Parthenon

Parthenon (Gr., 'maiden's-chamber'), the temple of Athena (q.v.) at Athens, probably the most perfect specimen of Greek architecture. It is a great Doric temple, erected, under the superintendence of Phidias, by Ictinus and Callicrates, of Pentelic marble, with eight pillars in the width, and fifteen at each side (not counting those at the corners). The total length is 228 feet; height to top of pediment, 64 feet. This magnificent relic of Periclean times stood little injured by weather or war until, when it was being used as a Turkish magazine in 1687, a bomb from a Venetian mortar burst within, and the explosion reduced the building to its present ruined condition. Illustrations will be found at GREEK ARCHITECTURE; a view of the ruins at ATHENS; and part of the frieze at ELGIN MARBLES. See the Dilettanti Society's Athenian Architecture (1851; new ed. 1889).