Hole 15 / Athena’s TEMPLE OF PARTHENON

Location Athens, Greece

Built 447 – 431 BC

Latitude 37°58’N

Longitude 23°43’E

The marble TEMPLE PARTHENON of the ancient Greece was to showcase the colossal statue of the goddess Athena in the inner sanctum.

Sometime in the fifth Century AD the sculpture was moved to Constantinople and later lost. The temple was subsequently consecrated to the Eastern Orthodox Church and later became a Roman Catholic Church for about 250years. In 1456 when Athens fell to the Ottoman Turks, Parthenon was converted yet again, to a Mosque.

Earthquakes and munitions have destroyed large parts of the building. The final damage was inflicted by the Venetians in 1687, when firing the mortar which blew up the gunpowder magazine.