Tower · Greece · Still standing

Tower of the Winds

The Tower of the Winds is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower in the Roman Agora of Athens, combining eight exterior sundials with an internal water clock and wind-relief frieze. Built around the 1st century BC, it served as a public timekeeper and meteorological instrument and has survived largely intact. The building is topped by a conical stone roof and originally bore a bronze Triton weather-vane.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

50 BC

Today

Still standing

As it stood in 50 BC

What Tower of the Winds looked like in its prime.

A twelve-metre-high octagonal tower of pale Pentelic marble raised on three broad steps, each face about 3.2 m wide. The upper entablature carries eight large high-relief winged wind deities and a cornice with lion-head water spouts; below the reliefs are incised sundial lines. Two small gabled porches, each supported by a pair of Corinthian columns, project from two faces. The roof is formed of 24 trapezoidal stone slabs with a circular keystone and originally supported a bronze Triton vane. Inside is a single circular chamber with eight short decorative columns, floor channels and holes for a clepsydra mechanism.

Step inside

9 places to explore in 50 BC.

The record describes 9 distinct spots at Tower of the Winds, including 1 interior: interior: central chamber and mechanism. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Exterior approach from the Roman AgoraWest doorway and base stepsNorth porch with Corinthian columnsWest porch with pedimentClose-up of the anemoi relief friezeRoof and Triton weather-vaneInterior: central chamber and mechanismRear turret and water-tank projectionSundial face with bronze gnomon

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