Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Pagoi of Athens

We hiked up 3 different pagoi (hills) in central Athens today in 90 degree heat and bright, unflinching sun: the Areopagus, the Pnyx, and the Philopappus. Hills in Greece are bigger than in the eastern North Carolina piedmont. And much less shady. And when you get to the top you have a view of the cragy, ruinous beauty of the ancient city swallowed up by the sprawling concrete of miles and miles of moder(ist) Athens.

The Areopagus has been ascended by millions of faithful pilgrims over the years, and this approach was (probably for thousands of years) the traditional way up.














The surface of this hill is a very slippery rock, worn smooth by millions of feet.

1 comment:

Laury said...

The first time I went up the Areopagus I just kind of crawled up; I was terrified of sliding down those "stairs" and cracking my head open. The next time, when I had a few drinks in me and was going up to enjoy the sunset with some retsina and my friends, it was shockingly easy. Go figure.