is the ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, began to be called the Erechtheion?” The legend, which most likely appeared already under the Romans, tells a rather confusing story about the heroes Erechtheus and Erichthonius. True, it is not entirely clear whether these are two heroes, or one who simply had more than one name. This is where historians cannot come to a common opinion: one part of them says that the temple was built in honor of Erichthonius, and the other part claims that Erechtheus was the son of the brave Erichthonius and himself accomplished many feats, and it was in his honor that the temple was named.

View of the Ionic colonnade

These versions are so confusing and so implausible that there is no point in going deeper into them. It is much easier to explain the name of the Temple of Erechtheion with another ancient myth that appeared in Athens long before “Roman times”.

An ancient myth says that the temple was named after the king of Athens, Erichthonius, who was not a man. He was the fruit of the love of the “hardworking” god Hephaestus and Gaia. The gods, as is known from ancient Greek myths, “had no time for raising children.” Therefore, Athena (!) gave the baby, locked in a casket (!), to the three daughters of Cecrops and, at the same time, forbade them to look inside. How the child was supposed to grow in the casket remains a mystery, but the two girls could not stand it and, nevertheless, opened the lock. They saw inside the casket handed over by Athena, a charming baby from whom divine light emanated, and his peace was guarded by two snakes. From the sight that opened, the two sisters lost their minds and, running to the edge of the rock of the Acropolis, rushed down. Erichthonius quickly grew up and began to rule ancient Athens. This myth provides the most reliable explanation for the origin of the name of the temple. In addition, in the temple itself there was once the grave of the king, and in its western part, very close to the altar of the god of the sea element Poseidon, there was a small sanctuary of the ruler of the city.

View of the southern facade of the temple

Construction of the Erechtheion Temple

There are documents that clearly define the time period during which the Erechtheion Temple was built. Its construction began almost immediately after the death of the great Pericles in 421 BC. The magnificent building on the Acropolis was completely completed by 406 BC. As is known from ancient history, it was then that the so-called period of decline of the once powerful and influential Athens began.

As mentioned above, the Erechtheion Temple was built on the site where, in ancient times, Poseidon and beautiful Athena. In the rebuilt temple there was an altar of the ruler water element, there are descriptions according to which we can conclude: on one of the internal walls there was a giant crack left by the trident of Poseidon, and in addition, in the Erechtheion the priests could see a well with sea water. This well was built on the spot where a salty spring came out of the ground, which Poseidon showed to the Athenians. Right in front of the temple grew an olive tree, the same one with which Pallas Athena surprised King Cecrops and the Athenians. According to legend, even before the construction of the temple began, the tree was burned in 480 BC, but it miraculously reappeared and decorated the entrance to the Temple.

View of the portico of the caryatid

It is also interesting that the architect, whose name is unknown, developed the plan for the Temple of the Erechtheion, built in the Ionic style, in such a way that the place where Poseidon struck with his trident was in the open air. According to myth, the gods forbade covering this place.

It is worth noting that the unknown architect and numerous builders involved in the construction of the Erechtheion Temple had to put in a lot of effort to ensure that the building was stable. The thing is that the temple is multi-level; this fact does not speak of the genius of the architect, but most likely is proof that the ancient Greeks did not have the technology to compare rocky terrain.

The Erechtheion Temple differed from many other temples not only in that only priests had access to it, but also in that it had two entrances. One of them led to the sanctuary of Athena, where her gigantic statue stood (according to eyewitnesses of that distant time, made of wood), and the second, to the sanctuaries of Erechtheus and Poseidon. It is also surprising that the Erechtheion was built on a “sacred” place. Before the work began, sanctuaries and other temples stood here, but over time they were destroyed or simply destroyed by robbers.

Caryatids

Architecture and history of the Erechtheion temple

The ancient temple, which opened for the Athenian priests back in 406 BC, stands on a foundation measuring 23.5 x 11.6 meters. Its popularity among tourists is due to the fact that each of its facades is unique in its own way. This is explained by the fact that more than one pagan god and more than one Athenian king were glorified in the temple. At the western facade of the Erechtheion Temple there is (more correctly, there was) the grave of King Kekropos, who was a snake man.

On the side of the western façade grew the very famous olive tree that Pallas Athena showed. Moreover, it is growing and at the moment, however, it no longer has divine origin: it was planted by restorers at the beginning of the 20th century.

Even today you can see the portico of the caryatids, known to any connoisseur of historical and architectural monuments. Without exception, all the guides leading their groups among the ruins of the ancient temple say that this particular portico is the most important attraction of the Erechtheion. Six sculptures of beautiful girls support the ceiling. Many modern sculptors say that the caryatids were made on such high level, that it seems as if at any moment a strong maiden, two meters and thirty centimeters tall, will step off the plinth.

Coffered ceiling of the north portico

Alas, the girls’ hands were destroyed, but historians still managed to find out what they looked like in the distant past! A find in... Italy helped them with this. At Hadrian's Villa, we managed to find copies of strong maidens supporting the ceiling of the portico! It turns out that with one hand they supported their clothes, and in the other hand they held the so-called sacrificial jug - a vial. By the way, not all six caryatids are genuine; one of them is a “fake”, more precisely, a copy made by restorers. The original was stolen by an Englishman back in the 19th century, who came to Athens to profit from ancient relics.

Erechtheion

(Greek: Ἐρέχθειον; English: Erechtheion)

Opening hours: from 8.30 to 19.00 every day except Monday.

The most sacred temple of the Acropolis in ancient Athens was the Erechtheion - a temple dedicated to Athena, Poseidon and the legendary Athenian king Erechtheus. The Erechtheion is the second most important monument of the Acropolis. In ancient times, it was the central temple dedicated to the cult of the goddess Athena. And if the Parthenon was assigned the role of a public temple, then the Erechtheion was, rather, a temple for priests. The main religious sacraments associated with the worship of Athena were performed here, and an ancient statue of this goddess was kept here. Also, the temple was a kind of repository for the most important relics of the polis. This function passed to him from the archaic Hekatompedon, built, most likely, under Pisistratus, and destroyed during the Greco-Persian wars.

The Erechtheion was conceived during the grandiose construction started by Pericles. It was necessary to build a temple for the ancient statue of Athena - the main shrine of the city, according to legend, which fell from the sky. However, due to the Peloponnesian War, construction began only in 421 BC, after the Peace of Nicaea. Then it was interrupted and resumed only in 406 BC, by the architect Philocles.

The Erechtheion was originally called the Temple of Athena Polada, or "the temple enshrining the ancient statue." Only in Roman times, another name was extended to the building - Erechtheion. It is not known exactly where it came from: legends explain its origin in different ways, linking the name with the name of the ancient Athenian king Erechtheus. Much here reminds us of Erechtheus. Under the northern portico was the tomb of Erechtheus, and in the western part of the temple, next to the altar of Poseidon, was the sanctuary of Erechtheus. A high door framed by a lush architrave led here from the northern portico.

The temple is located on the site of the mythical dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica. In one of the halls of the Erechtheion one could see the mark left by Poseidon's trident on the rock during his dispute with Athena, and to which pilgrims brought gifts of libation to Zeus. Since this shrine was always supposed to be in the open air, holes were made in the ceiling of the portico, which have survived to this day.

The Erechtheion is a unique and absolutely original monument of ancient Greek architecture. The building plan is based on a rectangle measuring 23.5 m x 11.6 m. The temple itself is divided into two parts: western and eastern. The eastern and southern sides of the temple are 3.24 meters higher than the western and northern ones.

The eastern part of the Erechtheion was dedicated to Athena Polas. A staircase of fourteen steps leads from the eastern portico of the Erechtheion to a small courtyard below, which closes the six-columned northern portico of the Erechtheion. This portico once served as the main entrance to the western half of the temple.

The western half of the temple is dedicated to Poseidon and Erechtheus. Its front side is bordered on the outside by two antas, between which there are four attic semi-columns. In front of the western facade of the Erechtheion, since ancient times, the sacred olive tree of the goddess Athena grew. Because of this, the western facade of the Erechtheion looks completely unusual for ancient Greek temples - it was impossible to build the same entrance portico as on the eastern side, and then the four columns forming the western portico were raised to a base about four meters high, and the spaces between The columns were blocked by a bronze lattice. From this side, the Erechtheion is more reminiscent of a residential building, an estate, and, in its asymmetry, does not look like a monumental building.

The southern portico, called Pandroseion, named after one of Cecrops' daughters, Pandrosa, did not have a frieze, and its architrave, consisting of three horizontal stripes, was supported not by columns, but by Caryatids. The stone Caryatids of the Erechtheion, today probably the most famous symbol Athens Acropolis. This is a completely unique monument that has no analogues in ancient Greek architecture. On a high, 2.6 m plinth, there are six statues of girls supporting the ceiling of the portico. Their figures are significantly taller than human height - 2.1 m.

There is an assumption that the prototypes of the caryatids of the Erechtheion were the arrephors - servants of the cult of Athena, elected from best families Athens. Their functions included making the sacred peplos, with which the ancient statue of Athena, kept in the Erechtheion, was annually dressed. The hands of the statues have not been found. They probably supported their outfit with one hand and held some kind of religious symbol in the other. The faces of the Caryatids are facing the road along which the Panathenaic processions took place.

Real marble lace frames the portals of the doors, and a long, continuous ribbon crowns the top of the walls and porticoes of the temple. The skill of ancient sculptors captivates with the perfection and refinement of forms. Once upon a time, the facades of the Erechtheion ended with a relief frieze that stretched along the perimeter of the entire building. The subject of the frieze was probably the myth of Erechtheus and the Cecropids. Its fragments have been preserved.

The internal structure of this wonderful temple is not known, because most of it was destroyed in the 7th century AD, when the Erechtheion was converted into a Christian temple. It is obvious that the interior was divided into two almost equal parts by a blank wall. In the eastern part, in a marble cella, there was a wooden statue of the goddess Athena, which was made from the sacred olive tree. The cella of the temple of Athena did not communicate with the western part of the Erechtheion, dedicated to Poseidon and Erechtheus.

In the western part of the temple, Poseidon and Erechtheus were worshiped, there was an altar of Hephaestus and the hero Vut, and an underground passage went down, which led to the habitat of the sacred Acropolis snake, to which sacrifices were made every year.

Like other structures of the Athenian Acropolis, the Erechtheion was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. In Byzantine times, a Christian temple was built in it. After the city was captured by the Turks, the Erechtheion was turned into the harem of the Turkish ruler of Athens.

In 1802, the British envoy to Constantinople, Lord Elgin, who received permission from Sultan Selim III “to remove from the country any piece of stone with inscriptions or images,” transported one of the caryatids of the Erechtheum to Britain.

The temple suffered greatly in 1827, when it was destroyed during the Greek battles for independence. The first restoration of the temple was carried out immediately after Greece gained independence, in 1837-1847. The temple was restored again in 1902 - 1909. The portico of the Caryatids, the northern and southern walls, and the western facade of the temple were restored.

The essence of the architectural composition of the Erechtheion consists of an amazing, in its richness, temporal sequence of strictly thought-out and harmonized impressions that people receive when viewing the building. The Erechtheion is very subtly included in the overall composition of the Acropolis. After examining the Erechtheion from different angles, visitors look with new eyes at the Parthenon, the monumentality of which now especially contrasts with the intimacy of the Erechtheion.

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The rocky rock of the Acropolis, which dominates the center of Athens, is the largest and most majestic ancient Greek shrine, dedicated primarily to the city's patroness, Athena.

The most important events of the ancient Hellenes are associated with this sacred place: the myths of ancient Athens, the largest Religious holidays, the main religious events.
The temples of the Acropolis of Athens blend harmoniously with their natural surroundings and are unique masterpieces of ancient Greek architecture, expressing innovative styles and trends in the correlation of classical art, they have had an indelible influence on the intellectual and artistic creativity people for many centuries.

The Acropolis of the 5th century BC is the most accurate reflection of the splendor, power and wealth of Athens at its highest peak - the "golden age". In the form in which the Acropolis appears before us now, it was erected after its destruction by the Persians in 480 BC. e. Then the Persians were completely defeated and the Athenians vowed to restore their shrines. The reconstruction of the Acropolis begins in 448 BC, after the Battle of Plataea, on the initiative of Pericles.

- Erechtheion Temple

The Myth of Erechtheus: Erechtheus was a beloved and revered king of Athens. Athens was at enmity with the city of Eleusis; during the battle, Erechtheus killed Eumollus, the leader of the Eleusinian army, and also the son of the god of the sea Poseidon himself. For this, the thunderer Zeus killed him with his lightning. The Athenians buried their beloved king and named the constellation Auriga after him. At the same place, the architect Mnesicles erected a temple named after Erichtheus.

This temple was built between 421 and 407 BC and housed the golden lamp of Callimachus. Construction of the Erechtheion did not stop even during the long Peloponnesian War.

The Erechtheion was the most sacred place of worship in Athens. The ancient inhabitants of Athens worshiped Athena, Hephaestus, Poseidon, and Kekropos (the first Athenian king) in this temple.

The entire history of the city was concentrated at this point and therefore the construction of the Erechtheon temple began in this place:

♦ in this place a dispute broke out between Athena and Poseidon over the property of the city

♦ in the northern porch of the Erechtheion temple there is a hole where, according to legend, the sacred serpent Erechtonius lived

♦ here was the grave of Kekrops

The east porch has six Ionic columns, to the north there is a monumental entrance with a decorated gate, on the south side there is a porch with six maidens, known as caryatids, who support the vault of the Erechtheion, in this moment they have been replaced with plaster copies. Five of the caryatids are in the new Acropolis Museum, one is in the British Museum.

On the Acropolis
We do not know for sure the name of the architect who built the Erechtheion - a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, which, with its bold asymmetry and ideal connection with the complex relief, anticipates the architecture of the New Age. We do not know the name of the sculptor who sculpted the figures of the six caryatids, the maiden columns that support the ceilings of the southern portico of the temple. We also do not know the purpose of this portico: after all, the portico is the entrance to the building decorated with a colonnade, and in the portico of the caryatids there is no main entrance as such, only a small hole on the side and an inconspicuous opening in the wall of the temple.
However, we know exactly when the temple was built. Construction began in 421 BC. e., when, after ten years of the Peloponnesian War, Athens concluded a short-lived peace with Sparta, and ended in 406 BC, when the disastrous war for Athens was nearing its end. The Erechtheion was the last significant temple Ancient Greece.

View of the portico of the caryatids from the southeast

We know why the temple dedicated to the gods Athena, Poseidon and the Athenian king Erechtheus was built here - on the uneven northwestern tip of the Acropolis, almost above the cliff. At this place, according to legend, Athena and Poseidon argued for the possession of Attica. Next to the temple grew an olive tree, a gift from Athena, and in the temple itself flowed a spring of salt water, a gift from Poseidon. The Erechtheion housed the greatest relic of the Athenians - a wooden statue of Athena that fell from the sky, and the sacred snake of the goddess lived in a cave under the temple.

View of the portico of the caryatids from the west. Sacred Olive of Athens

The motif of caryatids was found in Greek architecture before. The predecessors of the Erechtheion caryatids, which decorated the facades of two treasuries of the 6th century BC, have survived to this day. on the Sacred Road at Delphi.

Caryatid from the treasury of the Siphnosians at Delphi. OK. 525 BC
Delphi, museum

Why are column girls called caryatids? After all, female statues of Ancient Greece were called “koras” (translated as “virgins”). The word "caryatid" was coined by Vitruvius, a Roman architect and scientist of the 1st century AD. He connects the name "caryatid" with the story of women from the Greek region of Caria. The Carians entered into an alliance with the enemies of the Greeks, the Persians, were defeated by the Greeks, and as a sign of memory of the shame of Caria, caryatids appeared - columns in the form of Carian women bearing the weight of architectural ceilings.

This legend, which guides are happy to tell tourists, raises doubts among historians, despite the authority of Vitruvius, but the name is already firmly rooted. Another version seems most plausible: the girls are priestesses of the goddess Athena. This is confirmed by a find made in Italy in 1952. During the excavations of the villa of Emperor Hadrian in Tivoli, well-preserved copies of the caryatids of the Erechtheion were discovered with intact hands. It turned out that with one hand the girls were lightly holding the edge of their clothes, in the other there was a vessel for sacrificial libations.

View of the portico of the caryatids from the west

The height of the caryatids is 2.3 meters, the height of the base on which they stand is 2.6 meters. But in contrast with the high, extended wall of the temple, the figures of the girls seem almost proportionate to human height.
Six girls stand with one leg slightly bent at the knee. The three right and three left figures mirror each other: the figures on the right shift their weight to the left leg, the figures on the left - to the right. Obviously, the position of the missing hands of the statues was also mirrored. The folds of thin clothes lie slightly differently for each caryatid. The girls have beautiful, complex hairstyles, with a heavy wave of hair descending along the back strengthening the neck, which would otherwise seem too fragile.

View of the portico of the caryatids from the southwest

Like a jewel on white satin, the portico of the caryatids stands out against the background of the smooth marble of the southern façade of the Erechtheion. Slender, stately, strong, and at the same time feminine, the girls stand freely and straight, without bowing their heads under their burden, as if not feeling its weight. It seems that the caryatids are about to take a step and move in a solemn procession to the Parthenon standing opposite.

View of the portico of the caryatids from the south

Procession - keyword for the entire ensemble of the Acropolis. The most important and colorful part of the Panathenaic Games - a festival in ancient Athens, held in honor of the patroness of the city, goddess Athena, was the solemn procession of the townspeople to the Acropolis. At the head of the procession moved a special cart - the so-called Panathenaic ship - with a magnificent peplos stretched instead of a sail, a new robe for the statue of Athena staying in the Erechtheion. (There is a version that the caryatids are female priestesses from noble families who wove peplos). Walking along the walls of the Parthenon, participants in the Panathenaic procession saw a relief depicting the same procession. Among the figures on the relief are proud maidens in flowing robes, like doubles of the caryatids of the Erechtheion.

Panathenaic procession. Water carriers. Fragment of the Parthenon frieze. 443-438 BC.
Athens, New Acropolis Museum

The caryatids are similar to the ensemble of the Acropolis not only in their sculptural, but also in their architectural essence. No matter where we look at the portico of the caryatids, we are sure to see several columns of the western, eastern or northern façade of the temple. The roll call of columns and columnar figures is one of the charms of the Erechtheion. In their uniformity and compactness, bodies in flowing clothes with vertical folds are likened to antique columns with fluted recesses. Let us not forget, however, that, most likely, the caryatids, like other sculptures and reliefs of the Acropolis, were brightly colored. The resemblance of girls to columns was perhaps less pronounced than now.

View of the portico of the caryatids from the southeast

The most beautiful view of the portico of the caryatids opens up if you get close to the statues on the westernmost side. There are no tourists in sight, the Athens olive tree is rustling with its leaves, the figures of the caryatids are silhouetted against the sky, a white city is spread out under the hill and for a moment it seems that this is the same ancient Athens and that almost nothing has changed in more than two thousand years...

In museums
Alas! The city is no longer the same, a new tree was planted on the site of the ancient Athena olive tree in the 1920s, and most importantly, the caryatids are not the same either. Over the centuries, the Erechtheion, like the entire ensemble of the Acropolis, has experienced many disasters. In the 5th century AD The Byzantines turned the temple into a church, smashed the statues on the eastern facade, and filled the space between the caryatids with stone. At the beginning of the 11th century, Byzantium was ousted by the crusading knights. Athens became the center of the Duchy of Athens, and the rebuilt Erechtheion became part of the ducal palace. Later, Athens again went to Byzantium, which fell under the onslaught of the Turks, who ruled the Acropolis since 1458. The harem of the commandant of the fortress was located in the Erechtheion. The new conquerors did not destroy the statues, but, in accordance with the Koran’s prohibition on depicting people, they cut off their faces (fortunately, not very diligently). The Erechtheion, although it suffered great damage, miraculously survived in 1687, when Athens was besieged by the Venetians and a shell hit the Parthenon, which the Turks had turned into a gunpowder warehouse.

Original caryatids in the New Acropolis Museum

Not only the invaders, but also the collectors posed a danger to the caryatids. In 1802, the British envoy to Constantinople, Lord Elgin, an expert and collector of antiquities, received from Turkish Sultan permission to “export from the country any piece of stone with inscriptions or images” and sent an incomparable collection of sculptures broken out from the Acropolis to Britain. Among these treasures was the caryatid of the Erechtheion (second from the west). The collector would have removed all six, but when trying to break out the next caryatid (the back one from the east), difficulties arose. The lover of antiquity ordered the statue to be sawed, and when this failed, he simply abandoned the remains of the destroyed caryatid. The caryatid taken away by Lord Elgin is still in the British Museum along with other Acropolis marbles, despite all attempts by Greece to return the treasures.

Lord Elgin motivated his actions by the fact that he was saving masterpieces of antiquity, which were in danger of destruction in Greece. And his arguments could be partly justified: the Erechtheion suffered again in the 1820s, during the Greco-Turkish War of Liberation, when, among other destructions, the second caryatid fell from the east.

After Greece gained independence in 1833, restoration of the architectural complex of the Acropolis began, which continues to this day. The British Museum first sent a cast of the caryatid taken away by Lord Elgin, and then a better copy made of artificial stone.
In the 20th century, the main enemy of the caryatids and other sculptures of the Acropolis became aggressive environment. During the next restoration of the Erechtheion in the early 1980s, all the caryatids were replaced with copies and moved to the Acropolis Museum, which opened on the hill in 1865, expanded several times, but still could not accommodate the finds of archaeologists and the original sculptures remaining in Greece.

At the end of 2008, newspapers wrote about an amazing event in the art world: the Caryatids of the Erechtheion were leaving the Acropolis! The statues were moved with great precautions to the New Acropolis Museum, which was finally opened at the foot of the hill, grandiose, ultra-modern and designed to one day receive back all the works exported to England.

This is double life caryatids On the Acropolis, open to the sun and wind, there are six skillful copies. In an ideal museum atmosphere, in the rays of artificial light, five originals greet visitors. The caryatids are arranged in the same order as on the hill. Instead of one there is a pass, one is almost destroyed. And in distant England, in the hall of the British Museum, their lonely sister stands. Will they meet? Perhaps the newspapers will someday write about this sensation: the caryatid of the Erechtheion is returning home to Greece...

Through the centuries
Caryatids in world art are a topic for extensive and fascinating research. Archaeologists have found statues of caryatids guarding the tombs of the Hellenistic era (late 4th century BC - late 1st century BC) in Greece, modern Bulgaria and Libya. The ancient Romans placed figures of caryatids in the corners of sarcophagi.

Caryatid and Atlas. Residential building in San Sebastian, Spain. Late 19th century.

In the Middle Ages, interest in antiquity faded, and the caryatids disappeared from the scene for a while, but since the Renaissance they have consistently inspired architects and interior decorators. Every person who has traveled at least a little will probably remember the caryatids he saw: perhaps these were the pavilions of the Louvre or the Louvre Hall of Caryatids, the Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam, the gallery of the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, the gallery of the Sinkel store in Utrecht, the Belvedere in Peterhof, where almost the portico of the Erechtheion was repeated, the house in Denezhny Lane in Moscow, the Milos dacha in Feodosia...

Caryatid and Atlas.

In every European city with old buildings, you will find dozens of houses with caryatids. Mostly these will be magnificent buildings from the second half of the 19th century, when architects were allowed to mix different styles. Caryatids decorate lanterns and city fountains; in historical interiors we will probably see fireplaces, candelabra, and furniture with caryatids.

Caryatid and Atlas. Residential building in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Last third of the 19th century.

IN last decades Architects rarely use the caryatids motif, but each such work is significant and full of meaning. Three bronze caryatids support the building's cornice Supreme Court in Warsaw (late 20th century). The figures are repeatedly reflected in the water and in the mirror walls of the building, as if the shadows of the immortal caryatids of the Erechtheion are protruding from the depths of centuries.