The Roman Agora & Tower of the Winds: The World's First Weather Station

Why is it significant?

Stand before the octagonal Pentelic marble walls of the Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora and gaze up at its pointed conical roof.

Key Facts

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Stand before the octagonal Pentelic marble walls of the Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora and gaze up at its pointed conical roof. Erected around fifty BC by the Macedonian astronomer Andronikos of Kyrrhos, this twelve-meter-tall marvel is considered the world's very first meteorological and timekeeping station. Look closely at the sculpted frieze beneath the roof: each of the eight marble faces features a high-relief carving of one of the eight Greek wind gods, depicted flying through the air with their symbolic gifts—Boreas blowing a conch shell of winter cold, Notos bringing rain, and Zephyros scattering spring flowers. A bronze triton weathervane once spun at the apex, pointing its wand toward the prevailing wind. On the exterior walls, eight sundials tracked the daylight hours, while inside, an elaborate clepsydra, or hydraulic water clock fed by a stream from the Acropolis, told the time on cloudy days and at night. Walk west along Adrianou Street toward the archaeological park of the Ancient Agora of Athens.