The Parthenon, Athens
The Parthenon atop the Acropolis of Athens, built as a temple to Athena between 447 and 432 BC.
Commissioned by Pericles and designed by the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates, with sculpture overseen by Phidias, the Parthenon was funded in part by tribute from the Delian League, the alliance Athens led after the Persian Wars. It served as a temple to Athena Parthenos, whose lost gold-and-ivory statue once stood inside, and later as a Byzantine church, a Catholic cathedral, and an Ottoman mosque. In 1687 a Venetian bombardment ignited gunpowder the Ottomans had stored inside, blowing out its center — the ruin still visible today. Read more in our piece on the Parthenon.
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