The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena. It was built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis. It is the considered to be the most important surviving building of Classical Greece. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art in Greek history. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol and icon of ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy, and is seen as one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of restoration and reconstruction of the Parthenon.

The Parthenon actually replaced an older temple of Athena, called the Pre-Parthenon. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury of the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire. In the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church which was dedicated to the Virgin. In 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures which remained after a blast, with Ottoman permission. These sculptures were then sold in 1816 to the British Museum in London, where they are now displayed. The Greek government is committed to the return of the sculptures to Greece and so far has failed in the quest.