Description of the Parthenon on Acropolis in Athens, Greece - Encircle Photos

13 Description of the Parthenon on Acropolis in Athens, Greece

The Parthenon you see today was not the first. An early version was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC. The current Parthenon, along with many of the other structures on the Acropolis, was initiated in the mid-5th century BC during the Golden Age of Athens. The Periclean temple measures 228 by 101 feet and 230 feet tall. It was designed by architects Ictinus and Callicrates. Their peripteral design was encircled with fluted Doric columns. Above them were 92 panels (metopes) featuring battle scenes. The missing pediments were equally elaborate. The west one showed Athena and Poseidon struggling for control over Athens (guess who won that myth). The east pediment portrayed the birth of Athena in front of her father Zeus and other Greek gods. Everything was crafted from hand-carved marble. Inside the cella (or sekos meaning sacred enclosure) was an ivory and gold (chryselephantine) sculpture of Athena Parthenos. The gold weighed about 2,400 pounds. The colossal 38 foot statue of the goddess was crafted by Phidias, the sculptor who also created Zeus at Olympia. The room inside the Parthenon was surrounded by a frieze of high-relief marble carvings. The Parthenon remained a temple for a millennium before pagan worship was outlawed in 435 AD. Then, it served as a Christian church and later an Ottoman Turkish mosque before being damaged during a war between the Venetians and the Ottomans in 1687.

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Description of the Parthenon on Acropolis in Athens, Greece

Parthenon, Acropolis, Athina 105 58, Greece

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