Hadrian's Arch, Athens

Why go

Hadrian's Arch is a marble arch that This is Athens, the city's official guide, says Athenians built around AD 131-134 in honour of the Roman emperor Hadrian. The guide gives its height as 18 metres, says it is made of marble from the Pendeli quarry, and quotes its two inscriptions: on the Acropolis side 'This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus', and on the other 'This is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus'; it adds that scholars read them either as a boundary between the old and the new city or as markers of the city's expansion. Hellenic Heritage illustrates the arch, as Hadrian's Gate, on its Olympieion page; this record is the arch, not the Temple of Olympian Zeus and not Hadrian's Library. No source read for this record says whether access to the arch is managed.