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The monument |
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Northwest of the Erechtheion, abutting the north fortification wall of the Acropolis, were found the remains of a building that has been identified as the Arrephorion. The high foundation of brittle poros blocks is all that has survived, but it is evident that the building comprised a square hall and a peribolos. |
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This peculiar architectural unit was the dwelling of two chosen young girls of aristocratic lineage, who carried out the secret ritual of the Arrephoria. The identification of the building as the Arrephorion is supported by the existence of a stairway within the north fortification wall that led to a lower level outside the Acropolis, since the ancient sources tell us that the "descent of the Arrephoroi" was part of the ritual of the festival of the Arrephoria. |
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Interventions completed |
In the framework of work on the fortification walls, the foundations of the Arrephorion were completely back-filled. This was determined to be the best means of protecting the particularly soft and brittle poros blocks of the monument. The approved architectural study of V. Manidaki and the geotechnical study by D. Englezos called for the covering of the poros blocks, in their entirety, with reinforced soil, in order to avoid horizontal thrust on the fortification wall. |
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The work was a pilot project in nature, since it dealt, on a small scale, with wider problems concerning the arrangement of the Acropolis terrain: structural study of the fortification walls, research on the physical and mechanical characteristics of the filling material, drainage of rain water, marking of the foundation walls that had been filled in on the new ground level. Thus, apart from examination of the technical problems, there are now greater possibilities of evaluating an eventual large future work, that of the general arrangement of the Acropolis terrain. |
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