Parthenon History

Parthenon History::-

In 447 B.C. the construction of the Parthenon began. The Parthenon is a large temple and its artistic appeal emanates from the refinement of many established norms of Greek architecture, and from the quality of its sculptural

decoration. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis. I

The Parthenon took the place of  an older temple of Athena that was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480 BC. Standard to most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury, and for some time served as the treasury of the Delian League.  The Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin in the 6th century AD.  After the Ottoman conquest, it was transformed into a mosque in the early 1460s. In September 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures.

Parthenon Visitor Information
Tickets to the Acropolis are available at the entrance to the site and also include admittance to the Ancient Agora of Athens, located at the foot of the hill leading up to the site. This ticket will allow you entrance to all the sites around the acropolis, the walking paths, and Acropolis. It is good for the day.

The Parthenon is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in wintertime and 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m in the summer. Tickets are €12 per person. The Acropolis offers a number of free admission days throughout the year. Check the tourism website for specific days as it frequently changes. Children under 18 are admitted free.

You can’t go inside the Parthenon itself and most of it’s hidden under scaffolding because of restoration projects to the heritage site. This site does provide for excellent views of the city and other nearby historic ruins.

Some of the highlights to see while you are visiting Parthenon include:

• The Orders – The three main types of columns used in Greek temples and other public buildings are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The truest and most basic difference among the orders has to do with proportions (Doric columns, for example, being thicker and shorter, Ionic columns taller and slimmer).


• The Metopes – The metopes of the Parthenon all represent various instances of the struggle between the forces of order and justice, on the one hand, and criminal chaos on the other. On the west side, the mythical battle against the Amazons,  on the south, the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, on the east, the battle between the gods and the giants, and on the north, the Greeks versus the Trojans.


• The Pedimental Sculptures – These relief sculptures, larger than those of the metopes, occupy the triangular space above the triglyphs and metopes. The pedimental sculpture suffered badly when the Parthenon was hit by a Venetian shell in 1687 and the powder magazine inside exploded.


• The Frieze – The Parthenon frieze runs around the upper edge of the temple wall. Its relatively small size and is a bit difficult to see from the ground. It is known to illustrate the over-confident spirit of the Athenians, who dared to put themselves where ordinarily only gods and heroes might be found.

Parthenon Conservation Efforts
In 1975, the Greek government began a concerted effort to restore the Parthenon and other Acropolis structures. Particularly important and fragile sculptures were transferred to the Acropolis Museum. A crane was installed for moving marble blocks; the crane was designed to fold away beneath the roofline when not in use. The incorrect reconstructions were dismantled, and a careful process of restoration began. New Pentelic marble is being used from the original quarry. Ultimately, almost all major pieces of marble will be placed in the structure where they originally would have been, supported as needed by modern materials.

Originally, various blocks were held together by elongated iron pins that were completely coated in lead, which protected the iron from corrosion. Stabilizing pins added in the 19th century were not so coated and corroded. Since the corrosion product is expansive, the expansion caused further damage by cracking the marble. All new metalwork uses titanium, a strong, light, and corrosion resistant material.

An immediate problem facing the Parthenon is the environmental impact of the growth of Athens since the 1960s. Corrosion of its marble by acid rain and car pollutants has already caused irreparable damage to some sculptures and threatens the remaining sculptures and the temple itself.