★★★★★ 5.0
Discover
Roman Forum of Athens (Roman Agora)
That octagonal tower rising before you has been keeping perfect time for over 2,000 years, making it the world's only surviving ancient clock tower. You're standing in the Roman Agora of Athens, where Julius Caesar himself funded this revolutionary marketplace between 19 and 11 BC, but the real marvel is that mysterious eight-sided monument built by the Greek astronomer Andronikos of Cyrrhus around 48 BCE. Here's what most visitors miss... that tower wasn't just telling time. It was simultaneously a sundial, water clock, weather vane, AND compass, all powered by water flowing down secret channels from the Acropolis above. Each of those eight faces depicts a different wind god, and originally, a bronze Triton spun on top, pointing toward whichever divine wind was blowing. For nearly two millennia, this architectural genius lay completely buried under Athens' changing civilizations, forgotten until Greek archaeologists finally unearthed it in 1837. The Tower of the Winds became one of the first buildings ever to use an octagonal design, inspiring Frank Lloyd Wright centuries later to revolutionize modern architecture. While the Ancient Agora down the hill hosted Athens' democracy, this Roman marketplace became the beating commercial heart of the city after 267 AD. Stand here where Caesar's vision transformed how an entire civilization bought, sold, and measured their days.
Did You Know?
- The Roman Agora of Athens, built with funds from Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus in the late 1st century BC, became the city’s main oil market—so important that Emperor Hadrian even posted a law on its entrance regulating olive oil trade, complete with taxes and fines for cheating, highlighting its central role in Athens’ economy and daily life during Roman times.
- The site features the remarkable Tower of the Winds, an ancient octagonal clocktower that served as a sundial, compass, and weather vane, decorated with friezes of the eight wind gods from Greek mythology—this ‘ancient weather station’ is one of the best-preserved structures in the Agora and a fun, interactive spot for families to imagine ancient science in action.
- Although it was a bustling marketplace, the Roman Agora also had hidden public toilets (‘vespasianae’) and a grand marble entrance called the Gate of Athena Archegetis, dedicated to Athena, the city’s patron goddess, whose gift of the olive tree made olive oil—the Agora’s main commodity—a symbol of Athenian identity and prosperity.