Welcome to the home page of the CSA Propylaea Project. The project, which began as an idea in 1999, was intended to create a unified digital resource concerning the Propylaea, the magnificent entrance structure that has guarded the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens since shortly after the middle of the fifth century B.C.E. Designed by the architect Mnesicles, the Propylaea stands today as a glorious testimony to the creativity of the architect and to the soaring power and majesty of the ancient Greek architectural vocabulary when put to use by a master such as Mnesicles.

The CSA Propylaea Project was a cooperative project to create a single digital resource of information about the Propylaea, the building at the entrance to the Athenian Acropolis. The project was conceived by the Director of the Center for the Study of Architecture, CSA, Harrison Eiteljorg, II; the archaeologist/architect in charge of anastylosis work on the Propylaea, Tasos Tanoulas; and the structural engineer who has worked on the Propylaea and is now the Director of the Acropolis Restoration Service, Maria Ioannidou. The aim of the project was to digitize existing information about the structure in the forms of drawings and photographs, to build a computer-aided design model of it, and to create a single, integrated resource consisting of model and related information, including text materials.

The CSA Propylaea Project received a very generous grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to support the work, and progress was being made when the project was terminated toward the end of 2008. Mr. Tanoulas had determined that any new data generated by the project would necessarily belong to the Greek government and that, as a result, future information about the project could not be made freely available over the Internet, access instead requiring the approval of the Greek Ministry of Culture. Since open access to project information had been a part of the project proposal, the Kress Foundation agreed that the change made it impossible to continue the project, and the CSA Propylaea Project was terminated. That does not mean that the data presented here cannot be integrated with other data concerning the Propylaea, should such other data become available in the future, as all interested in the building and its history hope.

The current CSA Propylaea Project Web site exists to lead to information about the building in the forms of CAD models, photographs, raw data in various forms, drawings, and text. Since one aim of the project was to serve as a paradigm for similar attempts to gather and make available digital data about important buildings of the past, information about the processes used in the project, problems encountered, and resulting recommendations was to be a part of the results. This web page is a part of that process of providing information about the project. It contains both general information and links to further documentation required for the effective use of the data collected and made available here, as well as information needed to access the files. To obtain files not directly available here or otherwise to request further information, please write to CSA Director, Harrison Eiteljorg, II, at CSA (P.O. Box 60, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, USA or by email to user nicke at (@) the domain csanet.org.) To comment about any materials presented here or the manner of their presentation, please use the same addresses. Given the aims of the project, comments about the web site will be greatly appreciated.

Links to more specific documentation follow.

1. A history of the project.
2. Photographs of the Propylaea. Photographs may be found and accessed via two plans of the Propylaea at this slide access page. For the Greek-language version, go to this alternate page.) The images are all copyrighted, and CSA's copyright position has been stated on the copyright page.

   Thumbnails are used to provide previews and to help users find the images they wish to examine in more detail, but the actual images are served as very high-resolution, compressed JPEG images. For more information about the images, see the slide access page. In addition, a database containing information about the images is available from the same slide access page and its Greek-language equivalent. The data are available in both FileMaker (fp7) format and as tab-delimited files, and they may be accessed directly via the photo database page.

3. Information about and access to the FileMaker database used to record information about the work on the NW wing of the Propylaea and to generate other files when required. The FileMaker files (and the tab-delimited files with the same data) may be accessed via the guide to the database page, which also has documentation necessary to make the files useful.
4. Scans of the notebook pages recording the survey work on the NW wing. See the survey notebook page for more information and access to the PDF files containing the scans.
5. Full information concerning the CAD files may be found the CAD models page. Users will need to spend considerable time becoming familiar with the information there before attempting to use the files. All the files are in AutoCAD 2007 format (regrettably, a proprietary format) but may be provided in other formats on request, depending upon the format(s) needed and the software required to generate them. (When the files have been deposited in an archival repository, such alternate formats may or may not be available.) The files currently available can only be used with AutoCAD.
6. Information about survey methods used in the course of the project.
7. Scans of drawings of the blocks of the SE anta and the nearby column and of various blocks/walls/tiles from the NW wing of the Propylaea are available only by request to Harrison Eiteljorg, II, by email to user nicke at (@) the domain csanet.org. Similarly, the files generated by the 3D scanning are available only by writing to Mr. Eiteljorg. (Access to any files not available on the site for downloading may be by another route once the files have been deposited in an archival repository.)
8. Files produced by the 3D scanning work carried out in 2004. These files are in the proprietary format developed by Cyrax, the scanner manufacturer prior to the sale of the company to Leica. The files are only available by written request to Mr. Eiteljorg or the archival repository.

In addition, there is a very basic introduction to the Propylaea that has been a part of the web site for some time. It includes a beginning bibliography and a simple plan of the Propylaea.

Finally, there are many articles in the CSA Newsletter concerning the project. They are listed on the publications page, as are other publications resulting from the project and lectures about the project and/or information derived from the project.

Since one aim of the project was to serve as a paradigm for similar attempts to gather and make available digital information about important buildings of the past, information about the processes used in the project, the problems encountered, and resulting recommendations has been included in the documentation. In fact, that information about processes, both successful ones and problematic ones, is one of the most important fruits of the project.

Given the intention that the project serve as a paradigm, readers' comments about the materials presented here and the form of their presentation are very much encouraged. When possible, such comments will be published on the CSA Propylaea Project web site or via the CSA Newsletter.

Various materials regarding the predecessor of the Propylaea, the so-called older propylon, were available at this site, but those materials have been archived at the Archaeological Research Institute of Arizona State University and may be found at this URL: archaeology.asu.edu/digital/OPAD/. These materials are no longer available at the propylaea.org web site, though Mr. Eiteljorg may be reached via the email or telephone to comment upon or discuss relevant matters involving the older propylon.

Text of note 1. This postcard was probably sent late in the nineteenth century, apparently to Mademoiselle L. Rubigny in Paris, and ultimately found in an Athens flea market in 2001. The Propylaea is shown after the demolition of the Frankish Tower but before twentieth-century restorations. Note the value of the stamp, .01 drachmas. Our thanks to Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos for finding the postcard and giving it to CSA. (Note: CSA asserts a copyright on this image while pointing out that the original postcard was doubtless covered by its own copyright. It is the image as a whole here; complete with stamp, postmark, and written message; for which CSA asserts a copyright.) Return to text.

About this document:

• Title: CSA Propylaea Project Home Page
• Author: Harrison Eiteljorg, II and the staff of CSA, Box 60, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, (e-mail: user nicke at (@) the domain csanet.org; tel.: 484-612-5862)
• File name: index.html
• Revision history: This document has been updated, and further changes may occur; there will be no archiving of past versions, but changes of consequence will be clearly indicated in any updated version. Posted: October, 2000. Last updated: July 2010.
• Internet access: This document is maintained at propylaea.csanet.org by the Center for the Study of Architecture and Harrison Eiteljorg, II. Note that there may be changes in computer addresses that are beyond the control of CSA.
• Long-term availability: This document or its successors will be maintained for electronic access indefinitely. Prior versions will not be archived.
• Citation permissions and copyright information: This document is copyrighted by CSA. Citations should include the date of the document cited.