Landmark Europe
Parthenon
The Parthenon is a very old marble building on a hill in Athens, Greece. It has rows of tall columns. People built it about 2,500 years ago.
The Parthenon is an ancient Greek temple on the Acropolis, a rocky hill in Athens. Built of marble between 447 and 438 BCE, it has 46 outer columns and was decorated with carvings. It has been a temple, a church and a mosque, and today experts are restoring it.
Designed by Iktinos and Kallikrates, with Pheidias directing its sculpture, the Parthenon (447 to 432 BCE) is a Doric temple of Pentelic marble with Ionic features. It crowns the Acropolis of Athens, a World Heritage Site since 1987, and is still being restored.
Photo: Dafalias, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Parthenon
The Parthenon is in Athens, a city in Greece.
It stands on top of a big rocky hill. It is made of white marble. It has rows and rows of tall, round columns. At night, lights make it glow.
The Parthenon stands on the Acropolis, a steep, rocky hill in the middle of Athens, the capital of Greece. It was built as a temple, a building for worship in the religion of the ancient Greeks.
It is made almost entirely of marble, with eight columns across each end and seventeen along each side. People have admired it for centuries, and UNESCO says buildings all over the world have been inspired by the Acropolis monuments. UNESCO made the Acropolis a World Heritage Site in 1987.
The Parthenon crowns the Acropolis, a rock about 156 m high in the basin of Athens. UNESCO calls the Acropolis the most striking and complete ancient Greek monumental complex still existing, and lists the Parthenon, by Iktinos and Kallikrates with the sculptor Pheidias (447 to 432 BCE), first among its 5th-century masterpieces.
According to Greece's Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA), it was the first building the Athenians dedicated to Athena, protectress of the city, after their decision of 448 BCE to rebuild the sanctuaries destroyed by the Persians. It is a peripteral Doric temple, with eight columns at the ends and seventeen along the sides, and many Ionic features. UNESCO notes that Neoclassical buildings around the world have been inspired by the Acropolis monuments.
- Where
- The Acropolis, Athens, Greece
- Built
- 447 to 438 BCE; sculpture finished 432 BCE
- Columns
- 8 at each end, 17 along each side
- World Heritage Site
- Acropolis, Athens (1987)
Temple, church, mosque, ruin
The ancient Greeks built the Parthenon long ago.
Later, it was used as a church, and then as a mosque. Over time, parts of it were broken. Now people are carefully putting pieces back.
In 448 BCE, the people of Athens decided to rebuild the temples on the Acropolis that a Persian army had destroyed. The statesman Pericles started a great building program, and the Parthenon came first. It was built from 447 to 438 BCE.
Centuries later, it was changed into a church, and after 1460, into a mosque. In 1687, during a war, gunpowder stored inside it exploded, and much of the building fell down. In the 1800s, many of its carvings were taken away. Since then, people have worked to protect and restore it.
Reed College's study guide dates Pericles' building program to about 448 BCE, after the end of hostilities with Persia; YSMA records the decision of 448 BCE to rebuild the sanctuaries the Persians had destroyed, which Reed dates to 480 BCE. The temple rose on the site of an earlier one, the 'pre-Parthenon' (490 to 480 BCE), and was built from 447 to 438 BCE, with the pediment sculptures finished in 432 BCE.
YSMA traces its later history: damaged by fire in late Roman times and repaired in the 4th century CE; converted into a church, dedicated in 1205 to the Holy Mother of Athens; made a mosque a few decades after the Ottoman capture of Athens in 1460, its stair turned into a minaret. In 1687, during the Venetian siege, the explosion of gunpowder stored inside collapsed large parts of the temple. In the 19th century Lord Elgin removed 18 pedimental statues, 15 metopes and 56 blocks of the frieze. After the Greek state was founded, restoration began; Nikolaos Balanos's works (1896 to 1902 and 1923 to 1933) gave it much of its present look.
Who built it, and how
Clever architects planned the Parthenon. A great sculptor led the carving.
Workers cut big blocks of marble and stacked them. They did not use cement. The blocks fit together perfectly.
The architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates, and the sculptor Pheidias was in charge of the decorations. Pericles said the building works would give a job to every pair of hands in Athens, according to the ancient writer Plutarch.
The Parthenon was built almost entirely of marble from Mount Pentelikon near Athens, on a limestone foundation. The blocks were stacked without mortar, a method called dry masonry. Builders also used clever tricks: the columns lean in a tiny bit and bulge very slightly, and the floor curves upward, so the temple looks straight and graceful.
YSMA attributes the temple to Iktinos and Kallikrates, with Pheidias in general charge of the works and of the sculptural program; Plutarch reports Pericles arguing that the public works would "find employment for every hand" and make the people wage-earners.
Reed College notes that the Parthenon was built entirely of Pentelic marble except for its limestone foundation, unprecedented for a Doric peripteral temple on the mainland. Like all the Acropolis monuments, it is dry masonry, separate marble blocks without mortar. Its optical refinements are famous: the inward inclination of the columns and walls, the entasis (slight convex swelling) of the shafts, the contraction of the corner intercolumniations, the narrowing of the metopes toward the corners, and the upward curve of the crepis, stylobate and entablature.
Columns, carvings and curves
The Parthenon has 46 big columns around the outside.
Carved panels once decorated the top. A long carving shows a parade with riders and musicians. Some carvings may have been painted, too.
Around the outside stand 46 columns in the Doric style, plain and strong. Above them ran 92 carved panels called metopes, each 1.2 meters tall. Inside the colonnade, a long carved band called a frieze ran right around the building. It shows a great procession of the city's festival, with horsemen, chariots and musicians.
Inside, the temple had a main hall and a smaller back room. From 433 BCE, the city kept its public money in the back room.
Reed's study guide describes an octostyle facade, eight columns across, without precedent in Greece, which widened the cella and let its designers shape interior space rather than simply enclose it. The cella's east room held Pheidias's gold-and-ivory statue of Athena; the smaller west room, the opisthodomos, with four Ionic columns, held the city's public funds from 433 BCE.
The sculpture, by a group of sculptors under Pheidias, covered every part that could be decorated: 92 metopes, 1.2 m high, completed by about 442 BCE; the Ionic frieze around the cella, unique for a Doric temple, showing the city's great festival, the Panathenaia, with horsemen, chariots, musicians and people carrying offerings, carved in relief no more than about 2.25 inches deep; and the pediment groups, carved fully in the round.
- Outer columns
- 46 (8 + 8 + 17 + 17, corners shared)
- Metopes (carved panels)
- 92, each 1.2 m high
- Marble
- Pentelic, on a limestone foundation
- Style
- Doric, with Ionic features
Restoring the Parthenon
Today, experts are fixing the Parthenon, piece by piece.
They use new marble from the same mountain. In 2026 they finished the triangle-shaped top on one end.
Earlier repairs put iron pieces inside the marble. The iron rusted and made the marble crack. So in 1975 a special committee was set up to look after the Acropolis monuments. Restorers take damaged blocks down, remove the rusty iron, join broken pieces and fill gaps with new marble from Mount Pentelikon, then set them back in place.
In 2026 they placed the last two missing blocks in the west pediment, the triangle at one end. When the scaffolding came down, that pediment was complete for the first time in about two centuries.
YSMA identifies the earlier restoration of Nikolaos Balanos (1899 to 1939) as the source of today's main problems: the iron reinforcements he inserted rusted, fracturing the marble. The Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments was founded in 1975 in response. Its method: dismantle damaged members, remove rusted metal, join fragments, supplement missing parts with new Pentelic marble, conserve surfaces with reversible inorganic materials, correct misplaced pieces and reset scattered ancient fragments.
On 3 and 5 March 2026, two restored tympanon blocks were set in the west pediment, one mending two ancient fragments with new marble and one entirely new; the scaffolding was removed and the completed pediment revealed on June 15, its architectural unity restored after two centuries. Work continues on the north colonnade.
Amazing facts
-
The columns lean in a tiny bit.
The Parthenon's columns lean slightly inward, and its floor curves upward, so the building looks perfectly straight.
Inclination of the columns, entasis of the shafts and the convex curve of every horizontal element are among the Parthenon's optical refinements.
-
The city once kept its money inside.
From 433 BCE, Athens kept its public money in a back room of the Parthenon.
The opisthodomos, a west room with four Ionic columns, held the city's public funds from 433 BCE.
-
Its stones are stacked with no cement.
The Parthenon is made of separate marble blocks stacked without mortar, which makes it easier for restorers to take parts down and repair them.
Because the Acropolis monuments are dry masonry, restorers can dismantle members, repair them on the ground and reset them.
-
Two missing blocks were put back in 2026.
In March 2026 restorers set two blocks in the west pediment. In June, the pediment was shown complete for the first time in about two centuries.
One tympanon block joined two ancient fragments with new marble; the other was entirely new, quarried at Dionyssos and carved by hand.
Words to know
- temple
- a building used for worship
- column
- a tall, upright post that holds up part of a building
- pediment
- the triangle-shaped part at the top of each end of a temple
- frieze
- a long band of carvings running along a building
- marble
- a hard stone that can be carved and polished
- restoration
- careful work to repair something old and make it last
Discovery challenge
-
Which country is the Parthenon in?
In which country is the Parthenon?
In which country's capital does the Acropolis stand?
- Greece
- Egypt
- China
Show the answer
Greece
Greece! It is in the city of Athens.
The Parthenon is on the Acropolis in Athens, the capital of Greece.
Greece: the Acropolis rises about 156 m in the basin of Athens.
-
What stone is the Parthenon made of?
What stone is the Parthenon built of?
Which material, from Mount Pentelikon, was used for almost all of the Parthenon?
- Marble
- Wood
- Ice
Show the answer
Marble
Marble, a hard white stone.
It is built almost entirely of marble from Mount Pentelikon, on a limestone foundation.
Pentelic marble throughout, except the limestone foundation, unprecedented for a mainland Doric temple.
-
Why do the columns lean in a little?
Why did the builders make the columns lean in slightly and the floor curve up?
What was the purpose of the Parthenon's inclinations and curvatures?
- To make it look straight and graceful
- To make it fall down
- To hold rainwater
Show the answer
To make it look straight and graceful
To make it look just right, straight and graceful.
These tiny tricks make the building look straight and graceful to our eyes.
YSMA: the refinements relieve the heaviness of the Doric style and give the building grace and harmony.
-
What happened to the Parthenon in 1687?
What damaged the Parthenon most in 1687?
What caused the 'greatest catastrophe' in the Parthenon's history, according to YSMA?
- An explosion of gunpowder
- A flood
- A snowstorm
Show the answer
An explosion of gunpowder
A big explosion broke part of it.
During a war in 1687, gunpowder stored inside exploded, and much of the building collapsed.
During the Venetian siege of 1687, gunpowder stored in the temple exploded, collapsing large parts of it.
Nearby places
-
Watch
Landmark
Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis is a steep, flat-topped rock in the middle of Athens. Walls have ringed its top for more than 3,300 years. In the 400s BCE, the Athenians built a grand gateway and three temples there, including the Parthenon. Restorers are still repairing them today.
-
Watch
City
Athens
Athens is the capital of Greece and one of the oldest cities in the world. Above it rises the Acropolis, a rocky hill crowned by the marble Parthenon, built about 2,500 years ago. Ancient Athens was home to early democracy, great thinkers and theater.
-
Watch
Landmark
Mycenae
Mycenae, in southern Greece, was the richest and most important palace city of Bronze Age Greece, more than 3,000 years ago. Its people built huge stone walls, a palace, a gate topped with two carved lions and great round tombs. Archaeologists have found gold masks, cups and jewelry there, and clay tablets with an early form of Greek writing.
-
Watch
Landmark
Olympia
Olympia, in a green valley in southern Greece, was a great religious sanctuary of the ancient Greeks and the home of the ancient Olympic Games. The Games were held there every four years from 776 BCE to 393 CE. Today you can walk among the ruins of its temples, its stadium and its training grounds.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, about 2,918 meters tall, rising almost straight up from the shore of the Aegean Sea. It is made of limestone that formed in a warm, shallow sea long ago. Greece's first national park was created here in 1938, and nearly 2,000 kinds of plants grow on its slopes.
-
Watch
Landmark
Ephesus
Ephesus was a great Greek and Roman city on the west coast of what is now Türkiye. Its ruins include ancient streets, a theater for nearly 25,000 people and the Library of Celsus, whose two-story front has been rebuilt. Archaeologists have been digging there since 1895.
-
Watch
Landmark
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. It was rebuilt several times, and its 6th-century BCE version was more than 300 feet long. After a fire in 356 BCE it was built again just as big. Today only scattered stones and one column remain.
-
Watch
Landmark
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was the tomb of Mausolus, ruler of Caria, in what is now southwestern Turkey. Built around 353 to 351 BCE, it was covered in sculptures by four famous Greek artists and became one of the Seven Wonders of the World. An earthquake probably brought it down, and its stones went into other buildings, but its name lives on in the word 'mausoleum'.
Experiments to try
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge had no supports? A beam bridge stays up because its supports push up on it. In our model, a steel beam held at both ends barely bends under a 20-tonne truck. Hold it at one end only and it bends about eight times as much. Take away every support and nothing holds it up at all.
- Watch What If? Lab What if metal never rusted? Rust forms when iron and steel react with oxygen and water. It slowly eats away bikes, gates and even giant bridges, so people fight it with paint, zinc and special steels. Imagine a world where metal never rusted and follow what might change.
Explore next
-
Watch
Country
Greece
Greece is a country in southern Europe, at the bottom of the Balkan Peninsula, with sea on three sides and more than 2,000 islands. Most of it is mountains. About 10.4 million people lived there at the start of 2025, and its capital is Athens, a city with ruins more than 2,400 years old.
-
Watch
City
Athens
Athens is the capital of Greece and one of the oldest cities in the world. Above it rises the Acropolis, a rocky hill crowned by the marble Parthenon, built about 2,500 years ago. Ancient Athens was home to early democracy, great thinkers and theater.
-
Watch
Landmark
Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis is a steep, flat-topped rock in the middle of Athens. Walls have ringed its top for more than 3,300 years. In the 400s BCE, the Athenians built a grand gateway and three temples there, including the Parthenon. Restorers are still repairing them today.
-
Watch
Landmark
Pantheon
The Pantheon in Rome was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian almost 1,900 years ago, as a temple of ancient Roman religion. Its concrete dome, about 43 meters across, was the largest ever built until modern times. Since 609 it has been a church, and it still stands almost exactly as it was built.
- Watch Geography What is a World Heritage Site? World Heritage Sites are places so important that they belong, in a way, to everyone. Under a 1972 agreement, countries nominate their most outstanding places, experts check them, and a UNESCO committee decides. By 2026 the list held 1,273 sites: cultural places like the Taj Mahal, natural places like the Galápagos, and mixed ones like Machu Picchu.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if a bridge had no supports? A beam bridge stays up because its supports push up on it. In our model, a steel beam held at both ends barely bends under a 20-tonne truck. Hold it at one end only and it bends about eight times as much. Take away every support and nothing holds it up at all.
- Watch What If? Lab What if metal never rusted? Rust forms when iron and steel react with oxygen and water. It slowly eats away bikes, gates and even giant bridges, so people fight it with paint, zinc and special steels. Imagine a world where metal never rusted and follow what might change.
-
Watch
Landmark
Baalbek
Baalbek, in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, has some of the largest and best-preserved Roman temples ever built. For more than two centuries, builders raised enormous temples on a platform made of giant stone blocks. In a quarry nearby lies a carved block of about 1,650 tons that was never moved.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Athens and the Acropolis and explain that the Parthenon was built as an ancient Greek temple.
- Name the Parthenon's architects and sculptor, and describe how it was built from marble without mortar.
- Describe the Parthenon's columns, carvings and optical refinements.
- Explain how the building changed over time and how it is being restored today.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- The Parthenon's builders curved the floor and tilted the columns so it would look straight. Why might something that is perfectly straight not look straight?
- The Parthenon has been a temple, a church and a mosque. Why do buildings sometimes change their use?
- Restorers use new marble to fill gaps. Should old buildings be repaired with new material, or left as they are?
Try at home or in class
- Stack wooden blocks or sugar cubes into columns and a beam without glue, and see how careful fitting makes them stable (dry masonry).
- Draw two parallel lines with a ruler, then look along them from one end: talk about how our eyes can trick us, as the Parthenon's builders knew.
Key vocabulary: temple, column, pediment, frieze, marble, restoration
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Acropolis, Athens , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Parthenon , Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA), Hellenic Ministry of Culture
- FAQ , Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA), Hellenic Ministry of Culture
- The west pediment of the Parthenon complete , Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA), Hellenic Ministry of Culture
- The Parthenon: introduction , Reed College (GLAM study guides)
- The Parthenon: refinements , Reed College (GLAM study guides)
- The Parthenon: decoration , Reed College (GLAM study guides)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.