The Parthenon

The Parthenon was built in honor of the Greek goddess Athena, who the city of Athens was named after. The primary function of the temple was to house a statue of Athena made of gold and ivory. The Parthenon was built on the Athenian Acropolis and is thought to be the most important surviving building of Classical Greece.

The erection of the Parthenon began in 447 BC, under the supervision of the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates. The building was basically completed in 432, but it continued to be decorated until 431 BC. Records show that the most expensive part of the building was the transportation of the stone from Mount Pentelicus to Acropolis.

Several enemy invasions of Greece over time led to the Parthenon having many different uses throughout history. It was used as a treasury for a while before it was converted to a Christian church. In the 1460s, the Parthenon was converted again into a mosque. Later on, it was storage space for ammunition. An explosion caused by the explosives inside destroyed part of the Parthenon and the sculptures that were in it.

The restoration of the Parthenon first began in 1834. The bulk of the work was done during the turn of the century. Between 1923 and 1933, Balanos rebuilt the north and part of the south colonnades. In 1942, Orlandos took over the restoration effort and tried to do the work as closely as the original was done. In 1981, work on the restoration was slowed due to an earthquake that had occurred. The Greek Ministry of Culture oversees the building's restoration today.