Athens was, in ancient times, the most powerful and splendid city of Greece, the greatest seat of arts and learning in the world, and the birth-place of the most distinguished orators, philosophers, and generals of antiquity. Notwithstanding the hard fate which it has undergone, there are still, in the remains of its public edifices, ample testimonies of its former grandeur; its ancient monuments are superior in splendour and in a better state of preservation, than those of any other Grecian city. The most interesting object of modern Athens is the Acropolis, or citadel, of which a considerable portion is still in existence. The rock on which it stands is lofty, abrupt, and almost inaccessible; its summit is flat, and three fourths of a mile in circuit. It has been converted by the Turks into a fortress, and is surrounded by a thick rampart, in which there are various fragments of the ancient wall. Of the Propylea, which formed the ancient entrance, the right wing was a temple of Victory, and the left an edifice of the Doric order. Of this there still remain six columns of beautiful white marble of the finest architecture, with gateways between them. The Propylea formed the entrance to the Parthenon, or Temple of Minerva, [See Plate, No. 63.] the grand display of Athenian magnificence, and one of the most interesting remains of antiquity in the world. Eight columns of the eastern front, and several of the side porticoes are still standing; but of the prodigious number of single works of art with which it was stored, the combat of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and the statue of Adrian, are the only two in perfect preservation. Near the Parthenon is the Erectheum, or joint temple of Neptune and Minerva. The building called the Tower of the Winds is still entire, and is adorned with some admirable sculptures. The temple of Theseus is also entire, except the roof, which is modern. In the environs of the city, the most striking ruin is the Temple of Jupiter Olympius. [See Plate, No. 64.] Of the 124 columns of this sumptuous and stately temple, only 16 remain; the statues that enriched it are now no more. The Areopagus, or hill of Mars, which was almost in the centre of Athens, is outside of the present town, and is used as a burying place. The Pnyx, or place for the assembly of the people, near the Areopagus, is still nearly in its original state. The sites of the Lyceum, the Stadium, or place for gymnastic exercises, and the Academy, can be easily traced. The approach to this celebrated city by sea, presents a spectacle, which was viewed by Dr. Clarke and his companions with great transports of joy. It was no sooner descried, than its lofty edifices, catching the sun's rays, rendered the buildings in the Acropolis visible at the distance of fifteen miles. "The reflected light gave them a white appearance. The Parthenon appeared first, above a long chain of hills in the front; presently we saw the top of Mount Anchesmus, to the left of the temple; the whole being backed by a lofty mountainous ridge, which we supposed to be Parnes. "As we drew near to the walls, we beheld the vast Cecropian Citadel, crowned with temples that originated in the veneration once paid to the memory of the illustrious dead, surrounded by objects telling the same theme of sepulchral grandeur, and now monuments of departed greatness, gradually mouldering in all the solemnity of ruin. So paramount is this funeral character in the approach to Athens from the Piræus, that, as we passed the hill of the Museum, which was, in fact, an ancient cemetery of the Athenians, we might have imagined ourselves to be among the tombs of Telmessus, from the number of the sepulchres hewn in the rock, and from the antiquity of the workmanship, evidently not of later date than any thing of the kind in Asia Minor. In other respects the city exhibits nearly the appearance so briefly described by Strabo eighteen centuries before our coming; and, perhaps, it wears a more magnificent aspect, owing to the splendid remains of Hadrian's Temple of Olympian Jove, which did not exist when Athens was visited by the disciple of Xenarchus. The prodigious columns belonging to this temple appeared full in view between the Citadel and the bed of the Ilissus: high upon our left rose the Acropolis, in the most impressive grandeur: an advanced part of the rock upon the western side of it is the hill of the Areopagus, where St. Paul preached to the Athenians, and where their most solemn tribunal was held. Beyond all, appeared the beautiful Plain of Athens, bounded by Mount Hymettus. We rode towards the craggy rock of the Citadel, passing some tiers of circular arches at the foot of it; these are the remains of the Odeum of Herodes Atticus, Thence continuing built in memory of his wife Regilla. to skirt the base of the Acropolis, the road winding rather towards the north, we saw also, upon our left, scooped in the solid rock, the circular sweep on which the Athenians were wont to assemble to hear the plays of Eschylus, and where the theatre of Bacchus was afterwards constructed. "We proceeded towards the east, to ascend Mount Anchesmus, and to enjoy in one panoramic survey the glorious prospect presented from its summit, of all the antiquities and natural beauties in the Athenian Plain. We ascended to the commanding eminence of the Mount, once occupied by a temple of Anchesmian Jupiter. The Pagan Shrine has, as usual, been succeeded by a small Christian Sanctuary: it is dedicated to St. George. Of the view from this rock, even Wheeler could not write without emotion. Here,' said he, 'a Democritus might sit and laugh at the pomps and vanities of the world, whose glories so soon vanish; or an Heraclitus weep over its manifold misfortunes, telling sad stories of the various changes and events of fate.' The prospect embraces every object, excepting only those upon the southwest side of the castle. The situation of the observer is northeast of the city; and the reader may suppose him to be looking, in a contrary direction, towards the Acropolis, which is in the centre of this fine picture; thence regarding the whole circuit of the Citadel, from its northwestern side, toward the south and east, the different parts of it occur in the following order, although to a spectator they all appear to be comprehended in one view. "The lofty rocks of the Acropolis, crowned with its majestic temples, the Parthenon, Erectheum, &c. constitute the central object. In the foreground is displayed the whole of the modern city of Athens, with its gardens, ruins, mosques, and walls, spreading into the plain beneath the Citadel. On the right, or northwest wing, is the Temple of Theseus; and on the left, or southwest wing, the Temple of Jupiter Olympius. Proceeding from the west to the south and east, the view beyond the Citadel displays the Areopagus, the Pnyx, Ilyssus, the site of the Temple of Ceres in Agræ, the fountain Callirhoë, the Stadium Panthenaium, the site of the Lyceum, &c. parallel circuit, with a more extended radius, are seen the hills and defile of Daphne, or Via Sacra, the Piraus, In a |