Athens Attractions - the Parthenon

Athens Top Attractions

Athens Greece Attractions or more precisely the top ten attractions in Athens are starting with the Parthenon that is one of the symbols of the capital of Greece - Athens.

The Parthenon is the temple of Athena - the Greek goddess, whom the people of Athens considered their defender. It is one of the world's greatest cultural monuments and thought as one of the best Athens Greece attractions. The Parthenon was constructed in 432 BC on the other top attraction - the Athenian Acropolis, although decorations of the Parthenon continued one more year. It is the most important surviving building of Ancient Greece, usually considered to be an enduring symbol of Greece and of Athenian democracy. Currently, the Greek Ministry of Culture is carrying out a program of reconstruction and restoration of the temple to ensure its stability.

Acropolis in Athens - top attraction

The Parthenon itself replaced an older temple of Athena, the Older Parthenon, that was ruined by the Persian invasion of 480 BC. During the years it served as the treasury of the Athenian Empire, as a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as a mosque in the early 1460s, as the garrison headquarters of the Turkish army (gunpowder magazine). In 1687 the Parthenon was severely damaged by artillery fire of the Venetians and more of its sculptures ruined...

The Greek government began to restore the Parthenon and some Acropolis structures in 1975. Later, the European Union funded the project and helped with technical assistance for its restoration and reconstruction, but although the enormous efforts the Parthenon could never be restored to the state it was before 1687.

The origin of the Parthenon's name is not clear. According to some historical experts, the term "Parthenon" means "the virgin's place" and it was referred only to a particular room of the Parthenon.

Nowadays the Parthenon (and the Acropolis in particular) is one of the world best-known temple and a top tourist attraction.

We hope that the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens will be saved and soon reconstructed by the Greek government. Because it is an exclusively magnificent monument and that most of the Athens attractions will remain for the next generations.

Attractions in Athens are a lot and they can not be seen in just one day while you are on a short excursion or just decided to spend a day or two of your holiday in Greece.

The most famous of them are the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the temple of Zeus, the Adrian's Arch, the Olympus, the Syntagma Square, the Roman Forum, the Agora, and the Byzantine Museum. And it is definitely worth paying special attention and enough time to be able to see them in detail and calmly. They attract millions of tourists every year in the capital of Greece and contribute to the positive tourist image, as well as the islands of Rhodes, Santorini, and Mykonos.