The first thing we are going to do to establish the meaning of the term acropolis is to discover its etymological origin. In this sense, it must be determined that it is a word of Greek origin, “akropolis”, which can be translated as “fortified place in the highest area of the city” and that is the result of the sum of two different parts:
-The noun “Akros”, which is equivalent to “height”.
-The word “polis” which is synonymous with “city”.
Acropolis is a concept that alludes to the place of a city that is higher. The notion used to be used in Ancient Greece to designate the site of a locality located higher and walled or protected through a fortification.
It was common for Greeks, Romans, and other ancient peoples to begin developing their cities on high ground that made it easier for them to defend themselves. That space, called acropolis, was the starting point for the growth of the urban area.
In the acropolis the most important buildings and structures were erected, such as the agora (the square) and different temples. That is why the Acropolis used to host the most relevant meetings in the city.
The Acropolis of Athens, part of the World Heritage prepared by the UNESCO, it is the best known acropolis. It is 156 meters high and began to be built several centuries before Christ. Today this acropolis houses very important ruins historically, such as the Parthenon, the Theater of Dionysus and the Temple of Athena Niké, which are also great tourist attractions.
It is known as the sacred rock and the entrance to it is made through a door called Propylaea.
Acrocorinth, on the other hand, is the name of an elevation that functioned as the Acropolis of Corinth. At its summit there was a temple that originally paid tribute to Aphrodite, then it was transformed into a church and later it was a mosque.
From Acrocorinth we can also highlight that it was used as an acropolis until the Middle Ages, which reached 575 meters high and that today its ruins have become one of the most impressive in all of Greece. Hence, there are many visitors who every year when they visit the country do not hesitate to make a getaway to get to know it in depth.
In the same way, we cannot forget either the so-called Acropolis of Lindos, which is located in Lindos, south of the island of Rhodes. It has its origin in 100 BC and from that moment it becomes a fundamental place in what is the cult of Athena.
Currently, thanks to the significant number of excavations that have been carried out in its territory, a great variety of objects of great historical value have been discovered.
The Acropolis Rally, finally, is a traditional automobile competition that takes place in the mountains of Greece and whose first edition was held in 1951. Colin McRae, Sébastien Loeb, Carlos Sainz, Marcus Grönholm, Didier Auriol and Juha Kankkunen are some of the pilots who enshrined themselves in the Acropolis Rally.
