The Parthenon, built in 447 and 438 BC, is one of the most famous monuments of ancient Greek civilization. It displays the greatest works of Greek architecture, history and religious beliefs of ancient Greece. Although it now lies largely in ruins, it stands tall above Athens, continuing its legacy as one of the country's greatest examples of power and wealth. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, built on the acropolis, to replace a temple that was destroyed by Greek rivals, the Persians, in 480 BC. The construction of the Parthenon cost Greece 469 talents of silver, and the work they began under the order of Pericles who wanted to show rival nations the wealth and exuberance of Athenian power. The name “Parthenon” derives from a cult statue entitled “Athena Parthenos” which was to be housed in the east room of the building. The Parthenon, built of ivory and gold, was sculpted by the famous sculptor of the time; Phidias. Following the motif behind most of the buildings constructed on the Acropolis, the Parthenon is dedicated to the goddess Athena. To truly make the Parthenon an outstanding architectural monument, many people were involved in the construction of the building including Pericles, Phidias, Kalamis, Ictinus. and Calibrate. As previously stated, Pericles was the leading statesman of the time. Phidias and Kalami were both in charge of designing the sculptures and decorations. Ictinus and Calibrates were the main architects of the entire project. Most of the funds used to build the Parthenon went to transport the necessary materials, such as stone from Mount Pantelakos, which was located 16 kilometers from Athens to the Acropolis. The architecture bears many similarities to Doric design with many iconic architectural features. The architects, Ictinus and Calibrates, used ingenious visual effects in their models of the Parthenon, making the building more symmetrical than it is. It was so popular that it was used in the architecture of the next century, particularly in Roman times. The Parthenon contained many different architectural elements such as the colonnade of fluted, baseless columns with square capitals resting on a roof-supporting base made up of stone bands. The colonnade also contains eight columns on the east and west sides of the building and 17 on the north and south sides. All these columns were built to enclose a rectangular chamber called a cella. Behind the cell there was another small room, not connected to the cell but placed individually on the west side. It also consists of a frieze (an artistic mosaic) of vertically grooved blocks and smooth blocks to give relief to the wall decoration. The only light entering the Parthenon came from the east door, except for some that filtered through the marble tiles of the roof and ceiling. As can be seen, the Parthenon is an excellent example of an extraordinary number of architectural refinements, which combined to give a plastic and sculptural appearance to the building. The sculptural decorations on and inside the Parthenon gave the building a softer appearance from its large and imposing exterior. Many different images were depicted on the building, such as a battle between gods and giants; and on the south side of the Parthenon, Greeks and centaurs; to the west more Greeks and Amazons were depicted. Unfortunately all the decorations on the north side were in ruins. The decorations continue in a frieze around the top of the cella wall, which represents the annual Panathenaic procession of citizens in honor of the goddess Athena. At the eastern end with a..