Parthenon

**The Parthenon of Athens Greece is a very important part in the world’s history. It holds so many secrets and answers to our questions about before our time. There is so much we have learned and will learn from this ancient structure. The Parthenon is our ticket back in time**
 * The Parthenon **

**__Future__: The future for the Parthenon is very much the present. We are all hopeful that the reconstruction with finally be completed within the next decade or less. Historians also want to get their hands on the sculptures that survived and are still whole from Britain Museum of History. Other than that there isn’t much to say about the future. Having faith that the Parthenon will be brought back to life is all we can do! __(Ancient-greece.org)__**
 * __HISTORY__: Let’s start at the very beginning. The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis in Athens Greece. The temple was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, Athens goddess of war and wisdom. That is also where the temple got its name. Callicrates and Phidias were the architects that designed the great structure. Building began in 447 B.C. on the Acropolis, highest point in the city. It took approximately 9 years to complete the temple. In the end it was 237 feet long, 110 feet wide, 60 feet tall. The temple as a whole contained 22,000 tons of marble used 13400 stones as well. Inside the Parthenon was a 40 foot statue of the Greek goddess Athena made entirely of gold, 2500 pounds of it. The Parthenon cost the Athenians 469 silver talents. In 436 B.C., the year that the Parthenon was completed, war broke out (Odijk). Very soon the Parthenon started taking many beatings. Though the years the Parthenon has undergone earthquakes, fires, explosions, war, and vandalism. The temple was converted many times as well. These religious changes also caused some structural changes too. For example; when the Parthenon was converted to a Christian church, some columns and walls were taken out. The same thing happened when the church was converted again to a mosque in 1456 (Armentrout). The Parthenon became unusable in 1687 when the Venetians attacked Athens. Gun powder exploded inside the building and demolished the roof and caused almost all the columns on the south side of the Parthenon to collapse. That was the end (Nardo). **
 * __PRESENT__: 33 years ago, the reconstruction of the Parthenon began. So many things were lost through the years that trying to figure out the construction plans that Callicrates and Phidias created is almost impossible. The temple was actually built disproportionately on purpose. This was done so that from every angle the columns would look straight and correctly sized. Because of this the reconstruction is taking a longer time. In the past 300 years other people have tried to add supports to the structure but things didn’t always go as planned. When the Parthenon’s columns were put in place iron clamps where attached to keep to columns from coming lose. Then they were coated with a thick shellac to help keep the iron from rust and deteriorating. When trying to stabilize the columns new iron clamps were put in place on top of the old ones. But the coating was not reapplied. Soon the iron rotted away and ruined the base of the columns. So now we are trying to make up for the poor efforts to “fix” the Parthenon (__Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).__ As for right now the Parthenon is at a stand-still. Determining when enough is enough and how far is too far is what is being decided at this time. But if you want to see other structure that were built to model to Parthenon there are plenty of them. The Parthenon in Nashville TN is a very popular tourist attraction! (Hadingham) **

**Work Cited **
 * I believe the Parthenon is an important place in our history. Being one of the oldest structures in the world and holding so many secrets and mysteries in one place is crazy to think about. I have learned so much about the Parthenon of Athens Greece! The architecture, the people involved in the temple, the time line, and so much more has showed us how our ancestors impacted our world today. The Parthenon means so much to our history! **


 * Nardo, Don. __Leisure Life of the Ancient Greeks.__ Farmington‚MI: Lucent Book & Co. 2005. **
 * Baker, Charles lll. __Ancient Greeks.__ Oxford‚ New York: Oxford University Press, 1997 **
 * Armentrout‚ David. __Treasures from Greece__ Vero Beach, Florida: The Rourke Book Co. 2001 **
 * Hadingham, Evan. “Unlocking the Mysteries of the Parthenon.” //Smithsonian// 38.11 (2008) 36. EBSCO, web access, 26 Oct. 11 **
 * Lerner Publishing Center.”Ancient Greece” //Lerner Publishing// (2000) History Reference center. EBSOC web access 27. Oct. 11 **
 * Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. “Column” 6th edition (2011): 1. Mas ultra-school edition. EBSCO 27.Oct. 2011 **
 * “The Parthenon.” //Ancient-Greece.// 12 Sept. 2003 < [|http://www.ancient] **
 * [|greece.org/architecture/parthenon.html] ****> **