Tripodon Street

If you have come to Athens, you have walked to ancient Agora. You have seen Acropolis, Theision and Monasteraki. If you bought souvenirs, then there is a great possibility of passing by Tripodon street or odos tripodon (road of three feet) as we say it. Today it is considered the oldest street in Athens. It is after all, 25 centuries old. It is one of the most important roads of ancient Athens. The area is called Plaka today, it is full of shops, restaurants and houses.

Nowadays, the visitor cannot walk that street, but only a small part of it. This is because the archaeologists haven't done a good job, as you can see on your own with a simple visit. As we know from the book of Pausanias (Ελλάδος Περιήγησις), in ancient times, it connected the theatre of Dionysos, which is inside Acropolis, at the south, the east side of Acropolis, the north side of Panathenean street, at the sanctuary of Hekate and the Prytaneion of Agora. The length of the street was about 800 meters and its width was 6 meters. Prytaneion was the beginning and the theatre was the destination.

The street was fully decorated with offerings of rich people, statues, marble constructions, small t decorated temples, from which only the offering of Lysicrates has survived. It may not be a coincidence that the street of arts has till our days this monument of Dionysos, the deity of theatre and music. The mystery cult of Dionysos walked that street with torches during lampadedromies. Another coincidence is that this street was crowded in antiquity, as so today. The monument of Lysicrates survived because it was a part of the monastery of Cappucins and so, it wasn't destroyed by the turks, like so many other artifacts. The other English thief (you know who) tried to take it, but the leader of the monastery said that it was not for sale. It was constructed at 334-333 b.C. The base has a length of 3 meters and a height of 4 meters. The upper part consists of 6 corinthian small-sized columns. The pediment shows Dionysian scenes.

In modern times, general Macrygiannes, poet Lord Byron, poets Palamas and Drosinis, the man of literature Papadiamantes, historian Paparregopoulos among others walked that street, the same one that Pericles, Hadrian walked in the past... It is said that at this road Pericles met Fryne. If you come to Athens and you are a devotee of Hekate, send me a message to arrange a walk to the hidden places and the magic of the ancient cult of Hekate.