Athens, Parthenon

Work on the Parthenon started in 447 BC and continued until 432. The temple has a single row of columns on all sides, with 8 Doric columns at each end and 17 on the sides (46 in all). (Yes, I know that 2X17=34, and 2X8=16, and 34+16=50. But since you see the corner columns on both the sides and the ends, they get counted twice, really!)

In the 6th century, with the addition of an apse at the east end, the Parthenon became a Christian church. Next a minaret was added, and it served as a mosque. In 1687, in the Venetian attack on Athens, it was used as a powder magazine (ammunition storage) by the Turks and the entire center portion was destroyed by an explosion.

For every one of our 53 (so far) Wedding Anniversaries, we have eaten at a restaurant we have never patronized before. For our 38th, from our table in the Marriott Hotel in Athens we could see the Parthenon at the top of the Acropolis. We asked our waiter when he last visited the Parthenon. He laughed and said as a school child he was bussed to the Acropolis one day, the one and only time he's been there!