The Roman Agora

The Roman Agora was a market or sorts almost. People back then would meet in a place called an Agora where they would sell things, and meet as a community. Currently this Agora has a museum that was built in 1957, and displays artifacts that are excavated by the American School of Classical Studies.  
 
The Agora itself has artifacts and statues in the main area, as well as in the museum. One of my favorite places right next to the Agora is the Temple of Hephaestus. The temple is the longest standing building from that era, and is the most intact out of all of the temples in Athens. I found the fact that Hephaestus's temple was the one most intact ironic because of the fact that Hephaestus is the deity of blacksmith ship, and building.  Throughout the day you can see tons of cats lounging at the temple and the Agora, and the cats get special treatment because they are allowed to climb inside the ruins to escape the hot sun.
 
Exploring the Agora is interesting because to this day it is still a place for a lot of cultural diffusion in Greece. Due to the various cultural churches on the east of the Agora, because it has structures built by the Ottomans, and Hadrian's library built by the Romans. People still meet up here for commerce, and it is home to not just the Greeks. It made me feel more connected to the city knowing so many cultures are diffused into it now. 
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