When was the Parthenon built?

The Parthenon was built during the golden age of Athens under the statesman Pericles, with construction beginning in 447 BC. Architects Ictinus and Callicrates designed it, while the sculptor Phidias oversaw its decoration, and the main structure was finished by 438 BC with sculptures completed around 432 BC. It was a temple to Athena, the city’s patron goddess, and once housed a huge gold-and-ivory statue of her. Over the centuries it served as a church, a mosque and an Ottoman gunpowder store. In 1687 a Venetian cannonball ignited the gunpowder, blowing out much of the building’s centre.