Visiting the Parthenon Today
- Access: The Parthenon is visited as part of general admission to the Acropolis (€20 EUR summer / €10 EUR winter). Visitors walk around the exterior perimeter perimeter barrier; walking inside the cella is restricted to archaeological conservators.
- Restoration in Action: The ongoing Greek Parthenon Restoration Project, launched in 1975, uses titanium dowels, precision robotic laser cleaning, and matching white marble from the original Penteli quarries to reconstruct toppled architraves and preserve the integrity of the temple for future millennia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there no straight lines on the Parthenon?
The Parthenon was deliberately constructed with subtle curves (convex floor, bulging columns, inward-leaning pillars) to correct human optical illusions that make long straight lines appear bowed or sagging.
What happened to the gold on the statue of Athena?
The 1,140 kilograms of gold on the statue were engineered by Phidias as removable plates that functioned as the Athenian treasury reserve. The gold was melted down to pay soldiers during military crises in the 3rd century BC.
How much of the Parthenon was destroyed in 1687?
A Venetian mortar shell ignited an Ottoman gunpowder magazine inside the temple on September 26, 1687, blowing off the roof, collapsing 28 columns, and splitting the temple in half.
- Christian Basilica (6th Century AD): Converted into the Church of the Virgin Mary of Athens, with Christian frescoes painted on the inner walls.
- Ottoman Mosque (1458): Following the Ottoman conquest of Athens, the temple was converted into a mosque, and a slender minaret was erected on its southwest corner.
- The Catastrophic Explosion of 1687: During the Morean War, Venetian forces commanded by General Francesco Morosini besieged the Ottoman garrison on the Acropolis. The Turks used the sturdy stone Parthenon as a gunpowder magazine. On the night of September 26, 1687, a Venetian mortar shell struck the temple roof, igniting the gunpowder and triggering a catastrophic explosion that blew out the central cella walls, toppled 28 columns, and demolished large sections of the historic marble frieze.
Visiting the Parthenon Today
- Access: The Parthenon is visited as part of general admission to the Acropolis (€20 EUR summer / €10 EUR winter). Visitors walk around the exterior perimeter perimeter barrier; walking inside the cella is restricted to archaeological conservators.
- Restoration in Action: The ongoing Greek Parthenon Restoration Project, launched in 1975, uses titanium dowels, precision robotic laser cleaning, and matching white marble from the original Penteli quarries to reconstruct toppled architraves and preserve the integrity of the temple for future millennia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there no straight lines on the Parthenon?
The Parthenon was deliberately constructed with subtle curves (convex floor, bulging columns, inward-leaning pillars) to correct human optical illusions that make long straight lines appear bowed or sagging.
What happened to the gold on the statue of Athena?
The 1,140 kilograms of gold on the statue were engineered by Phidias as removable plates that functioned as the Athenian treasury reserve. The gold was melted down to pay soldiers during military crises in the 3rd century BC.
How much of the Parthenon was destroyed in 1687?
A Venetian mortar shell ignited an Ottoman gunpowder magazine inside the temple on September 26, 1687, blowing off the roof, collapsing 28 columns, and splitting the temple in half.
The Lost Chryselephantine Statue of Athena Parthenos
Inside the enclosed inner sanctuary (cella) originally stood Phidias’s breathtaking masterpiece: the Athena Parthenos. Soaring nearly 12 meters (39 feet) tall, this colossal chryselephantine statue was constructed of polished ivory plates for the goddess’s skin and more than one ton of solid 24-karat gold for her flowing drapery, helmet, and armor, mounted upon a massive wooden armature.
Athena held a two-meter-tall winged statue of Nike (Victory) in her right hand, while her left hand rested upon a massive bronze shield embossed with the Battle of the Amazons. A shallow rectangular reflecting pool of water was built in the marble floor directly before the statue; the water humidified the air to prevent the delicate ivory from cracking and reflected the natural light streaming through the temple’s east entrance, casting a divine shimmer across the gold surfaces. While the original statue was lost to fire and plunder during late Roman antiquity, historic Roman marble copies (such as the Varvakeion Athena in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens) confirm its magnificent scale.
Historic Tribulations & The 1687 Catastrophe
For nearly two thousand years, the Parthenon stood largely intact, undergoing three major transformations:
- Christian Basilica (6th Century AD): Converted into the Church of the Virgin Mary of Athens, with Christian frescoes painted on the inner walls.
- Ottoman Mosque (1458): Following the Ottoman conquest of Athens, the temple was converted into a mosque, and a slender minaret was erected on its southwest corner.
- The Catastrophic Explosion of 1687: During the Morean War, Venetian forces commanded by General Francesco Morosini besieged the Ottoman garrison on the Acropolis. The Turks used the sturdy stone Parthenon as a gunpowder magazine. On the night of September 26, 1687, a Venetian mortar shell struck the temple roof, igniting the gunpowder and triggering a catastrophic explosion that blew out the central cella walls, toppled 28 columns, and demolished large sections of the historic marble frieze.
Visiting the Parthenon Today
- Access: The Parthenon is visited as part of general admission to the Acropolis (€20 EUR summer / €10 EUR winter). Visitors walk around the exterior perimeter perimeter barrier; walking inside the cella is restricted to archaeological conservators.
- Restoration in Action: The ongoing Greek Parthenon Restoration Project, launched in 1975, uses titanium dowels, precision robotic laser cleaning, and matching white marble from the original Penteli quarries to reconstruct toppled architraves and preserve the integrity of the temple for future millennia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there no straight lines on the Parthenon?
The Parthenon was deliberately constructed with subtle curves (convex floor, bulging columns, inward-leaning pillars) to correct human optical illusions that make long straight lines appear bowed or sagging.
What happened to the gold on the statue of Athena?
The 1,140 kilograms of gold on the statue were engineered by Phidias as removable plates that functioned as the Athenian treasury reserve. The gold was melted down to pay soldiers during military crises in the 3rd century BC.
How much of the Parthenon was destroyed in 1687?
A Venetian mortar shell ignited an Ottoman gunpowder magazine inside the temple on September 26, 1687, blowing off the roof, collapsing 28 columns, and splitting the temple in half.
- Entasis (Curvature of Columns): The 46 outer columns swell gently outward in their middle sections before tapering slightly toward the top. This subtle swelling prevents the columns from appearing pinched or hollow when viewed against the bright Mediterranean sky.
- Curved Stylobate (Floor): The temple floor is not flat; it curves upward toward the center like a gentle dome—rising 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) along the short ends and 110 millimeters (4.3 inches) along the long sides. If the platform were dead flat, optical perspective would make it appear to sag in the middle under the weight of the colonnade.
- Inward Column Tilt: The perimeter columns do not stand purely vertical; they lean inward toward the center at a subtle angle of approximately 7 centimeters. If the corner columns were extended infinitely into the sky, they would meet to form a giant imaginary pyramid roughly 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) above the temple floor.
- Thicker Corner Columns: The four corner columns are engineered 2.5% thicker than the others and spaced slightly closer together, because they are silhouetted against the open sky rather than the shaded wall of the inner cella, making them appear identical in size to the rest of the colonnade.
The Lost Chryselephantine Statue of Athena Parthenos
Inside the enclosed inner sanctuary (cella) originally stood Phidias’s breathtaking masterpiece: the Athena Parthenos. Soaring nearly 12 meters (39 feet) tall, this colossal chryselephantine statue was constructed of polished ivory plates for the goddess’s skin and more than one ton of solid 24-karat gold for her flowing drapery, helmet, and armor, mounted upon a massive wooden armature.
Athena held a two-meter-tall winged statue of Nike (Victory) in her right hand, while her left hand rested upon a massive bronze shield embossed with the Battle of the Amazons. A shallow rectangular reflecting pool of water was built in the marble floor directly before the statue; the water humidified the air to prevent the delicate ivory from cracking and reflected the natural light streaming through the temple’s east entrance, casting a divine shimmer across the gold surfaces. While the original statue was lost to fire and plunder during late Roman antiquity, historic Roman marble copies (such as the Varvakeion Athena in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens) confirm its magnificent scale.
Historic Tribulations & The 1687 Catastrophe
For nearly two thousand years, the Parthenon stood largely intact, undergoing three major transformations:
- Christian Basilica (6th Century AD): Converted into the Church of the Virgin Mary of Athens, with Christian frescoes painted on the inner walls.
- Ottoman Mosque (1458): Following the Ottoman conquest of Athens, the temple was converted into a mosque, and a slender minaret was erected on its southwest corner.
- The Catastrophic Explosion of 1687: During the Morean War, Venetian forces commanded by General Francesco Morosini besieged the Ottoman garrison on the Acropolis. The Turks used the sturdy stone Parthenon as a gunpowder magazine. On the night of September 26, 1687, a Venetian mortar shell struck the temple roof, igniting the gunpowder and triggering a catastrophic explosion that blew out the central cella walls, toppled 28 columns, and demolished large sections of the historic marble frieze.
Visiting the Parthenon Today
- Access: The Parthenon is visited as part of general admission to the Acropolis (€20 EUR summer / €10 EUR winter). Visitors walk around the exterior perimeter perimeter barrier; walking inside the cella is restricted to archaeological conservators.
- Restoration in Action: The ongoing Greek Parthenon Restoration Project, launched in 1975, uses titanium dowels, precision robotic laser cleaning, and matching white marble from the original Penteli quarries to reconstruct toppled architraves and preserve the integrity of the temple for future millennia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there no straight lines on the Parthenon?
The Parthenon was deliberately constructed with subtle curves (convex floor, bulging columns, inward-leaning pillars) to correct human optical illusions that make long straight lines appear bowed or sagging.
What happened to the gold on the statue of Athena?
The 1,140 kilograms of gold on the statue were engineered by Phidias as removable plates that functioned as the Athenian treasury reserve. The gold was melted down to pay soldiers during military crises in the 3rd century BC.
How much of the Parthenon was destroyed in 1687?
A Venetian mortar shell ignited an Ottoman gunpowder magazine inside the temple on September 26, 1687, blowing off the roof, collapsing 28 columns, and splitting the temple in half.
- Entasis (Curvature of Columns): The 46 outer columns swell gently outward in their middle sections before tapering slightly toward the top. This subtle swelling prevents the columns from appearing pinched or hollow when viewed against the bright Mediterranean sky.
- Curved Stylobate (Floor): The temple floor is not flat; it curves upward toward the center like a gentle dome—rising 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) along the short ends and 110 millimeters (4.3 inches) along the long sides. If the platform were dead flat, optical perspective would make it appear to sag in the middle under the weight of the colonnade.
- Inward Column Tilt: The perimeter columns do not stand purely vertical; they lean inward toward the center at a subtle angle of approximately 7 centimeters. If the corner columns were extended infinitely into the sky, they would meet to form a giant imaginary pyramid roughly 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) above the temple floor.
- Thicker Corner Columns: The four corner columns are engineered 2.5% thicker than the others and spaced slightly closer together, because they are silhouetted against the open sky rather than the shaded wall of the inner cella, making them appear identical in size to the rest of the colonnade.
The Lost Chryselephantine Statue of Athena Parthenos
Inside the enclosed inner sanctuary (cella) originally stood Phidias’s breathtaking masterpiece: the Athena Parthenos. Soaring nearly 12 meters (39 feet) tall, this colossal chryselephantine statue was constructed of polished ivory plates for the goddess’s skin and more than one ton of solid 24-karat gold for her flowing drapery, helmet, and armor, mounted upon a massive wooden armature.
Athena held a two-meter-tall winged statue of Nike (Victory) in her right hand, while her left hand rested upon a massive bronze shield embossed with the Battle of the Amazons. A shallow rectangular reflecting pool of water was built in the marble floor directly before the statue; the water humidified the air to prevent the delicate ivory from cracking and reflected the natural light streaming through the temple’s east entrance, casting a divine shimmer across the gold surfaces. While the original statue was lost to fire and plunder during late Roman antiquity, historic Roman marble copies (such as the Varvakeion Athena in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens) confirm its magnificent scale.
Historic Tribulations & The 1687 Catastrophe
For nearly two thousand years, the Parthenon stood largely intact, undergoing three major transformations:
- Christian Basilica (6th Century AD): Converted into the Church of the Virgin Mary of Athens, with Christian frescoes painted on the inner walls.
- Ottoman Mosque (1458): Following the Ottoman conquest of Athens, the temple was converted into a mosque, and a slender minaret was erected on its southwest corner.
- The Catastrophic Explosion of 1687: During the Morean War, Venetian forces commanded by General Francesco Morosini besieged the Ottoman garrison on the Acropolis. The Turks used the sturdy stone Parthenon as a gunpowder magazine. On the night of September 26, 1687, a Venetian mortar shell struck the temple roof, igniting the gunpowder and triggering a catastrophic explosion that blew out the central cella walls, toppled 28 columns, and demolished large sections of the historic marble frieze.
Visiting the Parthenon Today
- Access: The Parthenon is visited as part of general admission to the Acropolis (€20 EUR summer / €10 EUR winter). Visitors walk around the exterior perimeter perimeter barrier; walking inside the cella is restricted to archaeological conservators.
- Restoration in Action: The ongoing Greek Parthenon Restoration Project, launched in 1975, uses titanium dowels, precision robotic laser cleaning, and matching white marble from the original Penteli quarries to reconstruct toppled architraves and preserve the integrity of the temple for future millennia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there no straight lines on the Parthenon?
The Parthenon was deliberately constructed with subtle curves (convex floor, bulging columns, inward-leaning pillars) to correct human optical illusions that make long straight lines appear bowed or sagging.
What happened to the gold on the statue of Athena?
The 1,140 kilograms of gold on the statue were engineered by Phidias as removable plates that functioned as the Athenian treasury reserve. The gold was melted down to pay soldiers during military crises in the 3rd century BC.
How much of the Parthenon was destroyed in 1687?
A Venetian mortar shell ignited an Ottoman gunpowder magazine inside the temple on September 26, 1687, blowing off the roof, collapsing 28 columns, and splitting the temple in half.
Overview: Why the Parthenon Is the World’s Greatest Architectural Masterpiece
The Parthenon, reigning over the rocky summit of the Acropolis of Athens, is widely recognized as the supreme pinnacle of Classical Greek architecture and the ultimate embodiment of Doric order harmony, mathematical balance, and sculptural grace. Constructed between 447 and 432 BC during the Golden Age of Athens under the democratic leadership of Pericles, the temple was designed by master architects Ictinus and Callicrates, with the monumental sculptural program directed by legendary sculptor Phidias. Dedicated to the virgin patron goddess of the city, Athena Parthenos, the temple celebrated Athenian triumph over Persian invaders and the birth of democratic civic pride.
Measuring 69.5 meters long by 30.9 meters wide (228 by 101 feet), the Parthenon was built entirely of sparkling white Pentelic marble extracted from Mount Pentelikon ten miles northeast of Athens. Unlike standard Greek temples which featured six columns on the front facade, the Parthenon commanded eight monumental Doric columns on its facades and seventeen along its flanks (an 8×17 octastyle peripteral temple). Over two and a half millennia, the building has endured as a Christian cathedral, an Ottoman mosque, a gunpowder magazine, and an enduring symbol of Western intellectual civilization.
Optical Illusions & Mathematical Perfection: Refinements of the Masters
What sets the Parthenon apart from all other ancient buildings is that it contains virtually no straight lines or right angles. To counter optical illusions that make perfectly straight horizontal and vertical lines appear bowed and distorted to the human eye, the Athenian architects engineered ingenious optical refinements:
- Entasis (Curvature of Columns): The 46 outer columns swell gently outward in their middle sections before tapering slightly toward the top. This subtle swelling prevents the columns from appearing pinched or hollow when viewed against the bright Mediterranean sky.
- Curved Stylobate (Floor): The temple floor is not flat; it curves upward toward the center like a gentle dome—rising 60 millimeters (2.4 inches) along the short ends and 110 millimeters (4.3 inches) along the long sides. If the platform were dead flat, optical perspective would make it appear to sag in the middle under the weight of the colonnade.
- Inward Column Tilt: The perimeter columns do not stand purely vertical; they lean inward toward the center at a subtle angle of approximately 7 centimeters. If the corner columns were extended infinitely into the sky, they would meet to form a giant imaginary pyramid roughly 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) above the temple floor.
- Thicker Corner Columns: The four corner columns are engineered 2.5% thicker than the others and spaced slightly closer together, because they are silhouetted against the open sky rather than the shaded wall of the inner cella, making them appear identical in size to the rest of the colonnade.
The Lost Chryselephantine Statue of Athena Parthenos
Inside the enclosed inner sanctuary (cella) originally stood Phidias’s breathtaking masterpiece: the Athena Parthenos. Soaring nearly 12 meters (39 feet) tall, this colossal chryselephantine statue was constructed of polished ivory plates for the goddess’s skin and more than one ton of solid 24-karat gold for her flowing drapery, helmet, and armor, mounted upon a massive wooden armature.
Athena held a two-meter-tall winged statue of Nike (Victory) in her right hand, while her left hand rested upon a massive bronze shield embossed with the Battle of the Amazons. A shallow rectangular reflecting pool of water was built in the marble floor directly before the statue; the water humidified the air to prevent the delicate ivory from cracking and reflected the natural light streaming through the temple’s east entrance, casting a divine shimmer across the gold surfaces. While the original statue was lost to fire and plunder during late Roman antiquity, historic Roman marble copies (such as the Varvakeion Athena in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens) confirm its magnificent scale.
Historic Tribulations & The 1687 Catastrophe
For nearly two thousand years, the Parthenon stood largely intact, undergoing three major transformations:
- Christian Basilica (6th Century AD): Converted into the Church of the Virgin Mary of Athens, with Christian frescoes painted on the inner walls.
- Ottoman Mosque (1458): Following the Ottoman conquest of Athens, the temple was converted into a mosque, and a slender minaret was erected on its southwest corner.
- The Catastrophic Explosion of 1687: During the Morean War, Venetian forces commanded by General Francesco Morosini besieged the Ottoman garrison on the Acropolis. The Turks used the sturdy stone Parthenon as a gunpowder magazine. On the night of September 26, 1687, a Venetian mortar shell struck the temple roof, igniting the gunpowder and triggering a catastrophic explosion that blew out the central cella walls, toppled 28 columns, and demolished large sections of the historic marble frieze.
Visiting the Parthenon Today
- Access: The Parthenon is visited as part of general admission to the Acropolis (€20 EUR summer / €10 EUR winter). Visitors walk around the exterior perimeter perimeter barrier; walking inside the cella is restricted to archaeological conservators.
- Restoration in Action: The ongoing Greek Parthenon Restoration Project, launched in 1975, uses titanium dowels, precision robotic laser cleaning, and matching white marble from the original Penteli quarries to reconstruct toppled architraves and preserve the integrity of the temple for future millennia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there no straight lines on the Parthenon?
The Parthenon was deliberately constructed with subtle curves (convex floor, bulging columns, inward-leaning pillars) to correct human optical illusions that make long straight lines appear bowed or sagging.
What happened to the gold on the statue of Athena?
The 1,140 kilograms of gold on the statue were engineered by Phidias as removable plates that functioned as the Athenian treasury reserve. The gold was melted down to pay soldiers during military crises in the 3rd century BC.
How much of the Parthenon was destroyed in 1687?
A Venetian mortar shell ignited an Ottoman gunpowder magazine inside the temple on September 26, 1687, blowing off the roof, collapsing 28 columns, and splitting the temple in half.
