File:The Parthenon (3). 5th cent. B.C.jpg

English: The Parthenon, a temple of the Doric order, was dedicated to Athena Parthenos (Virgin). It was the most important building of the program of Pericles for the re-establishment of the Acropolis sanctuary after the sack by the Persians in 480 B.C. The architects of the temple were Ictinus and Callicrates. The renowned sculptor Pheidias collaborated with other sculptors to design and execute the abundant sculptural decoration of the temple, created the chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Athena which stood in the cella, and had the general supervision of the construction of the temple. The Parthenon was built in 447-438 B.C. and its sculptural compositions were completed in 432 B.C.

In the following centuries, several votive offerings were added to the Parthenon, among which most characteristic were the bronze shields which Alexander the Great dedicated from the spoils of his victory at the Granikos river (334 B.C.). The shields hung across the east architrave, as indicated by the large rectangular holes. The bronze letters of a decree by the Athenians in honour of the emperor Nero (61 A.D.) were fastened in the smaller closely grouped holes of the east architrave.

In the late 3rd or late 4th cent. A.D., the interior of the temple was destroyed by fire either by the Germanic tribe of the Heruli (267 A.D.) or by Alaric’s Visigoths (396 A.D.). During the early Christian period (6th cent. A.D.), the Parthenon was converted into a church dedicated to the “Holy Wisdom” and in the 11th cent. A.D. to Panagia Athiniotissa (Virgin Mary). During the construction of the Christian apse at the east porsh (pronaos), the central scene of the east pediment with the birth of Athena was lost. In 1204, the Frankish crusaders, the Dukes De la Roche, besieged Athens and converted the monument into a Catholic church of Notre Dame. When Athens was surrendered to the Ottoman Turks in 1458, the temple became a mosque with a minaret.

In 1687, during the siege of the Acropolis by the troops of the Venetian general Francesco Morosini, a cannonball made a direct hit in the interior of the temple, which the Turks used as a powder magazine. The terrible explosion blew up the roof and destroyed the long sides of the temple as well as parts of its sculptures.

The most severe damage to the monument was caused in 1801-1802, when the Scotch ambassador of England to Constantinople Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, removed the greatest part of the sculptures that also comprised structural members of the temple. By bribing the Turkish garrison of the Acropolis and employing teams of the Italian artist G. B. Lusieri, Elgin removed and transported to England 19 pedimental sculptures, 15 metopes and the reliefs of 56 sawn blocks of the frieze, today exhibited in the British Museum in London.

Text credit: Inscription at the archaeological site.