The agora, or marketplace, of Ancient Greece was much more than a commercial trading complex. It was the center of daily Greek life, an avenue of commercial, social, and political exchange that today’s electronic World Wide Web and Internet mirrors.
The Greek agora had its origins as a marketplace in the center of Athens. Originally, it was intended for trade and mass gathering, but it developed into the heartbeat of the city, a place where people could gather and exchange not only goods and services but also dialogue and debate. People would go to the agora for commerce, but also to bask in the sun, drink beverages, chit-chat, and complain about the latest moves of the government. However, the agora developed Greek society in other ways, because the architecture and landscaping involved in its formation signaled a change in attitude with regard to Greek citizens and their environment, “The agora of ancient Greece was a marketplace which was customarily used as a place of popular assembly…Now human beings, not only gods, shape the landscape, as a part of an environment they create for themselves. Greeks added innovation to the environment of the agora not only through landscaping, but through the new ways they began to interact within the physical space. What was once a marketplace became a public forum for debate, ongoing dialogue and learning” (The Agora 1).
Typically, the agora was a paved square or rectangular space surrounding by buildings. A roof colonnade helped protect visitors from the sun. The agora was decorated with sculptured monuments that retained symbolic significance to the citizens. The architectural design of the agora is in keeping with the overall perspective of architectural design in ancient Greece. The complex was not seen as a collection of autonomous buildings, but, rather as an overall unit that was the focal point of
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