Acropolis in Greek refers to a high point within a city. Many ancient Greek cities had their own Acropolis, which was usually a citadel on top of a hill. The most famous Acropolis is by far that of Athens. During the classical Greek era, it was a sacred space devoted to the cult of the city’s patron goddess, Athena, as well as other local heroes and deities.
Although the Acropolis was the center of Athens’s religious life for centuries, it became famous in the fifth century BCE, the golden age of Athenian democracy. At that time, Athens had just defeated the Persians and was leading a union of Greek city-states that were challenging the Spartan hegemony of Greece.