Temple, Church, Mosque

If you stand at the north-west corner of Monastiraki Square in Central Athens and direct your gaze towards the south, you will be rewarded with an image worth a thousand words.
Far in the background, stands the holy rock of Acropolis, and over it, one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Parthenon. Visible from many parts of the city, it was dedicated to the temple of the virgin goddess of wisdom Athena in 5th c. BC, at the height of Athenian civilisation.
In the foreground, in the middle of the square is occupied by the Byzantine-style church of the Dormition of our Lady (Koimisis tis Theotokou) and in the middle distance between the temple and the church is an Ottoman period mosque, now housing the Museum of Folklore Art.

These three religious influences can be seen all over the culture, the food, the music, and reflected in the tourist souvenirs sold around the area: polymer clay replicas of the Parthenon and gods of the ancient Greek pantheon, Byzantine icons of saints and the Holy Mary, antique silver jewellery and semi-precious stones similar to the ones sold in the Tehran bazaar.

All these under the cyan blue Attic sky, today dotted with fluffy clouds that remind me of Vatican frescoes.