The Parthenon
The Parthenon is an ancient Greek temple built on the Acropolis hill of Athens. It is a temple made of fine white Pentelic marble and was dedicated to goddess Athena, the patroness of the city of Athens.
The construction began in 447 BC after the orders of the Athenian statesman Pericles, as part of a general re-building programme on the Acropolis, since the older temples had been destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC. The Parthenon was built on the ruins of the unfinished and destroyed archaic temple, the so-called "Proparthenon" or "Hecatompedon". The architects were Ictinus and Callicrates, while the supervisor of the project and the sculpture decoration was the sculptor Phidias, a close friend of Pericles. The construction was completed in 438 BC and the last sculptures were placed in 432 BC.The Parthenon is a building of doric architecture, combining features of the Ionic order too, like the frieze and the interior Ionic columns. It measures about 31×70 metres and was 19m high. More specifically it is an octastyle, peripteral temple with a hexastyle amphiprostyle cella(for the types of ancient greek temples see here>>).
General view of the Parthenon from the northeast.
The Parthenon from the northwest. The pediment statues depict the dispute between Athena and Poseidon
View of the Pronaos while exiting the cella
The eastern façade of the Parthenon. The pediment statues depict the birth of the goddess Athena and the metopes depict the Battle of the Giants (Gigantomachy).
The temple had a rich sculpted decoration. The sculptures can be divided in three types: the metopes, the pediments and the frieze.
The metopes are square panels carved in high relief depicting scenes from the mythology related to the city of Athens. Parthenon had 92 metopes in total, all of which were decorated with relief sculptures. The metopes of the east main façade, depict the Gigantomachy, the mythical battle between the Olympian Gods and the Giants in which the Gods prevailed. The metopes of the north side depict scenes from the Trojan War, those of the west side depict the Amazonomachy, the battle between the Athenians and the Amazons, and the south depict the Centauromachy, the battle against the Centaurs. The two triangular pediments of the Parthenon contain full sculptures of gods and deities. The east pediment depicts the birth of goddess Athena, while the west depicts the quarrel between Athena and Poseidon for the sovereignty over Athens. The Parthenon frieze is a high-relief sculpted zone all around the cella of the temple. It is 160 metres long and it depicts the Panathenaic Procession, the most important religious festival of Athens. The frieze contains 378 human and god figures and more than 200 animals, mainly horses.
The east, main façade of the temple. The pediment statues, the metopes and the frieze can be seen
The frieze of the Parthenon run all around the upper part of the walls of the cella.
The interior
The entrance to the main temple was from the east main door. Inside stood the gigantic statue of goddess Athena Parthenos (Virgin). The statue made by Phidias was created in gold and ivory and stood around 12 metres high. On her hand, the goddess held a Nike (Victory). In front of the statue was a water basin that provided the necessary humidity for the statue’s ivory conservation. The room was surrounded by a double doric colonnade which supported the roof beams.
The statue of Athena Parthenos in the interior of the Parthenon's cella
The interior of the cella of the Parthenon from the height of the double colonnade with the statue of Athena Parthenos. In the background the main door and one of the two windows.
The western smaller room was called “Opisthodomos” and was probably used as the city’s treasury, where among others was kept the treasure and the money of the Athenian League, which at the time was in full power. The roof of this room was supported by four large ionic columns.
The interior of the western room or Opisthodomus, with the four Ionic columns.
The Hellenistic and Roman Parthenon
In 334 BC Alexander the Great dedicated gilded shields on the Parthenon, after his victory at Granicus, against the Persians. The shields were placed on the east façade. In later years more shields were added on the rest of the temple’s sides.
In 298-295 BC Lachares, the tyrant of Athens removed the shields and the gold from the statue of Athena, to finance his troops and for personal benefit. In the roman period an inscription dedicated to emperor Nero was added on the east façade.
The tethrippon at the NE corner of the Parthenon. It was a dedication from Eumenes II or Attalos II but in 31 BC was rededicated to Octavian Augustus.
Parthenon as a christian church
AThe first big destruction of the Parthenon happened in 267 AD, when the Heruli invaded and destroyed Athens. The Parthenon was burned and the roof with the interior and the statue were completely destroyed. Repairs were carried out the following years (probably a few decades later). The new roof only covered the cella leaving the outer columns out. The interior double colonnade was replaced with re-used architectural material, taken from a stoa of the city. The gold and ivory statue of Athena was replaced with a much smaller one.
In the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church. The orientation of the main entrance was altered for the conversion. The ancient east door was sealed and replaced by the christian apse. The main temple was connected to the opisthodomos by a door that was opened on the middle wall, while smaller doors were opened on the side cella walls. At that time, most of the metopes were violently carved out and some of the statues of the east pediment were removed. The church was dedicated to the Mother of God of Athens (Panagia Athiniotissa) and was decorated with frescoes and mosaics. In the 11th century the church already had many valuable offerings and dedications and was one of the most important churches in the Byzantine Empire. The emperor Basil II chose the Parthenon to pay tribute to the Mother of God, after his victories against the Bulgarians. In the first years of the Latin occupation (13th century) a tower was built in the southern part of the opisthonaos, probably as a bell tower, and the building was converted into a catholic church (Notre Dame).
Saint Mary of Athens or Notre Dame (Parthenon) with the bell tower from the west.
A view of the new roof of the Parthenon. On the top left, the bell tower, and down right the arc with the cupola in the pronaos.
The Parthenon as a church from the east.
The new east face of the Parthenon as a church with the arch. To build it, part of the entablature, the frieze and the pediment, was destroyed.
Parthenon as a mosque
A few years after 1458 and the occupation of Athens by the Ottomans, the Parthenon was converted into a mosque and added a minaret on the previous bell tower. The Ottomans maintained the monument in its previous state, and they even left the big mosaic of the Mother of God visible on the apse.
The big destruction of the Parthenon happened on September 26th 1687, during the siege of Athens by the Venetians, under Francesco Morosini. The Turks had kept 500 barrels full of gunpowder inside the Parthenon, as it was the safest building on the Acropolis. After continuous bombardment, a shell managed to penetrate the roof, setting fire to the gunpowder. The Parthenon was blown up and turned into an open ruin forever. After occupying the Acropolis, Morozini tried to remove the central statues of the western pediment and transport them as trophies to Venice. During the procedure, the statues fell from the pediment and were destroyed. As a ruin, the Parthenon facilitated the looting of its statues and architectural members. The most serious event was the looting organized by Lord Elgin, who removed most of the sculptures in the years 1801-1812, which are now in the British Museum. Most of the rest are in the Acropolis Museum. After the founding of the new Greek state, restoration work on the Parthenon began. The first columns were restored in 1841-44, while large-scale restorations were made in 1898-1902 and 1921-33. In 1975, the current large restoration program of the Acropolis started.
View from the west.
The Parthenon after the conversion into a mosque with the minaret in the southwest corner.
Part of the Acropolis from the north. On the left is the Erechtheum and in the background the Parthenon as a mosque.
