Acropolis

(From Greek akros, high; polis, city). Fortified hill, rock or elevation of ancient Greece. Among these strongholds were the Acropolis of Corinth, called Acrocorinthus; that of Larissa at Argos; of Mount Ithome at Messene; of Thebes, called Cadmea; but the chief was the Acropolis of Athens. This (called also Cecropia) is a rock about 45 m high, 350 m long, and 150 m broad where the first kings of Athens built their palace, and a temple of Athene, the Hecatompedon, existed before the Persian invasion. Later edifices were the Parthenon, the Propylaea, designed by Mnesicles 437 BC, a temple of Nike Apteros, the Erechtheum, the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia, and the Pinacotheca. Many of the sculptures from the Acropolis were brought to London by Lord Elgin in 1816.

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