This octagonal marble tower in the Roman Agora was a water clock, sundial, and
weather vane. The carved wind gods on each face represented the conditions affecting wine
transport and grape ripening. Nearby stands the Gate of Athena Archegetis, entrance to the
Roman market where wine was bought and sold.
What to do there
3 things to do
An octagonal marble tower built in the 1st century BC tells time with shadows, water, and wind. Each of its eight faces carries a carved relief of a different wind god - and every wind had a name, a personality, and a direct effect on the wine trade.
Boreas (north wind, cold, bad for shipping), Kaikias (northeast, hailstorms), Apeliotes (east, mild and fruitful), Euros (southeast, warm), Notos (south, wet and stormy), Lips (southwest, good sailing wind), Zephyros (west, gentle and warm), and Skiron (northwest, hot summer wind carrying ash). These eight winds carved on the Tower of the Winds governed whether your wine amphora arrived safely at its destination. The wine trade from Chios, Thasos, and Lesbos to Athens depended entirely on which face of this tower was active. At the Roman Agora (Peloponnisou Square, €8 entry), walk clockwise around the tower from the north face. Each wind is carved as a figure: Boreas wears a cloak and blows a conch shell; Zephyros carries flowers; Notos pours rain from an upturned vessel. Try to identify each wind before reading the labels, then find the bronze weathervane mounting at the top where the Triton figure once pointed.
Backup:The site information boards at the Roman Agora entrance have diagrams showing which wind is on which face. The tower is free to view from the outside from the street if the site is closed.
The Gate of Athena Archegetis was the main entrance to the Roman Agora - the commercial heart of ancient Athens. Wine arrived from the islands, was taxed at the gate, sold in the market, and carried back to symposia across the city.
The Gate of Athena Archegetis was built in the 1st century BC, funded partly by Julius Caesar and Augustus. An inscription on the architrave records a decree about the agoranomoi - the market inspectors who regulated the sale of wine and oil in the agora. This is where imported wine from Chios (the most expensive), Thasos, Lesbos, and the Aegean islands was sold to Athenian citizens. The amphorae were stamped with the producing island's official seal - the first appellation system in history. Stand at the Gate (west end of the Roman Agora, Diogenous Street) and read the English translation of the inscription. Walk through the gate into the agora itself — you're entering the space where wine changed from cargo to commodity, with the Tower of the Winds visible at the far end.
Backup:If the Roman Agora is closed, the gate is fully visible and readable from Diogenous Street - no ticket required.
A Roman-era wine merchant arriving at the agora used this tower to know the time of day, the direction of the wind, and whether his amphora ships from the islands were coming or not.
Each of the tower's eight faces has carved sundial lines - the shadow of a bronze rod (gnomon, now missing) falling across these lines gave the time of day for the wind direction you were currently facing. For a wine merchant: the time told you when the agora was open for business, the wind told you what the sailing conditions were in the Saronic Gulf. This tower was the information infrastructure of the ancient Athenian wine trade. On a sunny day, find a face where sunlight hits at an angle and look for the carved lines running down from where the gnomon mounting hole sits. Count the lines between the inscribed hour markers — this is what 1st century BC timekeeping looked like, precise enough that the tower was still in use over 1,000 years later as a mosque during Ottoman rule.
Backup:Even without sun, the carved sundial lines are visible as grooves on each face. Run your fingers along them - the precision of the carving is remarkable for 2,000-year-old marble.
