New Bouleuterion

The bouleuterion was the meeting chamber for the boule, the elected council of an ancient Greek city-state, while the larger popular assembly (ekklesia) met in a separate ekklesiasterion. The Neon Bouleuterion designates a later replacement of such council buildings in Hellenistic or Roman times, typically with stone seat rows arranged around a central speaker's podium. Mostly only foundations and lower benches survive, since the upper structures were quarried for later building. Today the intimate seating layout of ancient democracy can still be traced on site.