Shadows on the Parthenon at Nashville showing the “Greek Urn” in End of Exterior Corridor
Description of the Parthenon
The Parthenon of Pericles has been shown in a new light as a result of the eleven years of study and research made in connection with the reproduction at Nashville. Some of the older conceptions were based on assumptions rather than facts derived from research. For the first time the modern Greek who visits Nashville sees the Parthenon as his ancestors saw and admired it at Athens.
The Parthenon is sixty-five feet high with its superstructure resting on the base or stylobate of the temple, consisting of three steps. The largest dimensions are furnished by the lowest of these steps, which is two hundred and thirty-eight feet long by one hundred and eleven feet wide. The top step, on which the peristyle rests, is two hundred and twenty-eight feet long by one hundred and one feet wide.
One of the most interesting peculiarities, or it might be said subtleties, employed by the Greeks in building the Parthenon is that no two major lines are exactly parallel nor are they exactly equal in length.
The most striking feature of the Parthenon when viewed from any exterior approach is the encircling row of great Doric columns forming the peristyle. There are forty-six of these columns, seventeen on each side, six on each end (not counting the corner columns twice), and six each on the east and west porticos. The columns of the peristyle are thirty-four feet high with an approximate diameter at the base of six feet. They have an average spacing from face to face of eight feet. The columns of the porticos are somewhat smaller, having a base diameter of five and one-half feet.
Top of Treasury or West Room Showing Ionic Columns and Decorations
The main body of the building is called the cella. The exterior walls of the cella on the long sides with the columns form majestic corridors. The shadows falling at certain times of the day on the walls and floors of the corridors are very beautiful.