Tragically, it took only a fraction of a second to nearly obliterate it. Remarkably, the majority of the Parthenon (a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena) was constructed in a mere 9 years, with the finishing touches completed in 432 BCE. Decades after the defeat of the Persians, the Athenian leader Pericles initiated a rebuilding program (beginning in 447 BCE). The original archaic temple on the Acropolis was destroyed by the Persians in the sack of Athens in 480 BCE. The Acropolis (literally “High City”) is the site of the Parthenon-one of the greatest architectural achievements in the history of the world.
