Parthenon description and photos - Greece: Athens (Topic)

Parthenon description and photos - Greece: Athens. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Parthenon.

Photo and description

On the famous Athenian Acropolis is the famous ancient Greek temple of the Parthenon. This main temple in Ancient Athens is the most magnificent monument of ancient architecture. It was built in honor of the patroness of Athens and all Attica - the goddess Athena.

The date of the beginning of the construction of the Parthenon is 447 BC. It was installed thanks to the found fragments of marble tablets, on which the city authorities presented decrees and financial reports. The construction took 10 years. The temple was consecrated in 438 BC. at the feast of Panathenaeus (which is translated from Greek as “for all Athenians”), although work on the decoration and decoration of the temple was carried out until 431 BC.

The initiator of the construction was Pericles - the Athenian statesman, famous commander and reformer. The design and construction of the Parthenon was carried out by the famous ancient Greek architects Iktin and Kallikrates. The decoration of the temple was carried out by the greatest sculptor of those times - Phidias. For the construction, high quality Pentelian marble was used.

The building was built in the form of a peripter (a rectangular structure surrounded by columns). The total number of columns is 50 (8 columns on the facades and 17 columns on the sides). The ancient Greeks took into account that straight lines are distorted at a distance, so they resorted to some optical techniques. For example, the columns do not have the same diameter along their entire length, they taper somewhat towards the top, and the corner columns are also inclined towards the center. This makes the structure look perfect.

Earlier in the center of the temple there was a statue of Athena Parthenos. The monument was about 12 meters high and was made of gold and ivory on a wooden base. In one hand, the goddess held a statue of Nike, and with the other she leaned on a shield, near which the serpent Erichthonius was coiled. On the head of Athena was a helmet with three large ridges (the middle one with the image of the sphinx, the side ones with griffins). A scene of Pandora's birth was carved into the statue's plinth. Unfortunately, the statue has not survived to this day and is known from descriptions, images on coins and a few copies.

Over the centuries, the temple was attacked more than once, a significant part of the temple was destroyed, and historical relics were looted. Today, some parts of the masterpieces of ancient sculptural art can be seen in famous museums around the world. The main part of Phidias' magnificent works was destroyed by people and time.

Currently, restoration work is underway, in the plans for the reconstruction of the maximum reconstruction of the temple in its original form in ancient times.

The Parthenon, part of the Acropolis of Athens, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We also recommend reading Porto Torres description and photos - Italy: Sardinia Island

Topic: Parthenon description and photos - Greece: Athens.