SERIES: Views From A Trip Around The World
ILLUSTRATIONS: A Mountaineer; The Olympium and Acropolis; Grecian Lady; The Parthenon; View of Athens
SIZE: 3" x 5"
DATE: 1891
LITHOGRAPHER: Joseph P. Knapp, N.Y.
CONDITION: Good to very good, I'd say. This card is only lightly soiled with slightly worn edges and corners. There's a small thumb bend in the top edge and about a 1/4" tear in the bottom edge. (Please see scans.)
MULTIPLE ITEM SHIPPING DISCOUNT: I will ship up to 4 cards for the single base shipping charge shown. For purchases of more than 4 cards, the shipping charge will increase by just a small increment for every 4 additional cards.
--------------------------------------------------------------
REVERSE TEXT: ATHENS, GREECE
Anciently, there were as many as nine towns bearing this same name. The first settlement of the city of colossal fame in the world of philosophy and art, is supposed to have been on the cliff afterwards known as the Acropolis. In the earliest times there was no port, the inland site being held for safety against maritime attack. Increasing prosperity prompted the opening of a harbor at Phalerum, afterwards changed to the present port of Piræus. A macadamized road follows the line of the long walls erected by Themistocles, portions of which are still visible from the port to the upper city. The first railroad built on Grecian soil was opened in 1869, connecting these two points.
The Acropolis rises 150 feet from the top of a rocky hill, its walls forming a circuit of nearly 1,000 feet. This building had the four characters of a fortress, a shrine, a treasury, and a museum of art. The Olympium was one of the largest temples in the world. Of its 124 Corinthian columns only 15 remain. The Parthenon was built during the administration of Pericles. Its dimensions are 230 feet in length by 100 in width. The ruins give some adequate impression of its original grandeur. The walls of the principal building are surrounded with a peristyle, having 48 white marble columns of the Doric order.
The scenery around Athens is very beautiful, but the streets and houses of the modern city are poorly built and destitute of interest. The principal modern edifice is the palace of the king, its southern side, with an Ionic portico, giving its best aspect. The University is a fine structure, built in 1837 by a Danish architect. It has a large patronage of students, and its staff of Professors includes the names of some of the most learned archæologists of Europe. The harbor is visited by ships of all nations.
Population, 107,251,