The Parthenon, Symbolizing The Athenian

The Parthenon is a temple that towers above the city of Athens, symbolizing the Athenians' wealth and power. The Parthenon was built as a part of the Acropolis in Athens and it served two main purposes. First, the temple is dedicated to Athena Parthenos, a Greek goddess and the city-symbol of Athens. This temple served as a monument to Athena because they believed that she helped the Greeks conquer the Persian Empire in the Persian Wars. Second, it was also a part of the state treasury. Tax money from the Delian League was used to pay for the building, and so, a portion of the building was used for holding the tax money that the Delian League collected.

After the Athenians’ victory against the Persians at Plataea in 479BC they returned to their abandoned city and found all the buildings on the Acropolis had been destroyed. Pericles wanted to rebuild the city …show more content…
During the thirty years of Pericles' rule, many buildings were built like the Parthenon, the Propylaea and many others. In 439BC the Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess Athena and it took 15 years to complete. In 450AD the Parthenon was turned into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but in 1204, when the Franks occupied Athens they turned the Parthenon into a Catholic church. When the Turks arrived in 1458 the Parthenon became a mosque with Turkish houses built around it. In 1674, the French ambassador, the Marquis de Nointel, paid a visit to Athens accompanied by Jacques Carrey who made drawings of the Parthenon. Carrey's drawings show that at that time the Parthenon still remained intact. Thirteen years later, in 1687, the Venetian general Francesco Morosini laid blockade to the Acropolis. He bombarded the Acropolis, even though he knew that the Turks were storing gunpowder there. The result was an