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The octagonal tower, built by Syrian astronomer Andronikos Kyrrhestas in 50 BC, has personifications of the winds on each side. Inside, a water clock was operated by a stream from the Acropolis.

This two-roomed building was believed, until recently, to be the office of market officials. Current theories say it may have been part of a cult to Claudius or Nero.

The pleasantly situated marble facility was housed in a rectangular building with a courtyard in the middle, and latrines lining all four sides. Proximity wasn’t a problem – latrines were social gathering places.

In Byzantine times, when the Tower of the Winds was used as a church, the area around it was a cemetery. Graves were marked with cylindrical engraved markers, some quite beautiful. These were later gathered in one place, along with others from around Athens.

This is one of the two original entrances to the marketplace. In a stoa next to it are sculptures of important Romans, probably officials or emperors, which shoppers would have seen while coming and going.

During the Ottoman occupation, the Forum remained an important centre. In 1456, the Turks built this “Mosque of the Conqueror” directly over the ruins of an early Christian church.

This was the centre of activity. The courtyard was surrounded by shops and workshops selling food, cloth, ceramics, jewellery and wares from abroad. The Emperor Hadrian had the courtyard paved in the second century AD.

This splashing marble fountain, whose waters, like those of the water clock, may also have been sourced from the Acropolis, once provided cool relief to market-goers. But stay away from the brackish water that occasionally fills it today.

The monumental four-columned western entrance to the forum is built of beautiful Pentelic marble. It was built in 11 BC by Julius Caesar and Augustus, and dedicated by the people of Athens to the goddess Athena.

The inscription denoting that the Gate of Athena Archegetis was built by Caesar and Augustus is so faded that it can now only be seen at noon precisely. Stand outside the forum, and look directly at the top of the entrance.