Parthenon

Parthenon (Greek, “the virgin's place”), temple to Athena, on the Acropolis. It was built of marble (447–432 B.C.) by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates; Phidias supervised the sculptures. The temple featured 46 Doric columns surrounding a main hall, behind which rested an inner chamber (the Parthenon proper). The main hall was divided by a Doric colonnade into a broad nave and side aisles. Sculptures of Athena's birth and her contest with Poseidon were depicted on the east and west pediments. Of the sculptures on the interior frieze, most of the originals still exist, though some (the Elgin Marbles) are in the British Museum in London. The temple became a Christian church (6th century) and later a mosque (with added minaret). It was well preserved until 1687, when a Venetian bombardment caused the explosion of gunpowder stored within it. Today the temple ruins are threatened by industrial pollution.

See also: Acropolis.