What I can see

Poikile Stoa (known also as Peisianaktios’ Stoa) was a large luxurious building made of limestone, sandstone and marble. It was built in the doric order with internal ionic collonade.

What I can't see

The term “Poikile” meant colourful indicating that the stoa’s name derived from its decoration, which was dominated by paintings with historical feats of the Athenians (e.g. The Battle of Marathon). These projects had been famous for centuries. Also trophies of Athenian victories were kept here, such as bronze shields which were covered with tar to protect them over time. One of them was found during an excavation. On the facade there was a doric colonnade and on the south side there was an internal ionic one. This is the first example of ionic columns in a doric building. This stoa was, among others, a favourite meeting place for many people, such as jugglers, beggers, fishermen etc, and a teaching place for philosophers, including Zeno of Citium. Thus arose the philosophical stream of “stoicism”, whose representatives taught and discussed in this stoa. It was also one of the locations where the Thirty Tyrants imposed the death penalty on hundreds of citizens. Nowadays, much of this important construction is under newer shopping buildings and only its western end has been revealed.

Bibliography