Name of Object:

The Gate of the Roman

Location:

Athens, Greece

Holding Institution:

Benaki Museum

 About Benaki Museum, Athens

Date of Object:

1845

Author:

Théodore Achille Louis, Vicomte du Moncel

Inventory Number:

27882

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Tinted lithograph on paper

Description:

Since King Otto (1833–1863) made efforts to transform immediately ruinous Athens into a European capital worthy of its erstwhile glory, around the mid-nineteenth century spectacular changes were made in the urban planning structure and morphology of the city. A reliable image of Athens at this time is given by Du Moncel in his book Vues pittoresques des monuments d’Athenes. This particular representation of Athens is the Roman Agora (Forum Romanum), natural continuation of the ancient Agora, was built c.10BC, the Gate of Athena Archegetis, which is depicted here. In Ottoman times this Roman gate was known as the Pazaroporta (Bazaar Gate), because it was used as the entrance to the bazaar, the commercial centre of Athens, which occupied the area between the Roman Agora and the Library of Hadrian.

Citation of this web page:

Athens 1985, no 205 (F-M Tsigakou) "The Gate of the Roman" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;gr;13;en

Prepared by: Athens 1985, no 205 (F-M Tsigakou)

MWNF Working Number: GR 013