Horologion of Andronikos Cyrrhestes — Attraction in Athens

It is said to be the world’s first weather station, to date back more than 2,000 years, and to have been used by merchants to tell the time

No one knows who funded its lavish construction - the octagonal monument is made almost entirely of Pentelic marble, the same used for the Parthenon. At nearly 14 meters (46 ft) tall, it is credited to the architect and astronomer Andronikos of Cyrrhus. It’s located in the Roman Agora (market place) as it was of great value for the merchants to read the weather and also tell the time their goods would arrive. Beneath it is a frieze of eight Anemoi - wind gods of Greek mythology - each facing a different direction. And beneath that, lines of a sundial. The greatest mystery remains how the clock worked at night. Based on the most prominent theory, a hydraulic mechanism powered a water clock device with water flowing from a stream on the Acropolis hill Eight Winds: Zephyrus is carrying spring flowers in the folds of his mantle Skiron has upturned his um from where hot ashes may pour out Lips is holding the sterm of a ship, probably assisting its voyage Notus is pouring water from a vase. He brings rain and damp Eurus looks ahead, wrappred in heavy garments Apeliotes, a friend of the farmers, is carrying fruit and grain Kaikias is holding a shield full of hail Boreas is holding a conch shell.He can be heard...

The octagonal tower (3.20 m. long on each side) stands on a base of three steps and is built of white Pentelic marble. It has a conical roof, a cylindrical annex on the south side, and two Corinthian porches, one on the NE and one on the NW side. At the top of each of the eight sides there is a relief representation of a wind, symbolized by a male figure with the appropriate attributes and its name inscribed on the stone. There were sundials on the external walls and an elaborate waterclock in the interior. The tower was built in the first half of the 1st century B.C. by the astronomer Andronicos, from Kyrrhos in Macedonia.

In the early Christian period, the Tower of the Winds was converted into a church or a baptesterion of an adjacent church, while the area outside the NE entrance was occupied by a Christian cemetery. In the 15th century A.D., Cyriacus of Ancona mentions the monument as the temple of Aeolos while an anonymous traveller refers to it as a church. In the 18th century it was used as the tekke of the Dervishes.

The monument had been half-buried by the earth accumulated over the centuries. It was excavated between 1837 and 1845 by the Greek...

The Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes, also known as the Tower of the Winds is an octagonal marble tower 12.8 m high and 7.9 m in diameter, very well-preserved The ancient Greek word horologion means hour indicator It's located in the Roman Agora of Athens, between the quarters of Plaka and Monastiraki It had a prominent position here, surrounded by other important civic buildings This beautiful structure was designed by the Macedonian astronomer Andronikos Kyrrhestes during the 2nd or 1st century BC. The most impressive element of the monument is the eight embossed feathered winds on the metopes’ sides, which bear their own symbol name, which are: Boreas (N), Kaikias (NE), Eurus (E), Apeliotes (SE), Notus (S), Livas (SW), Zephyrus (W) and Skiron (NW). It is considered the world's first...