Add to ORKGView of the Erechtheion, from the Roman Agora, with the gateway to the Roman Agora in the foreground; The earliest significant architectural remains on the Acropolis, only date to the 13th century BCE. They include a terrace system that may have supported a palace complex. Athens was a major regional power and artistic centre under different political regimes from the 6th to the 4th century BCE. Around the 6th century BCE, the Acropolis, hitherto a place of refuge and perhaps a royal residence, assumed a purely religious function as a sanctuary of Athena, the patron goddess of the city, and many temples, treasuries and votive sculptures were erected there. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 2/10/2008