Acropolis Opens Ancient Neighborhood in Greece

 

Greece’s Acropolis Museum has opened an excavation¹ area under its modern-day building. For the first time, visitors will be able to walk through an ancient Athenian neighborhood that survived from Classical to Byzantine times.

The museum’s base rests on heavy pillars. Below it is a neighborhood of excavated² homes, workshops, baths and streets. Most of the remains³ were found when the museum was being built.

The Acropolis Museum director, Dimitris Pantermalis, recently spoke⁴ about the newly opened area with Reuters reporters.

“Visitors can come down and see ancient ruins of the city of Athens, especially in the area south of the Acropolis” he said.

Visitors will see luxurious⁵ ancient houses, some of which included rooms where bathers could warm up before entering heated pools.

“It was fascinating, an amazing experience,” said Carol Hoover, a recent visitor from the American state of Colorado. He said he was most interested in the special floor design and the complex drainage system of ancient Greece.

The Acropolis Museum has brought in more than 14 million visitors since it opened doors 10 years ago.

The museum sits at the edge of the Acropolis hill in Athens. Inside are many sculptures created in ancient Greece, including works from one of the most influential⁶ buildings in Western civilization, the Parthenon.

But one thing is missing.

Greece has repeatedly called on Britain to return the Parthenon marbles, or, as they are often called, the Elgin Marbles. The sculptures were taken from the Parthenon by Thomas Bruce, the Seventh Earl of Elgin, in the early 19th century. The Elgin Marbles are on display at the British Museum in London.

Greece has asked for their return for almost 200 years.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

excavation – n. to uncover (something) by digging away and removing the earth that covers it

pillar – n. a large post that helps to hold up something

luxurious – adj. very comfortable and expensive

pool – n. a small area of water

fascinating – adj. very interesting or appealing

amazing – adj. causing great surprise or wonder

sculpture - n. a piece of art that is made by carving⁷ or molding clay, stone, metal

drainage – n. the act or process of removing water or liquid from a place or thing

marbles – n. sculptures made from stone

display – v. to show

1 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

2 excavated   

v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
• The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

6 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

7 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。