Agora – the heart of prehistoric Athens was a place meant for commercial, political and administrative activities, Agora is also the cultural and religious center of ancient Athens.
The name bring into being in the works of Homer, which also describes the assembly and the citizens of Agora.
During 5th century BC, Agora was the meeting hub of politicians, judges for commercial and social activities.
Spending much time in Agora was considered a sin and the people of Agora allowed their children to visit Agora only when they attained teenage.
Only some women from poor families worked here to make an earning, otherwise Agora is one of the male dominated place and women from affluent families never visited Agora.
Agora was located in the centre of the city and it is near to the harbour. There are public buildings and temples all around Agora and the colonnades contain shops and some are adored with statues, trees and fountains.
Agora is one of the few places that are in existence from the prehistoric age.
During the Neolithic period, Agora was used as a burial and residential area, then, in the early 6th century, it was opened for public.
Many repairs are being carried out in Agora and renovations have given the preseIn the 5th century BC, two types of Agora existed – the Archaic and Ionic.
Agora of Elis was an example of archaic kind where the colonnades and other buildings are not linked to each other, this created a lot of confusion and hence it was rebuilt again during the Persian Wars.
After the renovation, the Ionic type came into existence where symmetrical plans had been made to connect the colonnades in a rectangular form. This kind of architecture prevailed during the Hellenistic and Roman period.
The excavation campaigns carried out by Archaeological Society of Greek during 1912 revealed the structure of Agora.
Further excavations were carried out by the American School of Classical Study, funded by J.Rockefeller was continued till 1941.
Again the excavation started during 1945 and still archaeologists are continuing their work in Agora, but to continue the work, nearly 400 buildings were demolished to get an open field of about 12 hectares.
During the Roman period, Agora was greatly influenced by the development of Roman forum.
The forum was envisaged in a more firm method than the Agora and developed into a precise, standard, open area enclosed by designer buildings.
In the 19th century, Greek Archaeological Society restored four massive figures of Tritons and Giants at the portico of the Gymnasium.
In 1956 a museum was constructed from the Stoa of Attalos, and during the same period a Byzantine church was reinstated by the American School of Classical Studies.
Hephaisteion – the temple of ancient Greece was restored by the Archaeological service during 1978.
The usage of Agora varied during different periods. The place was not the holding popular assemblies during the classical times.
Only meetings dedicated to ostracism were held in Agora at that time, and the assembly was moved to Pnyx, the hill on the western side of Acropolis.
Many citizens came to Agora for shopping and also participated in several political activities, and hence it used to be a busy market area in ancient Athens.The ceremonial and commercial Agoras in Thessaly have some distinction.
Highly developed Agora had a place for each trade and reservations were made on each quarter.
Agoras had officials from the government called Agoranomoi to manage the area.
The Apollo temple of Agora was erected during the 300BC, it followed the Ionic Architecture and was named as Patroos – the Father, which refers to the god Apollo, who was worshipped by citizens of Ancient Athens as the creator of the Ionian nation.
Besides administrative buildings, Agora was surrounded by theaters, schools, workshops, houses, market stalls and stores.