The Parthenon

One of the most famous buildings in the world is the Parthenon, the crown jewel that tops the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Pericles commissioned its construction as a grand rebuilding project in 447 BC.

The sculptor Pheidias was entrusted to supervise the construction of a magnificent new Doric temple to the goddess Athena, the patron goddess of the city. Built on the site of earlier Archaic temples, it was built primarily to house the Parthenos, Pheidias’s impressive 39-foot high cult statue of Athena covered in ivory and gold.

Taking nine years to complete, the temple was dedicated to the goddess during the Great Panathenaia festival of 438 BC. Constructed of Pentelic marble by the artchitects Kallikrates and Iktinos, the complex architecture of the Parthenon replaces straight lines with slight curves. All the columns swell in the middle, similar to a cigar shape, and all lean slightly inwards.

The reason for this is not quite clear. Some suggest it was done to prevent visual distortion, while others argue it was simply for aesthetic reasons. I have also heard that its design withstands earthquakes better, of which the surrounding area is susceptible.

The building remained a temple to Athena for over a thousand years until the Roman Empire came into power. It was then the statue was looted and destroyed. The Parthenon has also served as a Christian church, a mosque, and even a Turkish arsenal. Its present state of ruin owes to an ammunition explosion during a Venetian invasion in 1687.

The pediments, metopes, and friezes which run around the temple depict the people and horses in the Panathenaic procession, while other sculptures represent Greek mythology and Athenian historical events. During the explosion, many of the sculptures were blown off the building and scattered.

In 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin, removed many of the sculptures with the Turks permission and the "Elgin Marbles" are currently on display in the British Museum in London. At present, the Greeks are trying to get the sculptures returned to Athens, but with little luck. But there are two sides to every story...the British and the Greeks.

The Parthenon is currently in a state of restoration, but officials do not plan to return it to its pre-1687 state. An exact to scale replica of the Parthenon stands in Nashville, Tennessee. It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial.

Enjoy a 360-degree panorama view of multiple locations atop the Acropolis. Just click on any location and number at this site and move your cursor around. You're almost there!