Welcome to the Temple of Athena Nike!!!

Virtual Tour of Acropolis
	The worship of Athena Nike on the Acropolis was very ancient. To the south of the Propylaia, on the right as one ascends the sacred rock, there existed an ancient bastion, where an altar was set up in 566 B.C., the year in which the Great Panathenaic festival was instituted, and a small poros temple was built in the period of the Persian Wars (490-480 B.C.). In 448 B.C. the Athenians decided to erect a new temple to their goddess of victory, designed by Kallikrates. The size of the temple was imposed by the confined space, but the architect succeeded in creating a small temple in which architectural grace did not entail the sacrifice of grandeur, and elegance was achieved without the loss of tectonic stability.
Athena Nike
	It is a small amphiprostyle Ionic temple which rises gracefully on the edge of the rock, where the Athenians worshipped the goddess of victory expressing their hopes for a new triumph in the war of those years when they were fighting desperately for victory on land and sea against the Spartans and their allies. The representations on the frieze of the temple of Athena Nike recalled the historical battle of Plataiai where the Greeks decisevely defeated the Persians. When the temple was completed in the turmoil of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians added a protective parapet, which was composed of marble slabs. It was but an expression of the Athenians' determination and hope for final victory. Those of the slabs that have survived are now in the Acropolis Museum.