Ancient Agora of Athens

• Stoa Poikile (Painted stoa), a building built in the 4th century B.C. used purely for socialising unlike many other buildings in the agora.[3]
• Altar of the Twelve Gods
• Stoa Basileios (Royal stoa)
• Temple of Aphrodite Urania
• The south end of what is believed to be a Basilica has been uncovered near Hadrian Street and is dated to the mid 100s C.E.[4]

• The Stoa of Attalos, a stoa lined with shops built in the 2nd century B.C. which has since been reconstructed for use as the Museum of The Ancient Agora.[5]
• The Square Peristyle was a law court originally located under the northern end of the Stoa of Attalos.
• A collection of buildings were added to the south-east corner: the East stoa, the Library of Pantainos, the Nymphaeum and a temple.
• The Library of Pantainos was more than just a library, the west and north wings were series of rooms that were used for other purposes other than storing books. With the construction of the Library of Pantainos, the official entrance into the agora was now between the Library and the Stoa of Attalos.[6]
• The Mint, a building which was used for the minting of bronze coinage in the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. but there is no evidence for it being used for the minting of Athenian silver coinage.[7]
• The Monopteros was located south of the Basilica and also dated to the mid 100s C.E. It had no walls, was a dome supported by columns and was about 8 meters in diameter.[8]
• The Bema was a speakers platform and was located near the Stoa of Attalos.[9]

• The Middle stoa which was the most extensive monument built during the 2nd century B.C.[10]
• A small Roman temple was added in front of the Middle stoa.
• South-east Fountain House
• South Stoa I
• Aiakeion

• Strategeion
• Agoraios Kolonos
• Tholos
• Boundary stone
• Monument of the Eponymous Heroes, a monument for the ten heroes of the tribes of Athens which was also used as a notice board for new legislation, public events and military conscription.[11]
• Metroon (Old Bouleuterion)
• Bouleuterion
• Temple of Hephaestus (Hephaestion)
• Temple of Apollo Patroos
• Stoa of Zeus
• The Temple of Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria dated to the 300s B.C. and is located near the Temple of Apollo Patroos.[12]
• A statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian was located near the metroon.[13]

The entrance to the Odeon of Agrippa

A number of other notable monuments were added to the agora. Some of these included:

• An Altar of Zeus Agoraios was added just to the east of the Monument to the Eponymous Heroes.[14]
• The Temple of Ares, dedicated to Ares, the god of war, was added in the north half agora, just south of the Altar of the Twelve Gods.[15]
• The Odeon of Agrippa and accompanying gymnasium were added in the centre of the agora.[16]
• There is evidence of a Synagogue in the Agora of Athens in the 3rd century.

In the 4th and 5th centuries, there was significant evidence of women being innkeepers and merchants selling their products in the market of the Athenian agora. Some of the products they sold included fruits, clothes, pottery, religious and luxury goods, perfume, incense, purple dye, wreaths, and ribbons.

The Athenian calendar glistened with religious festivals that were held in the Athenian agora. These festivals were significant for women as they provided a reason for them to leave their homes and socialize with people outside their family. Also, many of these religious festivals were performed by women; these duties included officiating the worship of goddess Athena, the namesake of the city, Athens. Doing these rituals for goddesses was a prerequisite for the daughters of aristocratic families. Women of all ranks and classes could be seen making offerings at the small shrines that dotted the Agora in Athens. Also, women got to set up more substantial memorials to their piety within the agora. Religious festivals were a huge opportunity for the women of Athens to participate in their social culture.[17]

Excavations of the Athenian agora have proved that marble-workers were very active, the earliest workshops being established in the early 5th century. The earliest areas used by marble workers was the residential and industrial district southwest of the agora. Another area where marble-workers set up shop was in the South Square, after the sack of Athens by the Roman general Sulla in 86 BC. As the South Square was in ruins, marble-workers were attracted to the remains of the marble temples. A workshop from the southern corner of the agora was also important, the Library of Pantainos rented out rooms to marble-workers.

Literacy and evidence from excavations give a sense of statues and famous marble sculptors in the Athenian agora. These famous marble-workers of the Agora include, the 5th-century master Phidias and his associate Alkamenes, and the 4th-century sculptors Praxiteles, Bryaxis, and Euphranor.

Phidias was the most well known marble-worker to have worked in the agora. He was famous for his gold and ivory cult statue of Zeus at Olympia, and for his three lost sculptures of Athena.

The Temple of Hephaestus

A well-known associate of Phidias was Alcamenes, whose most important works in the agora were the bronze cult statues of Hephaestus and Athena in the Temple of Hephaestus.

These famous sculptors are attested in the agora by the discovery of signed pieces of work that could no longer be preserved. A marble statue signed and possibly carved by Bryaxis was found in the agora behind the Royal Stoa.

The 4th century marble-worker known for his sculptures, made a colossal statue of Apollo for the Temple of Apollo Patroos on the west side of the agora.[18]

Evidence of planting was discovered during the excavations and on 4 January 1954, the first oak and laurel trees were planted around the Altar of Zeus by Queen Frederika and King Paul as part of the efforts to restore the site with plants that would have been found there in antiquity.[27]