Presently, the Agora of Athens stands as an archaeological site situated beneath the north-western incline of the Acropolis. The term "agora" denotes a gathering of individuals and, by extension, designates a place where such gatherings take place. In contemporary Greek, the term is commonly understood as a "marketplace."

Nearly every ancient and contemporary city incorporates a designated space known as an agora, and the Agora of Athens, situated at the center of the city, served various purposes throughout its existence spanning nearly three millennia. It functioned as a hub for assemblies, commerce, and even residential activities. Consequently, the area underwent numerous cycles of construction, destruction, and reconstruction. Through extensive excavations, the layers of history have been carefully unearthed, revealing the significant roles played by the Agora during different periods, ranging from the Archaic era to the Greco-Roman and Byzantine times.

circa 550 BCE

Royal Stoa
The Royal Stoa (Stoa Basileios) was a Doric-style structure located in the northwest section of the Athenian Agora. Built in the 6th century BCE and later modified in the fifth century BCE, it was preserved until the mid-second century CE. Though relatively small, it held significant importance as the office of the Athenian King Archon and the repository of the city's laws. It was also the place where magistrates took their oaths of office upon "the stone," a large block thought to have originated from a Mycenaean tomb.

The stoa featured solid walls on three sides, with a colonnade of eight Doric columns on the eastern side facing the Agora. Measuring 17.72 meters in length and 7.18 meters in width, it was among the smallest known stoas in ancient Greece. The north, west, and east sides were enclosed, while the roof was tiled with terracotta. Inside, there was a simple packed clay floor and low platforms along the walls, possibly used as seating. While much of the original structure is gone, remnants of the stoa still provide insight into its architectural and civic significance.

circa 550 BCE

Tholos
The Tholos, located within the Agora, is a significant public structure characterized by its circular shape, six interior columns, and an added entrance called the propylon in the eastern part, constructed during the first century BCE. It served as the headquarters for the fifty prytaneis, who formed the executive committee of the Boule (council) and held their position for approximately thirty five or thirty six days. Afterward, they were replaced by prytaneis from a different tribe, ensuring that representatives from all ten tribes eventually participated in the administration throughout the year. The prytaneis in office would dine in the Tholos, with around one-third of them (specifically seventeen individuals) spending the entire night in the building, guaranteeing the presence of responsible officials at all times.

Within the Tholos, the official weights and measures of the Athenian state were stored. The structure was constructed on top of an existing building complex dating back to the mid-sixth century BCE, which served a similar functional purpose. Its use ceased around 400 CE.

circa 520 BCE

Altar of the Twelve Gods
The altar of the twelve gods stood in the center of a rectangular sacred enclosure, with a paved floor and a stone superstructure of low vertical slates and orthostates; those flanking the entrances bore carved representations. According to Thucydides, it was built under Peisistratos, grandson and namesake of the famous tyrant. It was dedicated probably to the twelve gods of the Olympos. The altar, standing as it does next to the Panathenaic Way and at the intersection of several important traffic arteries, was a celebrated place for refuge. It is from the altar that milestones within the city record their distances. It was kept in repair until the fourth century BCE, but was destroyed in the third century CE. Since the opening of the electric railway in 1891 CE, only the south-west corner (inspect) of the ancient altar is visible.

circa 500 BCE

Sanctuary of Aphrodite Urania
The Sanctuary of Aphrodite Urania, dedicated to Aphrodite in her celestial form as "Urania" (meaning "of the Heavens"), was situated to the northwest of the Ancient Agora of Athens. Discovered in the 1980s, it has been identified with a sanctuary that originally featured a marble altar, built around 500 BCE. Over time, as the ground level rose, this altar became buried. Later, around 100 BCE, a structure—possibly a fountain—was constructed nearby. In the early 1st century CE, an Ionic tetrastyle temple, designed similarly to the Erechtheion’s north porch, was added just north of the altar.

By the early fifth century CE, the temple had fallen into disrepair and was incorporated into a concrete platform. This platform was subsequently replaced by a Late Roman Stoa, which itself deteriorated by the 6th or 7th centuries CE, with the area eventually being covered by Byzantine housing. The identification of the sanctuary is supported by literary sources, a nearby votive plaque, and evidence of sacrifices from bones found at the altar site.

circa 470 BCE

Northern Excavations
The remains of the building that is being excavated to the north fo the modern day Adrianou street are tentatively identified as those of the Stoa Poikile (the painted stoa), dating to circa 475-465 BCE. In Greek architecture, a stoa was any long colonnaded building. The painted stoa had Doric columns outside and Ionic columns on the interior.

The Stoa Poikile was named from the beautiful wooden panel paintings that once adorned it. These were painted by Polygnotos, Mikon and Panainos considered to be the best artists of Classical Greece. A description written by the traveler Pausanias in circa 150 CE, describes that these painting depicted Athenian military triumphs, both mythological and historical. By 400 CE, during the Roman period, the paintings had been removed (possibly on the orders of a Roman proconsl) and do not survive.

During antiquity the building was used as a popular hangout and attracted huge crowds. The philosopher Zeo (circa 300 BCE) so preferred the painted stoa as his classroom that he and his followeres came to be knows as the "Stoics".

Behind thestoa is a commercial building originally built circa 420 BCE and used, with alterations, until at least the mid fifth century CE. Both the stoa and the shops it housed were abandoned by the sixth century CE and after several centuries their remains were covered by a neighbourhood of houses and shops dating from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE.

The area is part of the ancient Athenian Agora, which has been under excavation since 1931 CE by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, in cooperation with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens of the Ministry of Culture.

circa 450 BCE

Temple and Altar of Ares
Doric peripteral temple, with pronaos (for-temple), inner shrine (cella) and opisthanaos (rear temple). It was contemporary with and almost identical to the temple of Hephaistos on the Kolonos Agoraios Hill. Its monumental, stepped marble altar (inspect) was built in the fourth century BCE. Originally the two monuments stood elsewhere, probably in the Deme of Acharnai or, according to a later view, in Pallene. At the end of the first century BCE, at the command of the Roman emperor Augustus, the temple and the atar were disassembled, transferred to the agora and reassembled. In order to assure a correct assebly, masons inscribed its stones with identifying marks. The foundations of the temple were embanked into the earth for protection and therefore its ground-plan is conventionally indicated. Marble pieces from its superstructure are concentrated in the west part; decorative sculpture from the temple is on display in the Museum of the Ancient Agora. Both mnuments were destroyed during the Herulian invasion.

circa 430 BCE

Monument of the Eponymous Heroes
The monument of the Eponymous Heroes was a pedestal, approx. sixteen meters long, enclosed by stone posts connected to one another by three wooden beams. It bore the bronze statues of the mythical heroes of each of the ten Athenian tribes, divisions into which, for administrative and political reasons, Kleisthenes in 508 BCE organized the citizens of Athens. A fluctuation in the number of tribes over the years necessitated the removal or addition of statues. On the sides were hung the wooden boards with announcements meant for the citizens conscripted into the army, civic honorary distinctions, forthcoming lawsuits. The original location of the monument was most likely somewere else in the agora, probably at the west end of the Middle Stoa.

The ten heroes were; Erechtheus, Aegeus (Theseus' father), Pandion (usually assumed to be one of the two legendary kings of Athens, Pandion I or Pandion II), Leos, Acamas (son of Theseus), Oeneus, Cecrops II, Hippothoon, Aias (Ajax), Antiochus (a son of Heracles).

circa 415 BCE

Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus, previously known as the Theseion or "Theseum" erroneously, is an exceptionally preserved ancient Greek temple devoted to Hephaestus. It stands mostly undamaged to this day. This temple follows the Doric peripteral style and is situated on the north-western side of the Agora of Athens, atop the Agoraios Kolonos hill. Between the seventh century CE and 1834 CE, it functioned as the Greek Orthodox church of Saint George Akamates. Its remarkable state of preservation can be attributed to its diverse history of utilization.

circa 350 BCE

Altar of Zeus Agoraios
The ancient Altar of Zeus Agoraios (literally meaning Zeus of the Agora) was one of the first objects to be discovered inside the Greek period Agora during the excavations of 1931 CE. The altar dating back to the fourth century BCE was originally built on the Pnyx Hill. Later, during the Augustan period it was relocated in the ancient agora of Athens. The structure was constructed from white marble, 9 meters deep and 5.5 meter wide.

circa 175 - 150 BCE

Middle Stoa
The Middle Stoa is the largest building in the Agora, 147 meters wide and 17.5 meters deep, oriented east-est, with a Doric colonnade on each of its four sides. It is assumed that at the two corners of the monument the intercolumniation were covered with high, thin panelling like that of the interior Ionic colonnade, which separated the stoa into two passageways of equal width. The stoa was built of poros stone. Only the metopes of the frieze were of marble, together with the terracotta sima they boree a painted decoration. In the eastern section, steps and three columns-drums are preserved in their original position. Visible on the western side are its solid foundations of red conglomerate stone. In Roman times the flat terrace at its north was used as the shortest way of crossing the Agora from east to west. It was destroyed by fire in 267 CE.

circa 15 BCE

Odeon of Agrippa
The odeon of Agrippa, a grand and luxurious building designed for musical performances, is known in the ancient sources as the "odeion", the "Kerameikos" theatre or the "Agrippeion" after its donor, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son in law to the emperor Augustus. The central part of the building,which rose, as if a separate structure, above a surrounding stoa, included an oblong rectangular stage, a semi-circular "orchestra" and an auditorium built like an amphitheatre, with space foraround 1000 people. The entrance for the audience was formed, on the southern side of the building, by the terrace of the Middle stoa, while a small tetrastyle propylon on the north side led directly to the stage area. The building originally had a pitched roof, without interior support, which collapsed around 150 CE. Then the building was reconstructed with the addition of a transverse wall that reduced the seating capacity almost by half. The north facade took the form of a stoa, the eistyle of which supported six colossal statues of Tritons and the Giants. Four of them later adorned the gymnasium of the "Palace of the Giants", which was built over the remains of the odeon. The building was destroyed by fire in 267 CE, in the Herulian invasion.

circa 11 BCE

Gate of Athena Archegetis
The Gate of Athena Archegetis, located on the western side of the Roman Agora in Athens, is regarded as the second most significant structure on the site, following the Tower of the Winds. Erected in 11 BCE through contributions from Julius Caesar and Augustus, this gate was composed of a Pentelic marble architrave supported by four Doric columns and a base.

A dedicatory inscription offers an insight into the time and circumstances of the monument's construction:

O ΔΗΜOΣ ΑΠO ΤΩΝ ΔOΘΕΙΣΩΝ ΔΩΡΕΩΝ ΥΠO ΓΑΙOΥ ΙOΥΛΙOΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡOΣ ΘΕOΥ/ ΚΑΙ ΑΥΤOΚΡΑΤOΡOΣ ΘΕOΥ ΥΙOΥ ΣΕΒΑΣΤOΥ/ ΑΘΗΝΑ ΑΡΧΗΓΕΤΙΔΙ ΣΤΡΑΤΗΓOΥΝΤOΣ ΕΠΙ ΤOΥΣ OΠΛΙΤΑΣ ΕΥΚΛΕOΥΣ ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝΙOΥ/ ΤOΥ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΑΔΕΞΑΜΕΝOΥ ΤΗΝ ΕΠΙΜΕΛΕΙΑΝ ΥΠΕΡ ΤOΥ ΠΑΤΡOΣ ΗΡΩΔOΥ ΤOΥ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΕΣΒΕΥΣΑΝΤOΣ/ ΕΠΙ ΑΡΧOΝΤOΣ ΝΙΚΙOΥ ΤOΥ ΣΑΡΑΠΙΩΝOΣ ΑΘΜOΝΕΩΣ (IG II3 4 12)

The People of Athens from the donations offered by Gaius Julius Caesar the God and the Reverend Emperor son of God To Athena Archegetis, on behalf of the soldiers of Eukles from Marathon, who curated it on behalf of his father Herod and who was also an ambassador under the archon Nicias, son of Sarapion, from the demos of Athmonon It was a monument dedicated by the Athenians to their patroness Athena Archegetis.

circa 100 CE

South-West Temple
The Southwest Temple is a modern term given to a tetrastyle prostyle Doric temple situated in the southwestern part of the Ancient Agora of Athens. The temple's appearance has been tentatively reconstructed from fragments found across the Agora, which originally came from various Hellenistic structures and a 5th-century BCE stoa in Thorikos, southeastern Attica. These materials were repurposed to construct the temple during the reign of Augustus. The deity or hero to whom the temple was dedicated remains unknown. After the Herulians sacked Athens in 267 CE, the temple’s materials were used to build a post-Herulian fortification wall.

The temple is positioned west of the Odeon of Agrippa, near the Civic Offices and the Middle Stoa, and faces west towards the Tholos. Its foundation was first uncovered by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens during excavations in 1933 and 1934, with a more detailed excavation taking place in 1951, led by Rebecca C. Wood. Remains of the superstructure were also discovered during the excavation of the post-Herulian wall in 1939 and 1959.

circa 100 CE

Pantanios Library
The Library of Pantanios is located on the eastern side of the the Panathenaic Way or street, and south of Stoa of Attalos. It consists of a large square room and a paved courtyard, surrounded by three stoas with shops ehind their colonnades. The north stoa rins eastward, along the sount side of a marble street that led in Roman times from the Agora to the Doric gateway of the market of Caesar and Augustus, also known as the Roman Agora.

According to the inscribed marble lintel block the library was dedicated to Athena Archegetis, the emperor Trajan and the Athenian people in the years circa 100 CE, by Titus Flavius Pantainos who describes himself as a priest of the philosophical muses as well as the son of the head of a philosophical school. The library rules, much as they would be today, are preserved in another inscription found in the building, which reads; "No book is to be taken out since we have sworn an oath. The library is to be open from the first hour until the sixth.".

Emperor Trajan seems actually to have been worshipped in the building as parts of the his statue were found in the ruins. The remains of the library reinforce the opinion that it may not only be the "Library of Pantainos" but also one of the famed philosophical schools of Athens.

The north and west stoas were destroyed by the Herulians in 267 CE. In the fifth century CE the eastern stoa was rebuilt with the addition of a second storey for the eastern two-thirds of its length. The rooms at ground level behind the colonnade were also refurnished, to serve as a basement suite for the principal rooms on the floor above, which had a small peristyle court, an apsidal room and provisions for bathing. The large building was probably an official residence.

circa 267-282 CE

Roman Fortifications (Third Century CE)

circa 267-282 CE

Fortification Tower (Third Century CE)

circa 280 CE

Roman Baths (Third Century CE )

circa 410-530 CE

"Palace of the Giants"
The so-called "Palace of the Giants", impressive in itssize,included a great section of the central area of the ancient agora, covering older buildings such as the odeion of Agrippa and parts of the Middle Stoa and of the South Stoa II. It contained a bathing establishment surrounded by several rooms, two colonnaded coutyards, and a garden at the southern side. In all, the complex covered 13,500 square meters. Its entrance facing the Panathenaic Way was monumental, with a triple opening and four pillars on which were placed the colossal statues of the Tritons and the Giants from the odeon. Originally the building was considered a gymnasium, but it was probably a palace, seat of a high ranking administrative official.

circa 140 CE

Hadrianic Aqueduct
During his reign, the Roman emperor Hadrian (117 - 138 CE) undertook various construction projects in Athens that had a lasting impact. Among these projects was the Hadrian's aqueduct, which is believed by some scholars to have been intended to serve the newly developed Hadrianic quarter, also known as the 'City of Hadrian' or Hadrianopolis, located southeast of the ancient city. This quarter encompassed the present-day areas of Zappeio and extended from Kalimarmaro to the Parliament building.

The construction of the Hadrian aqueduct began in 125 CE under the emperor's orders and was completed fifteen years later, during the reign of Antoninus Pius, in 140 CE. The aqueduct primarily consisted of an underground tunnel with a masonry channel, stretching for almost 20 kilometers. Notably, the aqueduct was designed not only to collect water from its main source but also to gather additional quantities from other sources along its route. To achieve this, auxiliary water carriers and supplementary tunnels were constructed, bringing water from springs located around Halandri, Kokkinara, and Kithara Monomati.

circa 950 CE

Church of the Holy Apostles of Solakis
It is situated partly over a second century CE Roman era Nymphaeum. The original floor plan of the church was that of a cross, with apses on the four sides and a narthex on the western side. Four columns supported the dome. The altar and the floor were of marble. The disposition of the outer walls show "cufic" decorative patterns of eastern origin. Four building phases have been identified from the repairs and reconstruction works over the years. Among the many medieval monuments known to have existed in the agora, it is the only one preserved to date. It was restored to its original form in 1954-1957 CE. The few surviving wall paintings in the central aisle are of the seventeenth century CE. Wall paintings from other nearby churches have been placed elsewhere in the church.