Ancient site · Temple
Acropolis of Athens (Parthenon)
The Acropolis is the rocky hill at the centre of Athens. In the 5th century BCE, after the Greeks defeated the Persian invasions, the Athenians rebuilt it with marble temples.
The Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena, was begun in 447 BCE and finished in 438 BCE, with its sculptures completed by 432 BCE. It also served as a treasury. Later it became a church and then a mosque, until a Venetian bomb exploded gunpowder stored inside in 1687.
- Dates
- Parthenon 447–432 BCE; damaged 1687
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 37.97° N, 23.73° E
How we know
Athenian inscriptions and ancient writers record its building, as well as excavation and the surviving temples.
Nearby sites
- Mycenae citadel c. 1600–1100 BCE (Lion Gate c. 1250 BCE)
- Sesklo c. 7000–4400 BCE (earliest levels possibly older)
- Olympia Games c. 776 BCE (traditional) – 390s CE
- Akrotiri settled by c. 4500 BCE; buried c. 1600 BCE
- Troy (Hisarlik) c. 3600 BCE – c. 500 CE
- Knossos (Palace of Minos) palace c. 1900–1350 BCE (hill settled from c. 7000 BCE)