The Parthenon is a symbol of Western civilization and one of the most famous buildings in the world. The temple was built in the 5th century BC. The Parthenon towers over Athens from its magnificent position atop the sacred Acropolis hill. The temple was built in honor of the patroness of the city - the goddess Athena. It was originally known as the Great Temple, but later received the name Parthenon.
History of the Parthenon
The current Parthenon was not the first temple created here in ancient times. Traces of two earlier temples, slightly smaller in size, remain - one of them was built of stone, the second of marble. Soon after the Persians destroyed all the buildings on the Acropolis in 480 BC, Pericles ordered the construction of a large new temple, appointing the architect and sculptor Phidias to oversee the project. The design of the Parthenon is attributed to Callicrates and Ictinus. Construction began in 447 BC. and the temple was completed only nine years later. Until 432, Phidias continued to work on the magnificent sculptures that decorated the temple. 
After the ancient period, the Parthenon was converted into a church, and during the Ottoman occupation of Athens it was used as an arsenal. It fell into ruins only in 1687, when the Venetians besieging the Ottomans attacked the Acropolis from Philopappou Hill. During the attack, ammunition stored in the Parthenon exploded, destroying the roof, interior and fourteen columns.
Parthenon Temple
The Parthenon was created as a peripterus - a temple surrounded by columns in the Doric order. The temple, measuring 30.86 by 69.51 meters, contained two cella (inner chambers). The eastern cella housed a large statue of the goddess Athena. The western cella was used exclusively by priests and contained the treasury of the Delian League (an alliance of Greek city-states). 
The Parthenon was decorated with numerous sculptures and reliefs. There were approximately fifty sculptures on the pediments alone. Most of the surviving sculptures are on display at the British Museum in London, while some can be seen at the nearby Acropolis Museum. There were two friezes: an inner frieze in cellae and an outer frieze, which consisted of triglyphs (vertical stripes) and metopes (rectangular figures) with supporting sculptures. The internal frieze was designed by Phidias and depicted the Panathenaia, a festival in honor of the goddess Athena. Many metopes and parts of the internal frieze can also be found in the British Museum. 
To achieve visual perfection, the creators of the Parthenon used optical tricks, defying the laws of perspective. The columns are slightly inclined inward and have a curved shape. As a result, the horizontal and vertical lines of the structure appear completely straight to the naked eye.
Most people think that ancient temples always had natural marble colors. But buildings and statues in the Ancient period were often very colorful. The Parthenon was no exception: the sculptures on the friezes, pediment and roof were painted in bright blues, reds and golds.
Statue of Athena in the Parthenon
The main purpose of the temple was to house the twelve-meter statue of Athena Parthenos, created by Phidias. The Athena statue is one of the most legendary Greek statues. It was made of gold and ivory around a wooden frame. Like all other Parthenon sculptures, the statue was painted in bright colors - predominantly blue and red. Athena was depicted as the goddess of war. She wore a helmet on her head, her left hand rested on a shield, and in her right hand she held a statue of the winged Nike. Unfortunately, the original statue is lost, but a modern full-scale replica of the Athena Parthenos is located in Nashville (USA).
Since childhood I dreamed of visiting Greece. The mysterious country from a school history textbook I read long ago always attracted me and seemed like an amazing place. But what do we really know about her?
Probably, each of us, when we hear the word “Greece,” imagines the bright sun, the sound of the sea, the taste of olives and majestic ancient ruins. And most people probably remember the same ruins of the ancient Parthenon, located on a rocky hill - a huge structure with high marble columns and a crowd of tourists nearby. Which, however, is not surprising, since this is the most recognizable temple in Greece and must have been one of the most famous buildings of antiquity. In a word, this is a unique place, next to which I feel as if I am going back in time.
A little history of the Parthenon
As I already said, the Parthenon is located on the Acropolis of Athens - an ancient city on a high rocky hill. It was built in 447-438 BC. e. by order of the Athenian ruler Pericles by the architect Callicrates and decorated in 438-431 BC. e. under the leadership of Phidias, the great ancient Greek sculptor. The same one who is the author of one of the wonders of the world - the statue of Zeus in Olympia.
The culture of Ancient Greece is famous for its immortal architectural and sculptural masterpieces. The majestic antique style of construction is rightfully considered one of the best examples of ancient art. The most famous example of this style is the Parthenon.
The Great Temple: the meaning of the word “Parthenon”
Construction of the Parthenon began in Athens in 447 BC, and construction was completed in 432 BC. The temple was named after the goddess Athena Parthenos, who was its patroness. The word “Parthenos” itself translated from ancient Greek means “virgin”.
The temple was designed by Calicrates and Ictinus during the reign of Pericles, and it was built on the foundation of the old one. The ruler of Athens planned to make the Parthenon a symbol of the greatness of his state. Mostly marble was used for its construction, only the roof was wooden. To date, scientists have found that all parts of the complex of temple buildings with the Acropolis have a “golden proportion” relationship.
Where is the Parthenon?
The famous Athenian temple dedicated to Athena the Virgin is located in the city center, on the highest point of the Acropolis. Therefore, you can watch from almost everywhere. At night, it looks especially attractive because it is specially illuminated.
The Parthenon has experienced many events during its lifetime. It was plundered by conquerors, survived a strong fire, after which it was restored. In 426 AD. the temple was turned into a Christian church, and after the conquest
The magnificent temple on the Acropolis of Athens, known as the Parthenon, was built between 447 and 432. BC, in the era of Pericles, and was dedicated to the deity and patron of the city - Athena. The temple was built to house a new cult statue and proclaim the success of Athens to the world.
The temple remained in use for over a thousand years and, despite the ravages of time, explosions, looting and damage from pollution, it still dominates the modern city of Athens, a magnificent testament to the glory that the city enjoyed throughout antiquity.
A project to build a new temple, to replace the damaged buildings of the acropolis following the Persian attack on the city in 480 BC, and to restart the destroyed temple project begun in 490 BC, was drawn up by Pericles. And it was financed from the surplus of the military treasury of the Delian League, which rallied together to.
Over time, the confederation grew into the Athenian Empire, and Pericles therefore had no qualms about using League funds to begin a massive building project to glorify Athens.
The Acropolis itself covers an area of about 300 by 150 meters and reaches a maximum height of 70 meters. The temple, which stands on the highest part of the acropolis, was designed by the architects Callicrates and Ictinus.
Pantelian marble from nearby Mount Pentelikon was used for construction, and never before had so much marble been contained in a Greek temple.
Pantelian marble was known for its pure white appearance and fine grain. It also contains traces of iron, which oxidizes over time, giving the marble a soft honey color that shines especially at dawn and dusk.
The name Parthenon comes from one of the many epithets of Athena (Athena Parthenos), that is, the Virgin. Parthenon means "house of the Parthenos", which was so named in the 5th century BC, representing a chamber that housed a cult statue. The temple itself was known as mega neos or "great temple", which referred to the length of the inner cage: 100 ancient legs.
From the 4th century BC the entire building took on the name Parthenon.
Design and dimensions of the Parthenon
No previous Greek temples were so lavishly decorated with sculptures. The Parthenon would become the largest Doric Greek temple, although it was innovative in that it mixed the two architectural styles of Doric and the newer Ionian.
The temple had an area of 30.88 m by 69.5 m and was built using the 4:9 ratio in several aspects. The diameter of the columns in relation to the space between the columns, the height of the building in relation to its width, and the width of the internal cell in relation to its length are all 4:9.
To give the illusion of true straight lines, the columns are slightly pressed inwards, which also gives the effect of lifting the building, illusorily making it lighter than the building material from which the temple was built.
In addition, the stylobate or floor of the temple is not completely level; it rises slightly in the center. The pillars also have a slight deviation in the middle, and the four corner pillars are noticeably thicker than the other pillars.
The combination of these improvements allows the temple to appear completely straight, symmetrical in harmony and gives the whole appearance of the building a certain dynamism.
Architectural elements of the Parthenon
The outer columns of the temple were Doric, eight of which were visible from the front and back and 17 from the sides. This was not the usual 6x13 Doric style, and they were also slimmer and more closely spaced than usual.
The interior was separated by six columns at the back and front. She was visible through large wooden doors decorated with bronze, ivory and gold ornaments.
Kleda consisted of two separated rooms. The smaller room contained four ionic columns to support the roof section and was used as the city's treasury.
The larger room housed the cult statue, which was surrounded by a Doric colonnade on three sides. The roof was constructed using cedar beams and marble tiles and would have been decorated with acrotherapy (of palms or figures) at the corners and central peaks. Lions' mouths were also placed in the corners of the roof to drain water.
Parthenon decorative sculpture
The temple was unprecedented in both the quantity and quality of architectural sculpture that adorned it. No Greek temple was so richly decorated.
The subjects of the sculpture reflected the turbulent times in which Athens was still involved in conflicts. Following victories over the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC, at Salamis in 480 BC, and at Plataea in 479 BC, the Parthenon became a symbol of the superiority of Greek culture against the "barbarian » foreign forces.
This conflict between order and chaos was symbolized in particular by the sculptures on the metas running along the outside of the temple, 32 along the long sides and 14 on each of the short ones.
They depict the Olympian gods fighting giants (the Eastern metropolises are the most important, as this was the side where the main entrance to the temple was), the Greeks, probably including Theseus, fighting the Amazons (Western meteors), The Fall of Troy (Northern meteors), and the Greeks fighting the centaurs.
The cutters ran along all four sides of the building (ion). Beginning at the southwest corner, the millet narratives follow either side, meeting at the far end. The temple features a total of 160 m of sculpture with 380 figures and 220 animals, mainly horses.
This was more common for a treasury building and may have reflected the Parthenon's dual function as both a religious temple and a treasury.
The frieze differed from all previous temples in that all sides depicted one object, in this case, the Panathenaic procession that took place in Athens, and which brought a new, specially woven robe to the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena, located in the Erechtheion.
The item itself was a unique choice, as typically scenes from Greek mythology were chosen to decorate buildings. The procession depicts dignitaries, musicians, horsemen, chariots and Olympian gods in the center of Athens.
To alleviate the difficulty of viewing the frieze, from such a steep angle, from the narrow space between the Kleda and the outer columns, the background was painted blue and the relief varied so that the carving was always deeper at the top.
In addition, all the sculptures were brightly colored, mainly using blue, red and gold. Bronze added details such as weapons and horses, and colored glass was used for the eyes.
The most important sculpture located in the temple
The temple passages were 28.55 m long with a maximum height of 3.45 m at the center. They were filled with approximately 50 figures, an unprecedented number of sculptures in any temple.
Only eleven of them survive, and their condition is so poor that many are difficult to identify with certainty. With the help of Pausanias' descriptions from the 2nd century AD, however, common items can be identified. The eastern pediment as a whole depicts the birth of Athena, and on the western side - the competition between and, for the patronage of the great city.
One of the problems of pediments for a sculptor is the reduction of space in the corners of the triangle. The Parthenon presented a unique solution, dissolving figures into an imaginary sea or sculpture covering the lower edge of the pediment.
Athena statue
The most important sculpture of the Parthenon is not located outside, but inside - the Chryselephantine statue of Athena by Feidias.
It is a gigantic statue, over 12 feet tall and made of carved ivory for the body parts and gold (1,140 kilograms or 44 talents) for everything else, wrapped around a wooden core.
Therefore, gold parts can be removed if necessary during periods of financial need. The statue stood on a pedestal measuring 4.09 by 8.04 meters.
Athena, standing majestic, fully armed, in the aisle with the head of the famous Medusa, holding Nike.
The statue was lost (and may have been taken to Constantinople in the 5th century AD), but smaller Roman copies survive. In her right hand she holds a shield depicting scenes from the battles of Amazons and giants. Behind the shield was a large spiral snake. On her helmet were a sphinx and two griffins. In front of the statue is a large pool of water, which not only adds the necessary moisture to preserve the ivory, but also acts as a reflector for light passing through the doorway.
The admiration and richness of this temple, artistically and literally, should send a message and create a clear picture of the power of a city that could pay tribute to their patron.
The Parthenon unconditionally fulfilled its function as the religious center of Athens for more than a thousand years. However, in the 5th century AD. the pagan temple was converted into a church by early Christians.
An apse was added to the eastern end, which required the removal of part of the eastern frieze. Many of the meteopes on other sides of the building were deliberately damaged, and the figures in the central part of the east pediment were removed.
Windows were set into the walls, more parts of the frieze were destroyed, and a bell tower was added to the west.
In 1816, the British government purchased the collection now known as the Elgin Marbles, which is now housed in the British Museum of London.
Elgin took 14 metopes (mostly from the south side), a large number of the best preserved slabs from the frieze and some figures from the pediments (in particular, the torsos of Athena, Poseidon and, quite well preserved, a horse).
The remaining pieces of sculpture left at the site suffered from harsh weather, especially in the late 20th century AD, the devastating effects of chronic air pollution.
The most important pieces are now housed in the Acropolis Museum, a purpose-built modern exhibition space that opened in 2011.
Later history
The building survived in its new form for another thousand years. Then, in 1458, the occupying Turks converted the building into a mosque and added a minaret in the southwest corner.
In 1674 A.D. a visiting Flemish artist (possibly one Jacques Carey) was busy drawing much of the sculpture, an extremely fortuitous action given the disaster that was about to strike.
In 1687, the Venetian army under the leadership of General Francesco Morosini besieged the acropolis, which was occupied by the Turks, who used the Parthenon as a powder keg.
On September 26, a direct hit from a Venetian cannon set it on fire, and a massive explosion tore apart the Parthenon. All the internal walls, with the exception of the eastern side, were swollen, the columns collapsed to the north and south, and with them half of the meteors.
This was not enough, Morosini further damaged the central figures of the west pediment in an unsuccessful attempt to plunder them, and destroyed the horses from the west pediment when he realized that they were beyond his reach.
From the ruins of the temple, the Turks cleared the area and built a smaller mosque, but no attempt was made to collect artifacts from the ruins, or to protect them from the occasional robber. Often, in the 18th century, foreign tourists took a souvenir from the famous ruins of the Parthenon.
the main temple of the Athenian Acropolis, dedicated to Athena Parthenos (i.e. the Virgin), the patron goddess of the city. Construction began in 447 BC, the consecration of the temple took place at the Panathenaic festival in 438 BC, but decoration (mainly sculptural work) continued until 432 BC. The Parthenon is a masterpiece of ancient Greek architecture and a symbol of the Greek genius. Story. The new temple was erected at the highest point of the Acropolis, on a site dedicated to the gods. The ancient temples were probably small in size, and therefore significant leveling of the Acropolis was not required. However, in 488 BC. a new temple was founded here to thank Athena for the victory over the Persians at Marathon. Its dimensions in plan are very close to the current Parthenon, and therefore it was necessary to erect a retaining wall in the middle of the southern slope and lay lime blocks at the base, so that the southern edge of the construction site rose above the rock of the Acropolis by more than 7 m. The planned temple was a peripterus with , apparently, there are 6 columns at the ends and 16 at the sides (counting the corner columns twice). Its stylobate (upper platform) and steps, like the columns themselves, as well as other structural elements, were made of marble (or at least intended to be marble). When in 480 BC The Acropolis was captured and plundered by the Persians, the temple under construction, which by that time had been brought only to the height of the second drum of columns, was destroyed by fire, and work was interrupted for more than 30 years. In 454 BC The treasury of the Delian Maritime League was transferred to Athens, where Pericles then ruled, and soon, in 447 BC, construction work on the almost finished site resumed. The Parthenon was erected by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates (also called Carpion), as well as Phidias, who was primarily responsible for the sculpture, but in addition exercised general supervision over the progress of work on the Acropolis. The creation of the Parthenon was part of Pericles' plan for Athens to gain primacy not only in the military and economic fields, but also in religion and art. Regarding the further fate of the temple, we know that approx. 298 BC the Athenian tyrant Lacharus removed the gold plates from the cult statue of Athena, and in the 2nd century. BC The building, damaged by the fire, was thoroughly repaired. In 426 AD The Parthenon was converted into a Christian church, originally St. Sofia. Apparently, at the same time, in the 5th century, the statue of Athena was transported to Constantinople, where it subsequently died in a fire. The original main eastern entrance was closed by the altar apse, so now the main entrance became the western entrance through the room behind the cella, previously separated by a blank wall. Other layout changes were also made, and a bell tower was erected in the southwestern corner of the temple. In 662 the temple was re-dedicated in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos (“Panagia Athiniotissa”). After the Turkish conquest, ca. 1460, the building was converted into a mosque. In 1687, when the Venetian military leader F. Morosini was besieging Athens, the Turks used the Parthenon as a gunpowder warehouse, which led to disastrous consequences for the building: a hot cannonball flying into it caused an explosion that destroyed its entire middle part. No repairs were carried out then; on the contrary, local residents began to take away the marble blocks to burn lime from them. Lord T. Elgin, appointed British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1799, received permission from the Sultan to export the sculptures. During 1802-1812, the lion's share of the surviving sculptural decoration of the Parthenon was transported to Great Britain and placed in the British Museum (some of the sculptures ended up in the Louvre and Copenhagen, although some remained in Athens). In 1928, a foundation was created with the goal of, as far as possible, replacing the fallen columns and entablature blocks, and on May 15, 1930, the northern colonnade of the temple was inaugurated.
Architecture. The Parthenon in its current form is a Doric order peripter standing on three marble steps (total height approx. 1.5 m), having 8 columns at the ends and 17 on the sides (if you count the corner columns twice). The height of the peristyle columns, made up of 10-12 drums, is 10.4 m, their diameter at the base is 1.9 m, the corner columns are slightly thicker (1.95 m). The columns have 20 flutes (vertical grooves) and taper towards the top. The dimensions of the temple in plan (according to the stylobate) are 30.9 * 69.5 m. The interior of the temple, or cella (external size 21.7 * 59 m), is raised above the stylobate by two more steps (total height 0.7 m) and It has six-column protile porticoes at the ends, the columns of which are slightly lower than in the outer colonnade. The cella is divided into two rooms. The eastern one, longer and called hecatompedon (internal size 29.9 * 19.2 m), was divided into three naves by two rows of 9 Doric columns, which were closed at the western end by a transverse row of three additional columns. It is assumed that there was a second tier of Doric columns, which was located above the first and provided the required height of the ceilings. In the space enclosed by the inner colonnade, there was a colossal (12 m in height) chrysoelephantine (made of gold and ivory) cult statue of Athena by Phidias. In the 2nd century. AD it was described by Pausanias, and its general appearance is known from several smaller copies and numerous images on coins. The ceilings of the western room of the cella (internal size 13.9 * 19.2 m), which was called the Parthenon (the treasury of the Delian League and the state archive were kept here; over time, the name was transferred to the entire temple), rested on four high columns, presumably Ionic. All elements of the Parthenon's structure, including the roof tiles and stylobate steps, were hewn from local Pentelic marble, almost white immediately after quarrying, but over time acquiring a warm yellowish tint. No mortar or cement was used and the masonry was done dry. The blocks were carefully adjusted to each other, the horizontal connection between them was carried out using I-beam iron fasteners placed in special grooves and filled with lead, the vertical connection was made using iron pins.
Sculpture. The decoration of the temple, which complemented its architecture, is divided into three main categories: metopes, or square panels, equipped with high reliefs, located between the triglyphs of the frieze above the outer colonnade; a bas-relief that encircled the cella from the outside in a continuous strip; two colossal groups of free-standing sculptures filled the deep (0.9 m) triangular pediments. On 92 metopes scenes of martial arts are presented: gods and giants on the eastern side, lapiths and centaurs (they are best preserved) on the southern side, Greeks and Amazons on the western side, participants in the Trojan War (presumably) on the northern side. The sculptural group on the eastern pediment depicted the birth of Athena, who, fully armed, jumped out of the head of Zeus after the blacksmith god Hephaestus cut the head with an ax. The group on the western pediment represented the dispute over Attica between Athena and Poseidon, when the olive tree donated by the goddess was considered a more valuable gift than the source of salt water discovered in the rock by Poseidon. A few statues have survived from both groups, but it is clear from them that this was a great artistic creation of the mid-5th century. BC The bas-relief strip on top of the cella (total length 160 m, height 1 m, height from the stylobate 11 m, in total there were about 350 foot and 150 horse figures) depicted the Panathenaic procession, which annually presented Athena with a new robe - peplos. Along the northern and southern sides are horsemen, chariots, and citizens of Athens moving from west to east, and closer to the head of the procession are musicians, people with gifts, sacrificial sheep and bulls. Along the western end wall, above the portico, there are groups of cavalrymen standing near their horses, mounted on them or already leaving (this part of the bas-relief remained in Athens). At the eastern end there is a central group of the procession, consisting of the priest and priestess of Athena with three young servants: the priest accepts a folded peplos. On the sides of this scene are figures of the most important gods of the Greek pantheon. They are divided into two groups and turned to face outward, towards the corners of the building, as if watching the approach of the procession. Next to them, on the right and left, are two groups of citizens or officials, and on the edges are slowly moving people leading the procession.
"Refinements" of the Parthenon. The meticulous thoughtfulness of the Parthenon's design, with the goal of depriving the building of mechanical straightforwardness and giving it life, is manifested in a number of “refinements” that are revealed only with special research. Let's mention just a few. The stylobate rises slightly towards the center, the rise along the northern and southern façade is approx. 12 cm, in the north and west - 6.5 mm; the corner columns of the end facades are slightly inclined towards the middle, and the two middle ones, on the contrary, are inclined towards the corners; the trunks of all columns have a slight swelling, entasis, in the middle; the front surface of the entablature is slightly inclined outward, and the pediment inward; The diameter of the corner columns, visible against the sky, is slightly larger than the others, and in addition, in cross section they represent a complex figure, different from a circle. Many details of the building were painted. The lower surface of the echinus (the extensions on the capitals of the columns) was red, as was the tenia (the belt between the architrave and the frieze). Red and blue colors were used on the bottom surface of the cornice. The marble caissons covering the colonnade were shaded in red, blue and gold or yellow. Color was also used to emphasize the elements of sculpture. Bronze wreaths were also used in the decoration of the building, as evidenced by holes drilled in the architrave for their fastening.
Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .
