The Parthenon is a wonderful ancient Greek temple standing on top of the Athenian Acropolis. “A building has its own destiny,” the ancient Romans said. We will trace the history of this building-symbol, which was the ancient Greek temple of the goddess Athena the Virgin, and the Orthodox Church, and the Catholic Cathedral, and the Muslim mosque, and a warehouse for shells, etc., etc. CONTENTS: Introduction 7Chapter I. Parthenon 9Chapter II. Parthenon to Parthenon 20Chapter III. Athena—Panathenaia—Parthenon 44Chapter IV. Construction of the Parthenon 85Chapter V. Sculpture of the Parthenon 109Chapter VI. Treasury of the Parthenon. 155Chapter VII. Temple - church - mosque 176Chapter VIII. Explosion 221Chapter IX. Who is guilty? 241Chapter X. The time of amateurs 246Chapter XI. Lord Elgin Marbles. I. In the East 254Chapter XII. Lord Elgin Marbles. II. In England 267Chapter XIII. Fyodor Kalmyk 294Chapter XIV. Russian on the Acropolis 308Chapter XV. The latest tests? 318Selected bibliography 337Dictionary of architectural terms 339List of abbreviations 344List of illustrations 345