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Location: Athens
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The Beule Gate is the religious entrance to the center of Acropolis. The ceremonial path to the Acropolis started with passing of The Beule Gate. It was constructed in 267 AD by the Romans who needed to improve military fortifications in their largest city on the Balkan Peninsula after Germanic barbarian tribe of Heruli attacked borders of the empire and swept through the region. Several inscriptions are still visible on this entrance. This included actual dedication to the gods as well as a Latin inscription that mentions rich Roman donor Flavius Septimius Marcellinus that paid for the construction. In 1686 Ottoman Turks destroyed the temple of Athena Nike and used its marble to construct an artillery bastion over the gate to defend the high ground of the city. Eventually the gate was forgotten and buried by centuries of trash. Only 1852 it was re- discovered by a French archaeologist Ernest Beule, who also gave this ancient gate his name.
The door stands at the foot of the grand staircase which, in
Roman times, led to the Propylaea located about 36 meters to the
east. This fortified gate was named after the French
archaeologist Charles Ernest Beulé, a member of the French
School of Athens, who rediscovered it in 1853 under an Ottoman
bastion.
It was built in the 3rd century, at the time of
Emperor Valerian, in other words before the looting of the city
by the Heruli in the year 267-268 AD, ten years after this
Germanic incursion by the consul Flavius Septimius Marcellinus.
The building incorporates a large quantity of reused stones from
the choregic monument of Nicias, of which we can see decorative
elements on the exterior face.
Towards the middle of the
13th century, at the time of the Latin Duchy of Athens, the
Beulé gate was reinforced and its passage function was abolished
in favor of the Victory gate located at the foot of the temple
of Athena Nike. From the middle of the 19th century, as part of
a vast project to demolish all the post-classical buildings
present on the site of the acropolis9, the newly rediscovered
Beulé gate regained its function of monumental access. Since the
1960s, however, visitors have been able to access the acropolis
by the south-east side path, the Beulé gate acting as an exit
from the archaeological site.
The Beulé gate is nearly 23 meters wide. The central part, about
7 meters high and wide, is flanked by two towers that jut more
than 5 meters to the west. The doorway, 3.87 meters high and
1.89 meters wide at its base, is aligned with the main entrance
to the Propylaea.
The top part of the central structure
is Doric in style, consisting of a Pentelic marble architrave
surmounted by tuff metopes and marble triglyphs. Above is a
cornice with mules enhanced by an attic.
The inscription
visible on the entablature (IG II 2 3055), which is none other
than the dedication of the choregic monument of Nicias, reads as
follows: "Nicias, son of Nicomedes, of the deme of Xypetè,
dedicated this altar to commemorate his victory in the contest
with boys from the Cecropid tribe. Pantaleon of Sicyone played
aulos, while the song performed was Timothy's Elpenor. Neaechmos
being archon. »