It’s an eye-popping, head-scratching sight. There, in middle America, stands one of history’s most recognizable ancient buildings: the Greek Parthenon, generally considered one of the wonders of the Ancient World and a definite must-see for travelers to Greece.
What in the name of Zeus, is this ancient monument doing in Nashville, of all places?
Nashville’s Parthenon is a replica of the real thing, albeit a highly accurate one, that originally was built in 1897 as a temporary pavilion for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.
The decision to construct a full-sized duplicate of the ancient Greek temple reflected Nashville’s mid-19th century reputation as an American Athens that was home to numerous colleges. The choice of design also acknowledged the city’s most popular architectural style, which was heavily tilted toward public buildings and large homes with stately colonnades and Greek-style porticos.
Today, Nashville’s Parthenon, whose permanent, concrete version opened in 1931, stands as the world’s only full-scale replica of the ancient Greek monument.
Interior of Nashville's Parthenon, photos by Irv Green
The details are there, from the exterior’s 50 graceful Doric columns –– ingeniously tapered so they appear straight, yet imperceptibly inclined inward to seem even taller –– to the interior’s 42-foot statue of Athena Parthenos, goddess of wisdom and prudent warfare. In her right hand, Athena holds an adult-size statue of Nike, the goddess of victory.
However, the Nashville Parthenon, which houses a small museum of American art, is more like the unpillaged temple where Socrates and Plato debated the merits of democracy than the real thing in Greece.
The original, built in the fifth century B.C., is missing much of the roof and many of the columns. The sculptures that adorn its exterior, known as the Elgin Marbles, are now in the British Museum in London, the subject of a longstanding dispute between Greece and England.
More important, the statue of Athena, which was created by Pheidias, the most famous sculptor of his time, disappeared 1,500 years ago.
Nearby the Nashville Parthenon, the Tennessee State Capitol, sits atop the city’s own acropolis. Designed by William Strickland, it is widely considered to be one of the best examples of Greek Revival architecture in the country.
Originally built in 1859, it was restored in 1955, and some of the original pillars lie scattered on a patch of grass on the north side of the Capitol, where they bear an eerie resemblance to the ruins of ancient Greece.
Fine houses replete with Greek columns and porticoes line the streets around Nashville’s West End Avenue and Belle Meade Boulevard. But perhaps the city’s most famous Greek Revival home is The Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States.
For another taste of Greece, Athens Family Restaurant, despite being located in an architecturally bland building, serves authentically spiced gyros, souvlaki and other pillars of contemporary Greek-style cuisine.
A good read: Classical Nashville: Athens of the South
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