Tower of the winds

The trade winds were very important for Athens. You can still see this from the well-preserved building with its octagonal shape, referring to the 8 directions: the Tower of the Winds. A bronze wind vane in the form of Triton showed the direction of the wind. Each of the directions is indicated by a bas-relief. At the bottom of the bas-relief was a sundial to indicate time. Inside was an ingenious water clock to indicate time when there were could or during the night.

Those winds were essential for navigation and thus essential for the international trade with the markets of the Mediterranean.