The Parthenon, a well-known and once impressive temple, sets on a hill called the Acropolis. The Acropolis became the religious center of ancient Athens, and it was on this hill that the Greeks built the Parthenon almost 2,500 years ago. They built the Parthenon to honor Athena Parthenos, the pagan goddess of Athens. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and also the Warrior Maiden. The city of Athens was named in her honor. Inside the temple stood a giant gold and ivory statue of Athena.

Today the Parthenon is old and crumbled but there is something about it that takes you back to the glory days of ancient Greece. The Parthenon is the biggest temple on the Acropolis and was considered a great beauty in her day. It is square shaped with 8 columns going across each end and 15 along each sid

The Parthenon, Erechtheion, Herodeion, Temple of Zeus, Treasury of Athenians, and the Temple of Hephaestus astounded the ancient civilization. The Greeks amazing architecture is still marveled at by the peoples of today. We also model many of our structures on their styles, like the Lincoln Memorial. The ancient Greeks' architecture will live on with the modern preservation technologies and through replications of their unique styles.

Later, the Turks conquered Greece and used it as a Turkish mosque and during the war the Turks used it to store their gunpowder. On Sept. 16, 1687 Venetian troops fired upon the Parthenon causing it to explode. Debris scattered into the air and all over the Acropolis. The leftover pieces of sculptures were taken to France by duc de Choiseul. However, between 1802-3 most of the pieces were sent to Britain by the 7th earl of Elgin. Sometime between 1922-23, Nicolas Balanos, the Greek archaeologist compiled any remaining fragments and was able to restore several of the temple columns. Today it is still considered a favorite tourist attraction.

Ictinus and Callicrates designed the Parthenon with sculpture work done by Phidias. It is made completely of white marble and surrounded by large standing columns. The temple had two rooms inside its cella, the encased space inside the colonnade. The smaller room was dedicated to the goddess Parthenon and in due time the whole building was named after her. The bigger chamber was had the enormous statue of Athena. Later, the Crusaders took the statue to Constantinople and destroyed it. When Greece became a Christian nation the Parthenon served as a Byzantine church and then a Roman Catholic Church.

e. Inside, people can only imagine the once magnificent gold and ivory statue of Athen

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