Parthenon
The temple to Athena Parthenos that gives the Acropolis its postcard silhouette, completed in 438 BC under Pericles' building program and designed by Iktinos and Kallikrates with sculptural work overseen by Phidias. It has survived an explosion (a 1687 Venetian bombardment that ignited Ottoman gunpowder stored inside), centuries as a church and then a mosque, and ongoing restoration work that's been visibly underway since the 1970s — the cranes and scaffolding are a near-permanent fixture, not a sign of a temporary closure.
You view it from a roped perimeter rather than walking inside or among the columns, since the structure is fragile and still being conserved. Most of what made the building famous — the frieze, the pediment sculptures, the metopes — has been removed for preservation and is either in the Acropolis Museum or the British Museum, so what you see on the rock is largely the architectural shell.
It's the reason most people climb the Acropolis, but pairing it mentally with the Acropolis Museum's Parthenon Gallery gives a much fuller picture than the building alone can offer today.
Parthenon FAQs
No, visitors view it from a roped-off perimeter; the interior and immediate colonnade are closed to protect the structure during ongoing restoration.
Restoration work has been ongoing since the 1970s to stabilize and correct earlier repairs; it's a long-term conservation project, not a temporary closure.
Most surviving pieces are split between the Acropolis Museum in Athens and the British Museum in London, a long-disputed division; the building itself displays few original sculptures today.
No, it's included in the general Acropolis site admission — there's no separate ticket or entrance.
The northwest corner near the Propylaea and the view back from the Acropolis Museum's terrace are both popular, along with the classic front-on view from the east side.
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