The Parthenon | |
![]() The Parthenon in Nashville's Centennial Park is a full-scale copy of the original Parthenon in Athens. | |
Location | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
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Coordinates | 36°8′59″N86°48′48″W / 36.14972°N 86.81333°W |
Built | 1897 (original structure) 1925–1931 (permanent version) |
Architect | William Crawford Smith [1] [2] |
Architectural style | Classical |
NRHP reference No. | 72001236 [3] |
Added to NRHP | February 23, 1972 |
The Parthenon in Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee, United States, is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. It was designed by architect William Crawford Smith [4] [5] and built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
Today, the Parthenon, which functions as an art museum, stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos statue in the naos (the east room of the main hall) is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. Since the building is complete and its decorations were polychromed (painted in colors) as close to the presumed original as possible, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Treasury Room (the west room of the main hall) are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating to 438 BC. The surviving originals are housed in the British Museum in London and at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
Nashville's nickname, the "Athens of the South", [4] influenced the choice of the building as the centerpiece of the 1897 Centennial Exposition. A number of buildings at the exposition were based on ancient originals. However, the Parthenon was the only one that was an exact reproduction. It was also the only one that was preserved by the city, although the Knights of Pythias Pavilion building was purchased and moved to nearby Franklin, Tennessee.
Major Eugene Castner Lewis was the director of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and it was at his suggestion that a reproduction of the Parthenon be built in Nashville to serve as the centerpiece of Tennessee's Centennial Celebration. Lewis also served as the chief civil engineer for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad. Originally built of plaster, wood, and brick, [6] the Parthenon was not intended to be permanent, but the cost of demolishing the structure combined with its popularity with residents and visitors alike resulted in it being left standing after the Exposition.
In 1895, George Julian Zolnay was "employed to make models for the ornamentation" for the building. [5] Within the next 20 years, weather had caused deterioration of the landmark; it was then rebuilt on the same foundations, in concrete, in a project that started in 1920; the exterior was completed in 1925 and the interior in 1931. [7] Local architect Russell Hart was hired for the reconstruction. [7]
Some of the most elaborate events that occurred at the Parthenon were the Spring Pageants of 1913 and 1914. These extravaganzas were theatrical productions. With casts of up to 500, the pageants attracted audiences from surrounding states and rail prices were lowered to encourage attendance. The city of Nashville celebrated the "Athens of the South". The 1913 performance was entitled The Fire Regained, a play written by Sidney Mttron Hirsch, and featured a mythological story line enhanced by theatrical spectacle popular in that era. [8] The 1914 production, The Mystery at Thanatos, had a similarly mythological plot, but was shorter and better received. A copy of the script is on file at the Nashville Public Library. Both shows featured displays ranging from chariot races to large dance numbers to thousands of live birds to set pieces that shot flames, all set against the backdrop of the Nashville Parthenon.
As an art museum, the Parthenon's permanent collection on the lower level exhibits 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists, donated by James M. Cowan in 1927–1929. [7] Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for temporary shows and exhibits. The main level contains a replica, completed in 1990, [7] of the Athena Parthenos statue that was in the original Parthenon in Athens.
In 1982, Alan LeQuire was commissioned to create the statue of Athena Parthenos [7] as a reconstruction, to scholarly standards, of the long-lost original: she is cuirassed and helmeted, carries a shield on her left arm, a 6-foot-high (1.8 m) statue of Nike (Victory) in her right palm, and stands 42 feet (13 m) high, gilt (as of 2002) [7] with more than 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of gold leaf; an equally colossal serpent rears its head between her and her shield. Some followers of Goddess Spirituality practices have left ritual offerings near the statue. [9]
In the summertime, local theater productions use the building as a backdrop for classic Greek plays such as Euripides' Medea and Sophocles' Antigone , performing (usually for free) on the steps of the Parthenon. Other performances, such as Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses , have been held inside, at the foot of Athena's statue.
In 2001, the Nashville Parthenon received much needed cleaning and restoration of the exterior. [7] The exterior lighting was upgraded to allow the columns of the building to be illuminated with different colors than the facade.
The Parthenon served as the location for the political rally in the climactic scene of Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville . [10]
It was used as a backdrop for the battle against the Hydra in the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief . [11]
It features in the title and lyrics of the song "Nashville Parthenon" from the album Etiquette , by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, as well as the song's 2011 sequel "Goodbye Parthenon".
It was used in the 2000 PBS series Greeks: Crucible of Civilization.
A poem titled "Ganymede" in Heather Ross Miller's Celestial Navigator: Writing Poems with Randall Jarrell features the Parthenon.
The structure figures in the climax of the Hector Lassiter novel Three Chords and The Truth, by Craig McDonald.
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The word Acropolis is from the Greek words ἄκρον and πόλις. The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was also more properly known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king.
The Parthenon is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of classical Greek art, and the Parthenon is considered an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, democracy, and Western civilization.
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a period of time, typically between three and six months.
Phidias or Pheidias was an Ancient Greek sculptor, painter, and architect, active in the 5th century BC. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the statues of the goddess Athena on the Athenian Acropolis, namely the Athena Parthenos inside the Parthenon, and the Athena Promachos, a colossal bronze which stood between it and the Propylaea, a monumental gateway that served as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. Phidias was the son of Charmides of Athens. The ancients believed that his masters were Hegias and Ageladas.
Year 438 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Mamercinus, Iullus and Cincinnatus. The denomination 438 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
In Greek mythology, an Amazonomachy is a mythological battle between the ancient Greeks and the Amazons, a nation of all-female warriors. The subject of Amazonomachies was popular in ancient Greek art and Roman art.
The statue of Athena Parthenos was a monumental chryselephantine sculpture of the goddess Athena. Attributed to Phidias and dated to the mid-fifth century BCE, it was an offering from the city of Athens to Athena, its tutelary deity. The naos of the Parthenon on the acropolis of Athens was designed exclusively to accommodate it.
The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition was an exposition held in Nashville from May 1 – October 31, 1897 in what is now Centennial Park. A year late, it celebrated the 100th anniversary of Tennessee's entry into the union in 1796. President William McKinley officially opened the event from the White House, where he pressed a button that started the machinery building at the fair; he would visit in person a month later.
Centennial Park is a large urban park located approximately two miles west of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States, across West End Avenue from the campus of Vanderbilt University. The 21st-century headquarters campus of the Hospital Corporation of America was developed adjacent to the park.
Chryselephantine sculpture is a sculpture made with gold and ivory. Chryselephantine cult statues enjoyed high status in Ancient Greece.
Enid Yandell was an American sculptor from Louisville, Kentucky, who studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris, Philip Martiny in New York City, and Frederick William MacMonnies.
The Athena Promachos was a colossal bronze statue of Athena sculpted by Pheidias, which stood between the Propylaea and the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens. Athena was the tutelary deity of Athens and the goddess of wisdom and warriors. Pheidias also sculpted two other figures of Athena on the Acropolis, the huge gold and ivory ("chryselephantine") cult image of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon and the Lemnian Athena.
Alan LeQuire is an American sculptor from Nashville, Tennessee. Many of his sculptures are installed in the city.
George Julian Zolnay was a Romanian, Hungarian, and American sculptor called the "sculptor of the Confederacy".
Belle Marshall KinneyScholz (1890–1959) was an American sculptor, born in Tennessee who worked and died in New York state.
The War Memorial Auditorium is a 2,000-seat performance hall located in Nashville, Tennessee. Built in 1925, it served as home of the Grand Ole Opry between 1939 and 1943. It is also known as the War Memorial Building, the Tennessee War Memorial, or simply the War Memorial. It is located across the street from, and is governed by, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, and is also adjacent to the Tennessee State Capitol. It received an architectural award at the time of its construction, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
The Nashville Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation is the municipal board that is responsible for maintaining the parks system of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's residents. The board maintains over 10,710 acres (4,330 ha) of park space. The Board boasts over 100 stand-alone parks and 7 municipal golf courses.
Foster & Creighton was a construction contracting firm of Nashville, Tennessee. It has been known also as the Foster-Creighton Company, as the Foster and Creighton Co., and as Foster and Creighton Company.
The Varvakeion Athena is a Roman-era statue of Athena Parthenos now part of the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. It is generally considered to be the most faithful reproduction of the chryselephantine statue made by Phidias and his assistants, which once stood in the Parthenon. It is dated to 200–250 AD.
Major Eugene Castner Lewis was an American engineer and businessman. He served as the chairman of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway from 1900 to 1917. As a civic leader, he helped develop Shelby Park and Centennial Park, including the Parthenon, as well as Union Station.