Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-10-17
THE ATHENS OF TODAY
Grand Old City Monument OF National
Pride.
MORE WONDERFUL THAN In LONG AGO

-N-
Almost as Large as Washington-lm-
moral Shrines Restored-Relics of
Old Days Preserved in Free Muse
ums-Capital of Modern Greece.
Athens, scene of the worlds most
recent revolution, is the subject of the
following communication to the Ma
tionaI Geographic Society, released
from it's Washington, d. c., head
quarters,
when the city of Athens passed
from Turkish control and was deslg-
mated as the capital of the new free
kingdom of Greece, it was mere
handful of wretched huts clustered
about the Acropolis. Today it is a
thoroughly modern city, with splendid
streets. magnificent public buildings
handsome residences, attractive parks,
and most of the modern improvements
of which western cities boast Inc
building of this city in a land of such
scanty resources is fairly comparable
to the development of our own rlch
West, and even more meritorious when
all the circumstances are considered.
Indeed, had the Greek Of today MOTH
ing to his credit save the building OF
the attractive capital of his nation
that alone would be sufficient to rank
him among the constructive agencies
of the modern world.
A Medley OF Modernity and Antiquity
"In this city Of old memories and
now of strikingly new plans, Greek HE
centers as in its classic days; and mere
ancient and modern Greece are mex
tricably mingled in curious medley
of. modernity and antiquity, which
colors the most ordinary of everyday
affairs. On every hand arise shattered
monuments of it's splendid past, and
even the tiniest fragments which serve
TO link the life of the present with the
days that are gone are most carefully
preserved
.The Greek government has been
keenly alive to its responsibility 1or
the safeguarding Of its antiquities, ana
the Department of Archaeology, under
the charge of the Ministery of Educa-
ton and Religion is painstakingly Or
ganized and prudently administered.
. The museums at Athens arc hand
somely housed, conveniently arranged,
accurately catalogued and open to in
spection and study without fee, this
latter being a point of great pride with
Athenians.
I'm addition there are now, at va
rious points in the kingdom where re-
search is going on, smaller museums
devoted to the preservation OF the
trcasurers of the locality.
Acropolis Dominates as of Old.
Growing the city stands the sheer
and mighty rock of the Acropolis,
dominated by the Parthenon, match
less even in it's ruins, projectih. the
changeless purity of its lines against
the background of the changing CEN
" turies, which have made of it in turn
the shrine of the vcstal, the church oil
the Christian, the mosque OF the
Moslem, and now and ever the ideal OF
, all lovers of the beautiful.
Near at hand cluster the chief rem
nants of the glory that was Greece; on
the one side the tiny gem Of tn
Temple of the Wingless Victory,
chaste and delicate in its proportins
and outline, and on the other me
Ernchtheum, with it's unique Porch OF
the Caryatidcs.
"Irard by the stairs of the imposing
Propvlaoa rises the sturdy rocE OF the
Hill Cf Mars, whence st. Paul declared
the u known God. At a little dlstanc
stands the rough-hewn Bena, where
Demosthenes and CtesiphoE stroVe IN
matchless phrase, while Just pelo"
rise the ivory tinted columns OF the
Temple of Theseus, best preserved OF
all the classic remains
Relics of Roman Rule.
within few sters rise the green
clad walls of the Stoa of Hadrlan'
which tell Of that distant day when
the Roman Emperor ruled in Hcllas.
On the further side of the Rock are
still remnants of Roman rule and
rules in the graceful arch of Hadrlan
with its jealous inscriptions de-
marking the city of Theseus from tha'
of the Romans-and the giant Corin-
THAN columns of the huge Temple OF
Olympian Zeus, which tower into the
clear blue of the Attic sky, while
nearer at hand, in the very shadow oi
the Parthenon and close by the
Sanctuary of Aesculapius, is The
theater of Dionysus, Greek Of th'
Greek, and serving now in its proper
tions as the model playhouse OF thf
world.
Another relic Of Hadrian's day
still serving the purpose of its I'M
perial builder, dead these 1900 years