2-370-018 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

The Porch of the Maidens, the Erechtheion, The Acropolis, Athens, Greece. The Erechtheion is an ancient Greek temple on the Acropolis of Athens in Greece, that was built in honour of the legendary King Erechtheus. The temple as seen today was built between 421-407 BC, and its architect may have been Mnesicles. On the north side, there is a large porch with columns, and on the south, the famous 'Porch of the Maidens', with six draped female figures known as caryatids (meaning: 'Maidens of Karyae') as supporting columns, each sculpted in a manner different from the rest and engineered in such a way that their slenderest part, the neck, is capable of supporting the weight of the porch roof whilst remaining graceful and feminine. The Acropolis of Athens was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.