Athens, a dream among wonderful ruins, as described in a phrase of the French landscape painter, sculptor, architect, archaeologist Louis-François Cassas.
European were shocked from the images of Greeks under Muslim occupation. Of course, some of them didnot really care and tried to gain huge profits out of antiquity trade.
One famous traveller to Athens on March 27th 1841 was Hans Christian Andersen, who celebrated his 36th birthday. Here are some notes from his letters regarding Athens and Acropolis:
Other monuments that attracted Europeans’ eyes was Hadrian’s Gate and Olympian Zeus Temple. Of course Ottoman period also included Ottoman education taking place at Medreses. The Tower of Winds was also conserved since it was a dervish gathering point for prayers.
Foreign institutions based in Greece have conducted a lot of research for all these monuments.
Many people wonder how the ancient monuments looked back in the 19th century, when Greece was still under the Ottoman rule. Less neoclassical and far more poor.