Discover the ruins of the Parthenon, one of the most famous and
beautiful places in the world!
Athens, Greece, is best known for the Parthenon, the ruins of an ancient
temple completed in 438 BC to honor the goddess Athena. But what many
people don't know is that it only served as a temple for a couple
hundred years. It then became a church, then a mosque, and by the end of
the 1600s served as a storehouse for munitions. When an enemy army fired
hundreds of cannon balls at the Acropolis, one directly hit the
Parthenon. Much of the sculpture was destroyed, three hundred people
died, and the site fell into ruin. Today, visitors continue to flock to
this world famous landmark, which has become a symbol for Ancient
Greece, democracy, and modern civilization. Includes black-and-white
illustrations and a foldout color map!