The Erechtheion is an ancient Greek temple built on the Acropolis in Athens. It was started in 421 BCE during Athens’ Golden Age by Pheidias in a huge building program of Pericles, and completed in 406 BCE. It has an unusual asymmetrical design built over an uneven landscape. It contained several shrines to different gods and cults, wood statues of the gods Hermes and Athena, several alters, and an olive tree of Athena. Its northern porch, supported by six Ionic columns, contains a rock that is said to have been struck by the god Poseidon with his trident. It has a continuous Ionic frieze surrounding the outside of the building carved from white marble affixed to a darker grey marble, which is unusual because friezes were usually painted on
