Definition: Propylaea is a building at the west entrance of the Acropolis.
The Propylaea is a portal to the Acropolis that was built by the architect Mnesicles. It was started under the archonship of Euthymenes (437/6), but was interrupted by the Peloponnesian War. The structure plan consists of a North-South 59' cross-wall running perpendicular to two parallel walls. There are porticoes with 6 Doric columns to the east and west. The cross-wall contains five gateways, the tallest of which is about 24' high. This, the middle gateway, was the one used for processions. Ionic columns run along the portico to the middle gateway.
Access to the Propylaea is through a gate (the Beulé Gate) between two towers. It included a 72' wide marble staircase in the first century A.D.
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