Family Travelogue: Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece/ Family Travelogue 04 June 2015

Entering Acropolis through the building of Propylaea, we first encountered the west side of the Parthenon. Parthenon is one of the classical buildings on the acropolis in Athens, Greece. Erectheion and the Propylaea the other two. Parthenon is the best example of a Greek Art. It was filled of sculptures: in the pediment, metopes, frieze and every sculpture depicts a story. The sculptures seen on the acropolis are replicas. Some of the originals are in the Acropolis Museum and most are in the British Museum. A few are in Paris, France. The architectural design and the quality of the materials of this sacred building is one of a kind.

The original Parthenon was destroyed by the Persians during the war in 480 BC. The Athenians took a vow not to remove the ruins to remember forever the temple. After three decades, a new building was constructed. This is now the present Parthenon. Latter is architecturally a temple though, it was however used primarily as a treasury. It was a treasury of the Delian League, later became the Athenian Empire. According to some historians, the statue of Athena inside the temple was filled with gold reserves and were removable. In the last decade of the sixth century AD, the Parthenon became a christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In the 15th century, after the Ottoman conquest, Parthenon became a mosque and in the 17th century, several ammunition were dump inside resulting to an explosion damaging severely the building and the sculptures.

In the 19th century, Lord Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures, shipped to Britain and sold to the British Museum in London.

At present, reconstruction is on going.

West side of the Parthenon at Acropolis of Athens, Greece

The west side of the Parthenon faces Propylaia. The west pediment depicted two gods, Poseidon and Athena, vying for being the patron of the city,

1. Poseidon was the god of the sea and Athena was the goddess of wisdom, courage and strength law and justice, associated with war, and many more aspects.

2. Both gods offered a gift. Poseidon struck a rock resulted to a saltwater well. The mark of the trident is said to be visible at the Erectheion.

3. Athena gave an olive tree which symbolizes prosperity and peace. An olive tree was planted in the modern time on the western side of the Erectheion by Sophia of Prussia, daughter of Queen Victoria in honour of the Athenians.

4.. The Athenians chose Athena's gift.

planted olive tree on the western side of Erectheion

Parthenon on the rocky hill in Athens, Greece

Parthenon is a huge and magnificent marble temple on the Acropolis of Athens in Greece, initially dedicated to the city's patron deity, Athena. It was said to have been built between 447 and 432 BCE in the Age of Pericles to house the cult statue of the goddess, Athena by Pheidias. During this period, Athens was the most powerful city state in Greece, And to proclaim to the world its success as a leader of coalition of Greek forces, Parthenon was constructed. This temple remains in use for almost 2500 years despite of the explosions during the war, vandalism and nature damages.

view of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece from Attalos hotel

Parthenon is considered a key landmark of early Western Civilization and the birth of democracy. It has tremendous influence associating the buildings to Parthenon such as the US Supreme Court, US National Gallery of Arts, The National Gallery in London, La Madeleine and Assemblee Nationale in Paris, France and more.

Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece

Parthenon is known and regarded of its extraordinary architecture. It is made of Pentelic marbles from Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon, a mountain range in Attica, Greece. Pentelic marble is flawless white with faint yellow tint which shines under sunlight. Quarry of this material is protected by law and used exclusively for the restoration of the Acropolis.

Parthenon was dedicated to Athena. The city itself was named after her. It was made of Doric order temple, have massive columns, fluted shafts and the vertical lines. The design also features ionic elements. The columns go down directly into the floor of the temple which is called stylobate. There are three steps of stylobate.

Pediment on the east side of the Parthenon on Acropolis of Athens, Greece

And at the top, simple capital to the rectangular block called the abacus and further above a frieze with sculptured metopes separated by triglyphs which is a feature of Doric order. Both the west end and east end of the building have triangular pediment and a double row columns. Apparently, Parthenon was full of sculptures. Sculptures in the metopes, in the pediment and a frieze that runs all the way around 4 sides of the building just inside the outer row of the columns. This is the ionic features. Sculptures seen are just replica. The surviving sculptures are found in the Acropolis Museum in Greece and in the British Museum in London.

Assemblee Nationale in Paris, France

Pediment on the east side of the Parthenon on Acropolis of Athens, Greece

The arrangement of the sculptures at the East Pediment narrates the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. As per Greek Mythology:

1. Zeus had a terrible headache and summoned Hephaestus (god of fire and the forge) for assistance.

2. To get rid off the pain, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to hammer his head

3.. When Zeus's head split opened, goddess Athena popped out in full armour.

The center of the pediment has been destroyed before these documentary myths. Most of the reconstructions could be partly speculations.

Most of the friezes and pediment figures decorated at the Parthenon temple were removed by the British diplomat, Lord Elgin in the early 19th century and later sold to the British Museum. It is said the Lord Elgin removed the sculptures illegally between 1801 and 1812 while Greece was under the colony of Turkey as part of the Ottoman Empire.

Currently, an ongoing campaign asking for the return of the Elgin Marbles to where it belongs, in Greece.

British defense, when Lord Elgin took these Elgin marbles or Parthenon marble, the Greek did not consider them as treasures, outdated instead (2000 years of age) and not interesting. Had British not taken these marbles, they had been vandalized or ruined by nature. Even before Lord Elgin took the marbles the sculptures had been through countless of earthquakes.

Acropolis museum was built to house every artifact found at the Acropolis of Athens. It was opened in 20 June 2009. Aside from the original marbles displayed in the museum, they put also the replicas of the Elgin Marbles, purposely in different colour, to show that they are replicas. More so, said is to show the British that Greece has provided a place for the marbles should they be returned.

other side of the pediment on the East side of Parthernon on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece

Parthenon Frieze Sculptures

The frieze in the Parthenon believed to be the depiction of the procession to the Parthenon during the Panathenaic games which was celebrated every four years in Athens. For the Athenians, the procession was more important than the games.

1. The women of Athens prepared a special robe called peplos, was carried all the way to the Parthenon, encountering first the West end side of the temple with the sculptures on the pediment depicting the story of Athena and Poseidon vying for the patron of the city of Athens.

2. Continued to walk around either on the North or South side and to prepare to enter through the East side of the temple with the sculptures on the pediment depicting the story of the birth of Athena.
3. And on the frieze inside, they would see themselves, the act of the procession. Inside the temple, they would drape the Peplos to the gigantic statue of their patron deity, the goddess of Athens, Athena.

North side of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece

There were a total of 92 metopes on the Parthenon's entablature. The sculptures on the metopes showed Greece battling various enemies.

1. 14 metopes on the west, Greeks battling Amazons.

2. 32 metopes on the North, Greeks and Trojans

3 South, Lapiths and Centaurs

4. East, Gods and Titans

East side of Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens in Greece

Picture the Parthenon with all its original sculptures; in the frieze, pediments and metopes during its first decade and prior to war. Seeing it ruined now, we still feel its sacredness and appreciating its incomparable beauty. Likewise, Parthenon is truly a symbol of power and achievement. Athenians are true to themselves. The devotion to their goddess is without a doubt, offering only the best as evident of the marvellous temple dedicated to their deity patron, the goddess, Athena.

North side of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece

The North side of the Parthenon has 17 columns

North side of Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece

Athena Parthenos

There was a statue of Athena inside which was sculpted by Phidias. The statue was decorated with gold and could make enormous money if melted. The sculpture is gone now, probably melted and exchanged for a fortune. We just learned about this statue from vase paintings, literature, coins and other sort of copies

The Parthenon: The Lateral Walls of the Cella

The projects for restoring the lateral walls of the cella began in 1992 with the aim of correcting the inadequacies of the earlier interventions of 1841~1844, 1913 and 1927~1928.

Together with the dismantling of the architectural members, studies have been made for a new restoration.

Research has been focused on locating the original position of the blocks that had been used in previous restorations and on incorporating scattered material in the building.

As a result, 440 additional cella wall blocks have been identified.

With the new restoration, the walls will regain the form they had at the beginning of the 19th century.

Acropolis of Athens, Greece with the East side of Parthenon and the Erechtheion

East side of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece

The restoration of the Parthenon opisthonaos was completed in June 2004.

The project provided for the restoration of the architectural members of the entablature, which had been dismantled, and for conservation and restoration in situ of members that had remained on the monument.

The architectural members were conserved and, where necessary, they were filled with new Pentelic marble.

New titanium clamps and dowels replaced the rusted clamps and dowels of earlier interventions.

As part of the project, works were carried out for effective protection of the west frieze.

After being dismantled, the frieze blocks were conserved with the use of the most recent technology and are currently exhibited in the Acropolis Museum.

Casts have replaced the original members of the monument.

References: Smart history, Wikipedia

continued to Acropolis of Athens
continued from Propylaea