Parthenon architecture style. Parthenon - the majestic temple of ancient Greece

There are ruins that were formerly both a pagan temple in honor of the goddess Athena, and a Christian one in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, and, finally, a Muslim mosque. They are recognized at first sight even by those who have never been to Greece, their photographs are so replicated. These are the ruins of one of the most famous temples in the world. His name is Parthenon.

Temple laying and construction

The ancient Greeks knew how to be grateful. They decided to erect a temple to the patroness of their city, the goddess, as a token of gratitude for her help in the battle with the Persians at Marathon.

For its construction, they chose an elevated and fortified part of the upper city - the Acropolis, and in 488 they made a solemn foundation. The Parthenon architect chose this place for a reason. Previously, there were earlier temples built in honor of other pagan gods.

The dimensions of the former temples were small, and their construction did not require an increase in the area of the upper part of the hill. In this case, it was supposed to erect something grand, and for this purpose it was necessary to build from the southern side and, laying lime blocks in its base, raise the edge of the construction site by 7 meters.

The work had been going on for eight years, and the second drum of the columns was being built when the city was captured by the Persians. The fire of the fire killed the fruits of eight years of labor, and construction has not been resumed for more than 30 years.

Construction of a new temple

Work continued in 447 BC. Power in Athens then belonged to Pericles, a proud and ambitious ruler. The construction of the temple was part of a plan he conceived, as a result of which Athens was to take a leading place, both in the military field, and in the economic and cultural. The fulfillment of the plan was also facilitated by the fact that by that time the treasury of the Delian Sea Union had been transferred to the city, which facilitated the solution of financial problems associated with the construction. And there really were problems.

History has preserved interesting information. Pericles allocated 450 silver talents from the military budget for the work. The size of the amount can be judged by the fact that the construction of one warship in those years cost one talent. Consequently, the cost of building a temple is comparable to the cost of building a huge navy of 450 ships. When the scale of the costs became known to the townspeople, they accused Pericles of extravagance. To this, the ruler replied that he was ready to take the costs to his own account, but in this case he reserves the right to immortalize on all elements of the structure. The people did not want to concede glory to the ruler and agreed to finance the project from the city treasury.

This question arises, probably, for everyone who first sees an Athenian architectural masterpiece. The honor of its creation belongs to the outstanding architects, whose names have come down to us - Iktin and Kallikrat. According to some sources, Carpion and his assistants also took part in the work. The famous sculptor Phidias controlled the general course of work, but his main responsibility was to create the sculptural decoration of the temple, which, with its grandiose size, was a very large-scale task. Thus, speaking about who built the Parthenon, one should mean not one architect, but a whole group of co-authors.

Changes in the appearance of the temple

What the Parthenon looked like in its original appearance is now difficult to say with complete certainty. The fact is that over the course of his long life, he repeatedly changed his appearance. Back in the 2nd century BC, there was a strong fire in the temple, after which significant restoration work was required. Its splendor also suffered from the evil will of the rulers. For example, in 298 BC, the then reigning Lahar, who went down in history as an unbridled tyrant, ordered the removal of gold jewelry from the sculpture of Athena.

The creator of the Parthenon erected a temple in honor of the pagan goddess. But in the history of Greece a period has come, which is usually called the Byzantine, and fate willed that in 426 AD the pagan temple turned into a Christian church. It was originally dedicated to Saint Sophia. The architect of the Parthenon did not, of course, assume that his brainchild was destined to embody all the elements inherent in the architecture of Christian churches, but that is exactly what happened.

Reconstruction of the temple according to Christian canons

According to the tradition established in ancient times, the entrance to the pagan temple was on the east side. The architect, designing the building, took this requirement into account. But according to the canons of Christian architecture, the entrance is always made from the west, and the altar is placed on the east. This is the law. In the process of rebuilding the temple in accordance with the new requirements, an altar apse was built on the site of the former entrance, and the entrance, accordingly, was moved to the western side. In addition, other changes were made to the layout of the building. A bell tower was erected in the southwestern part of the temple. The completion of the reconstruction was in 662 the consecration of the temple in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos. For almost eight centuries, Christian prayers were offered under its vaults, until in 1460 the city was captured by Turkish troops.

Destruction of the temple

Together with the whole country, the Parthenon temple also experienced difficult times. Greece came under occupation and the Christian shrine was turned into a Muslim mosque. After 27 years, the Venetian army under the command of F. Morosini tried to storm Athens. Defending themselves, the Turks used the Parthenon as a powder store. This had disastrous consequences for the building. A hot cannonball fired from a Venetian cannon, breaking through the roof, caused a terrible explosion. As a result, the entire central part of the building collapsed. After that, no repair work was carried out. To top it all off, the locals stole pieces of marble from which they burned lime.

The temple suffered its final damage at the beginning of the 19th century. The British ambassador to the Ottoman court received permission to export the sculptures preserved in it. Since then, for ten years, the creations of ancient Greek sculptors have left Athens to become part of the expositions of the largest museums in the world.

Restoration of the temple colonnade

In 1928, work began, the purpose of which was to install the fallen blocks and columns of the Parthenon in the same place. To carry out the work, a scientific commission was created, which included specialists from different countries. Their collaboration lasted two years. As a result, the northern colonnade was partially restored in the form designed by the architect of the Parthenon.

How did the temple look like in antiquity? It was built according to the canons of a classical ancient Greek temple - a rectangle surrounded by columns. Despite its massiveness, it looked elegant thanks to the strict thoughtfulness of its layout. The temple was decorated with sculptures of the great Phidias, and in the center there was a thirteen-meter sculpture of the goddess Athena, decorated with gold and ivory.

It is believed that the architect of the Parthenon built a building that is a masterpiece among the buildings of the Doric style. Once the Athenian ruler Pericles, convincing the intractable townspeople to fork out for the construction of the temple, predicted that it would be the pride of the Greeks for many, many centuries. Time has proven him right.

The Parthenon is a symbol of Western civilization and one of the most famous structures in the world. The temple was built in the 5th century BC. The Parthenon towers over Athens from a 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.

The history of the Parthenon

The current Parthenon was not the first temple built here in ancient times. Remains of two earlier temples, slightly smaller in size - one of them was built of stone, and 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 credited to Callicrates and Iktin. Construction began in 447 BC. and the temple was completed just nine years later. Until 432, Phidias continued to work on the magnificent sculptures that adorned 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 turned into ruins only in 1687, when the Venetians besieging the Ottomans attacked the Acropolis from Philopappou Hill. During the attack, the ammunition stored in the Parthenon exploded, destroying the roof, interior and fourteen columns.

Parthenon temple

The Parthenon was created as a peripter - a temple surrounded by columns in Doric order. The temple, measuring 30.86 by 69.51 meters, contained two cellas (inner chambers). In the eastern cella there was a large statue of the goddess Athena. Western cella was used exclusively by priests and contained the treasury of the Delian League (a union of Greek city-states).

The Parthenon has been decorated with numerous sculptures and reliefs. There were about fifty sculptures on the pediments alone. Most of the sculptures that survive to this day 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 cellas and an outer frieze, which consisted of triglyphs (vertical stripes) and metopes (rectangular figures) with auxiliary sculptures. The inner frieze was designed by Phidias and depicted the Panathenaea, a festival honoring the goddess Athena. Many metopes and parts of the interior 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 perfectly straight to the naked eye.
Most people think that ancient temples always had natural marble colors. But buildings and statues in the Antique period were often very colorful. The Parthenon was no exception: the sculptures on the friezes, pediment and on the roof were painted with bright blue, red and gold colors.

Statue of Athena in the Parthenon

The main purpose of the temple was to house the 12-meter statue of Athena Parthenos, created by Phidias. The statue of Athena is one of the most legendary Greek statues. It was made of gold and ivory around a wooden frame. Like all other sculptures of the Parthenon, the statue was painted with bright colors - mostly blue and red. Athena was depicted as the goddess of war. She is wearing a helmet on her head, her left hand rested on a shield, and in her right hand she held a statue of the winged Nika. Unfortunately the original statue is lost, but a modern full-scale replica of the Athena Parthenos is in Nashville, USA.

Around the place where the Parthenon can be found today, the ancient Athenians began construction of a building that was burned down by the Persians in 480 BC. before the completion of the project. Apparently, it was dedicated to Athena. After the destruction, its ruins were used to fortify the northern part of the Acropolis. Very little information has survived about the temple. It is known that its massive foundations were made of limestone, and the pillars were made of marble.

Classical Parthenon of ancient Greece

The classical Parthenon was built between 447-432 BC. and was central to the architecture of ancient Greece in the Acropolis. The designers were Iktin and Kallikrat. The name of Vitruvius is also engraved on the walls of the temple, as the architect involved in the construction of the building. It was dedicated to Athena Pallas or Parthenos (which is translated from Greek as "virgin"). The temple was erected to house a monumental statue of Athena within its walls, which was made by the sculptor Phidias from gold and an elephant braid. She was placed in the Parthenon in 438 BC. However, finishing work lasted until 432 BC.

The construction of the Parthenon cost the Athenian treasury 469 talents of silver. It is difficult to imagine the equivalent of this amount today. For comparison, the talent was worth the arrangement of one of the best ships of the era of the ancient state of Greece.

"This amount would be enough to pay the salaries of the ship's crew for a month.", - writes D. Kagan in the "Peloponnesian War". According to his data, during the hostilities, about 200 people were used, and the annual gross income of the city of Athens at the time of Pericles was 1000 talents.

Parthenon architecture

The temple of ancient Greece is decorated with eight columns from the facade, seventeen columns are located on the flanks with the ratio of 9:04 adopted in architecture. It refers to the calculation of the vertical and horizontal proportions of the temple, as well as other measurements such as the distance between the columns and their height.

In order to accommodate the massive statue, a large room was set aside among the Doric columns on all sides. The room behind the sculpture was dedicated to the storage of Athena's treasures. Four columns of the Ionic order supported the roof. The integration of Doric and Ionic elements in one temple was an innovation in the architecture of ancient Greece and was quite rare.

All the temples in Greece were designed in such a way as to appreciate the grandeur of the building from the outside. Spectators could not cross the threshold of the temple and could only see the interior through the open doors.

Visitors to the Acropolis viewing the temple from the Propylaea could appreciate the majestic proportions of the Parthenon with its western fronts or a row of colonnades in the northern part.

From the eastern part of the Parthenon, you can see images of a religious procession, which is represented on a frieze decorated with Doric columns.

On the east side of the temple, you can see a painting depicting the birth of Athena. The huge statue of Pallas Athena in gold and ivory is framed by Doric columns. By the beauty and grandeur of this temple, we can say that the designers of the Parthenon tried to recreate a dramatic living image within its walls, which is a way to magically catch the viewer's eye.

Temples of ancient Greece

The construction of the Parthenon did not mark a breakthrough in the art of ancient Greece. However, its forms have become the standard of classical architecture. His style has been used for centuries long after the completion of the temple.

The Parthenon is undoubtedly a fairly massive building, but by no means is it the largest in the architectural ensemble of ancient Greece. Its aesthetic appeal is determined by the sophistication of the forms used in the construction and the quality of the sculptural decoration.

The Parthenon embodies the lofty canons of Greek art at the height of the classical era through artistic means. The idealism of the Greek way of life, attention to detail, and mathematical precision determine the harmony in which all the elements of the structure are combined. They are represented in the exact prophecies of the building, anthropomorphic statues that adorned the halls of the temple.

Athenian citizens were proud of their historical past and culture, realizing the greatness of ideas and their implementation. They believed that the population of ancient Greece was the only civilized people in the barbarian world. And their cultural and political achievements have changed the history of the whole world. The catalyst for all the innovations was the development of a control system like which the world had never seen before. It was democracy. She became the embodiment of the Athenian way of thinking that was the focus of artists during the construction of the Parthenon. It was a direct democracy, where every citizen had the right to vote on any issue in the Assembly, which met on Pnyx Hill near the Acropolis.

The fact that ordinary people were depicted in frescoes on the Parthenon frieze was due to the fact that for the first time in the history of the existence of ancient civilizations, every citizen of the city was recognized as an important figure in the state, whose actions were followed by the entire Universe.

Parthenon: facts

Year of construction: 447-432 BC
Dimensions (edit)
Width East: 30.875 m
Width West: 30.8835 m
Length North: 69.5151 m
Length South: 69.5115 m
Aspect ratio: 9:04
Number of stones used for the Parthenon built: approximately 13,400.
Architects: Iktin and Kallikrates
Parthenon construction cost: 469 talents
Coordinates (Plaka area just below the Acropolis): 37 ° 58'N, 23 ° 43 '.

Address: Greece, Athens, Athenian Acropolis
Start of construction: 447 BC NS.
End of construction: 438 BC NS.
Architect: Iktin and Callicrates
Coordinates: 37 ° 58 "17.4" N 23 ° 43 "36.0" E

At the top of the cliffs of the Athenian Acropolis rises the monumental marble Parthenon temple, dedicated to Athena Parthenos (i.e. the Virgin) - the patroness of the city. In this monument, the famous politician Pericles embodied the idea of triumphant democracy and the unfading glory of Athens.

View of the Acropolis of Athens and the Parthenon Temple

The Parthenon was built in 447 - 437 BC. NS. on the site of an earlier temple, which was erected to commemorate the victory over the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. For the construction of the Parthenon, Pericles spent 450 silver talents, "borrowed" from funds raised for military purposes.

To understand how huge the amount spent was, you can use the following comparison: the construction of one trier (warship) cost 1 talent, that is, for 450 talents Athens could build a fleet of 450 ships. When the people accused Pericles of wastefulness, he replied: “Our descendants will be proud of this temple for centuries!

Temple in the night illumination

If money is more important to you, then I will not write off the costs to your account, but to mine, and on all buildings I will immortalize my name. " After these words, the people, who did not want to give up all the glory to Pericles, shouted that they should take the construction costs to the public account. The head of the work was appointed the sculptures of Phidias; he also carved most of the Parthenon's ornaments with his own hands. The consecration of the temple took place in 438 BC. NS. during the festival of Panafinea, held in honor of the goddess Athena. In the Byzantine period, marked by the triumph of Christianity, the Parthenon was turned into the Temple of St. Mary, and the statue of Athena was taken to Constantinople.

View of the temple from the west

In the 1460s, when the Turks captured Athens, the Parthenon was converted into a mosque. But the greatest destruction of the temple was in 1687, during the war between the Venetians and the Turks, when a red-hot cannonball that flew through the roof made a huge explosion.

In the 19th century, the English diplomat T. Elgin, having received permission from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, brought from the Parthenon to England an unsurpassed collection of sculptures, which is still kept in the British Museum.

View of the temple from the southeast

The Parthenon is a magnificent example of the Doric style

The Parthenon is a classic ancient Greek temple - a rectangular building framed by a colonnade. According to the standards of ancient Greek architecture, the number of columns on the side facade is 1 unit more than twice the number of columns on the front side of the building (in relation to the Parthenon - 8 and 17). Ancient architects gave the massive temple elegance by developing an optical correction system. From a distance, straight lines are perceived as slightly concave, and in order to eliminate this "defect" the architects made the middle part of the columns slightly thickened, and the corner columns were slightly inclined towards the center, thereby achieving the appearance of straightness.

South facade of the temple

Parthenon sculptures - myths in stone

The Doric frieze of the facade was decorated with bas-reliefs depicting scenes of martial arts: the battle of the Lapiths and centaurs on the east side, Greeks and Amazons on the south, gods and giants in the north, and participants in the Trojan War in the west. The sculptural composition on the eastern pediment is dedicated to the myth of the birth of Athena. As befits the goddesses, Athena was born in an unusual way, namely from the head of Zeus. Legend has it: Zeus swallowed his pregnant wife to prevent the birth of a son who would have dethroned him. Soon the thundering god felt severe pain, and then the blacksmith Hephaestus hit him on the head, and Athena jumped out of there.

Eastern facade of the temple

On the western pediment, the dispute between Athena and Poseidon over the possession of Attica is immortalized in stone, when the olive tree donated by Athena was recognized as a more valuable gift than the source of sea water carved into the rock with Poseidon's trident. Along the perimeter of the outer walls of the temple, at a height of 11 meters from the floor, another frieze, Ionic, stretched like a continuous ribbon. Its reliefs illustrate scenes from the traditional ceremony of celebrating the "Birthday of the goddess Athena" - Panafinea. Here are depicted horsemen, chariots, musicians, people with sacrificial animals and gifts, etc. The end of the procession is shown on the eastern end: the priest receives the peplos from the Athenian - a new garment woven for Athena. In ancient times, the Parthenon housed a treasury, where the treasury of the Athenian maritime union was kept.

Fragment of the eastern facade of the temple

And in the center of the temple stood a 13-meter statue of Athena Parthenos, made of gold and ivory. Alas, the original statue has not survived to this day. In museums around the world, you can see only copies of Phidias' masterpiece, recreated from descriptions.

The Parthenon Temple in Athens is the most outstanding religious building and the greatest monument of ancient Greek architecture. The Parthenon is located in the Acropolis, in the heart of Athens.

János Korom Dr. / flickr.com Parthenon in Athens (Panoramas / flickr.com) János Korom Dr. / flickr.com Chris Brown / flickr.com Parthenon, 1985 (Nathan Hughes Hamilton / flickr.com) Parthenon towers on the Acropolis (Roger W / flickr.com) jjmusgrove / flickr.com Nicholas Doumani / flickr.com claire rowland / flickr. com Dennis Jarvis / flickr.com Parthenon at night (Arian Zwegers / flickr.com) psyberartist / flickr.com George Rex / flickr.com Parthenon reconstruction (Emiliano Felicissimo / flickr.com) Comrade Foot / flickr.com Before the Parthenon (Kristoffer Trolle / flickr.com)

The Athenian Acropolis Parthenon is the most outstanding religious building and the greatest monument of ancient Greek architecture. Built in the 5th century. BC, the temple amazed its contemporaries with its size and grandeur, and continues to amaze and interest eyewitnesses of the modern era.

The Temple of Athena the Virgin in the city named after her was the main cult site of the ancient Hellenes. For the inhabitants of the city of Athens, it became consonant with the meaning of the words of prosperity and prosperity.

This reverent attitude is explained by the fact that it was dedicated to the goddess Athena, who was considered the patroness of the city and ancient Greece.

The word "Parthenon" in the language of the ancient Hellenes meant "most pure". In other words, Athena became the forerunner of the "Most Pure Virgin Mary" in the Christian religion. Also, the goddess was the ancient Greek invariant of the common archetype of the "mother goddess".

Legend of the Goddess Athena

Interestingly, Zeus himself gave birth to Athena. According to ancient Greek myths, the supreme god of Olympus was foreshadowed by death at the hands of his son.

Before the Parthenon (Kristoffer Trolle / flickr.com)

Fearing the fulfillment of the words of prophecy, the thunderer swallowed his wife Metis, who was carrying a child under her heart.

However, the prediction did not come true - a daughter was born, who came out of the head of Zeus (the heavenly ruler himself ordered to cut his skull, because he could not stand the torment).

Athena, like her brother Ares, became the patroness of wars. But unlike her divine relative, she suppressed injustice and advocated the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

According to ancient Greek mythology, it was Athena who gave people crafts, in particular, taught women weaving. In addition, the goddess contributed to the development of sciences and philosophy.

The Greeks, who valued the intellectual factor of life above all else, decided to thank their patroness by erecting in her honor the most magnificent temple in the history of mankind.

Where is the Parthenon located?

The Temple of the Virgin Warrior is located in the very center of the modern capital of Greece, on the Athenian Acropolis and is visible even from the most remote point of the city. The word "Acropolis" meant "Upper City". And this city performed defensive functions - the Athenians were hiding behind its walls, waiting for the siege.

Acropolis - the abode of the gods

One glance at the Acropolis is enough to understand that the gods played a primary role in the life of the inhabitants of ancient Greece - its entire territory is dissected by temples and sanctuaries dedicated to almost all the gods of Olympus.

The buildings of the Acropolis amaze with the genius of architectural thought and serve as classic examples of the use of the Golden Ratio in construction.

The Greeks appreciated the correctness and proportionality of forms so much that even in plastic art they used the rules of the golden section.

The Parthenon in Athens is not the first structure of the Acropolis to be erected in honor of Athena. Even 200 years before him, the goddess was glorified in the temple of Hecatompedon. According to ancient historians, both sanctuaries actually existed in parallel, until the first fell into disrepair.

Today, the monastery of Athena is a ruin, hewn with traces of numerous destruction, but they still bear the stamp of its former greatness. The temple is the hallmark of Athens and all of Greece.

Every year, crowds of tourists with an interest in history flock to the foot of the Acropolis for a touch of history.

Who built the Parthenon?

The construction of the main temple of Athens to the Parthenon dates back to 447 BC. NS. The building was designed by the famous architect of antiquity Ikten. The construction was carried out by Callicrates, the court architect of the ruler of Pericles, who initiated the construction.

Parthenon, 1985 (Nathan Hughes Hamilton / flickr.com)

Under the guidance of the master, other objects of the Acropolis were also erected, and more than a dozen civilian objects of Athens. All projects of the master are built in the best traditions of the architecture of Ancient Greece - using the principle of the golden section.

The temple of the goddess Athena was originally part of an extensive program of the Athenian ruler Pericles to improve the city.

An interesting fact is that it took 450 talents to build it. Considering that 1 talent could build 1 warship, we can say that Pericles left his empire without a navy, but gave the world one of the unique architectural monuments.

The construction of the temple lasted 9 years, and in 438 BC. NS. he opened his doors. However, for another 6 years, finishing work was carried out, led by Phidias, who went down in history thanks to an interesting fact of his creative biography.

Parthenon at night (Arian Zwegers / flickr.com)

The master is the creator of one of the Seven Wonders of the World - a sculptural image of Zeus in Olympia. For the new temple, the sculptor created a statue of Athena Parthenos - an eleven-meter statue made of ivory and gold. It was a rich gift for the revered goddess.

The monument has not survived to this day, and we can judge about its beauty only by the preserved ancient sources.

The interior of the temple was filled with numerous sculptural compositions and statues of gods. Many of them are irretrievably lost. Some of them are kept in museums around the world. Statues from the Parthenon can be seen in the Hermitage.

Most of the surviving heritage is in the London Museum - these are statues and metopes, bought back in the 19th century. from the Ottoman government. Currently, Greece is working to return the exhibits to their native land.

Features of the architectural solution

The Parthenon Temple has become in many ways an innovative structure. Its appearance and design findings at one time amazed contemporaries and still arouse research interest.

Parthenon Architecture (George Rex / flickr.com)

The temple was practically entirely built of Pendelia marble, which cost a lot of money, and the decoration was abundant in gold.

Under the influence of sunlight, the southern facade acquired a golden hue over time. The northern side of the building, which was less exposed to radiation, had its original gray color.

The temple of the warrior goddess is located at the highest point of the Acropolis, and in the rays of the setting sun, the visual effect of a golden glow is created.

At the same time, observers have the impression that the temple is small in size. As you get closer, the panorama expands and the building "suppresses" with its massiveness.

From the outside, a visual image is formed that the building has an ideal straight structure. In fact, most of the architectural elements are devoid of straight lines:

the upper parts of the steps have a slight deflection in the center, the columns are somewhat thickened in the center, and the corner ones have a larger volume in comparison with the rest;
the gables of the Parthenon are turned inward, in turn, the entablatures protrude outward.

All these optical techniques actually made it possible to create the illusion of perfect straightness. In addition, the principle of the golden section was used in the construction of the temple.

The external facade of the building was decorated with numerous metopes - relief images of the gods: Zeus, Apollo, winged Nike, etc. The Parthenon, like all the sanctuaries of ancient Greece, was painted in bright colors.

The dominant shades of the color palette were shades of red, blue and gold. Over time, they worn out and we can only judge about the beauty of the building, according to the words of the ancient scrolls.

Parthenon - temple of three religions

The fate of the Parthenon was such that it became a place where the words of three religions sounded - paganism, Orthodoxy and Islam. The history of the greatness of the temple did not last long.

Parthenon, Acropolis of Athens (Carole Raddato / flickr.com)

The last ruler who worshiped the wise goddess was Alexander the Great. In the future, Athens was subjected to numerous seizures. The temple was plundered, the gilding was removed from the statues, and the sculptures themselves were barbarously destroyed. However, the cult of the goddess Athena was so high among the Athenians that the sanctuary was restored by the incredible forces of the townspeople, despite the fact that the treasury was actually plundered.

After the restoration, the temple operated for another 800 years and became the last refuge of paganism in the territory of modern Greece. With the advent of Christian rule, the pagan traditions in the city were still strong. In order to suppress idolatry in the IV century. n. NS. the monastery of Athens was turned into an Orthodox church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The building was rebuilt in accordance with the canons of Orthodox architecture, but in general it looked the same as before. In its new incarnation, the temple began to attract pilgrims from all over the Orthodox world. Emperors and generals came running for words of support from the servants of the new "old" shrine.

Reconstruction of the Parthenon (Emiliano Felicissimo / flickr.com)

In the XV century. Greece came under the influence of the Ottoman Empire. First of all, the new authorities rushed to get rid of Christian symbols, and this time the Parthenon acquired the features of Muslim mosques. However, apart from the excision of Christian stories and words, no cardinal changes in the appearance of the temple occurred. In the XVII century. during the military clash of the Ottoman Empire with the Holy League, the walls of the Parthenon were practically destroyed.

In 1840, restoration work began, which breathed new life into the religious building. The recovery process continues today with varying degrees of success.

Today, the fate of the Parthenon is once again in jeopardy. Financial problems that began after the country's accession to the EU have become the main obstacles to the revival of the greatest monument of history.