The Acropolis

I thought the York Minster was old at 1000 years, but walking the 2000 year old Acropolis made the Minster seem like a recent addition to this world. The Acropolis was built to safeguard the village Civitavecchia (later Arpino), about 13 BC by Greeks who migrated to Italy, coming to this area via the rivers. The indigenous people they found were still living in the latter part of the Bronze Age and were no match for the "civilized" Greeks.

Some of the blocks of stone used for the walls were so large that they were termed "cyclopean" over time. The fortified wall was about 3.5 kilometers long, extending down the hill, up and around another smaller hill, then back up to top (Arpino is built on two hills).

Civitavecchia was home to the great Roman philosopher and orator, Cicero.

The Acropolis today just refers to the area at very top of the hill.

Kirsty standing on one of the remaining wall sections.

 Close up of the wall.

 Very impressive large arch, designed without any additional support.

These were throughout the walls, used to shoot arrows out of.

 A view of one of the walls, leading to a tower. There are private residences on the other side of this wall.

 Inside the wall, by the main tower.

 Ancient garden.

 View of the main part of Arpino.

 These are the residences built inside the walls of the Acropolis.

This is the main tower, undergoing repairs. Apparently it has been under repair for some time as there is a painting on the Acropolis in one of the bars that shows the scaffolding.

 A field next to the main cobblestone road into the Acropolis.

 The size of some of these rocks is amazing, especially since they had to haul them up to the top of the hill!

 One of the very, very old homes inside the walls.

 This is inside the top of one of the towers.

 This part of the wall had been damaged and was repaired using smaller rocks. The larger rocks were left on the ground.

 Another view of the arch.

 Very old residence.

 No concrete holding these rocks in place! Probably lime and dirt.

The main part of the Acropolis is top right, and part of the original wall can be seen to the left, going down the hill towards Arpino.

 One way of keeping the gate closed!

Beauty all around the Acropolis!

We sat at the top, by the ancient garden tonight, watching the sun go down and eating a bit of dinner. Magical place for sure my friends!

Peace.