Travelling with knowledge: after the trip
August 4th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Me at Parthenon
Continuing from the two previous posts about my holiday I will introduce some of the things I had learnt about Parthenon and Naxos prior to the journey. This time it will focus on the great Greek archaeology of Parthenon.
Standing on the hills in Athens is Acropolis meaning ‘upper’ or ‘edge city’. The Greek statesman Pericles who came in power around 5th BC built what we can actually see in Acropolis today. He was one of the latest to have directed reconstruction of the city and completed Acropolis including Parthenon.
Regarding Parthenon, it is said that the most of the building was destroyed in 1687 when Parthenon was used for gunpowder storage under Turkish invasion. A massive explosion was triggered by the bombs from Venetians attempting to retrieve the power in the city. The rubble, still significant part of Greek history, was brought to UK by Lord Elgin in 1816 and has been displayed in the British Museum since then despite the political dispute over the possession of the marbles.
Looking up Parthenon, I thought I had to go to see the rest of the Parthenon. Especially the missing Parthenon parts were the sculptures where important Greek mythology was expressed. Without these, Parthenon is like an empty picture book with no pictures in it. I found a rare sculpture fitted in the top corner of Parthenon so took a photo to celebrate its survival in such threat to ancient Greek archaeology.
Greek Parthenon
Despite all that happened to Parthenon, it was still absolutely great. I was lost in town when I found Parthenon on the hill standing still. This was when I felt welcomed by Greece with such monument of history and how our trip started.The next piece will be a final of my Greek holiday.
