Discover cool facts about this ancient Greek temple!
Welcome, young historians! đ The Parthenon is a super old and important building in Athens, Greece. It was built over 2,500 years ago! Tap on the cards below to learn amazing facts about this ancient wonder.
The Parthenon was built between 447 and 432 BCE (that's over 2,400 years ago!) during the Golden Age of Athens.
It took only 9 years to build the main structure, but decorations continued for 6 more years!
The Parthenon was a temple dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the goddess of wisdom and protector of Athens.
Inside stood a huge statue of Athena made of gold and ivory that was about 12 meters (39 feet) tall!
The Parthenon is about 70 meters (230 feet) long and 30 meters (100 feet) wide.
It has 46 outer columns and 23 inner columns - each about 10 meters (34 feet) tall!
The builders used optical illusions to make it look perfect! The columns bulge slightly in the middle and lean inward.
The base curves upward so it doesn't look like it's sagging. Pretty clever, right?
Today it looks white, but originally the Parthenon was painted with bright colors!
Statues had realistic skin tones, and backgrounds were blue and red. Time has washed away the colors.
The Parthenon has been a temple, a church, a mosque, and even a gunpowder storage!
In 1687, the gunpowder exploded, causing major damage. Yet much of it still stands today!