Description of the attraction
Among the huge number of architectural monuments of ancient Greece, the famous Tower of the Winds, or the Clock Tower of Andronicus of Cyrus, located on the territory of the Roman agora in Athens, undoubtedly deserves special attention (the Athenians often call the tower simply "aeridis", which means "wind" in Greek). Traditionally it is believed that the tower was built in the middle of the 1st century BC. the famous Greek astronomer Andronicus from Kirr, although scientists still do not exclude that the structure was erected somewhat earlier, possibly in the 2nd century BC.
The Tower of the Winds is an impressive octagonal structure made of Pentelikon marble, approximately 12 meters high and approximately 8 meters in diameter. In ancient times, the tower was crowned with a weather vane in the shape of Triton indicating the direction of the wind. Unfortunately, the weather vane has not survived to this day, but on the frieze encircling the upper part of the tower you can still see images of the eight divine winds of ancient Greek mythology - Boreas, Kekia, Apeliot, Evra, Nota, Lips, Zephyr and Skiron. A sundial was located under the figures of the deities, and inside the tower there was a water clock or the so-called clepsydra, to which water was supplied from the Acropolis.
In the early Christian period, the Tower of the Winds was used as a church bell tower, and during the Turkish domination as a "tekke" - the abode of the dervishes. By the 19th century, when the Athenian Archaeological Society began to study this ancient site, the tower was almost half covered with earth.
Among the most famous structures erected in the image and likeness of the famous Athenian tower, it is worth noting the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford (18th century), the tower of the same name in Sevastopol (1849), the Carnaby Temple in East Yorkshire (1170) and the Temple of the Winds, towering at the foot Stuart Mountains in Northern Ireland.
