It is quite a climb from the Odeon of Herodes to the apex of the hill and the Propylaia – Gateway. The last 10 metres or so are up some original and very big marble steps that have no handrails – for conservation – but difficult to negotiate with hordes of tourists milling about and all trying to follow their guides. Whilst I can’t say that this is where an accident to another guest happened it seems the most likely spot for a poor man who fell and broke both legs and a lady who broke an ankle. It took over 2 hours to get an ambulance!!
This monumental gateway is the main entrance to the Sacred Rock and was built between 437 – 432 BC and is described as a multifunctional Doric building (Doric columns stood directly on the flat pavement of the entrance to a temple or building without a base; their vertical shafts were fluted with 20 parallel concave grooves; and they were topped by a smooth capital that flared from the column to support the pediment above).
The Propylaia had 6 Doric columns on the west front and two rows of Ionic columns (Always more slender than Doric surmounted by the scrolled capitals – supports for what came above) inside flanking the passage and leading the largest of the five gates at the rear.
I didn’t manage to take a very good shot from the front largely because it was extremely busy and I had no wish to be jostled or pushed off the steep steps. The photo gives you a good feel for the Doric columns at the front and the Ionic columns to the rear with the scrolled headpieces. What you are seeing is a partial reconstruction of the original gateway dating for 1994.
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