Parthenon
The Parthenon influenced the visual language of classical architecture worldwide. The dispersal of its sculptures among museums is central to debates about ownership, restitution and the integrity of heritage.
Photo: Steve Swayne · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Facts
- Place
- Athens, Greece
- Civilisation / patron
- Classical Athens
- Built
- 447 BCE – 432 BCE
- Destroyed
- 1687 · A powder magazine exploded during Venetian bombardment.
- Status
- Ruins
- UNESCO World Heritage since
- 1987
- UNESCO World Heritage
History
On the Acropolis, the Athenians built a marble temple for Athena Parthenos with Doric columns and a continuous Ionic frieze. The programme was developed during the leadership of Pericles and reflected Athens’ power within its alliance. After serving as a church and mosque, the building was badly damaged in 1687 when Venetian fire caused an Ottoman powder magazine to explode. The ruins are now carefully conserved and partly restored using original material.
More from: Antiquity
- Great Pyramid of Giza
- Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- Statue of Zeus at Olympia
- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
- Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
- Colossus of Rhodes
- Lighthouse of Alexandria
- Stonehenge
- Göbekli Tepe
- Persepolis
- Terracotta Army
- Petra
- Colosseum
- Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
- Teotihuacan
- Abu Simbel Temples
- Great Wall of China
- Nazca Lines
- Stelae of Aksum
- Sigiriya
Sources: Wikipedia — Parthenon