The Stoa of Attalos: An Ancient Shopping Mall

The Stoa of Attalos is part of the Ancient Agora site in Athens, built around 150 BC by the king of Pergamon Attalos II, as a gift to the city of Athens for the education he received there. It is worth mentioning that the building was the largest in length during that time in Greece. 
 
The stoa is an impressively large building, a characteristic example of the Hellenistic architecture, gracefully expanding on two floors. The ground floor follows the Doric style and the first floor to the Ionic, whereas the walls are made of limestone, the facade from Pentelic marble, and the roof is covered with tiles. 
 
During its heyday, the stoa was a cultural, social and commercial hub, housing all kinds of shops leased by the State of Athens, being, in this respect, a type of an “ancient shopping mall”; it was a vibrant place where the Athenian citizens gathered socially, while shopping.

Unfortunately, the stoa was destroyed during the Heruli raid in 267 AD, and parts of the ruins were embedded in the city’s post-Roman fortification wall. Luckily, in 1952-1956, the Stoa of Attalos was reconstructed by the American School of Classical Studies of Athens, building a faithful replica of the original. The Ancient Agora Museum is also housed in the stoa, presenting the visitors with collections of clay, bronze, and glass items, sculptures, coins, inscriptions, pottery of the Byzantine period, as well as the Turkish conquest.