a temple in Athens dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos; the highest achievement of ancient Greek architecture.
The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis by Ictinus and Callicrates between 447 and 438 B.C. The sculptural ornament was produced under the direction of Phidias and was completed in 432 B.C. The marble Doric temple is 30.89 m wide and 69.54 m long; it has a peripteron of eight by 17 columns, which are 10.43 m high. Phidias’ chryselephantine statue of Athena formerly stood in the cella, which was surrounded on three sides by two-story colonnades. Adjoining the cella from the west is the treasury of the Delian League.
Over the outer colonnade are metopes representing centaurs, Amazons, and giants. The pediment groups, carved in the round, show, on the east, the birth of Athena and, on the west, Athena’s contest with Poseidon for the land of Attica. The continuous frieze around the top of the cella depicts the Panathenaic procession. The temple itself is distinguished by its striking proportionality, its synthesis of the Doric and Ionic orders, and the serene majesty and humanity of its architectural and sculptural elements.
The Parthenon was severely damaged in 1687, when the Venetians besieged the Acropolis during their war with Turkey. Between 1801 and 1803 most of the sculptures were taken to Great Britain, where they have been kept in the British Museum in London since 1816.