The Porch of the Caryatids - The Porch of the Caryatids

This area was considered the most sacred of the Acropolis of Athens. You will not miss its magnificence when you reach the summit. It is adjacent to the Parthenon; the temple of Athena.

great place to go see and take pictures

Probably the nicest most decorative part of the acropolis still standing. The statues have been replaced with copies though and are safely kept now in the mueseum

My favorite is the Prostasis ton Koron, photographs do not do it justice.

The Porch of the Caryatids (Πρόστασις των Κορών). One of the buildings located on the east side of the Parthenon in Acropolis is called Erechtheum Temple. One unique thing that we can see there was the porch in the north part lies 6 Ionic columns to support the structure but differently from the south part instead of 6 Ionic columns but the statue of 6 maidens that support the structure with their heads. Those statues represented the Women of Caryae. The story tells that Caryae women were doomed or punished to hard labor because the Caryae town sided with the Persians in 480 bc during their second invasion of Greece. For your info, those statues are not the real ones but replicas made of gypsum. To protect those historical statues, the authority moves four of them into the Acropolis museum, one remains in the museum storage, and the last stolen by Lord Elgin early 19th century placed in British Museum London.

On the high stylobate of the south porch of the Erechtheion are six maidens, who take the place of columns in supporting the entablature. Now severely weathered and affected by pollution, five of the caryatids were removed to the Acropolis Museum in 1978 and replaced with replicas. The other figure (the second from the left in the first row of four) was appropriated by Lord Elgin, who, between 1801 and 1805, removed about half of the surviving sculptures from the fallen ruins of the Acropolis and from the Parthenon, itself. They were acquired by the British Museum in 1816 and put on public display the following year. Between 1937 and 1938, even the British caryatid, which certainly is in better condition than its sisters, was damaged when masons abraded the surface (as well as that of some of the Parthenon sculptures) in a misguided and unauthorized attempt to brighten them for the opening of the new gallery in which they were to be displayed.. Caryatids are female figures that serve as the architectural support for the entablature of a building. The Greeks called these supporting figures korai, maidens. Caryatides is the first use of the term in Latin and transliterates the Greek word meaning "maidens of Caryae." Rather than commemorating the disgrace of Caryae, the figures more likely represent the young women of the town, where there was a sanctuary of Artemis Caryatis ("Artemis of the Walnut Tree") and an image of the goddess standing in the open air. Here, she was celebrated every year by choral dances (Pausanias, Description of Greece, III.10.7).

It is located right next to the Parthenon a really detailed deep textured Greek sculpture

I recommend you to visit Acropolis Museum first, and see the original statues which are part of this historical building. Later on, while visiting Acropolis, you could recognise that you had seen these statues before. To sum up, the statues of maidens that you would see at this building are replicas made of gypsum.