Athens
The is a view of the Market, in the Agora, with some of the city of Athens in the background. What a beautiful city! Surrounded by mountains and ocean. This picture is taken from near the top of the Acropolis.
Remember the Market, from the picture above? You can see it on the lower left of this picture. The picture is taken from the far end of the Agora, looking at the Acropolis. The ancient city of Athens was actually on the Acropolis(acropolis means "city on a hill"). It was an advantage to build a city on a hill like this because it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. An attacking army had only one side that could be approached for entry into the city, as the other 3 sides are very steep cliffs, as you can see one side clearly in this picture.
This shot was taken from about mid-point in the Agora. It is at about the same angle and trajectory as the picture above. See if you can find some of the same buildings, but this time are in more detail and closer. Specifically, notice the old church in the center, with it's roofs showing. Also notice the steep cliffs standing out on the hill, calling out in defiance to any attacker of the city.
This is the famous "Mars Hill", as viewed from the Acropolis. This is where Paul confronted the leaders of Athens and presented them with the "unknown god", the god that they had missed all their lives, even though they were all very religious, as Paul could see with all the temples and idols throughout the city. If you look at the picture closely, you will see people standing on the rock in the center. That is Mars hill, which was the center of decision making in ancient times.
This is me, Dave McPherson, coming down the steps at Mars Hill. There are a modern set of stairs to the left of where this picture was taken. It had been recommended to us to take the modern steps, because these old steps were so worn and slippery. (Some people are hard to convince) I thought is was a must to walk where Paul had walked, some 2000 years ago.
This is a closeup view of those same steps. One can only imagine the people that have climbed these stairs over the thousands of years that they have been here.
A nice shot of Mars Hill with Athens and the mountains as a backdrop. (and a bit of tree in the foreground) Still hard to believe we were there. You can see a bit of the modern stairway in the left quarter of the photo. The view from Mars Hill is breathtaking and impossible to capture on film.
Looking down on the Market again, this time from behind a massive pillar that is to the right of the main city gate of the Acropolis. (We are at the top again, if you're having trouble keeping up.)
A better shot at the same pillar.