parthenonsak

= The Parthenon =

Work on the parthenon began of the acropolis in 447 B.C. to replace an exiting temple that was destroyed by the Persians. The work of the Parthenon begun under the direct orders of Pericles to show that the City of Athens had wealth. The magnificent structure was made of ivory and gold, and was sculpted by the world renowned sculpture Phidias. Like the rest of the structures on the Acropolis, the Parthenon was named after Athena, to thanks the goddess for her success. The Vast majority of the money to fund the Parthenon came from the Delian League funds, which was a treaty that between the greek states in league against the persian empire. The five main instigators of the design and construction on the Parthenon were Pericles, Phidias, Kalamis, Ictinus and Calibrates. Pericles was the leading Athenian statesman at the time, Phidias and Kalamis were in charge of the design of the sculptures and decorations, and Ictinus and Calibrates were the main architects. It took 134,000 stones to construct the massive structure. The Parthenon was kept in pretty good condition up until about the 19th century, during that time it went through lots of changes. For nearly a thousand year the Parthenon was used as a temple to Athena as late as the 4th century. By that time Athens was turned into a province of the Roman Empire, and had lost all its former glory. It was only in 1975 that the greek government tried to restore the damage caused by the explosion and as well as the modern day damage such as pollution. nfortunately the Parthenon will never be restored to its former glory; however, in time we will hopefully be able to have a better idea of what it once looked like.