AGORA

Form: =assembly.

The Greek name for the market-place, a consecrated open space, which in coast towns usually lay on the seaside, in inland towns at the foot of the castle hill. As the centre of the city life, commercial, political, and religious, it was adorned with temples, statues, and public buildings, and planted with trees, especially planes. When newly built or rebuilt in late times, it was generally square, and surrounded by colonnades. In most towns it was the place for assemblies of the people.