The Parthenon

The most famous ruin of ancient Greece, the Parthenon was constructed between 447BC and 432BC and was a Doric order temple built to replace two earlier temples to Athena also located on the site. The Parthenon housed the statue of Athena Parthenos, sculpted by Pheidias and the temple's exterior was decorated with carved marble panels, metopes, columns and friezes.

It remained relatively intact and was used as a Christian church then a mosque until 1687 when troops from the Ottoman Empire used it as a munitions store and it was hit by fire from a Venetian attack, collapsing the roof and much of its southern side.

In 1806AD Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and Ambassador to Greece removed some of the surviving sculptures and brought them back to England where they remain, controversially, on display at the British Museum. Restoration and reconstruction work is now being undertaken on the ruins by the Greek Ministry of Culture.