Rick Steves' Europe
Art Bites 105: Ancient Greek Temples, the Parthenon and Its Art
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The Parthenon and Temple of Concordia trumpet the sophistication of ancient Greek society.
Temples like the Parthenon, gracing the mighty Acropolis overlooking Athens, and the Temple of Concordia on Sicily — with their fluted columns, finely carved reliefs, and impressive design — trumpet the sophistication of ancient Greek society.
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Distributed nationally by American Public Television
Rick Steves' Europe
Art Bites 105: Ancient Greek Temples, the Parthenon and Its Art
Clip | 5m 43sVideo has Closed Captions
Temples like the Parthenon, gracing the mighty Acropolis overlooking Athens, and the Temple of Concordia on Sicily — with their fluted columns, finely carved reliefs, and impressive design — trumpet the sophistication of ancient Greek society.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipBy 500 BC, Athens was becoming the bustling center of a growing Greek-speaking world.
The energetic Athenians built up their sacred hill—the Acropolis—turning it into the heart of their culture.
They topped the Acropolis with glorious temples, statues, and monuments honoring the gods and celebrating their own achievements.
This temple was famed for its caryatids, beautiful maidens functioning as columns—striking for their realism and relaxed poses.
But the greatest temple was the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, the patron of Athens.
In its heyday, the temple was decorated with colorful painted sculpture.
And inside was a 40-foot-tall gold-and-ivory statue (this is a reproduction) of the goddess Athena.
Dazzling in both beauty and power, both the statue and the temple had a huge impact on people.
The temple is massive: 230 feet long and 100 feet wide, made from the finest white marble, and assembled here like a 70,000-piece jigsaw puzzle.
Its 34-foot-tall columns are simple yet elegant.
The architects used clever if subtle optical illusions that added to the harmonious effect: The steps intentionally arc upward in the middle, to compensate for how a flat line appears to sag.
The columns lean together slightly, and bulge in the middle, as if absorbing the weight of the stone roof.
All together, it█s organic.
Rather than static stone, it feels alive, with perfect proportions, as if heroically connecting with the gods.
Subconsciously, it works█a two thousand five-hundred-year-old architectural triumph.
The typical Greek temple is circled by decorative panels, carved reliefs called metopes.
The building inside the columns is called the cella █ which itself is often decorated by a ring of carved reliefs called a frieze.
And remember, it wasn█t just bare white marble.
It was full of color.
This reconstruction shows how a temple█s triangular pediments were filled with statues—originally brightly painted—which told the mythological story of that place of worship.
The Parthenon was decorated with over a hundred such reliefs and statues.
The best, taken in the early 19th century by the English, are now in the British Museum in London.
By the way, much of the most prized art from places like Greece, the Middle East, and Egypt is now in the big museums of powerful countries like Britain, France, and Germany.
It█s often booty from military campaigns and plunder from archeological digs.
That█s why travelers to western Europe find themselves enjoying a bounty of ancient art from distant lands.
The Parthenon█s 500-foot-long frieze █ portrays a festive annual parade up to the Acropolis.
The realism is impressive, the anatomy correct: the men█s muscles, the horses█ bulging veins, and the sense of movement and energy of the procession.
This pediment was decorated with the legend of the birth of Athena.
The gods are lounging at a banquet, when suddenly there█s a stir, and they all turn to watch as Athena arrives.
From the relaxed poses, to the women█s pleated robes, to the dramatic gestures, and awe-struck horses— the realism is stunning.
These carved panels or metopes showed the legendary battle between enlightened Greeks and brutish centaurs.
It█s a free-for-all of hair pulling, throat-grabbing, and head wrenching.
Ultimately, the Greeks got the upper hand, a metaphor for civilized Athens rising above its barbarian neighbors.
Greeks prided themselves on creating order out of chaos, and the Parthenon—with its classic Greek proportions, dramatic statues, and elegant reliefs—represents the struggle and ultimate triumph of rational thought█of order over chaos.
As the Greek culture spread, temples like these were built all over the ancient Mediterranean world.
This Doric temple in Sicily shows the predictable layout: The temple normally faced east.
It was ringed by columns—made of real marble or stuccoed to look that way.
It sits on a raised base with steps.
The inner room, or cella, was reserved for priests and gods.
Regular worshippers gathered outside.
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Clip | 3m 59s | Join Romans for the beloved evening passeggiata. (3m 59s)
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Clip | 5m 6s | Rome’s ancient Jewish community shares its extraordinary story of endurance and resilience. (5m 6s)
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Travel Bites 968: Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
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Travel Bites 967: St. Peter’s and Vatican City
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Clip | 4m 45s | Cross into the world’s smallest country to explore magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica. (4m 45s)
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Clip | 3m 2s | Rome’s fabulously wealthy patrons transformed collecting and commissioning art into dazzling display (3m 2s)
Travel Bites 965: Art in Rome’s Churches
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Travel Bites 962: Catacombs and Early Christianity
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Travel Bites 961: Pantheon: Rome’s Perfect Temple
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Travel Bites 959: Colosseum and Caracalla Baths
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Clip | 3m 28s | Rome’s colossal engineering comes alive at the iconic Colosseum. (3m 28s)
Travel Bites 958: Eating Like a Roman
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Clip | 2m 23s | A convivial Roman meal celebrates seasonal ingredients and regional specialties. (2m 23s)
Travel Bites 957: Capitoline Hill’s Ancient Treasures
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Clip | 3m | Rome’s historic Capitoline Hill brings ancient Rome vividly to life. (3m)
Travel Bites 956: Its Birth Story
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Clip | 4m 4s | Tracing the story of Rome in a nutshell. (4m 4s)
Travel Bites 955: Paris: A floodlit tour
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Clip | 2m 10s | The fabled “City of Light” is also the city of flood light. (2m 10s)
Travel Bites 954: Paris’ Other Great Museums
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Clip | 5m 35s | After Versailles, the Louvre, and the Orsay, Paris’ less famous museums are also worth a visit. (5m 35s)
Travel Bites 953: Versailles, Europe’s Palace of Palaces
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Clip | 3m 40s | This ultimate royal palace is Louis XIV’s lavish explosion of baroque bling. (3m 40s)
Travel Bites 952: The Orsay Gallery
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Clip | 3m 8s | The paintings of the Orsay take you from 1848 to 1914. (3m 8s)
Travel Bites 951: Paris's Louvre Museum
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Clip | 5m 38s | The Louvre—with masterpieces from Ancient Greek to Renaissance and Romantic—is a must to visit. (5m 38s)
Travel Bites 950: Paris: Boulevards, Les Invalides, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees
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Clip | 5m 38s | Grand boulevards like the Champs-Élysées connect great sights with edible memories. (5m 38s)
Travel Bites 949: Paris: Haussmann buildings and grand boulevards
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Clip | 1m 37s | The elegance of Paris is no accident. Broad boulevards, grand monuments, people-friendly greenbelts. (1m 37s)
Travel Bites 948: Eating French Cliches at a Parisian Bistro
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Clip | 3m 55s | Grab a seat for lunch to enjoy a kir, French onion soup, escargot, croque madam, steak tartare. (3m 55s)
Travel Bites 947: Paris’ Marais neighborhood
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Clip | 4m 6s | The Marais is a hub of Parisian history and culture—with its Jewish Quarter, and Bastille prison,. (4m 6s)
Travel Bites 946: Shopping for Dinner on Paris’ Rue Cler
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Clip | 4m 6s | Paris’ most inviting market street is Rue Cler. (4m 6s)
Travel Bites 945: Two Grand Parisian Churches: Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle
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Clip | 2m 28s | Paris’ two most popular churches are the beloved Notre-Dame and the exquisite Sainte-Chapelle. (2m 28s)
Travel Bites 944: The Eiffel Tower
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Clip | 2m 15s | Paris’ Eiffel Tower, a muscular symbol of France’s Industrial Age, has been entertaining since 1889. (2m 15s)
Travel Bites 943: Paris’ River Seine
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Clip | 4m 35s | The Seine River defines Paris’ Right and Left Bank. (4m 35s)
Travel Bites 942: The Regeneration of London’s Industrial Heritage
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Clip | 6m 23s | London’s once abandoned industrial corners have morphed into popular people and culture zones. (6m 23s)
Travel Bites 941: The British Library
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Clip | 2m | London hosts the national archive with 12 million books and one Treasures Room. (2m)
Travel Bites 940: A Proper Afternoon Tea
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Clip | 2m 6s | Afternoon tea is a great British tradition and London does it with style. (2m 6s)
Travel Bites 939: London’s East End Food Tour
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Clip | 4m 40s | London’s happening East End survives and thrives just beyond a tsunami of skyscrapers. (4m 40s)
Travel Bites 938: London’s Victoria and Albert Museum
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Clip | 4m 34s | “Albertopolis” is the corner of London built by and celebrating the vision of Prince Albert. (4m 34s)
Travel Bites 937: The Tower of London
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Clip | 2m | The Tower of London entertains and inspires. (2m)
Travel Bites 936: St Paul's Cathedral, London’s Pride
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Clip | 2m 37s | St. Paul’s Cathedral is architect Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, the greatest dome in Britain. (2m 37s)
Travel Bites 935: The City of London
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Clip | 3m 34s | London’s historic core is called “The City.” (3m 34s)
Travel Bites 934: Britain’s National Portrait Gallery
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Clip | 2m 35s | The National Portrait Gallery is the perfect place. (2m 35s)
Travel Bites 933: London’s Westminster and Whitehall, Home of Britain’s Government
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Clip | 8m 40s | The core of royal London. (8m 40s)
Travel Bites 932: Istanbul's Grand Main Drag, Istiklal Caddesi
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Clip | 4m 38s | The best way to feel the pulse of urban Istanbul is to explore its teeming main boulevard. (4m 38s)
Travel Bites 931: Whirling Dervishes
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Clip | 2m 24s | Mystic Sufi monks whirl themselves into a meditative trance as they embrace the poet Rumi’s wisdom. (2m 24s)
Travel Bites 930: Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar
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Clip | 3m 27s | Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar remains enchanting, perplexing visitors with its maze-like network of lanes. (3m 27s)
Travel Bites 929: Istanbul, the Great Port on the Bosphorus
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Clip | 5m 53s | Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus Strait that separates Europe and Asia. (5m 53s)
Travel Bites 928: Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace
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Clip | 5m 14s | Here we find the storybook image of the Ottomans—sultans, eunuchs, harems. (5m 14s)
Travel Bites 927: Hagia Sophia, the Great Church of Constantinople
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Clip | 3m 6s | This magnificent church-turned-mosque offers the visitor an opportunity to be inspired. (3m 6s)
Travel Bites 926: Islamic Art, Ramadan, and the Blue
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Clip | 4m 57s | Istanbul offers a chance to better understand Islam. (4m 57s)
Travel Bites 925: A Turkish Bath in Ottoman Splendor
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Clip | 3m 9s | The splendor of Istanbul’s Ottoman Empire is best experienced in a hammam. (3m 9s)
Travel Bites 924: Istanbul when it was Constantinople
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Clip | 4m 36s | For thousands of years, this place, where East meets West, has been a crossroads of civilizations. (4m 36s)
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Clip | 5m 39s | A crack-of-dawn trip to the bakery before breakfast on our barge. (5m 39s)
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