Greece - Parthenon
The famous Parthenon, the icon of Greece, sits atop the plateau called the Acropolis in the center of modern Athens. The mathematical concepts used on the revolutionary Parthenon are still taught to this day. Not a straight line exists in the entire structure, the architect having designed it with subtle curves to compensate precisely for the curvature of the human eye. The Parthenon was the home of the great golden statue of Athena, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Sadly, the statue has long been destroyed, and historians can only speculate about what it looked like. Also on the Acropolis is the Temple of Erechtheius, where according to myth, an olive tree sprang from the ground when Athena touched her spear to the earth during a battle with Poseidon. Coincidentally, the olive tree that grows beside the temple is over 3000 years old, and still bears fruit to this day. These are pics of my visit to the site in 2000.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Erechtheion, a temple built to worship Athena, Poseidon and Erechctheus
|
This olive tree, the only one on the Acropolis, is over 3000 years old, and still bears fruit
|