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Athens. Acropolis. On the right side the Parthenon, on the left side the Erechteion. Γεράσιμος Σκιαδαρέσης, Carl Siele Archaeological Society at Athens © Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία -
The Parthenon Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The Acropolis and the Areopagus to the left. Wiew from the southeast. Jean-Pierre-Eugène-Félicien Peytier Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Topographic map of the Acropolis Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View of the Pnyx and Acropolis William Haygarth Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View of Athens according to Spon (1678). View of Athens according to Magni (1688), work based on Spon's drawings. Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View of Athens according to the Capuchin monks of the city. Work kept in the National Library of France, Paris. Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Athens, view from the east Vincenzo Maria Coronelli Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The Acropolis from the southwest. On the left is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. On the right, Hadrian's Gate and the temple of Olympian Zeus. William Haygarth Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Athens from the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Kolonaki. From left to right, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Gate, the Acropolis, the Observatory on the Hill of the Nymphs, and the Old Royal Palace (today the Greek Parliament). Henri Beck Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View of the Parthenon from the Propylaea Edward Dodwell Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The west front of the Parthenon and the Erechtheion, from the Propylaea Edward Dodwell Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Athens from the feet of Lycabettus Hill Edward Dodwell Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View of the Acropolis from the West Louis Dupré Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
View of Athens from the northwest Eugène Peytier Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The mosque of the Parthenon from the northeast Eugène Peytier Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
The Columns of the Parthenon on the Acropolis Dimitrios Constantin Rijksmuseum © Rijksmuseum / Public domain -
Athens - view of the Acropolis from the southeast, including temple of Zeus Olympios and arch of Hadrian Dimitrios Constantin The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles © J. Paul Getty Trust. Public Domain CC0 -
The Acropolis from the Southwest Dimitrios Constantin The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles © J. Paul Getty Trust. Public Domain CC0 -
Acropolis, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Stoa of Eumenes, Sanctuary of Asklepios and Theater of Dionysus Hallwylska museet/SHM (PDM) Public Domain -
The Acropolis Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
View inside the Parthenon Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The Acropolis Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The Acropolis Sir William Gell The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
East front of the Parthenon William Pars The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
View of the Parthenon from the Propylaea James Skene The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
View of the Parthenon James Skene The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The Parthenon Edward Finden, from a sketch by William Page The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Bronze statuette of an artisan with silver eyes The Metropolitan Museum of Art © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public domain -
Marble head of Athena: The so-called Athena Medici. Copy of a Greek statue of ca. 430 BCE attributed to Pheidias The Metropolitan Museum of Art © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public domain -
Terracotta lekythos (oil flask) with youth on horseback. The riders who make up the western end of the Parthenon frieze surely inspired the painter of this vase. The Metropolitan Museum of Art © 2000–2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public domain -
The Parthenon from the west Etienne Rey Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη -
Marble relief from the East frieze of the Parthenon, which shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival: five girls carry objects for use in rituals honoring the goddess Athena. Pheidias (design) The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Marble relief from the East frieze of the Parthenon, which shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival: five figures involved in a ritual related with the peplos of Athena, which is held up by a man and a child. Pheidias (design) The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Marble relief from the South frieze of the Parthenon, which shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival: a cow is being led for sacrifice by young men. Pheidias (design) The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Marble statue from the West pediment of the Parthenon: the river-god Ilissos. Pheidias (design) The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Study of the Parthenon scupltures, eastern pediment. Louis Dupré, copy of Jacques Carrey's drawing Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation © Ίδρυμα Αικατερίνης Λασκαρίδη
The Parthenon, one of the world’s most recognizable monuments and a symbol of Western civilization, was built on the plateau of the Acropolis rock in the middle of the 5th century BCE to honor the city’s patron goddess, Athena. The temple was part of Pericles’ building program and was constructed on the site of two preceding temples, the Hekatompedon (570 BC) and the unfinished Preparthenon (490 BC).
The temple was designed by the architects Ictinus and Kallikrates and its construction began in 447 BCE, with the participation of numerous artists and craftsmen (sculptors, bronze makers, stone carvers and painters). Phidias, the renowned sculptor and a personal friend of Pericles, was appointed as the supervisor, collaborating with other notable sculptors such as Alcamenes, Agoracritus, Kresilas and others. It was inaugurated in 438 BCE during the celebration of the Great Panathenaea, while its sculptural decoration was completed a few years later, in 432 BCE.
The temple is made entirely of Pentelic marble and was founded on the pedestal of the Preparthenon. It is 69.51 metres long, 30.86 metres wide and 13.72 metres high. It is a peripteral temple, with 8 Doric columns with Ionic elements on the narrow sides and 17 on the long sides of the outer colonnade. In front of the narrow sides there was a second colonnade of 6 Doric columns (prostasis). The cella is internally divided into two chambers that did not communicate with each other, and the main entrance was from the east. The eastern chamber housed the famous chryselephantine (made of gold and ivory) statue of Athena, a work of Phidias, surrounded by a two-story Doric Π-shaped colonnade that supported the roof. In the western chamber, the opisthodomos, valuable offerings to the goddess Athena were safeguarded, as well as the city’s and allied treasury, from which funds were allocated for the building program of the Acropolis. The opisthodomos was called Parthenon and gave its name to the entire building in the 4th century BCE.
The Parthenon is renowned for both its sculptural decoration and its architectural innovations, characterized by harmony and refinements applied in its construction. The surfaces of its elements show curvatures and deviations from straight lines, while the columns lean inwards and the parts of the superstructure curve upwards. These intentional deviations and asymmetries, although not visible to the naked eye, provide the building with rhythm and vitality. The perfection of the construction is complemented by the sculptural decoration: the metopes above the colonnade of the peristyle, the frieze on the exterior of the cella and the prostaseis, and the pediments the triangular spaces formed by the roof cornices on the narrow sides. On the 92 metopes that were placed on the monument after being carved on the ground scenes of mythical battles come to life. The eastern side illustrates the Gigantomachy, the western side the Amazonomachy, the northern side the Fall of Troy and the southern side the Centauromachy. The themes, inspired by mythological episodes involving ancestral heroes, allude to the victories of the Athenians against the Persians. The frieze, an element of the Ionic temples that was incorporated into the Doric Parthenon, consisted of a total of 115 stones. It was carved between 442 and 438 BCE and depicts the magnificent procession formed by the Athenians during the festival of the Great Panathenaea for the transfer of the Panathenaic veil to the ancient xoanon (wooden statue) of the goddess Athena. On the pediments, with a total of around 50 full-figure sculptures of supernatural size, the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus (eastern pediment) and the conflict between Athena and Poseidon for the protection of Athens (western pediment) are depicted. The sculpted decoration of the pediments was the last to be placed on the temple and had probably been exhibited to the public so that the citizens could admire them, before being installed in their designated position.
In the 4th century CE, about 700 years after its foundation, the Parthenon suffered significant damages from a fire, affecting mainly the cella and the roof. The colonnade of the cella was repaired using architectural parts of other buildings, primarily from the area of the Agora, while the roof was covered with clay tiles. In the 6th century, the building underwent remodeling and was consecrated to the Virgin Mary. Its orientation changed and a semi-circular apse was added to the eastern side, while the opisthodomos was converted into a narthex. During this period, it is believed that some of the statues of the pediments were destroyed and the metopes were hammered by Christians. In the middle Byzantine period, the name Panagia Atheniotissa (Virgin Mary of Athens) was established, and the temple evolved into one of the most significant pan-Hellenic pilgrimage sites, visited by the Emperor Basil II Voulgaroktonos in 1059. During the Frankish rule, the temple became a Catholic church with the addition of a belfry, while after the conquest of Athens by the Ottomans in 1458 it was converted into a mosque with a minaret replacing the Frankish bell tower.
Despite modifications over the centuries, the Parthenon retained its original architectural form and much of its sculptural decoration until 1687. In September of that year, during the siege of the Acropolis by the Venetians under General Francesco Morosini, a shell hit the monument, which at the time was used as a gunpowder depot by the Ottoman garrison commander. The destruction was immense; the temple was practically split in half and its parts were scattered over a wide radius around the Acropolis. The monument lay in ruins and, in the years that followed, a small mosque was built amidst the debris.
At the beginning of the 19th century, when the Acropolis was still under Ottoman occupation, Thomas Bruce, widely known as the Lord of Elgin, removed and transported to England numerous sculptures from the Parthenon: 19 figures from the pediments, 15 metopes from the south side and 56 relief-decorated slabs from the frieze that he sawed off and detached from the original stones to facilitate their descent from the monument and their transport. This act sparked strong criticism from Greek and European intellectuals. A typical example is Lord Byron’s poem “The Curse of Minerva”, condemning the sacrilege committed by his compatriot, Lord of Elgin.
Around the end of the 19th century, efforts began to restore the monument and have continued to this day. The remaining parts of the sculptural decoration were removed from their original positions and have been on display since 2009 in the new Acropolis Museum.
