What was the Parthenon used for?
Learn more about how the Parthenon has been used over time.
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Transcript
The Parthenon is a temple in Athens, Greece, that was built in the mid-5th century BCE.
It was dedicated to the Greek deity Athena Parthenos, or “Athena the Virgin”: the goddess of war, handicraft, and reason, and the protector of Athens.
When the Parthenon was completed in 438, Athena’s statue—made of gold and ivory—was included for public display.
Still, some scholars doubt that the Parthenon was originally intended as a place for religious worship.
No altar has been found among its 5th-century artifacts and evidence suggests that the building served as Athens’s treasury, perhaps alongside its religious use.
In later centuries, though, the Parthenon’s status as a house of worship is beyond question.
Through the years, the temple was transformed into a Byzantine church, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a mosque.
It was repurposed again during wartime, housing ammunition—which blew up and damaged the Parthenon—in the Ottoman Empire’s conflict with the Venetians in the 17th century and housing soldiers during the end of Greece’s war for independence in the 19th.
Today the Parthenon serves primarily as a tourist destination, welcoming millions of people each year into the ancient and versatile space.
It was dedicated to the Greek deity Athena Parthenos, or “Athena the Virgin”: the goddess of war, handicraft, and reason, and the protector of Athens.
When the Parthenon was completed in 438, Athena’s statue—made of gold and ivory—was included for public display.
Still, some scholars doubt that the Parthenon was originally intended as a place for religious worship.
No altar has been found among its 5th-century artifacts and evidence suggests that the building served as Athens’s treasury, perhaps alongside its religious use.
In later centuries, though, the Parthenon’s status as a house of worship is beyond question.
Through the years, the temple was transformed into a Byzantine church, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a mosque.
It was repurposed again during wartime, housing ammunition—which blew up and damaged the Parthenon—in the Ottoman Empire’s conflict with the Venetians in the 17th century and housing soldiers during the end of Greece’s war for independence in the 19th.
Today the Parthenon serves primarily as a tourist destination, welcoming millions of people each year into the ancient and versatile space.
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