A Visit To The Parthenon In Nashville Tennessee

A couple of weeks ago I had a long weekend trip to Nashville with a friend. If you missed that post you can check it out here We made the most of our time in Nashville and decided to visit some historical places. The first place we visited was the Parthenon.

The Parthenon in Athens Greece is a former temple that was dedicated to the Goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of classical greek art. But what is this Parthenon in Nashville you might ask.

The Parthenon in Centennial Park Nashville, is a full scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens Greece. It was originally built for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition. When Tennessee celebrated its 100th year of statehood, Nashville took advantage of the nickname “Athens of the South’ and built this famous replica.

Within the Parthenon, and something I found so amazing, is a 42-foot-tall gold-coated sculpture of Athena. The original Parthenon was built as a temple dedicated to the Goddess Athena in Athens.

So here we were on our first day of the Nashville trip. We went to the Parthenon. It was about 9:30 in the morning. Tickets are about $10.00 per person and no charge for parking. Also there was lots of available parking. The hotel where we stayed actually gave us free tickets for entry.

Let me tell you a little about Centennial Park that circles the Parthenon. It is a beautiful park with lots of things going on. The park is located about two miles west of Downtown Nashville. While we were there, we saw soccer games, picnics, family get togethers, people walking their dogs and just enjoying the sunshine. The park itself is beautiful. And of course the 132 acre park features the Parthenon.

Getting into the Parthenon was a bit tricky because some construction work was going on near the entrance. We finally found our way in and started enjoying the photos lining the halls. Most of the beginning photos were of the history of the Parthenon being built.

We took a set of stairs leading to the second level and this is what we saw:

The Statue of Athena:

The re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals.

I think she’s beautiful.

The Parthenon was actually decades old before Athena was added. The statue was created by Alan LaQuire, A Nashville native and Vanderbilt University graduate. It took LaQuire 8 years to complete the figure of Athena.

For 12 years, Athena was a plain, white statue. Then in 2002, Athena was gilded in gold to more closely resemble the original.